Over the years we have had the same two way radios from Icom but never have any blown up.
What were the radios that detonated in Lebanon?
The radios in question were Icom IC-V82’s – these were popular mono band handhelds more commonly sold for the Amateur Radio bands, back in 2004 when Icom Japan released them they were available as either a VHF Model or a UHF Model.
Icom continued the production of the radios up until 2014.
In the earlier years the Icom IC-V82 was supplied with a NI-MH battery pack, it was only in later years a LI-ON battery pack would be introduced by the Japanese firm.
Currently we are unsure of the pagers make and model that were detonated in Lebanon this week.
How did the radios explode?
By default we cannot see how they could have all detonated especially all at the exact same time, however after looking on a Chinese website we have found many Icom handheld walkie talkies that are clearly fakes of original Icom radios.
Lewis from Ringway Manchester has claimed the devices that blew up were triggered by explosives, however there is no official proof or report of this concept yet.
How safe are conventional radios ?
As long as you look after your handheld radio / pager / phone etc, ie by using a suitable case, official charger, checking for damage etc – basically common sense, the likelihood of you experiencing any real issues are minimum.