Hi Scott > The most important difference between the IC-91AD and the IC-92AD is the > price: $524 vs. $696 MSRP the U.S. The street price of $400 for the IC-91AD > and $570 for the IC-92AD is a big difference, and made my choice very easy: I > chose the 91AD.
It'll be interesting how this pans out in the UK as the 91 + D-Star and the 92 are the same price here. I have an IC-91AD as I got it second hand off eBay. The GMSK put out by the 91 is considerably worse than that put out by the 92, but that's not a problem for most people. > If the IC-80AD is significantly less than the IC-91AD, say a street price of > $300 or less, it makes perfect sense to release this radio. Remember, Icom > isn't just trying to sell radios- it's trying to grow D-Star. I'm sure > they're thinking that a "budget-priced" D-Star HT will help grow the mode. If > this happens it's a very good thing for those of us interested in D-Star and > it's future viability as an amateur operating protocol. Absolutely, and it'll be interesting to see what the prices are here, if they're released of course. In these straightened times, a cheaper D-Star box is no bad thing. Even a software solution using a DV-Dongle and sound cards isn't a cheap option. > I certainly don't see a problem with the release of the IC-80AD and find it > kind of odd that some people seem to. I was just wondering where it fitted into the existing product line. The 91 and 92 don't have much between them, and so the 80 seemed to be an odd addition, given that the 92 isn't very old. > Scott, N9AA Jonathan G4KLX
