I Love This R8600

[ridgescan]

Having a lot of fun with this rig in HF and man what performance. Even in MW on filter one I can DX distant stations that are right next to local flamethrowers with a mere adjustment of PBT one. On my R71a (when it was running) and on the R75, I'd have to engage the 2.4kHz filter to get around that and we all know audio suffers that way.
I finally got a patchchord with an N-male on one side and PL259 at the other to utilize 30megs and above. First observations showed me crystal-clear, un-impeded reception of stuff in the Marine band and Railroad band, that my BC785D either missed altogether, or signals were smooshed by nearby pager-type stuff around here. Granted, the 785D is 2004 tech but man this R8600 truly brings in a lot! As if my D130J was a mediocre antenna till I got this rig. I now see it wasn't the antenna.
I've yet to really get into stuff in higher bands but I expect I will be pleased

 

[MStep]

Yes indeed, the R8600 is likely the best wideband receiver ever made available to the general public. I have to get some better antennas up and running to enjoy the radio to its max. The scan and search functions are excellent for this type of radio. You might want to check my two threads here, ANOMALIES and NIGGLES, for more insight into some of my operational findings.

Good luck and great listening with your 8600.

Having a lot of fun with this rig in HF and man what performance. Even in MW on filter one I can DX distant stations that are right next to local flamethrowers with a mere adjustment of PBT one. On my R71a (when it was running) and on the R75, I'd have to engage the 2.4kHz filter to get around that and we all know audio suffers that way.
I finally got a patchchord with an N-male on one side and PL259 at the other to utilize 30megs and above. First observations showed me crystal-clear, un-impeded reception of stuff in the Marine band and Railroad band, that my BC785D either missed altogether, or signals were smooshed by nearby pager-type stuff around here. Granted, the 785D is 2004 tech but man this R8600 truly brings in a lot! As if my D130J was a mediocre antenna till I got this rig. I now see it wasn't the antenna.
I've yet to really get into stuff in higher bands but I expect I will be pleased

 

[prcguy]

Ridge, you might try playing with the soft and sharp filter settings by pressing and holding the touch screen filter button. Sharp should allow you to pick out weak stations close in to big ones a bit better than the soft setting. Otherwise agree with what everyone is saying, good and bad about the receiver. The anomalies are fairly minor compared to the overall great performance and features.

 

[ridgescan]

Yes indeed, the R8600 is likely the best wideband receiver ever made available to the general public. I have to get some better antennas up and running to enjoy the radio to its max. The scan and search functions are excellent for this type of radio. You might want to check my two threads here, ANOMALIES and NIGGLES, for more insight into some of my operational findings.

Good luck and great listening with your 8600.

Matter of fact I posted in one of your threads and have read them already. You're far-advanced from where I'm at with our R8600s...just getting my paws wet.

Ridge, you might try playing with the soft and sharp filter settings by pressing and holding the touch screen filter button. Sharp should allow you to pick out weak stations close in to big ones a bit better than the soft setting. Otherwise agree with what everyone is saying, good and bad about the receiver. The anomalies are fairly minor compared to the overall great performance and features.

Thanks prcguy-luckily I discovered that feature on night-one, and have it set to 'sharp' which is for sure why it's so effective
That's another thing I dig about this rig; as others have stated, it's intuitive. Icom has made it that way so a guy can move his way around the features pretty well fairly fast.

 

[vince48]

Greetings
Hi Guy's. I too joined the R8600 club today. Having a blast so far. All though, my heart stopped when i could not get the the output terminals of my new Astron AS12A to open (unscrew). They were so tight, i could not un-screw them. I feared I would break the post if i forced. Got them open, connected to the R8600, and Man, been having a blast all afternoon.
My NetSDR was my go to for HF and my Ettus B200 was my go to for VHF/UHF..... Not anymore.

Using the same longwire antenna, the R8600 seems much better than my NetSDR on 20 and 40 meters.

 

[ridgescan]

Greetings
Hi Guy's. I too joined the R8600 club today. Having a blast so far. All though, my heart stopped when i could not get the the output terminals of my new Astron AS12A to open (unscrew). They were so tight, i could not un-screw them. I feared I would break the post if i forced. Got them open, connected to the R8600, and Man, been having a blast all afternoon.
My NetSDR was my go to for HF and my Ettus B200 was my go to for VHF/UHF..... Not anymore.

Using the same longwire antenna, the R8600 seems much better than my NetSDR on 20 and 40 meters.

Congratulations Vince! The first day with this radio was great for me too.

 

[MStep]

My congratulations as well on your acquisition of the 8600. It takes a few days of intensive use to learn all the "nooks & crannies" of the unit, especially the very versatile scan and search functions. And talk about "settings"-- you'll likely find some less-obvious menus as you explore some of the different functions of the radio. But your patience will be rewarded many times over..

Greetings
Hi Guy's. I too joined the R8600 club today. Having a blast so far. All though, my heart stopped when i could not get the the output terminals of my new Astron AS12A to open (unscrew). They were so tight, i could not un-screw them. I feared I would break the post if i forced. Got them open, connected to the R8600, and Man, been having a blast all afternoon.
My NetSDR was my go to for HF and my Ettus B200 was my go to for VHF/UHF..... Not anymore.

Using the same longwire antenna, the R8600 seems much better than my NetSDR on 20 and 40 meters.

 

[vince48]

Thank you MStep enjoy your night

 

[vince48]

Anyone using the remote control software? I'm using Radio Console V3, but is there any other software that can program and control in the same package?

 

[vince48]

I must confess, enjoying my R8600 for a week is:

1. learning experience
2. really enjoying HF again

The R8600 is a real performer on HF. I'm currently using a random longwire as my antenna, the same antenna i used with my NetSDR, which I thought was my holly grail goto radio for HF/VHF/UHF. My R8600 really does outperform the NetSDR. Both in signal and tonal quality. Now i know that can be subjective in saying that, but the R8600 is a great radio for HF and beyond!

 

[ridgescan]

Really enjoying mine outside HF for a change. Like I said somewhere before, I was under the impression that my D130J discone was an OK performer with the scanners but with the R8600, stuff way out 40-50 miles away sounds like it's next door. I can now reliably monitor San Jose Police-all the sectors, with amazing clarity and not a hint of static.
Now, I'm tracking ships in the bay that I could rarely hear on the BC785D.
Like I said before, I run the R8600 through my Sony A/V receiver with Boston speakers and Sony sub, talk about clear, full, professional audio quality. This R8600 was worth every cent and I haven't even scratched the surface with it yet.