AR 8600 MK II

[bigbird]

Thinking about picking one up. Does anyone here own one or have any comments about this unit. This will be my first AOR


Also, are there any slot cards or assories i should consider when ordering.


Thanks

Mike

 

[n4voxgill]

I own the portable version, AR8200 MKIII. The following site has some good info on the AR8600, including a free program that works on either. I have used it to program my MKIII and like it. Check this site, a lot of info

http://www.an-netz.de/home/kbo/index.html

I already had base receivers and usually have a couple going to tune into Coast Guard Air, you can hear them all on either 5696 or 8983 kHz USB. Many good HF freqs for USAF long range planes, primary is 11175 kHz USB.

These receivers put scanners to shame when you are tuning in milair or VHF marine. Audio is fantastic.

I bought all the cards, never used one of them and can't even find them since I moved.

I don't know if you have checked out www.javiation.com, johnathon owns it and he is who I bought my MKIII from and back then he was making a serial cable. I got super fast deivery from him. He also sets the european up for the american band plan. It is a waste of time to even attempt to listen to cell phones, but I bought the eruo version so when I go to sell it some fool will pay through the nose to get a non-blocked receiver.

I'm sure you will enjoy this whole new side of monitoring.

Gill

 

[Hoseman292]

Gill,

Just curious.. I own a 8200 MkII. Were you monitoring HF activity on your 8200 or another receiver? If you were using your 8200, what kind of antenna would you recommend when monitoring HF USB traffic?

Thanks,
Tim

 

[n4voxgill]

I use an all band HF verticle. The one I use was made by Sommer. It is over 20 feet tall and have it on a 20 foot mast, so the top is way up there. I'm out in boondocks and have not had front end overload problems that some have reported.

 

[Hoseman292]

That's great. Thanks for the great information. With the 8200, do you use the ordinary BNC antenna connection to receive HF or is there an interface that will allow you to connect an external antenna where the small MW antenna normally fits?

Tim

 

[EricCottrell]

Hello,

I have a 8600 Mark 2 and it is my favorite non-trunking receiver. I use it because it seems more sensitive than my other scanners. It has a few images but not too bad considering it is a wide band receiver. I live in the city but not in an intense RF environment.

The menus take alittle work to figure out. The actions of the arrow keys and the knob can change depending on where the cursor is on the display. On some menus there are items off the screen and you have to move the cursor down past the last item displayed to get to it. At first I was lazy and did not really read the manual. I did not realize until I wanted to do a few things and actually read the manual that this is one flexible receiver. It has alot of memories, and search ranges.

Some of the terms used are different from other receivers like "Pass" means lockout and "Free" means to resume scanning after some many seconds of activity. The delay and resume features are very flexible.

I would recommend using Ar86ctl or another suitable computer program to program the receiver. It makes it easier plus you can program the default step sizes and the default "bandplan". Alot of programming tasks are easier via a computer. While using the serial port the keypad is locked out.

I like that it has a discriminator output because I run trunker. It not only has very flexible step sizes but also offsets. If a band has 12.5 KHz steps between frequencies and is offset by 6.25 KHz (i.e xxx.00625, xxx.01875) the AOR can be setup to tune the actual frequencies unlike other receivers that step with 6.25 KHz steps (xxx.00625, xxx.01250, xxx.01875). This feature and the SSB capability allowed me to tune into some of the ACSB activity on 220 MHz.

I have the CT8200 and was somewhat disappointed mainly because it is CTCSS only (no DCS) and it has the slow search like the early unidens.

The interesting option I am thinking of getting is a P25 board. It will allow the 8600 to receive APCO 25.

73 Eric

 

[Hoseman292]

Eric,

I couldn't agree with you more. The 8200 is a pretty intimidating receiver.. especially for one that has little experience with programmable scanners. I managed to fiddle around with it and with the help of the manual, I was able to program it using the keyboard initially. Some functions confused me such as locking out a channel or manually advancing from one channel to another. I purchased the cable a few weeks ago and was able to program just about every bank... darn near every transmitter in the area. I used GreenLight 8200.

I purchased my 8200 second hand and had to replace the MW antenna, beltclip, and wrist strap. It came with the flexible antenna and I ordered the telescopic style antenna which works very well with VHF and UHF, extremely well with the aviation band. What I've yet to achieve is satisfactory reception of shortwave and HF. I also own a Kenwood R-2000 general coverage receiver which I use to monitor HF. It has an external antenna which is mounted on my roof which does extremely well with the R-2000. I've tried to use the very same external antenna with my 8200 and was surprised not to have the same results. I plan to go out on the roof later and try connecting the 8200 to the same antenna using a shorter run of coax to see if things change. I'd like to be able to pull in some of those stronger HF USB frequencies on my AOR radio. It would be nice to listen to them while using a portable instead of a stationary set.

I've heard alot about AOR's P25 board for the 8600. What I'm curious about is will the 8600 allow trunking? I understand that the board will convert the audio from digital to analog however, with this board installed, would the 8600 have the ability to monitor a control channel and trunk?

Thanks,
Tim N3WIR
Silver Spring, MD.

My Junk

 

[ka3jjz]

Nope the board only enables APCO25 decoding - no trunking. If you want to trunk, get an Uniden or a GRE/RS; and watch which model you buy, with rebanding, it will make a difference....73s Mike

 

[Hoseman292]

Thanks for the info Mike. I currently have the Uniden 796D and must say that I'm pretty happy with it.

What's with the other receiver manufacturers? Why is AOR, Icom, and others taking a backseat with the newest in technology? I believe Uniden is in its third production of digital radios now... well handhelds that is.

Uniden's 396T is a great looking portable with super functions. It sure would be nice if they offered the same in a desktop. :? :? :? :?

73's

Tim
N3EKG
Silver Spring, Maryland