R10 Stock antenna performance?

[kc5igh]

Good morning.

I've owned an Icom R10 for a long time now, and I was wondering if anyone out there has ever analyzed the performance of its FA-B01RE stock antenna.

I don't use the R10 very much these days due to its slow scan speed, lack of squelch tones, etc, but I continue to use the FA-B01RE antenna as a general-purpose, wide-range antenna for some of my other, hand-held receivers. The FA-B01RE seems to be a very decent antenna for wide-range scanning, but I don't have an antenna analyzer, and I'd like to know if anyone can give me an idea of what its high- and low-point performance is like over the 30 MHz to 900 MHz range.

Thanks in advance!

-Johnnie (KC5IGH)

 

[GadgetGeek]

I found this which might be helpful.

QSL.net
QSL.net › ...
Signal Strenght Meter raw data

I ordered a FA-B01 RE to try one on an IC-R30.

 

[devicelab]

Johnnie, what you may not understand is that scanner manufacturer's don't provide a resonant antenna at all. For a factory antenna, the goal is to make it 'somewhat' resonant across a wide band. Usually this is 120-870 Mhz (if the scanner supports that range.)

Since the R10 supports 500khz thru 1300 Mhz there's no way they can make a single antenna to cover it. Some times, they'll put in a AM ferrite antenna (like the R20) to cover the lower frequencies -- albeit poorly. The rubber duck will cover the higher frequencies.

Just about any rubber duck antenna would 'receive' for the R10. The point is that resonant antennas will work best for those specific frequencies. Since most users don't want to carry a dozen antennas or so they compromise with a single antenna.

There are some 3rd party antennas that work very well. I'm a big fan of the Watson antennas:

W-801 Regular Gainer BNC Portable Antenna | Scanner Master

W-801 Regular Gainer BNC Portable Antenna

www.scannermaster.com

W-881 BNC Portable Antenna | Scanner Master

W-881 BNC Portable Antenna

www.scannermaster.com

W-889 Tele Gainer BNC Portable Antenna | Scanner Master

W-889 Tele Gainer BNC Portable Antenna

www.scannermaster.com

The last one there is a telescopic whip which can be useful for a wideband scanner. The user adjusts the length of the whip based upon the frequency they choose. For higher frequencies the whip would be collapsed and for lower it would be extended.

The only catch with a longer antenna is that it can be susceptible to RFI, etc.

The factory ICOM antenna is probably just fine for most applications. But if you're an avid aviation buff, then buying a specific VHF Airband antenna would give you (slightly) better signals. How much improvement is the tricky part. It's a lot of trial and error.

On a side note, if you're interested in 'analyzing' your current antenna or future antennas then you may want to consider this handy tool:

https://a.co/d/5m1m7hv

With an SMA to BNC adapter then you could easily 'sweep' your R10 factory antenna and verify for yourself which frequencies are resonant. It may look complicated but it's actually very simple and easy to do. For $60 it's not a major investment. There are a lot of YouTube videos on how to use the NanoVNA.

Cheers!

 

[kc5igh]

Thanks, devicelab!

Yes, I understand the limitations of any given antenna on a wide-band receiver, but I was mostly curious about how well the R10 antenna works at various frequencies and where, exactly, was its best resonance point.

I too am a fan of Watson antennas, and that W-889 Tele-Gainer is one of my favorites.

Happy monitoring!

-Johnnie (KC5IGH)

 

[GadgetGeek]

Got it. It's smaller than I thought.

No VNA but I'll be comparing it to some other ducks in my collection.

 

[vagrant]

@GadgetGeek - Where did you source the antenna?

 

[GadgetGeek]

@GadgetGeek - Where did you source the antenna?

Ebay. Chen's Ham and Motorcycle options | eBay Stores