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Icom 2820 Frustration and help needed....

KF7RUQ

W9WDX Amateur Radio Club Member
Dec 7, 2011
44
0
16
Hello all...

I purchased an Icom 2820 about 9 months, ago. And so far, I am very frustrated with it. The menu steps/ stepping are not "intuitive" with my thinking style. Neither is the keypad Microphone.

Not only that, but the interaction (or LACK there-of) of programing software is frustrating, too. (CHIRP to ICOM, .TXT to ICOM, .CSV to ICOM or ICOM to ICOM) Even amongst other Icom products.

So then I try to program by the Faceplate, and I walk away swearing and disappointed that I have an $1100 waste.

My overall frustration with ICOM grows, immensely, with each new frustration found. (I know/suspect that this has been discovered by others.)

It seems like the "Frustration Discovery" is never ending. I have looked for instructional videos, but everything that I have "Google-ed" and "YouTube-ed" doesn't help.

Has anyone Hacked this? It definitely needs some other type of software.

The quality of the components seem to be good and I don't have any complaints. But to navigate throughout the menus and to successfully use the keypad microphone, is PAINFUL.

I have had to walk away from the hobby, because of this thing. My other radios, work great and don't frustrate me, though.

Are there any Helpful Downloads, Videos, or software HACKS?

Thanks.......


P.S.

All/most of the D-Star Repeaters in my state, can't connect to the internet. I have been told, that the Internet Provider(s) were having "Security" attacks through D-Star. (I don't know if that is true, possible, or an excuse) (xxxKSLxxx)

Personal and Political Agendas plus lack of "know how" prevent the others from coming "online" or even "Operational."

There are a few "Simplex" Nodes, but how do you learn to use them? ... or know that your radio is setup correctly?

Thanks for listening to my RANT and please offer some help.....
 

I don't have an Icom so can't say for sure, but look at 'RT Systems' software, they may have a version to work with that radio. Their software typically does whatever the factory software will, but it's not cheap.
- 'Doc
 
Thanks for the reply....

I have used their stuff (RT Systems) with other radios. They lost me as a customer, when they decided to put "chips" in their cables. (I will never purchase from RT Systems, again) I was told their reasoning was to make the cable limited to only "Their Language."

That kind of move, is what makes me angry with ICOM. They produce how many radios? ...and none of them speak the same language? I feel that it's a greedy way to get another $100 from us....

Thanks for the reply, though.
 
This 2820 Yahoo Group helped a lot when I was just getting used to mine --> Icom_IC-2820H : Icom IC-2820H

I had a tough time navigating mine from the face at first, d-star settings were a PIA, etc... I got it figured out, but programming took forever through the face and I never even hooked up the mic to try it that way. My new software makes it a snap, integrates d-star online info right into the programming fields, puts all of the settings right in front of you (rather than buried several sub-menu's deep), works with excel, etc... You won't like the brand unfortunately... $50 with their cable. Cut the learning curve real quick.

Even though we have a number of D-Star repeaters in my area, I can only get in to two of them. The internet connection on one of them is iffy, but the other is up 90% of the time. The problem with using that repeater to access other nodes/reflectors is that it ties up the repeater for others and gets frowned upon unless it's late, late night.

Most of the users on that repeater who spend much time with internet connections are doing it from DV access ports that hook in to your computer's USB port. You talk in to the radio, the radio talks to the access point, and your digital signal is out on the internet, to any user you want to talk to. Only available in 2M currently, but I hear 440 is in the works. Another $250 for the pleasure... Ham Radio Outlet | Internet Labs DV-AP | 2 MTRS ONLY DV ACCESS POINT FOR D-STAR RADIOS

I hope you stick it out. Mole is literally hours away from having the WorldWideDX Club's d-star repeater up. In fact he's talking to me on Simplex as I type. I think I'll cut him off and tell him to get back to work on the repeater.

Good Luck.
 
PS, you might get some other software options offered up if you move this to the VHF/UHF forum. Much more traffic there.
 
Thanks for sharing the info.......

It sounds like you are familiar with software. Has anyone thought about Hacking the software that's in the 2820 and changing the location or submenu structure? If that were different, maybe a lot of the frustration would go away.

Maybe this is motivation for your next project....


On Edit:

Are there any "How To" videos, other than what comes up on a YouTube/Google search? Maybe by watching, I can get a taste of success and utilize this radio.
 
Last edited:
I forgot to add that I have the Icom cable and software with a serial-usb adapter.
 

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