Since my Icom ID-5200 arrived this week, I have had the base unit side on and magnets on the back of the head unit to connect the two pieces of hardware so I could place the radio on the shelf a use it.
As I said in an earlier post, there’s no out-of-the-box bracket for the head unit so it can sit on a desk or shelf, except for a small one (MBA-20) to attach the head unit to a dashboard or wall via screws or doubled sided tape and then by magnets to the head unit. Icom apparently has some brackets coming for desktop/shelves, but not until the end of the year (2026).
In the meantime, I noticed one YouTuber (MOFXB) had the head unit mounted on a small tripod as it has a 1/4 screw socket on the back. That got me thinking about a temporary solution (until Icom ships the purpose made brackets – see links below).
I did some Amazon-Fu and looked at goosenecks and microphone arms. I landed on this “SmallRig Clamp w/ 1/4″ and 3/8″ Thread and 9.5 Inches Adjustable Friction Power Articulating Magic Arm”. I chose this as it could fit onto the shelving that my electronics are on. It’s great, once in place. It can be a bit fiddly to get right. It’s metal, solid, weighty and good quality.
On Amazon Australia it was AUD25, which is about USD17. It’s cheaper on AliExpress.
The unit also comes with a very long cable to connect the head unit to the base. Icom doesn’t separately sell short RJ12 (six-wire) cables. It has them and they ship with the MBA-4 bracket for the IC-2730A. It doesn’t, however, look like the short cable will ship with the soon to come MBF-11 bracket or MBA-19 stand for the ID-5200.
Doing some more Google-Fu, I found some short (six-inch) RJ12 leads (be careful not to get RJ11 four-wire cables). They’re called “NECABLES 2 Pack 6 Inch Short RJ12 Cable” and they’re on Amazon USA . You get two for just over USD7.
24 September 2026