Icom IC-9700 - Should you buy one?

73...YU4DC...73

The Icom IC-9700 is a "Drift-O-Matic", overpriced door stop. I purchased an Icom IC-9700 brand new and when I contacted the manufacture about the drifting, I was told I needed to install a stable 10 Mhz reference signal from a GPS or some other source to keep it from drifting! I had VHF/UHF equipment over 40 tears ago that didn't drift like the Icom IC-9700...

Does the programming software and USB to two com ports work under Linux? Also, can this radio be used with a dual-band antenna?

What activity is happening in Phoenix area . Just bought one.

Was thinking of getting into ham radio………….. Think I’ll leave it, way too complicated!

Should you buy one? No! Buy two. It is that good.

Robert Great review! Now that they are back in stock I might pick one up. Any chance you could provide information on the two GPS units you reference that work with the Icon 9700. I would like to get both, but it is very confusing when searching what products will work with the ICOM 9700 . Thanks

That was a very good overall review on a complex radio. Super! I like that T shirt - where can I get one?? 73 de GI8WFA.

Yet another You Tuber trying to fatten their bank account by hawking stuff they get paid to give positive review for. You people are so obvious. Cool T shirt, though.

did you see the specs of the 9700 on the sherwood list? for example the dynamic range of it is only 74dB, that will not sound very clear, when signals are weak, spoken silables will then sound faded into one another and not intelligible anymore. that is not a very good receiver and for that comparably high price i would expect it to be. the bdr is low too, 111dB, strong signals on nearby frequencies will block the receiver. i would not buy it. the final transistors in that thing run at 100Watt out at their maximum powerlevel, i doubt that they would last long. i would rather have the Yaesu FT991A instead the 9700, the 991A is the comparably better radio.

My problems with the 9700 and the reason why I sold it after 2 months. First, The usage of 1.2 gig is very small in my area, almost nothing and
I would be MUCH more inclined to have 6 meters or even 220. Second, In my area the Pave Paws at the AFB wipes out 430 ssb, much more so
then my 30 year old FT 736R. Third, the price. If This radio only gives me 2 meters to use for $1,500+ it was a waste of money for me.
Also I must be the only Ham on the planet that does not like DStar. Don't like the audio and could care less about that mode.
So my reasons might be different than others but for me this radio was a bust.

Great Review of the ICOM 9700 im going to get one to pair with my ICOM 7300 and get the 23cm and 70cm and 2mtr beams to get back into contesting again, Many thanks for the Review i think this radio new in uk is £1795, gives you all and more to play radio. 73 MIKE M1KEY M0FCG

Two things would be wonderful, APRS (analog) and 1.25cm. Why? This would have been a great Rover radio!

I need ic no 9700.
Sir how can I get it ...will u help me...

Why couldn't Icom just have added 2m, 1.25m, and 70cm to the IC-7300? It's basically the same radio, it seems like it would be a simple software update (although I could be wrong). Maybe they could come up with a new rig that was a true all bander, that would be nice.

It would be better if it had DMR!

The actual real life performance of the 9700 is pretty poor, the tx PM barely meets ITU regs and using the radio on a hilltop in a contest the receiver barely copes. Such a shame.
Buyers should look at the discussion at the RSGB convention on contesting rigs

I have been looking at this for awhile ..finally pulled the trigger today..nice video also..

Other than the 90W difference, whats the delta on this and the IC705 ?

Cmon icom give it crossband repeat!

I have one sitting in its box waiting for me to figure out how to get it into my "shack." Excellent review, thank you. can you suggest antennas for the other bands? I already have Diamond X-30 for 2 meters.

Very good summary, unlike some on this radio that look like they just opened the box before recording.

Great rig. I have one.
What a shame and shame on Icom for releasing it with it's known freq instability problem. W/o GPSDO, it is almost inpossible to work msk144...FT8 is alittle more tolerant but still is a problem on 2M...432? Forget it. 1296..No way w/o a gpsdo

I'm tired of the complications and issues with Icom radios when it comes to repairs. I'm going back to transverters and simpler radio designs that are easier to fix. I will not buy a 9700.

Sold!

Nah...1800 pounds in the UK (totally overpriced)...I will stick with the Yaesu ft-847 thanks....don't need d-star...dmr is where it's at

Absolutely the best review I have seen on this rig so far. Quickly summarizes and demonstrates the main features from a practical usage perspective. Well done!

Has anyone figured out how to get the 9700 to use Iambic keying for CW? My radio will send with a paddle but not Iambic keying. - K4QF

Bob, another awesome video! Where would I find a GPSDO for $35? I'm hunting around and they're > $100. 73 DE KN6PH

How does the yaesu 991 compare to this on 2/440 ssb

over $2300 here in New Zealand

Thank you, I really enjoy your reports here. One question, did the update solve the problem of WSPR on 1200 with the very small frequency drift?

What a beautiful radio. Up here in Canada these Icom 9700 radios are at least $2,500 Canadian but i would LOVE to get one

I am new to ham radio and was looking at the IC-9700 as a first base station with long term use with many modes, functions and uses. I was going to buy the IC-7300 but through research saw that the IC-9700 had access to more bands, etc.. and that sent me on a new path with more questions. Would the IC-9700 be a good option or is there a different set-up that I should look at?

How noisy is it on CW?

Its a piece of shit.

noise blanker is disabled on FM because theoretically noise blankers are not supposed to work on FM which is massive BS

Is it true that you cannot monitor 2 frequencies of the same band at the same time? I read that on a forum and was wodering how that could be possible since it is dual watch with 2 recievers. Thanks

It’s really tempting, but based on your closing statement, I think an FT991A is a much better choice for me. I was seriously considering the 7300/9700 combo. But all I ever do is rag chew on HF and a few local repeaters. I’m really glad you made this review, and pointed out how sophisticated this radio is. It’s WAAAY to much radio for just hitting 2 or 3 local repeaters and literally NOTHING else. Thank you Bob. I think you just saved me about $1700. 73.

Icom has dropped the ball one more time. They made this fancy radio but it cannot cross been repeat. What a crock of pig food. I was all set to give up my 5100 in my go box and put this in because I thought surely such an advanced machine would still have Cross Band repeat. But it does not. Once again Icom has almost reached the brass ring but in this case has fallen flat on their no cross band repeating faces.
End of discussion

Will this do near repeaters on FM or is it DV only?

Maybe a dumb question, but, since you can't put the same band on VFO-A and VFO-B, how does it do "split"? Specifically, on a 2m repeater how can you listen on the input frequency AND the output freq simultaneously?

I just bought this radio. And I've used almost all the features except for the FM mode. I find that part funny.

What about 1200 baud packet?

That t-shirt rocks, forever.

Would I buy one? Nope. I will keep my IC-7200 it does exactly what I need, it has great filtering and built like a brick.

NOPE I will keep my ICOM 910H & ICOM 821H.The 9700 is a lot of HYPE that is overrated & overpriced.I paid less than $1000 for the two that I have for BOTH combined.

Does this radio have a built-in, touch tone pad for generating DTMF?