Icom F1000D and F2000D IDAS Digital Radios

Digital radios are becoming more commonplace in the business radio arena. There are several reasons for this, not the least of which is price. As these radios become more economical to purchase, the move to digital becomes more practical. To move things along, Icom recently released a digital version of its F1000/F2000 series. Called the F1000D/F2000D Series, they start well below the price point of the other digital radios in the company's product line.

Icom touts their new F1000D/F2000D series as slim, compact and lightweight, and they are. Although slightly thicker and wider and, depending on the battery pack, about 20g heavier than the F1000/F2000, they still weigh in considerably lighter than many other radios.

Like the analog models, the F1000D/F2000D has a large 36mm, 800mW speaker. It also has the built-in motion sensor with Man Down and Lone Worker emergency functions. The two series of radios also share other features, such as the channel announcement function and IP67 water and dust protection.

The real difference between the F1000/F2000 and F1000D/F2000D is, of course, digital functionality. The "D" series supports IDAS™ digital conventional and Type-D single-site trunking. The digital and analog modes can be programmed per channel. According to Icom, IDAS™ mode utilizes 4-level FSK modulation and the NXDN™ common air interface for true 6.25kHz spectrum efficiency. Programmable IDAS features include:

• PTT ID (TX)
• Individual/group calls
• Radio check (RX)
• Stun/Kill/Revive (RX)
• Remote monitor (RX)
• Emergency (TX)
• Call alert (RX)
• Digital voice scrambler (15-bit)
• Status Call (Power ON/OFF status and GPS request)
• Voting scan for multi-site conventional operation

At the time of this article only the base models are available. The F1000D is the 136-174MHz VHF version and the F2000D operates on 400-470MHz UHF.

Accessories

The F1000D/F2000D will accept almost all of the same accessories as the standard F1000/F2000 series radios, including earpieces, headsets, speaker microphones, antennas, the belt clip, power supply cable, multi-charger, and even the battery packs. The F1000D/F2000D will take the BP-278 and BP-279 as well as its own BP-280 battery pack.

One of the advantages of digital radios over their analog counterparts is their considerably lower rate of power consumption, and the F1000D/F2000D is no exception. the chart below instantly puts it all into perspective. Note: Data is based on 5:5:90 operation (TX:RX:Standy) with the power save function on.

As for what comes in the package, the Icom IC-F1000D / IC-F2000D has the basic essentials, including a Li-ion battery pack, belt clip and a removable antenna. It also comes with a two year warranty from Icom. The F1000D/F2000D are available from Buy Two Way Radios.