I am happy

[dubir]

Dear all
Just got my new ICOM-R20
need the people advise .

What about antenna to my scanner? what kind is good for me ?
what kind of program will help me with the trunking issue ?
is product like Optoelectronics Scout/ACECO FC1003 can help me ? and how ?

any good advise regarding my new scanner will be welcome !

Thanks !

 

[trap5858]

I had an Icom R-20 for a while and my favorite antenna for it was the Diamond RH-77CA. I covers a fairly wide range of freqs. Depending on what you intend to listen to, you may want to consider multiple antennas designed for specific ranges.

Another toy I picked up later on was a device called "Miracle Duck"- it is an antenna tuner that you put between the radio and the antenna. It is designed to work with a rubber duck type antenna. I made some improvements to the reception.

For HF reception I used a telescoping whip and a long wire with an aligator clip on it. I found HF to be a little bit tricky and required a whole lot more patience than I was willing to put in.

I mostly used mine for AIR band reception both civilian and military.

You may also want to post this question in the Icom forum.

Have fun

 

[dubir]

Hi Trap
thanks for your tips ...
please advise how can i listen to mil air band?
and ships i live 30 Km from the sea.
Thanks

 

[trap5858]

Go to the wiki page and go to the military section and see if there are freqs for your area. If there are, that is usually the best place to start. If you have any military air fields near you, search for their freqs. Also, get an FAA sectional chart for your area. Many of the freqs are listed on it. The Mil air band is UHF AM.
Have patience, Mil Air is not very active unless you are near a reserve base on a weekend! Another good group to put in the scanner for Mil Air are the flight demonstration teams- Blue Angels, Thunderbirds etc. If they will be in your area.

Listening to marine traffic at that distance may be tricky depending on your terrain. Again, in the wiki section there are marine freqs. It is about trial and error.

Do you have the software to program the radio? It helps!

Trap

 

[dubir]

Dear Trap
thank you for your replay
can you be please more specific ? do you have the link to vikipedia page of mil air band?

Thanks

 

[trap5858]

Try this page Category:Milcom - The RadioReference Wiki

It contains pretty much everything you are looking for. The wiki section is on the top tool bar of the website. Lots and lots of very useful info.

The R-20 was one of my favorite radios, sorry I had to sell it but with a kid in a very expensive college some of the toys just have to go!

Good luck and let me know if I can help you out anymore.

 

[dubir]

Dear Trap
thank you for the information .
maybe you can put some light on the trunking issue ?
before i bought the R20 i was thinking about digital one .
what do you think did i i make good decision ?

what is the future of radio monitoring ? is the R20 will be part of it ?

Thanks

 

[dubir]

one more thing
what about antennas?
i consider the AH8000 what do you think?
how is the radio shck Discone compare to it ?
thanks again

 

[trap5858]

I'd be careful using an external antenna on the handheld, you might overload the front end of the receiver.

 

[dubir]

Why ?
it is recomanded by icom do you think it might be a problem?

 

[trap5858]

I'm not sure why they are reccomending that antenna. I had always been told that using an external antenna could possibly damage the receivers front end. That they can be easily overloaded. I know you can attenuate the signal but it has to get into the radio first and that is where the problem may lie.

As far as comparing it to the rad shack discone- the price may have something to do with it! I have heard the rad shack discones are a bit on the weak side materials wise, I have no idea about the actual signal quality. It has long been said that the best receiver is only as good as the antenna serviing it. I'm sure if you asked this specific question in both the Icom forum and the antenna forum you might a lot more input.