It looks like the IC-V8000 is being discontinued also. That is one of my favorite 2m only radios. Hate to see the 7200 go also, there are always a few of them at field day events.

 

I was told the ic-v8000 was discontinued a while ago when I called up Icom looking for parts for mine about a year ago. It is a great radio, I still use mine daily.

Is there a replacement for the 7200?

 

Icom IC-7300. I thought most people knew when the 7300 was announced that the 7200 was on its last legs.

http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/hf/7300/default.aspx

Shortly before the 7300 was announced, the 7200's were available for $800. That was a clearance price if I ever saw one.

 

7300's are going to redefine the industry as the k3 and k3s did. Get ready for a flood in majorly reduced radios as people chase the diminishing returns. That said if you got the cash, the 7300 is going to be super nice.

 

Sad day in the radio world! I just put my ts 480hx in the storeroom, and brought back my ic-7200, I love that radio! Guess they gotta have all that modern color and touch screen stuff to impress these days. Hope it is half as tough as my 7200 has been.

 

I'm not sure how tough it will be but the direct sampling system is no question far far superior to the 7200 and other similar radios.

Plus a real-time spectrum scope is something I've always wanted.

I suspect my FT-857d like many 7200's will still be folks go to field workhorse but I'm watching the 7300 closely.

 

I sanpped up a used one just the other day. It should be here either today or tomorrow.

The 7300 may be nice; but it's leaving a gap for one of the 7200's best selling points- it's durability.

 

That is true, but after the massive success of the kx3, k3, k3s I think many manufacturers feel they have to play catch up with the additional options. Those radios by all accounts are very durable and probably account for the majority of dxpeditions and sota/etc type activation's these days.

Specifically for paw/teotwawki/disaster the 7200 most certainly filled a roll. I would expect several months after the 7300 is launched for a new model line resembling the 7200 with a richer feature base, better sensitivity and selectivity for roughly the same price. Time will tell.

It will be interesting to see how Yaesu responds.

 

Dang! The 7200 is my favorite radio.

 

Still plenty of new IC-7200 availability. If you are really wanting one, now is the time!

 

I bought the 7200 last year at the discounted price. Rugged and easy to use.

 

Damn to our collapsing Canadian dollar! My local dealer has it, but for $1200 CDN plus 13% tax!

 

I'm astonished that six meters is still in demand: all the repeaters I know of are on 2m or 70cm, and I haven't heard of anyone using 6m in years.

Frankly, I'd bet the FCC takes six meters for other services, especially with the old TV frequencies being re-farmed.

My $0.02.

William Warren

 

Nope. 6m is the magic band. Also one of the largest sections we have. If someone threatened to take it away a lot of folks would burn up the switch board.

 

There's a semi-active 6 meter repeater in my area and quite a few folks who are into magic band DX. I doubt it would go anywhere soon.

 

6m can be more active depending on what polarization you are using as well. Seems like in my area Verts are more for working repeaters, and horizontal or beams are more for the magic openings.

 

I have heard 0ne person in 2 1/2 years on 6m ,of course I don't monitor it 24/7, I think monitoring deep space for ET to call would be more interesting. Have heard some guys on a jeep forum talking about them using 6m instead of 2m for their off road groups, we tried it here but couldn't even be heard by a base 20 miles away, and iffy mobile to mobile over a few miles, maybe we weren't holding our mouths right or something. Seemed like it should work, heck back in 70's we used 37.180. ,42.900, 45.200 for SO and Fire freqs, worked great mobile /mobile,and base to mobile. Of course about 1977 we went VHF . I have a bunch of radio friends down here, some hams for years, only one has had luck on 6m, there is a net in Corpus Christi, rumor has it that maybe 2 or 3 can talk across town, but friends that live across the bay have never been able to make contact, most of us took down antennas to free up space for better 2m antennas, trying to maximize for simplex.

 

6M can be great, depending on what you want to do.

Because of it's obscurity, it could be a great avenue for communications off the beaten path.

The Baofeng pirate crowd certainly can't interfere...as has started to become a problem around these parts on a few repeaters.

Another advantage is that antennas are relatively small for what they can offer.

As far as the 7200 goes, I got mine in and so far am very pleased with it. Hands down, it has a better receiver than the yaesu 8X7 series(I have all three of those radios). It is indeed very simple to operate, and the direct USB plug in is quite nice(make sure you get a USB 2.0 to USB-B cord...very inexpensive). I'm waiting on a LDG auto tuner, and it'll likely become my primary set.

The only bad thing I can think of is that it has no voltimiter, unlike the Yaesus, so you have to keep an eye on battery power manually. It also lacks FM, which is a moot point on all bands covered with the exception of 6M.

 

I've watched as 2m and 440 have become the successors to 11 meters, and with the advent of the Cheapy Chinese 2 banders (and **every** survival and prepper group from here to Sunday stocking up on them) my prediction is it will only get worse.

We went with 6m... because it IS obscure, it takes different gear and a little more knowledge and technique to use... but you can still set up a repeater, and THEN you get amazing coverage... Then, when atmospheric conditions are right, you get communications coast to coast. Somewhat rare, but fun nonetheless.

It's like 160m. Not many people have the patience or the desire to spend some time and effort to make it work (and work well) so they fall back to the turnkey Q&D easy peasy no thought required bands. Then again, how many folks would spend an hour to warm up a Swan 350 or a Hallicrafters (Yes, some of us love our built like iron boat anchors), or a few evenings to homebrew their own rig?

That ICOM is dropping the 7200 is sad, as it is a tough little radio. But they're chasing the "latest greatest throw the year old stuff away" market Amateur Radio has become. Whats sad is how many of the old greats will end up (or have ended up) as landfill filler... because it doesn't have a color display or it has (god forbid) tubes. Better... how many of these Baofeng Dime Store Specials will as well?

 

I couldn't agree more.

Personally I hunt down older gear just for those reasons mentioned. For Survivalists intersted in communications, the ability to repair gear on the fly(or at the minimum, have a working knowledge of why it does what it does) is a pretty critical factor- and I'm quite skeptical of the newer rig coming out. A good friend noted not long ago that it seems the companies are moving in the very direction you just pointed out.

 

Most new hams are... and I hate to say it... but it is true... appliance operators more akin to computer users.

 

The demise of the ICOM IC-7200 should come as no surprise to anyone, especially if you've watched as prices have fallen. Perhaps selling well at an $800 price point, but at that price it is today one of Icom's least profitable radios. It has also been around since at least 2006. It will forever be a great entry-level rig with many features of its higher priced siblings. The IC-7200 originally sold for $1099 back in 2006~2007, and it's coming replacement, the 7300 will enter the market for at least that much or perhaps more. Still the IC-7200's will continue to be extremely popular on the used market, where they currently fetch a good price (i.e., $700) and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Every time I've found one listed (for a fair price), whether on eBay, or QTH-Swap, or QRZ Buy/Sell/Trade forums, etc. they are snapped-up within a few minutes to a few hours of being listed, rarely lasting more than a day or two. I posted mine on a local traders net in Houston and had the buyer at my door with cash in hand that same evening. If you want a NEW one, I'd suggest ordering it today. At $800 they won't last long and you simply can't go wrong.

As of this moment, 9:00AM Monday Feb 15th, HRO still has a few left at most of their locations, currently sold out at Denver and Atlanta stores. $799.95 w/free shipping.

 

I'm not an ICOM guy, but it's too bad -- I don't like touchscreens much. I guess it depends on the technology, but on my Garmin Nuvi you actually need to press down a bit, and it's not always reliable in my vehicle over the winter months. I have to hit some things multiple times. And my cellphone gets smudged up all the time.

With a radio, I guess I prefer old-fashioned keys and dials. As well as a software interface (run by an old-fashioned keyboard and mouse). Don't have much use for touch-screen, either on my rigs or on my monitor. Don't need to be washing it all the time.

 

I just got my General last week and ordered an IC 7200 from gigaparts, will be here tomorrow..! I already love it just from all the youtube vids. I hope they come out with a similar one in a year or two that is just as rugged, portable/field deployable and decent on battery power. Also got an MFJ 939I Autotuner and Chameleon antenna, will add a Carolina Windom or G5RV Dipole with it.