Sounds Sweet Speaker *Product Review*
May 3, 2009 by Darren
Those who know me well will know that one of my fascinations with radio communications is with speakers, headphones and other DX-cessories which claim to facilitate good RX. Perhaps it’s just that I’ve been to too many heavy metal rock concerts in my time and have given the ear drums a bit of a hammering, but nowadays anything that claims to provide clean, crisp, hiss free audio not only grabs my attention ‘like a topless sunbaker would on an IOTA DXpedition’ but also my hard earned cash!
In the past, I’ve reviewed products such as the fantastic Nes 10 and noise eliminating speakers by Bhi and offered some positive comments on their performance too, but about a month ago I picked up a second hand speaker on eHAM which is marketed under the quirky name: ‘Sounds Sweet Speaker’. I agree the name sounds a bit cheap and nasty but I’d read some favourable reviews on this unit in my net travels and hence been on the look out for one on any of the common sites which flog off pre-loved radio gear ever since.
Described as the “Ultimate SSB Speaker” by some radio ops, the Sounds Sweet Speaker is a dense, solid, tongue and groove construction, with a tuned port and bass reflex speakers said to have been for optimised for radio communications. In the search for clearer and more intelligible sound than the speakers built in to radios can provide, many DXers have tried basic MP3 headphones, hi-fi or computer speakers. These options are always a compromise though because their tweeters are designed for higher frequencies than are present in the voice audio energy coming from your radio so it’s always a case of “keep looking”.
Rather than hook up the speaker to my main rig (TS2000) to see if the hype surrounding this unit was true, I rigged it up with an old Pearce Simpson Super Bengal MK2 base CB – which had been a bit susceptible to electrical interference in the past – by connecting the unit directly to the transceiver’s external speaker jack. Simple!
The results were immediately apparent with the Bengal test, with increased RX intelligibility which reproduced only the communications voice coming from SSB. In fact, they appeared to have the useful and satisfying bass information missing from some of the smaller communications and built-in radio speakers I have used in the past, but without the hiss and mud produced by speakers designed for stereo use. With skip pouring in from all 43 Division states and territories, fatiguing transistor thermal noise and vacuum tube hiss was eliminated and interestingly this was done without unnecessary equalizers and active stages.
Assembled and finished in 2 Division and weighing in at just under 6 kg, Sounds Sweet Speakers are obviously intended for base station use with their 12″ high x 10″ wide x 10″ deep footprint and are quite a meaty construction compared to some other DSP style prototypes I have in the shack as well. This, together with the tuned port and specialised dual cone acoustic suspension driver, produce bass response to the lower end of human voice and no lower.
In conclusion, this Sounds Sweet speaker provided clearer, more natural sounding, and fatigue free audio than many other types of speakers I have used. After testing the unit for a period of approximately 6 hours, it’s safe to say that they let you dig out the weak signals and really enjoy the strong ones with an added bass quality that adds tremendous enjoyment to good openings!
If you would like to purchase one of these hot speakers for the shack, the odd one pops up on eBay every now and then. Or you can also buy one new at around $119US by clicking on the appropriate links at http://www.soundssweet.com/
Any comments on this speaker by existing owners are most welcome.
73 de Darren 43DA010V10-06088 Barjan NC100 ‘Noise Chopper’
April 10, 2009 by Darren
Since high voltage power lines went up near my home QTH in Brisbane a while ago, I’d been searching for something to help lessen the noise emanating through the speaker of my back up radio. Having owned numerous noise limiting gadgets in the past (bhi headphones, DSP speakers etc.) but sold them in order to pay for ‘newer’ gadgets, I wanted something fresh and untried; something well priced yet respected in the Citizens Band or Ham worlds.
After a few Google searches, I stumbled across mention of a handy little product named a ‘Noise Chopper’ and, after having a long chuckle about the name, decided to order one across from Copper Electronics in the States at just under $50 AUS and give it a whirl.
After about 10 days delay, a V10-06088 Barjan NC100 Noise Chopper arrived on my doorstep, well packaged by International standards and ready to greet the outstretched hands of my back up or hobby rig, a Uniden Washington base cb radio in mint condition.
Immediately, I went about familiarising myself with the manual and after a few minutes installed the lustrous black unit in-line between the Washington and my 6 element duel driven TE-6 yagi. Also known as the ‘Noise Clipper’, the product has 3 levels of setting… The first is OFF for normal operations, the second is ‘MIN’ which eliminated minor interference from my flat screen computer and the third ‘MAX’ took the edge off interference from the high voltage powerlines I mentioned earlier. This was consistent with what the product advertising claimed to do which was to reduce noise received at the input of the radio and remove source noises which are radiated through the antenna.
In conclusion, I’ve been using the product for just over two weeks and can happily say that the V10-06088 Barjan NC100 ‘Noise Chopper’ allows me to get more signal without noise. Although it didn’t eliminate all interference from the power lines as I suspected it wouldn’t, nor did it perform as well as any of the bhi noise cancelling products available to me in the shack, it did reduce the noise from an S-7 to an S-4 and that could mean a world of difference when it comes to dusting off the cobwebs and working on the citizens band frequencies when the band hits up later in the year. I can also see no reason why it wouldn’t be effective used with an older ham transceiver with missing the modern DSP functions.
PRODUCT FEATURES
- MIN / MAX / OFF Switch
- Connects In-Line
SPECIFICATIONS
- Frequency Range: 1.5-30 MHz
- Connectors: SO-239 UHF Female
- Maximum Power Input: 50 Watts
- 0-30 dB Attenuation
- Impedance: 50 ohms
*Product Review* bhi NES-5 Noise Eliminating Speaker
March 28, 2009 by Darren
The NES 5 Noise Eliminating Extension Speaker by bhi Ltd UK is a loudspeaker with built-in DSP filter. Having owned a NES 10-2 model for some time, I was interested to see how the less expensive ‘little brother’ would stack up in the noise cancelling stakes when I saw one for sale ‘as new’ at a recent Ham fest in VK2.
As you’re probably aware of by now, I’ve loved everything that has hit my radio shack bench top in the past from noise cancelling specialists bhi Ltd and I was convinced that this would be no different.
In previous product reviews for DA-RC I’ve made reference to the fact that my QTH is within 1000m of gigantic telecommunications towers which stand like a row of giant grey dominoes against the horizon. I’ve also complained that these steel monstrosities have been the cause of much hobby angst ever since I moved here from the Western Torres Strait Islands (OC-138) a few years back. Nothing’s changed either.
Each day in the first few months, for instance, was spent dreaming of ways to prevail over this great burden on my hobby…with S-7 static ruining any chance of working weak stations on any band.
More often than not, after lengthy periods working DX (or more correctly in today’s conditions ‘chasing dx’) I was pretty wiped out due to the harsh listening conditions I had to endure, particularly if the NES 10-2 switch was in the OFF position. Some days, for instance, I walked away from the shack with my ears ringing and a bloody great big headache – all because of the white noise and static crashes emanating from my Kenwood TS-2000’s chassis top speaker.
Just like its big brother the NES 10-2, the moment I’d connected the NES 5 model for work on HF frequencies and others where I spend the majority of my listening time, the clarity and intelligibility of my RX audio was radically enhanced.
The S-6 static, in fact, dropped to an S-4 which is an amazing 33.3% reduction, thus greatly improving the signal to noise ratio. Straight away I was able to make more contacts and more contacts were easier on the ears as well. I challenge anyone to name any other non-bhi product that would achieve that same result!
What I concluded was that these loudspeakers are ideal for HF operations such as those on 26-27-28 MHz frequencies, to lessen static and background clatter caused by plasma televisions, refrigerators, car engines and other electronics devices. Did I mention telecommunications towers? Well them too! Unfortunately, it doesn’t reduce background noise created by kids or the YL however I am yet to find one on the market which does.
In contrast to the NES 10-2 version donated by bhi Ltd UK for this year’s Oceania Contest, this model comes with the DSP filter at a fixed level. It comes with a two metre audio lead with a 3.5 mm mini plug (mono) and a DC cable too. The supplied mounting bracket is helpful for installation in a car or at home and I was fortunate in that the original mounting bracket also came with this second-hand purchase.
In conclusion, the NES 5 Noise Eliminating Extension Speaker is recommended for use in many applications where extreme background noise and interference mean that you cannot clearly hear what is being said. It’s just the thing for improving SSB and FM/AM use too!
Though not tested on this occasion, suitable applications where the speakers have proven to be of great benefit to the user include radio amateur base stations, citizens band radio, transport base stations, two-way radios, HF radios, marine communications, scanners, emergency vehicles, telephone extension speakers, taxi base stations and hands-free car kits.
The NES 5 Noise Eliminating Extension Speaker normally retails for around £80.00 or around $150 AUS but unfortunately the bhi Ltd UK website says that they are currently out of stock. If you’re still keen to add a noise cancelling product to the shack, however, and can’t get one of these little gems second hand, then I recommend the NES 10-2 DSP Speaker MKII, a pair of noise cancelling headphones or one of the ANEM Noise Cancelling Modules. They will well and truly do the job!
Just check out the bhi website at http://www.bhi-ltd.co.uk/ . If you can leave the site without buying something for the shack then you’re a better man than me.
73 de Darren 43DA010/001Yupiteru MVT-9000
November 30, 2008 by Darren
I first laid eyes on a Yupi scanner during a stay in Sydney with a radio mate in 2001 who had an impressive little MVT-7300EU. After that, I set my sights on getting one, and not long after, purchased an MVT-9000 for $750 from Syncro Communications – just before Jos and Bev brought the company over to Queensland from Lesmurdie in Western Australia.
In addition to its great construction, display and keypad, the Yupiteru MVT-9000 does about everything you would ever want from a scanner and doesn’t skip a beat. Like the old MVT-7100 I used to own, its big black brother has exceptionally clear and crisp audio – especially through an external SP-23 Kenwood speaker which gives it added volume.
Following a recent comparison I carried out with other scanners thanks to the help of a few mates here in Brisvegas, I found that the Yupi MVT-9000 is much more sensitive than some of the Yaesu and Alinco types. While the 9000’s SSB reception is quite good, the VR500 has SSB audio like pelting rain on a tin roof, firmware issues and so much intermod that I returned it to my mate Kev’s house down the road the very next day. The Alinco ate batteries faster than a professional pie eater let loose in a bakery, scanned at a slow 5-7 channels/sec, and had a very frustrating user interface. The MVT-9000, on the other hand, scans at about 30 Ch/sec which is quite fast, and, once you get used to it, has a very easy programming/ operating scheme that even the most cognitively challenged communications enthusiast could navigate round.
One of my favourite aspects of the MVT-9000 is the super flexible scan and search abilities. At last count, I have about 500 channels programmed on my Yupi out of the 1000 available, and all the 20 search ranges set up. These are linkable, like the memory channel banks, and it’s very convenient to have when you’re trying to hunt something down.
If you’re keen to get into the world of scanning and want a product that does the job and doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg, then I would certainly recommend picking up a Yupiteru scanner from Syncro Communications. A quick visit to the Syncro website’s product directory, their excellent range of Yupiteru scanners and on-line shop will have you scanning air, military, police and other frequencies in a just a few days.
73 de Darren
43DA010/001
NEIM1031 Noise Eliminating In-Line Module
November 9, 2008 by Darren
If you’re looking to perk up the quality of your RX and don’t have the cash to throw at a new transceiver with the marvel of Digital Signal Processing (DSP), then this next wonder gadget may be for you. Clearly, the major benefit of using any DSP unit is that you don’t have to put up with the harsh noise that can often dominate 27 MHz and render 11m DXing useless. Enter the NEIM1031 which incorporates the latest DSP technology to remove unwanted background noise and interference from speech, and you’re entering into a DX-citing new world of RX!
A while ago for Delta-Alfa, I reviewed the NES10-2 Noise Eliminating Speaker and also the terrific Noise Cancelling Headphones by Heil, but this next DSP product, for my part, ranks on the same stage. The NEIM1031 is what’s called an ‘In-Line module’ and from all reports was developed by manufacturer bhi as a response to DXer feedback about the NES 10-2. Evidently, some radio shack operatives indicated that they would like an inline unit without a speaker, not as a surrogate, but as an alternative profile.
Besides the improvement to RX and being able to pull in weak signals, another sizeable attraction for me was that it can be fitted to an existing speaker. This allows the fashion conscious DXer to stick with some of the more stylish speaker systems on the market rather than trade them in for a smaller, less sophisticated looking type with DSP. The NEIM1301 module straight from the External Speaker socket, for example, worked effectively with my preferred Kenwood SP-23, which I would be hesitant to exchange on a full time basis as it compliments my TS2000 so well.
At just 170 x 85 x 34 mm, the NEIM1031 was very easy to set up with my existing speaker and begin operation. In fact, once power and audio leads were connected, including my Heil ‘Quiet’ headphones into the NEIM1031’s headphone socket, it was all systems go to start testing my new setup on some weak signals from other 43 Division states and territories.
As you would hope, noise cancellation can be switched ON and OFF on the unit which provides some flexibility in use. The input audio level can also be adjusted and a green LED indicates the input audio level is okay while a red LED illuminates if the level is too high. With an eye on the LED’s, you can also adjust the audio input control. Additionally, there is a control for audio output as well to set the volume for up to 2.5 Watts RMS into 8 Ohms. That is stacks for most users by the way, but external amplification can be added post-bhi if you are greedy, lol.
The extent of noise cancellation by the NEIM1031 is inhibited by a small rotary BCD switch. Here, minimum noise cancellation is at position ‘0′ while ‘7′ is the maximum. As you would expect, the level of noise cancellation is adjustable too while the unit is in use, nevertheless this is still a big attraction. Essentially, how much noise cancellation you use is dependent of the operator, type and level of signal and amount of noise present on the band.
When noise cancellation is set at ‘7′ almost all noise is removed although the audio takes on a rather robotic sound when set at this level. Normally you would use such high processing for the most severely noise effected signals only or to draw out that rare DXpedition station which hovers at the back of the box amidst a wall of Indonesian fishing boat TX.
It most cases I use a setting of 3-5, however this is entirely subjective and it is my thinking that every user will choose a level that suits them and their listening needs best. Needless to say that some would favour no noise and accept some audio degradation, while others will have best audio and accept some noise.
This small rectangular unit is powered from an external DC plug pack, which is not supplied, with the acceptable input voltage range from 12-24 volts. The audio in and out is connected either via a pair of RCA or 3.5mm jacks at one end of the case. On the NES10-2 which I dealt with a few months ago, a dual in-line switch was used to adjust the degree of noise elimination whereas a rotatory switch performs the same adjustment on the NEIM1031. It’s a trivial line of reasoning but a high profile knob would be better in my estimation.
One concern I had with the module was with the size of the rotary switch. The numbers are tiny and require a microscope to see (almost!), although there is no real need to see them when all you care about it is the quality of the audio. The NEIM1031 does come with optional extras which include a horizontal label and a mounting stand which firmly holds the unit during operation and I would recommend these also.
If you are interested in adding DSP to your communications then the distributor for bhi in 43 Division is Andrews Communications in Sydney. Occasionally, a product such as the NEIM1031, with its greatly improved signal to noise ratio, pops up on VK Ham but due to the quality of the product and their effect on shack operations don’t hold your breath on anyone offloading one until something better hits the market.
73 de Darren
Diamond DMAX40E Preamplifier
November 9, 2008 by Darren
Every time I visit 43DA124 John I never leave empty handed. Sometimes it’s import radio magazines, antennas, new QSL cards, even radios, but last time it was a little known DMAX40E. Manufactured by Diamond and distributed in Australia by both Andrews Communications and Strictly Ham, the DMAX40E is a wide band preamplifier receiving from 0.5 – 1500MHz. After three nights of experimenting in the shack, the following is what I think about this little unit…
Let me start by saying that this preamp is for RX only and cannot be used for amplifying TX signals or on the same feedline of a transmitting station, something John was terribly disappointed about when the package arrived on his doorstep and the WARNING message was spied. The well packed box came with the preamp itself, as well as a 13.8v power lead, cigarette lighter power lead, four feet (cushions), magic tape and of course instructions.
My initial test was placing it in line with my scanner, a Realistic Pro 2006, connected to a VHF UHF discone antenna at 10m. As the scanner does not have a signal meter, my comparison was with the quality/ readability/clarity/volume of modulation only but having a background in studio sound engineering has gifted me with a pretty good ear for audio characteristics.
Firstly, the Southport Coast Guard tower (VMR 440) is approximately 80 kilometres away from my location and gives weather reports every hour throughout the day. Usually, I have a scratchy copy on their transmissions although it is mostly understandable. With the Diamond DMAX40E Preamplifier in line, I turned the gain control and the sign became a very strong 100% copy. Straight away I was surprised at how well it worked!
Scanning through the frequencies on my RP2006, I started to copy stations that I had never heard before. The Gold Coast Airport, approaching aircraft, and the Coolangatta Fire and Ambulance Service just to name a few, started appearing through my external speakers and this came as quite a surprise. What I found was that the Diamond DMAX40E Preamplifier improved my listening radius by about 40 to 60 kilometres from my location in one of the southern suburbs of Brisbane.
In my opinion, the preamplifier would work well in a car, especially for people living on the outer reaches of the commercial radio stations or those living in rural or outback areas of Australia with limited coverage of commercial radio transmissions. Like with scanning, no doubt, connect one of these units up to your car radio or stereo and suddenly you will have more stations to choose from!
In conclusion, I was very impressed with this little unit and was glad to have loaned it from John. I have owned other preamplifiers over the years which claim much but deliver little however this Diamond DMAX40E unit works particularly well. For the money, it is an asset in the shack or car and will bring many more hours of listening variety for scanning, SWL or personal radio use.
73 de Darren, 43DA010
Icom R1500 Review
November 6, 2008 by Darren
Specifications
The Icom IC-R1500 remote head/PC control DC – daylight receiver is one of four models currently available from Icom, a well known and much respected electronics manufacturer in Japan. Many amateur radio operators swear by Icom gear and my previous experience with Icom equipment has included the R5 and R20 handheld scanners, the V82 amateur 2m handheld and IC-P7A 2/70 mini handheld as well as the monster R8500 wideband receiver.
All of my previous experiences with Icom have been very enjoyable and about the only thing I can say is that their gear is very different from your average Uniden or Radio Shack scanner and so if your use to that sort of equipment then be prepared for a fairly steep learning curve with the R1500.
The R1500 has some very impressive specs/features, some of these include:
- 10 kHz-3300MHz range
- 2600 channels per file (1000 w/R1500)
- Scan rate of 60 channels per second
- 10, 20, 50, 100, 500Hz; 1, 2.5, 5, 6.25, 8.33, 9, 10, 12.5, 15, 20, 25, 30, 50, 100, 125, 150, 200, 500 kHz; 1MHz steps
- AM, WFM, FM, LSB, USB and CW
- CTCSS/DCS decode
- Multi-channel monitor
- Recording operation
- Band scope
- Signal meter
- Attenuator
- Narrow/wide filters
- Noise blanker (NB)
- Automatic notch filter (ANF) (optional)
- Noise Reduction (NR) (optional)
- Voice squelch control (VSC)
- AFC
- AGC
- Priority watch
- Auto store
- Frequency offset (duplex feature)
- 6-character alpha-tag (On remote head)
- 50 search limits
- Import / export CSV files
What you get out of the box…
* Icom R 1500 unit – this is quite large but lighter then what it looks, and seems to be very well built. It has the following connections:
- BNC aerial connection
- Ground Connection
- 12V DC in PACKET connection
- Remote controller
- USB Connection
- External Speaker
* 12 V DC power supply – this is quite small and seems to work fine.
* USB Cable – this is quite short and Icom don’t recommend the use of other USB cables, I have tested it with a good quality 20M USB cable and it still seemed to work ok. This might be a good option for somebody who wants to mount the R1500 unit away from the computer and use a shorter coax cable for less signal loss, maybe in a roof or somewhere like that.
* Test aerial – This is a telescopic whip on with a base that has double sided tape and a few meters of coax, I used it for a while and seemed to work ok but you really need to use an external aerial to get the most from it.
* Software / driver CD – This has the drivers and the Icom software. The software in general is good but a few of the features seem to not quite work as they should, the scope feature seems to cause the radio to drop its audio and the record feature does not work at all, if these are issues with the software or I have not got them setup right I don’t know.
* Remote Head – To me this is the best thing about the radio and works very well with it. Not all the features that you can use via the PC are supported on the remote head but there are enough to keep you busy for quite a while.
PC Use
The first step to getting the R1500 working with a PC is to install the software and driver that comes on the enclosed CD, this is a simple process for anybody who has ever installed software before and only takes a couple of seconds to install.
When you connect up the R1500 to the computer (in my case a laptop) using the USB cable you are asked which port it is on, once you set this you are away and can explore the software and the many features it offer.
The R1500 software seems to work very well and has a lot of features.
I have programmed in the 360 channels I normally have in all my radios, one thing is that Icom have finally got the software right this time as far as programming goes, you can now import/export your files in CSV format so it is a simple copy / paste job, unlike the software for the R20 which you had to manually type in everything.
Each bank can have 99 channels but you can finally have multi-bank scanning which makes it great for people like me with heaps of channels they want to scan.
My normal test of scanning my 360 VHF / UHF channels has shown that not a single channel has had any issues at all with lockups or rubbish from my laptop getting on to the radio, if only I could say the same for my 396T which has quite a few issues when used near my laptop, especially in the UHF band between 470MHz and 490MHz.
I have also run a search of the following ranges to see if I get any problems with lock ups, here’s the results using the internal test aerial.
- 70MHz – 86MHz – 3
- 118MHz – 136MHz – 1
- 144MHz – 174MHz – 3
- 406MHz – 512MHz – 14
As you can see above it does lock up on some channels, thankfully none of them carry traffic I want to listen to so I am not fussed about it. The UHF channels above where it locked up were around the 408 MHz area and the 470-490 MHz area.
One of the best features I have found is the 25 channel multi mode monitor; basically it allows you to program 25 channels and watch on the screen as they become active, you then simply click on the active channel and you hear the audio, I think I am going to get a heap of use out of this feature, I was using it last night for a while and it was really good to be able to see what channels were active and simply click on them and hear the audio.
I tried a little bit of HF using the laptop to control it but I was getting too much RFI from my laptop to make it worth listening.
Remote Head Use
The remote head works very well and that’s how I use it most of the time, as it has a 3.5m cord so I can leave the main body of the R1500 beside my bed and just move the head around depending on where I am sitting.
Setting up the R1500 in my car, which required the purchase of a $20 cable to power it and taking it to a hill top in Launceston really showed what a versatile receiver this is.
I setup at Free Landers lookout in Riverside. I decided on that spot as it is line of sight to Mt Barrow, Abel’s Hill, West Launceston and the FM station in riverside so it is a fairly tough spot for radios, my 396T performs worse up there then even on the top of Mt Barrow with all the high power stuff a only
few hundred meters away.
Running my first test of scanning my 360 VHF / UHF channels I have programmed in to the R1500 with the mobile aerial didn’t show any where near as many problems as I was expecting or what the 396T has up there with even it’s normal aerial let along on the external one. I only found 4 channels with problems and they were not any ones I really listen to that much.
Searching each of the following bands with the mobile aerial showed the following:
- 70-86MHz – 5 channels with broadcast band audio/lock ups
- 118-136MHz – 0 problems (VERY surprising)
- 144-174MHz – 4 channels with mainly 7NT (91.7MHz) audio
- 406-450MHz – 12 channels, mostly between 411-414 with TV audio
- 462-512MHz – 14 channels with TV audio, around 488MHz, 497MHz and
503MHz - 865-870MHz – 9 EDACS control channels and 6 channels with broadcast audio between 867.8 and 868.5625MHz
So overall it seems to work quite well and I am very happy with it. I also had a bit of a listen to HF with about 20m of wire hanging between my car and a tree up there and it seemed to work ok, I did notice some broadcast band signals between 2MHz and 30Mhz but I guess given where I was that is not really unexpected.
I have been using it at home this afternoon and running it side by side with the 396T scanning the same VHF / UHF channels (no trunking) shows it’s scan speed is around 40 channels a second and that I am picking up so much more then the 396T does.
Good Points
- Remote head is great and works really well
- Wide Band coverage
- Fast scan / search speed (around 40-50 steps/channels per second)
- Bank linking actually works
- AFC (see how far off people radios are on UHF CB)
- Voice Scan – Gets rid of the annoying EDACS beeps and is set per channel
- 50 search banks
- Many other things I have not even tried yet
- Great Audio
- Multi-channel monitor (see 25 channels at once)
Bad Points
- Has some small issues with broadcast audio (AM and FM bands) on other channels
- Only 6 character alpha tags on remote heads
- Manually adding a channel on the remote head is easy once you have done it a few time but is very slow
Overall Comments
This radio was purchased as my do it all radio and has to last me a few years so I was looking for the best radio that I could afford, I think I have found it.
One strange thing I have noticed is that you have two totally different sets of memory, one when you are using a pc / laptop to control it and another when using the remote head, when using the different control methods you can only access the memory for that mode, this means you have to keep two different memory sets updated with information if you want to change info or add new stuff.
When you connect up the USB cable you can read / write the “internal” memory that is used with the remote head and make changes but you can’t scan the channels, only the ones in the pc / laptop file.
So over all I am quite happy with it. Icom seem to have taken the best features of the r8500 and the R20 and put them all together in to this package. The software works very well and I can’t find anything I don’t like about it so far, it is full of options and it will take me quite a while to come to terms with it all.
Sure it is not quite to the same level as an AOR 5000 type radio (but it is close) and some people might not like the idea of having a radio that needs a pc to use some of the features but to do most things you can use the remote head. I really do think that I have finally found a radio that suits my needs. The VHF /UHF performance is great for my needs and is better then my Uniden 396T.
I have not had much of a chance to use HF on it yet but having a bit of a listen to some HF channels this morning has shown it is capable of picking them up fairly well, 8867KHz and 5643KHz are two I have been getting very well.
Over all I am very impressed with it and it will be my main rig for quite a long time, at least until the R3000 comes out…
Review written by Paul, June 2007
www.scaningtasmania.org
www.geocities.com/paulgblundell
