icom ic-rx7

[pdfdems286]

looking for opinion's of this newer portable receiver. well after the alinco dj-x2000 debacle <piece o' doodie>. i said i would never buy another communication's receiver again. keeping in mind that i neither qualify or want to join mensa,what do you guy's think of this thing ?. is it easy to use ?. tanks's again !.

[tanger32au]

Here is a review I wrote for the RX7 a couple of months ago.
Since this I have sold it and replaced it with a Icom R20, both are good radios and MUCH better then the DJ-X2000.

Icom RX7 review – Paul Blundell (www.scanningtasmania.org)

This is my review of the Icom RX7 wideband handheld receiver which is Icom’s latest handheld receiver to hit the market.
When I first started reading about it a few months ago I was interested to read that Icom had finally fixed some of the issues that had bugged me with previous radios I had owned from them such as the R5, R20 and R1500 which were all good radios but lacked some of the basic features I felt a wideband receiver should have such as a decent scan / search speed, easy bank linking for scanning and searching, simple memory bank / channel management and an easy to understand user interface.

My reason for buying the RX7 was twofold, first I was looking for a good handheld radio that had a proper VFO, decent scan / search speed and was small in size; the second reason was that I just love new toys and after a less then happy time with the Yaesu VR500 I was hoping the RX7 would be a radio I would be happy with.

This review is not “technical” but simply some comments and other things I have noticed about it and how it works for me, I am not trying to sell it to you or tell you not to buy one but simply share what I have found and like / dislike about it.

The first thing you notice about the RX7 when you see it is that it is white on the front and grey on the back and sides, this makes it stand out from other scanners that are normally black or grey, the size of it is fairly small given it has a good size display and a full keypad, as it is so slim it can slip in to a pocket easily.

Using the radio in VFO mode has shown it to work very well, frequencies can be typed from the keypad or changed via the top VFO knob, things like turning steps, mode and other options are set from a menu which helps keep the keypad and display simple to use and understand, please take note that this radio is like most things these days and menu driven with many different options and levels depending what you are trying to do, even for somebody like me who works in IT technical support and has had a number of radios over years it took me some time to get used to this way of doing things, the manual explains it fairly well but the best way to learn is to play around with the radio and try new things.

The single biggest change from other Icom radios and most scanners in general is the way the memory is set out, think of it like the way the Uniden 396T/996T is done, add some extra steps / options and that is about the level this is at. Instead of banks you have Category’s Groups and Channels. Here is a quick rundown on how I have mine programmed which will help make it easier to understand.
First you have a Category (000 services in my case) which you setup, then you make a Group (TAS Fire) and inside this you add the frequencies (79.0375MHz as an example) with an alpha tag, CTCSS tone, Mode, Turning step, ATT, stop beep and VSC settings if you want.
Here is how I have mine setup:
000 SERVICES
- TAS FIRE
- AMBULANCE
- SES

AIRPORT
- ATC
- BUSINESS AIRBAND

UHF CB
- UHF CB

2WAY GENERAL
- RADIO

As you can see above every category must have at least 1 group under it but you can have up to 26 categories each with 100 groups and each group can have 100 channels so that gives you lots of choices as far as how to have your memories setup. Using my setup above I can scan all the categories, 1 category or a mix, I can even just scan the TAS FIRE group if I want to, for somebody like me who likes to listen to everything but also at times narrow down to a single group of users this setup works well.
The only issue I have found is that as you had to add the frequencies to the right category / group as you program them it slows down the process a bit but I think it is well worth it for the flexibility you get from having it setup like this.

After programming a couple of hundred frequencies in and scanning them for a few hours I can report I have found no issues with lock up or overload even from my location which is close to the West Launceston radio towers, line of sight to Mt Barrow and close to the CBD; I am planning on testing it at Freeland’s lookout soon which will see how it performs in a “dirty” RF location. The scan speed seems to be in excess of 50 channels per second which is a great improvement on previous Icom radios.

Searching of frequency ranges is well supported, Icom have programmed some common one’s for you but you can also edit your own and link these which has always been something I have had issues with on Icom radios, it is good to see this has now been fixed and works really well, the search speed seems to be around 50 steps a second for 25KHz steps in the UHF band which is also very nice.
Earlier today I did some testing of the search auto write which is a feature I have used quite a bit in the past on Uniden radios and I can report this also works well which is a first for me to get working on an Icom radio.

Battery life is good from the 1100mAh battery and as I purchased the optional battery case for 3 AA cells this has improved it even more.

Overall I am very happy with the RX7 and it is a very nice radio which Icom have made more like a normal “scanner” but also with the VFO and other “advanced” features.
I am very pleased with this radio and if you don’t need trunking or APCO25 digital then this is the radio to get.

Here are some good / bad points I have found with it:
Pros:
+ Fast scan / search speed.
+ Very nice clear audio from both the speaker / ear phones even if it is a little quiet at times.
+ Good physical size and fits well in a pocket.
+ Memory / search linking that works.
+ Well designed memory layout if hard to understand at first.
+ It seems quite sensitive and does not overload / have many birdies like some other radios I have used.
+ Major fun factor and many options to play around with.

Cons:
- Delay is set on a radio wide basis not per channel which is a pain.
- The CTCSS tone decode feature is painful to setup and VERY slow to decode the correct tone.
- The keypad does not have a back light like the display so night time use is hard until you learn all the keys by touch.
- Voice squelch seems to work well but does cut off the first bit of each over while it checks if the signal is voice and it should pass it to the speaker.

[Air490]

The RX7 is easy to use, not as easy as the Unidens, but still better than most Icom receivers. I think it is a great little receiver and am very happy with it.

[hertzian]

Thanks for your review!

I just picked one up and really like it - as a wideband receiver that scans that is.

I'll add my two cents:

This is an audiophile receiver that scans!

The audio quality is the BEST of any scanner / radio I have owned. The bass and treble options (normal / boost / cut) are very well thought out and not extreme jumps in frequency. That makes it very easy for me to tailor it to earbuds, small communications speakers or high-quality over-ear headphones. And the AF filter for AM and WFM can really dial on some quality sound. And it does drive external speakers quite readily - perhaps because of the lower output that doesn't mandate an internal swamping resistor to save your hearing?

The audio amp is absolutely silent when squelched, without any time delay thump like there is in the R20. (which I also like for different reasons). Squelch tails aren't too harsh and fatiguing, like on other scanners - which have good audio but the harsh squelch tails make headset listening kind of a chore. Not so with the RX-7!

If you are picky about audio, do yourself a favor and listen with high-quality headsets - you'll be very pleased. Broadcast AM and WFM sound great, even though with WFM it is only mono. And the quality of the typical scanner-type communications are very revealing at how good many of those comms are when going through the nice receiver audio.

Yes, the small speaker and 60mw of audio power doesn't drive the internal speaker very loudly for typical scanning comms. For wide bandwidth sigs like WFM, no problem. However I have gotten used to it, and just resign myself to the fact that this is a quiet-room / bedside receiver, and not an outdoor public safety radio. I think one is almost expected to play with external speakers / headphones if you really want to blast audio. When I need a full-bore scanner, I'll switch to the 396XT, but this is a different experience.

My other observation is that I wish it had a built-in stereo jack, rather than mono, as I like to use both ears to hear that nice audio and find mostly stereo headsets around. A mono adapter for me is kind of a drag - I don't like putting that kind of leverage onto those jacks, although the unit seems well built.

It holds up in the radio department very well - I was surprised at first when I took it to my usual hot-spot and thought I'd have to play with the attenuator. Nope! It blew me away and not an image or other junk could be heard. I really didn't expect a wideband receiver to survive my rf-jungle hotspot. For those times when you are just getting clobbered, the attenuator is available AND there is an adjustable 9-step RF gain control! Luckily, I've been able to leave the RF gain on MAX without any problems.

Due to your review, I got a fast-jump on how to program the memories!

I'm really into organizing my freqs, and once I got the hang of it, even doing it by keyboard wasn't all that bad. At first I was a bit confused about how one can assign up to 6 frequencies to the same name! Normally I just assign one frequency at the end of the Category > Group > Name > Channel chain, but I tested putting additional freqs into the name and it works! I'm not exactly sure how I'll use it to my advantage since there doesn't seem to be any way to identify which additional channel (2-6) on the display - other than dumping down to the VFO. Perhaps if I was using it as a race-scanner maybe. Anyway, I'll find a use for this unique feature.

I'm still exploring all the programming tricks. Thing is, something about this receiver makes you want to get to know it by spending time with it, rather than being in a rush to just dump everything in as fast as possible. Weird - it's almost like the experience of programming it is to just take it easy and enjoy it. Anyway....

The linear power supply charger does get VERY hot, just like it did on the R20. Maybe they want a linear supply to cut down on possible noise that one would get from a much smaller and more efficient switching version.

The display is nice, although I find the Icons of little use and limited in scope anyway. I really don't need a yacht and a boat icon. Or both a plane and glider. I'm not that organized with my icons. Actually, I think that valuable screen real-estate is taken up by the icons and could be put to better use by using larger fonts, or making other operational icons bigger. Not a huge issue.

I do wish that it had the modulation option of *today's* NFM as well as the older one we've been using for decades, now that many systems are going to very narrow fm - especially with the slightly weak speaker audio - I can't really fake it by cranking up the audio gain. Then again, I have to remind myself that this is a general purpose receiver that scans, and not a dedicated hard-core scanner-only rig.

One thing is evident: Icom *could* make an outstanding dedicated comms-only scanner rig if they wanted to. The RX-7 is a nice blend of receiver and scanner, but I'd love to be able to submit suggestions to something like a scanner-only RX8 if that were ever to be on the drawing boards.

Although I love my Uniden, I would go nuts if it too had bass / treble controls like the Icom. They could definitely learn something there.

In the end, thanks Icom for making a very fun, audiophile quality wideband receiver. It's a keeper for me for sure.

[hertzian]

Just bought an MFJ-281 comms speaker for the RX7. Makes a nice mate and NOW it will be heard across the room.

[hertzian]

The S-meter is great!

Like the R20, the RX7 has a very nice s-meter, with enough resolution to be actually useful when comparing or making antenna adjustments. Since it is a bit tough for me to count the bars when up on a ladder etc, I just attenuate the signals (and/or use the rf gain as well) to nearly audible/visible detectability, and then make adjustments. It really helps when you can't distinguish improvements or degradations by ear on full-quieting signals.

So in that sense, it makes a handy test instrument.

It has also helped me locate an antenna used with reception of a simulcast system to minimize the signal oscillations as seen by the s-meter. I could hear improvements as I relocated it, but the s-meter really helped pin down the best location.

3-5 bars on other scanners that have s-meters is really not that useful to me. Again, something other manufacturers could learn from Icom about how to make a really useful s-meter.

[hertzian]

More observations:

12 or 16 character alpha-tags with scrolling -

You can use up to 16 characters for your tags, but if you are using the large fonts, and if your channel name is longer than 12 characters, it will scroll.

This might be useful for some long-winded transmissions, but since I use the large fonts, I find it distracting to look at the display on short transmissions and see only the last few characters scrolling by before the scan resumes. Therefore even with large fonts, I try to use no more than 12 characters.

Still this is a HUGE improvement over other radios in Icom's lineup that only have 6 characters.

Memory management - the 3-tiered setup of Category, Group, and Name is working great, and has great flexibility for scanning. Add the direct-key type toggles for system categories, groups, and channels, and I'm really happy. Add to that the ability to scan even more selectively from the menu system of just categories or groups. Wow.

PL / DCS operations - unlike some other scanners that merely decode a set pl / dcs frequency, the additional options of being able to lock-out a single pl/dcs freq along with the reverse polarity settings make it a real pleasure for those of us that need extensive pl/dcs setups.

Yes, this isn't a scanner / receiver that you'll master in a few minutes out of the box. But, by using the menu system extensively, the learning curve really shortens. For example, on the R20 it may not be so intuitive that you have to use the "dual watch" button to stop an operation, aside from using the button for it's stated purpose. On the RX7 it becomes apparent how to do things in a very short time.

In other words, if you use the RX7 for any length of time, it is likely you'll remember the operational steps since the buttons and menus make a lot of sense once you go through it once or twice. With the R20, and some others, you have to keep a cheat-sheet handy if you don't use it for a few days.

Wishlist - because it has such good audio fidelity, I found myself just wishing it had SSB, even at only the minimum of 5khz steps, since the things I listen to are pretty much channelized these days. I find this kind of shocking especially since Icom produces a lot of gear that emits SSB. Yes, you could use an R20 to do this, but the RX7 is an evolutionary leap over it, and once you've tasted real memory management and useful tag-lengths, the R20 just doesn't cut it anymore.

In my mind, the R20 is overdue for a refresh anyway, now that the RX7 points the way.

Add today's version of NFM, P25 digital (which is seen on some of their other receivers, along with their own digital scheme) and you'd have a rockin' handheld scanner. Of course trunking would be nice.

I've seen some of their promotional material touting the digital DSP and yes, I'm in love with it, but newcomers may confuse this with being able to receive digital transmissions, which it DOESN'T.

VSC - voice activated squelch
Works very well on the systems I monitor that for one reason or another have a dead carrier or other noise on it - although it does take a small amount of time for it to figure it out and will slow down your scan if you put them in your scan lists. Thus I only dial a vsc assigned system for manual monitoring or in very short scan lists. Of course when the squelch opens you will hear the carrier or noise underneath, but it keeps the radio quiet in the meantime. Someday I'll track down that carrier on 135.0 mhz - most likely from my dsl router or something else common in the neighborhoods.

Beef up the audio for the internal speaker or change the element to something more efficient. Even though the lithium batteries can go 8 hours or more, you don't want to do full charge / discharge cycles on these all the time or you'll definitely get the rated duty-cycle of say 300-500 charges. Top lithiums off for the most part rather than doing a full charge/discharge cycle. Maybe do a full/charge discharge just to calibrate the battery gas gauge once every blue moon. The point here I guess is that battery life is already sufficient for more audio power, so even a 100 to 200 mw audio amp wouldn't be a problem if you are a person that tops off the battery. However, don't leave the battery in a fully discharged or fully charged state too long - if you top it off, use the radio for awhile if you don't plan to use it again right away. Some say the best way to leave it is with a 50% charge, but I can't determine that too accurately from the battery display - so just use it for awhile if you top it off. Perhaps a numerical percentage rather than a battery icon would be more useful for lithium maintenance.

The optional BP262 AA battery shell and belt-clip add weight and depth much like a Uniden 396XT handheld or similar, taking it out of the "put it in your pocket" category if you do this - and especially if you use a mono-to-stereo headphone adapter. However with the bp262 battery holder you've just doubled the capacity for the most part - again I see no reason not to beef up the internal speaker audio. I also think that the bp262 batttery pack should come with a cover or cap for the terminals of the lithium battery you are replacing it with so you don't accidentally short it. Be careful when storing the lithium battery (preferably with 50% charge) when replacing it with the BP262.

Even though no radio is perfect, this is an outstanding receiver that REALLY blurs the line between scanner and receiver. Yes, the internal speaker is a bit weak if you are used to other scanners, but the fidelity when you use headphones or small comm speakers, the memory management, scanning options, respectable RF deck, and shortened learning curve are what make me want to use this thing for more than a toy. Way to go Icom! Looking forward to a freshened R20 or perhaps an even more advanced RX7!

[STEVIE39]

I have just bought one of these, arrived 6 days ago.

Early days yet, but I was the previous owner of an R5 for 2 years so I am reasonably OK with this one. Here are my first observations of this unit:

Does not have a core memory that I can find which makes memory slot programming a lengthy process as one has to create categories and groups. At this stage of my learning curve, I can find no other way of memory programming. The Operating Instructions are not bad but do not progress well and one has to appraise the book end to end to decide what feature to learn first.

Programmable searching is a breeze compared to the R5.

Much faster scan/search speeds and selectivity and sensitivity are up there with the more expensive units.
I have turned the dial light on permanently as it is pretty dim for my eyes. This does not use much battery power however. The Lion battery is a great step forward IMO.

Audio is crisp and clear but I mostly use earbuds from my iPod as I am hearing impaired and prefer not to annoy others with the audio. Icom has yet again failed to make the jackplug point a stereo hole and therefore requires a mono/stereo adapter which is a bit cumbersome as the access point is now on the side instead of the top of the unit.

The belt clip is much improved.

Overall, very nicely made and heaps of memory and alpha programming of categories, groups, search banks etc. Icons for categories is a nice touch as well.

Not bad for AU$399 here.

[hertzian]

I agree with you about the backlight - I could use just one more level of brightness as well.

Here's something that tripped me up for days which I'm a bit embarrased to admit: in the VFO mode, when using the Left-Arrow held down to quickly adjust the 10mhz or 1mhz step real fast, I couldn't figure out how to enter the kHz. Solution: after changing the mhz, use a decimal point then the khz.

I've been burning up that top knob quite a bit for manual programming, and it seems to be holding up well, no sloppiness etc.

I've got some programming tips that might help - maybe another thread later dedicated just to that for us RX7 fans...