My new IC-R6 sounds very "harsh" on the aircraft bands (It doesn't sound this way on local police frequencies.) I've tried setting the AF Filter to "On", but when I go to scan my preset aircraft frequencies it resets to "Off." I'm 4 miles from my local airport: KGRB, Green Bay, WI; the signals are relatively strong on the RF Meter and I have a Diamond SRH77CA antenna which is supposed to be one of the best for aircraft frequencies. Can anyone offer any advice, please?
"Harsh" sounding IC-R6
- Thread starter dkl1449
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N8IAA
Member
Since you are a newer member, what did you use to scan the VHF airband before? Or, is this your first scanner? It is small, and with that in mind, is not going to sound like a fm broadcast radio. AM aircraft can actually have a different sound because it is a different modulation than the FM bands used in commercial radios. I'm listening to the approach frequencies for a local airport, and the pilots calling sound quite good. Are you using headphones, or cranking up the audio for the tiny speaker in the R6.
Just wondering,
Larry
Just wondering,
Larry
NineSierraGolf
Member
I used my R6 mainly for airband until I got my R20. I found the reception for aircraft was fine. It is a little different to UHF general bands and can sometimes be affected by WX.
IMPROVEMENT:
As previously mentioned here, I recommend you get some earbuds with a mono/stereo adapter. I use my Apple Nano earbuds and they do the job just fine. Airband voice traffic can be very rapid. Using headphones or buds will give you a better receiving capability than just listening on the R6 inbuilt speaker. You will also be able to hear more clearly as the volume need not be so high.
Make sure that when monitoring airband traffic that you MODE is set on AM.
Happy listening!
IMPROVEMENT:
As previously mentioned here, I recommend you get some earbuds with a mono/stereo adapter. I use my Apple Nano earbuds and they do the job just fine. Airband voice traffic can be very rapid. Using headphones or buds will give you a better receiving capability than just listening on the R6 inbuilt speaker. You will also be able to hear more clearly as the volume need not be so high.
Make sure that when monitoring airband traffic that you MODE is set on AM.
Happy listening!
I AM listening with the built-in speaker while working in my office. The high (audio) frequency background noise is so irritating that I can only listen for short periods at a time. This is probably the 5th scanner I've owned, so I have quite bit of listening experience. I bought the IC-R6 mostly for airshow listening as I go to EAA AirVenture every year. Last year I bought the inexpensive Myacom AR-108 Airband only scanner, but was disappointed at it's slow scan rate because there is so much action going on at AirVenture.
Now I just dug the Maycom scanner out and cannot believe how different it sounds compared to the Icom!!! I can actually listen to it without the irritating background noise! The Icom sounds like #*%@ compared to it! And the ICom is also irritating with earphones and the mono adapter. However the Icom sounds great on the police bands.
And to answer an earlier reply, I do have the air frequencies programmed in AM, not FM. (We do have some military air frequencies herein Green Bay and I have some UHF? airport frequencies (243.000 - 387.000) and I programmed them as FM.
Now I just dug the Maycom scanner out and cannot believe how different it sounds compared to the Icom!!! I can actually listen to it without the irritating background noise! The Icom sounds like #*%@ compared to it! And the ICom is also irritating with earphones and the mono adapter. However the Icom sounds great on the police bands.
And to answer an earlier reply, I do have the air frequencies programmed in AM, not FM. (We do have some military air frequencies herein Green Bay and I have some UHF? airport frequencies (243.000 - 387.000) and I programmed them as FM.
abear27
Member
I use my R6 almost exclusively for aircraft monitoring as well and I’ve found the built-in speaker to be pretty powerful. I can really crank up the volume so that strong signals (like the local tower) are really loud, but weaker signals (like distant aircraft talking to tower in another city) have a lot of noise. That sound difference is really annoying when I’m doing a full scan across all channels and getting that mix of near and far signals.
I tend to keep the volume lower and listen in reletively quiet environments.
BTW - Those military air band frequencies are mostly in AM mode as well... I think there are only a few cases/locations where a specific frequency might be in FM mode.
I tend to keep the volume lower and listen in reletively quiet environments.
BTW - Those military air band frequencies are mostly in AM mode as well... I think there are only a few cases/locations where a specific frequency might be in FM mode.
Thanks for all your suggestions. I wish I had been more clear in my complaint; I should have said that I wish the R6 had a tone control so that I could turn the treble down, it is the high AUDIBLE frequencies that I find so irritating.
Now, as far as the air band frequencies that I programmed into the R6, it just might be the UHF frequencies (which I had set to FM, not AM) that I found irritating. I have my R6 set to display the Memory Name, not the frequency, and most often it was the airport Approach frequency the sounded so bad. And I had an air band approach frequency AND a UHF approach frequency programmed into the R6, so it could very well be that the UHF frequency, which I had set to FM, which has sounded so bad. I've locked the UHF channels out for now. btw. do airports transmit on both the air band AND UHF frequency at the same time?
Now, as far as the air band frequencies that I programmed into the R6, it just might be the UHF frequencies (which I had set to FM, not AM) that I found irritating. I have my R6 set to display the Memory Name, not the frequency, and most often it was the airport Approach frequency the sounded so bad. And I had an air band approach frequency AND a UHF approach frequency programmed into the R6, so it could very well be that the UHF frequency, which I had set to FM, which has sounded so bad. I've locked the UHF channels out for now. btw. do airports transmit on both the air band AND UHF frequency at the same time?
The way you describe it, sounds like it may be broken in AM mode - bad detector etc, rather than just a fidelity issue. Have you tried listening to the AM broadcasters to see if it also overly harsh there? If so, maybe a replacement is in order.
Although not related, I had to turn off the battery saver in the R6 when using external speakers as the tick from the battery saver really annoyed me - something the R5 didn't do when the saver was active.
Although not related, I had to turn off the battery saver in the R6 when using external speakers as the tick from the battery saver really annoyed me - something the R5 didn't do when the saver was active.
hth999
Member
It's now 2018, and I'm just reading this post because I just bought a new R6, and find the audio Harsh and Hissy on Am and in the Air Band. Impossible to listen for long. I read everyones post and I think I found the solution as to why the AF Filter keeps going back to OFF when scanning. What I did was go to the menu, and select the Expanded menu. You have already done that. I found that the AF Filter needs to be ON when you store your frequency to Memory. I just went back, and changed all my Air Band frequencies ( 42 ) and made sure the AF filter was on. Then I went to every frequency and stored each one again. It took me a good 30 minutes or so, but it was worth it. The Filter does cut down on the " HISS ", and sounds much more natural. It's still a little " Hissy " but much much better. Hope somebody reads this, as it worked for me. hth999
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