It has been a few months now, and the Icom ID-52 has certainly made its mark, but is it worthy of its premium price tag?
lets compare it to its nearest rival the Yaesu FT5, the first thing you notice is the feel of the Icom in your hand, its big, it fills your hand having a quality superior feel to it that is just not matched by anything else on the market. The FT5 on the other hand has a rougher feel to it and some how feels much less of a radio not that it is.
The big advantage for me is the superb formfactor and user experience from the Icom, the Yaesu has a much clunkier UI than the Icom, the ID-52's menu system is a simple slick butter smooth experience that the Yaesu just does not come close too.
Firmware updates are also a snip on the Icom all done via the SD card where as its the usual faff around with software (MS Only, no Linux or Mac support) on the Yaesu, Yaesu PLEASE give us Linux support if you must use software updates! or better still SD card updates of course.
Programming is easy enough on both radios, however this is where the Yaesu starts to gain some ground, Dstar is horrible to get your head around where as C4FM is simpler for the beginner or Ham in a rush. in both cases the respective software was free to download from Icom Japan and Yaesu.com with the programming of the Yaesu taking the crown here, software is basic and easy to navigate above all easy to understand. The Icom CS-52 is much more complex to navigate and can be overwhelming for all but the most seasoned radio programmer. Programming either of these radios from the front panel is a mind melt at times, best use the software, but again neither Icom or Yaesu offer a Linux software programming package so thats no Ubuntu or Mac support, MS Only versions available unless you buy into the RT-Systems software ecosystem, typically £$40 -60 a pop, gets expensive if you have a few HT's and usualy only RT Cables supported.
Modes covered; Icom Dstar, possibly the oldest VHF/UHF digimode available to hams is still as popular with the HAM comunity as it ever was. Whereas C4FM is a relative new comer that has good audio quality (arguably better than Dstar) but has the huge disadvantage of being a inherently fragmented system with proprietary "WIRES-X" granulated by default, each user having a room, and user ID. There is also an alternative system HAM run "YSF Servers" often associated with Hotspots to add to the mix.
so which one is better?
It depends on you really, lots of factors come into play from location (Repeater support/coverage) no point buying an Icom if you are surrounded by C4FM repeaters/AP's both radios offer a fabulous range of features like APRS and photo messaging etc. Then there is brand loyalty, if you started out with Yaesu then you are highly likley to stay with Yaesu and vice-versa, so go with what you feel most comfortable with. I always recommend getting into your local HAM toyshop and trying them before you buy. Read the manuals for both radios PRIOR to purchasing anything, these days we are so lucky to be able to have access to the documents whenever we feel the need to research a future purchase so explore Google, YouTube, and the user forums (take the latter with a pinch of salt, helps process the haters and keyboard warriors) but there are some realy friendly helpful people out there.
if you have any questions feel free to ask, I will try and answer them in the blog, bear in mind I get a lot of messages its not always easy for me to get to them all.