Just got my R8600. Great receiver and still learning but I soon discovered, the radio lacks 1 hz dial tuning. The brochure advertises it and the manual shows it on page 14-1 but the radio won't do it. I contacted Icom but they were non committal to fixing it. The 7300 does it as do all my older Icom boxes. Why doesn't the R8600 do what Icom advertises? I told them that we don't use these radios just to listen to broadcasts, etc. It's also an instrument. This is a really bad look for Icom IMHO, to advertise something so simple and yet not commit to fixing it. I'm not asking for DMR or something that will impose license fees on Icom, I'm simply asking for what they advertised and what they have on cheaper and vintage radios. See brochure snip below.
R8600 R8600 Lacks 1 Hz Tuning
- Thread starter R7000
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You can enter a frequency with a 1 Hz resolution with the keypad. You just can't change in 1 Hz increments with the knob.
So the 8600 can receive with 1 Hz resolution, as the brochure states.
So the 8600 can receive with 1 Hz resolution, as the brochure states.
The brochure is correct in that the R8600 will tune to a 1 Hz resolution.
It does not say you can do it with the tuning dial however which you discovered. You can only tune to 1 Hz resolution using direct frequency input.
That's a kludge but it does work.
It does not say you can do it with the tuning dial however which you discovered. You can only tune to 1 Hz resolution using direct frequency input.
That's a kludge but it does work.
Entering 1 Hz via keypad is not the same as tuning with the knob, is it? It is a kludge, and a most unwelcome one at this price.
I'd be happy if Icom said "you know what, you're right. It was an oversight. We'll fix it in the next revision." But they won't say that.
Something seemingly so easy. Shaking my head.
The ham radio market is not so strong that any of the companies can afford to stiff arm the customer.
I'd be happy if Icom said "you know what, you're right. It was an oversight. We'll fix it in the next revision." But they won't say that.
Something seemingly so easy. Shaking my head.
The ham radio market is not so strong that any of the companies can afford to stiff arm the customer.
highwayman1224
Member
How are they "stiff arming" the customer when it does what it says it does? If you don't like it then return it, problem solved.
I don't think you understand. I want to dial 1 Hz with the tuning knob just like my 20 year old IC-746 and my R75 and just like the IC-7300. I don't want to have to trick it into getting 1 hz by typing it in or getting some random x hz by hitting the touch screen or using 8.33 Khz or any of those tedious tricks. It does not do what it says it does. The brochures for the 8600 and the 7300 read identically on this spec; the 7300 can dial it in and the 8600 cannot. I want the guy who controls the firmware to go in and change the .01 to .001. He should go talk to the 7300 guy or something. It doesn't require them to license anything and it's not something they haven't done before on dozens of rigs. Anything short of that on something this easy is ignoring the customer.
highwayman1224
Member
It does exactly what it says it does though. You might "want" it to do it the way "you" want it to, but it doesn't mean they stiff armed the customer by not doing it the way you want it done. Nowhere does it say you can use the tuning knob in the manual to do what you want.
While the brochure is technically correct that it does offer 1 Hz resolution, I do think it would have been useful to the end consumer to add a qualifier that states the tuning knob resolution as well. I think most people would assume its tuning step size is equivalent to its frequency resolution. I know I did.
RFI-EMI-GUY
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It makes no sense to have 1 Hz resolution if the VCO knob does not tune it. Many receivers don't display to 1 Hz but will easily tune it to improve CW and SSB audio reception. Keypad entry is a very dumb solution. ICOM should know better.
I had a serious SWLer PM me about it after I noticed it, but I had not read about it anywhere. I hope Icom rectifies the issue in a future revision. One would think they would have standards across the product line of their SDR based radios.
Token
Member
I take it as, the R8600 does exactly what Icom advertises, but not as you interpret the advertising.
I do understand your want (and I would like it also) for 1 Hz tuning steps, it gives smoothness to the tuning sound, if nothing else, and fine tuning, but realistically the radio is not accurate, nor precise, to the 1 Hz resolution anyway. I mean, unless you have the radio disciplined to a good external reference the 1 Hz resolution is wasted. The manual lists the frequency stability as "less than 0.5 ppm", but this means at 10 MHz you could have 5 Hz of error and still be in spec. In the ARRL review they found that at 10 MHz it was dead on, and at 50 MHz it was 12 Hz off, at 1 GHz it was 245 Hz off. This is twice as good as it could be, and still be in spec.
It may come down to, resolution is not the same as tuning steps. At least, that is how I interpret it all. The only place the manual says anything about "1 Hz" is when the manual (and brochure) discuss resolution. One place in the manual it says that the resolution is 1 Hz and 1 Hz is never mentioned again. If they had meant that resolution and tuning steps were the same thing, why would they have them both independently discussed in the manual?
Everything in the manual that discusses tuning steps mentions 10 Hz as the most fine step available. It does not specifically say "10 Hz is the smallest tuning step" but it never mentions anything smaller than 10 Hz.
The manual could do a better job of defining all of this, for example if it clearly lists the tuning steps available, say in a table. They have done that on past products.
I am guessing you have not owned a wideband radio from Icom before? The radios that the R8600 replaced, things like the R8500, R7100, R7000, even the very expensive R9000, also did not have 1 Hz tuning steps. However, none of those radios had 1 Hz frequency resolution, either.
T!
Boy-howdy Token, you know where I come from there is a saying; some folks would druther climb a tree and argue than stand on the ground and take things at face value.
All the reasons you cited against including 1 Hz in this receiver also apply to all the Icom transceivers that have it, especially the IC-7300 that was developed at the same time. This is the advantage of software defined radio, so you can go in and re-define the software to do more stuff. And I'm not trying to measure frequency to 1 hz, and trying to move it up or down by 1 hz. There is a difference that you are not getting.
All the reasons you cited against including 1 Hz in this receiver also apply to all the Icom transceivers that have it, especially the IC-7300 that was developed at the same time. This is the advantage of software defined radio, so you can go in and re-define the software to do more stuff. And I'm not trying to measure frequency to 1 hz, and trying to move it up or down by 1 hz. There is a difference that you are not getting.
Token
Member
Possibly you missed the part (right there in my second sentence) where I said "I do understand your want (and I would like it also) for 1 Hz tuning steps, it gives smoothness to the tuning sound, if nothing else, and fine tuning". It would be super easy to add 1 Hz tuning steps, and I would like it also, but it is not there, nor has it been in any of Icoms other radios in this niche of the market, even when their past HF transceivers did include 1 Hz steps.
The main part of my post was pointing out that the radio does do what Icom advertises it to, in response to your "Why doesn't the R8600 do what Icom advertises?", it does have 1 Hz resolution and they never claim 1 Hz tuning steps.
I "get" that you want to move the tuning in 1 Hz steps, and why. I would like to also.
The rest of my discussion was included as possible reasoning for why Icom did not include 1 Hz tuning, it was not an argument saying that Icom should not include 1 Hz tuning, but rather why they may have chosen to not do so.
Although they look very similar, the 7300 and the 8600 have some pretty significant differences. The 7300 is direct conversion across its entire frequency range, the 8600 is not close to that. While they are very similar from 30 Mhz down, the 8600 is a hybrid SDR above 30 Mhz, meaning there are multiple oscillators, mixing stages, etc, above that frequency. All of these potentially impact tuning accuracy in a negative way, the same as they did on pre-SDR receivers.
The same reasoning (whatever that may have been) that led them to 10 Hz steps on the older generation of receivers (even when HF radios did 1 Hz steps) still applies, at least above 30 MHz. Possibly that is why Icom did not include 1 Hz tuning. I would not have been surprised had Icom killed the 1 Hz digit in the display above 30 MHz when the radio was not externally disciplined.
T!
You guys who keep telling us why we shouldn’t want what we want, you’re cracking me up. If you tell me you want a boat, I’m not going to give you any reasons why you really don’t want a boat. I don’t want a boat. But if you want a boat, knock yourself out; I don’t care either way. If you don’t want 1 hz tuning, move on to another thread.
I don't own an IC-R8600. I do own an IC-7610. Using the touchscreen, if I hold my finger on the screen just to the right of the 10 Hz digit for a second or so, the radio beeps and the 1 Hz digit appears. If I repeat the process, the 1 Hz digit disappears.
Are you saying the IC-R8600 doesn't do this? If so, then I can understand your frustration.
Are you saying the IC-R8600 doesn't do this? If so, then I can understand your frustration.
The 1Hz digit is always visible on the R8600. You can't change it or turn it on/off like you can on the 7610.
You must enter the frequency including the 1Hz position using the numeric touchscreen keypad in order to change it from zero.
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