Specs & Ratings
Bottom Line
The ICOM-5100 is the mobile radio setup we will forever judge all other mobile radio setups against. In our opinion, nothing eclipses it, hence we have 3 around here at Real Radio Reviews. The only radio that might unseat it is the soon to be release ICOM 5200... but at half the price, the 5100 will always have it's place in ametuer radio!
Pros
- Large easy to read screen.
- 50w power output.
- Exceptional TX and RX quality.
- Fastest scan functionality of any radio we've ever utilized.
- Near repeater search feature makes this amazing for traveling to new areas, especially when combined with repeater-scores.app
- Temporary skip while scanning is a god send for when you don't want to have to stop scanning everytime a long winded conversation fires up on a repeater.
Cons
- Scope functionality isn't as intuitive as it could be.
- Some folks report issues with the screen fading when left in the sun for long periods of time, so be aware.
- Additional connection options for the head unit, along with being able to attach mic to head unit would be useful.
Who This Is For
The ID-5100 is great for any mobile user or light weight base station user who wants to be able to scan quickly, have exceptional TX and RX abilities, and not break the bank to get there. This radio also shines if you're the kind of person who ever travels outside of your standard area and want to try and reach folks on local repeaters, the ID-5100s nearby repeater search functionality makes it so there's no homework or planning needed for a trip, just go, and you'll be able to see all of the nearby repeaters!
Testing Notes
While we judge handheld radios on their functionality while out and about, we judge mobile radios for use in vehicles primarily. While this can be used as a light weight home base setup, it's primary intention is for use in a vehicle out and traveling. We also judge these radios on their ability to operate when used outside of the users primary area of travel.
Detailed Review
So the ID-5100's detached head unit makes it a breeze to install into any rig. Whether you want an easy to reverse install, or a a stealth flush mount install, the radio can do it all. Picture above is our install on a Ram 3500, and with a modest bit of disassembly and some line fishing, we were able to get the radio to look darn near factory in there. It's mounting location is also ultra convenient to the driver, making it far less distracting than the radio or even HVAC controls to operate!
The remote main unit fits conveniently into a lot of locations. We put ours below the passenger seat of our truck, and it tucked away nice and clean and out of sight. You could easily tuck this into a glovebox or passenger footwell.
Now one feature that really makes the ICOM stand out is it's nearby repeater search functionality. The ICOM ID-5100 GPS functionality will detect your location, and then with a downloaded list of repeaters you can see just how far away all of the repeaters are. Add in the repeater-scores.app data integration (just part of their CSV export for the radio, and you can literally see on your screen how likely a repeater is to be busy and what sort of things a repeater has going on for it!
Here's a great example of just what the Repeater-Scores.app CSV export makes visible to ID-5100 users. Here we've got a repeater in Portland, it's landmark is Skyline. It's in OR, it's got a score of 3, it's linked, and has both Echolink and Allstar, but doesn't have wide area coverage, nets, or anything else going for it. Just how could we determine all of that from the picture? Check out the repeater-scores.app documentation on the ID-5100 and see just how easy it is to use once you know what you're looking for!
Now we've talked about the ID-5100 for use in a mobile environment, but some folks choose to use these as a base station, or in our case as a portable base station. Here you can see a 3D printed base station setup we utilized to mount our ID-5100 to a 22ah lithium battery. This gives us days of RX and TX capability in a setup we can easily take with us to field days, camping trips, or just setup out in the shop. Do be aware though that antenna is not to be transmitted with on medium or high power due to it's proximity to the main unit.
Accessories we recommend
Check out Shred Jesse's 3d printable skeletonized and raised mounting bracket over at MakerWorld. It's a nice solid mount with either mounting tabs or not depending on your need. The radio is raised off the ground to help ensure adequate cooling and airflow.
The ICOM external speaker is a simple and must have addition to any ICOM 5100 setup. While there is a built in speaker to the ICOM-5100, it's a bit muddy and it's frequency response tends to leave it a bit less than clear. On the other hand the ICOM speaker linked here has crisp clear audio and can be mounted in a convenient to hear location.
If you're looking to do a clean install inside of your rig, you're likely going to need an extension for your microphone connection. This shielded Cat-6 cable let us get the microphone exactly where we wanted it and seems to be an essential part of clean install with the ICOM-6100
We've had great luck with the HYS brand here at RealRadioReviews, and the HYS mag mount dual band antenna has been no exception to that experience. It mounts well, it functions exceptionally well and we've got great TX and RX out of the antenna.
Final Verdict
The ICOM-5100 will be a hard mobile radio for any other mobile radio setup to beat. The ID-5100 combined with Repeater-scores.app makes it easy to quickly assess nearby towers while traveling outside of your normal area of transit. While there are other options such as connecting your radio via bluetooth to repeater book, then you need to scan repeater book for all of the possible repeaters and make determinations at a glance as to what is the busiest. Good luck doing that while driving... when by comparison it's a snap on the 5100! Simply put, they gave a radio great TX and RX strength and quality, great features, a big easy to work with screen... and then they added the most useful innovation to mobile radio use since scanning. You simply can't beat this radio.