sirnigelgresley
Newbie
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2020
- Messages
- 4
Hi all.
I got myself an Icom IC-R30 last week, and I'm certainly impressed with it. (I will be even more impressed when I can work out how to programme all my airband frequencies into it using my laptop keyboard instead of fiddly buttons on the set, but I haven't quite fathomed the user manual yet. I will eventually.)
But the one thing that I really don't like about the set is the antenna connector. Why on earth have Icom decided to fit it with an SMA connector with an external screwthread, requiring an antenna with an internal screwthread? It is the most difficult connector to get alternative antennas for, and so far I have only managed to find one, a Watson WSMA-801. On the other hand I have a collection of different helical 'rubber ducks' for my old Yupiteru MVT-7100, which has the far more common BNC connector.
I appreciate that the supplied telescopic antenna is more efficient than a compact helical, but I'm not too bothered about reception of weak signals. I generally use scanners at airfields, where range and signal strength is not all that critical, but where having a scanner on a belt-clip with a telescopic antenna up could take someone's eye out...
Has anyone got any ideas on suitable compact helicals please? The Mil UHF band-tuned helical I have for my MVT-7100 is only a couple of inches long: it works a treat, and I'd love to be able to get one that fits my R30.
I got myself an Icom IC-R30 last week, and I'm certainly impressed with it. (I will be even more impressed when I can work out how to programme all my airband frequencies into it using my laptop keyboard instead of fiddly buttons on the set, but I haven't quite fathomed the user manual yet. I will eventually.)
But the one thing that I really don't like about the set is the antenna connector. Why on earth have Icom decided to fit it with an SMA connector with an external screwthread, requiring an antenna with an internal screwthread? It is the most difficult connector to get alternative antennas for, and so far I have only managed to find one, a Watson WSMA-801. On the other hand I have a collection of different helical 'rubber ducks' for my old Yupiteru MVT-7100, which has the far more common BNC connector.
I appreciate that the supplied telescopic antenna is more efficient than a compact helical, but I'm not too bothered about reception of weak signals. I generally use scanners at airfields, where range and signal strength is not all that critical, but where having a scanner on a belt-clip with a telescopic antenna up could take someone's eye out...
Has anyone got any ideas on suitable compact helicals please? The Mil UHF band-tuned helical I have for my MVT-7100 is only a couple of inches long: it works a treat, and I'd love to be able to get one that fits my R30.