The

ICOM ICOM may refer to: * International Council of Museums * Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, a medical school in the United States * Icom Incorporated, radio equipment manufacturer * Industrial Common Ownership Movement (ICOM), a co-operative fe ...

IC-905 is a multimode VHF/

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

/ SHF portable

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

transceiver In radio communication, a transceiver is an electronic device which is a combination of a radio ''trans''mitter and a re''ceiver'', hence the name. It can both transmit and receive radio waves using an antenna, for communication purposes. The ...

. The radio has between 10 and 0.5 watts of transmitter output depending on the frequency selected. The radio was announced by ICOM on 22 August 2022 at the

Tokyo Ham Radio Fair Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital and most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is one of the most populous urban areas in the world. The Greater Tokyo Area, which ...

in Japan. The IC-905 has support for a wide variety of commonly used amateur radio modes including the

Japan Amateur Radio League The Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) (in Japanese, 日本アマチュア無線連盟) is a national non-profit organization for amateur radio enthusiasts in Japan. JARL was founded in 1926 by Robert Masayuki Hisamoto and Japanese radio communi ...

's digital voice mode DSTAR. The form factor of the control head for the IC-905 is similar to that of the IC-705 and includes its large screen and spectrum scope. With the radio unit being remotely controlled from a distance in order to reduce loss over long

coax cable Coaxial cable, or coax (pronounced ), is a type of electrical cable consisting of an inner conductor surrounded by a concentric conducting shield, with the two separated by a dielectric ( insulating material); many coaxial cables also have a ...

runs. This is an important adaptation for this radio system as losses increase with the frequency being used. The IC-905 uses a built in

GPS receiver A satellite navigation (satnav) device or GPS device is a device that uses satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS) or similar global navigation satellite systems (GNSS). A satnav device can determine the user's geographic coordinat ...

to stabilize its frequency and time base. It has been noted that the IC-905 has a wide range of frequencies but lacks the 222MHz and 902MHz amateur bands as these are only available in North America and not Japan. The unit supports up to four external antennas (one being for GPS reception) and has built in support for wired Ethernet, USB Type C and an

SD card Secure Digital (SD) is a proprietary, non-volatile, flash memory card format developed by the SD Association (SDA). Owing to their compact size, SD cards have been widely adopted in a variety of portable consumer electronics, including dig ...

reader. The addition of a USB connector allows users to connect their computers to the IC-905 for running digital data modes such as

PSK31 PSK31 or "Phase-shift keying, Phase Shift Keying, 31 Baud", also BPSK31 and QPSK31, is a popular computer-sound card-generated radioteletype mode, used primarily by amateur radio operators to conduct real-time keyboard-to-keyboard Synchronous co ...

, or

FT8 FT8 (short for Franke-Taylor design, 8-FSK modulation) is a frequency shift keying digital mode of radio communication used by some amateur radio operators worldwide. Following release on June 29, 2017, by its creators Joe Taylor, K1JT, and Ste ...

, the integration of Ethernet support will be a useful feature for mobile contesters.

Specifications

Specifications of the ICOM IC-905: * Frequency range: transmit: 144 – 5,600 MHz (amateur bands only) * Modes of emission: A1A ( CW), A3E ( AM), J3E ( LSB, USB), F3E (FM), * Output connectors:

N connector The N connector (also, type-N connector) is a threaded, weatherproof, medium-size RF connector used to join coaxial cables. It was one of the first connectors capable of carrying microwave-frequency signals, and was invented in the 1940s by P ...

144–1,300 MHz;

SMA SMA or S.M.A. may refer to: Places * American Samoa, ITU letter code * Santa Maria Airport (Azores) (IATA code) *San Miguel de Allende, Mexico People * Sergeant Major of the Army, U.S. * Sima (Chinese surname), or Sma * Joshua Falk, known as '' ...

2.4 and 5.6 GHz * Supply voltage: 13.8 VDC external * Output power: 10 watts 144–1,300 MHz; 2 watts 2.4 & 5.6 GHz; 500 milliwatts 10 GHz

References

{{Amateur radio topics, state=collapsed Amateur radio transceivers