While we recommend starting your operating experience with analog, lots of hams want to buy a radio that will grow with them, so we’ll give our picks for a top radio in each of the three most popular digital formats. We’ll touch on Fusion and DMR shortly, but let’s start with D-STAR and the Icom ID-52.
Icom has been focused on D-STAR for more than a decade and they continue to build out their radios as features come available.
The ID-52 is loaded with options, and you can find them on sale for less than $600. It compares well with the Baofeng and Yaseu in analog features. It also adds a broader receiver range, bringing in the civil aviation band and some mil-com aviation frequencies. It still focuses its transmit on 2 Meter and 70 centimeter which are the most popular frequencies for D-STAR repeaters.
To get started on D-STAR the radio features something called DR mode. This feature lets you download a GPS searchable list of repeaters into your radio, which is separate from its 1,000 memory slots. With DR mode you can select a repeater from the list, or choose “near repeater” to pick the closest options. The DR mode works on both FM and D-STAR repeaters, making it a dream to program.
The ID-52 has a broad set of features you would expect from a more expensive handheld, including a nice big color screen; Bluetooth functions that add the ability to import and transmit photos over D-STAR, onboard recording of your transmissions, and it is all programmed with a standard Micro USB cable to switchable Micro SD card memory. Icom offers plenty of accessories as well.
This top of the line D-STAR radio would make an excellent choice if that digital mode is where you want to focus. Our honorable mention here is the Kenwood TH-D74A. It’s gone out of production but you can still find it on auction sites. It’s the only radio we know that does D-STAR with DR mode and APRS in one rig, and it also has coverage on the 1.25 Meter Ham band.
