IC-R15 - First Impressions

[KD9KSO]

Not a problem. My Kenwood has WX Alert as well has a weather band, as does my R20.

The more I read the manual the more I like this radio too.

One thing I do not like about the R20 is that the backlight will not illuminate on a received transmission. I'm glad ICOM took care of this in the R15.

 

[bearcatrp]

Has anyone done a comparison between the R15 and the uniden 160 on air band? Both civ and mil?

 

[Ubbe]

Has anyone done a comparison between the R15 and the uniden 160 on air band? Both civ and mil?

It would be a very location dependent comparison, how many other transmit signals are in the air that could desense the scanner. The 160 seems to be pretty sensitive to go into overload and desense but then Icom scanners are usually much more sensitive to that, so the outcome of a comparison would probably be extremely dependent of what antenna are used and of the local RF environment at the test area.

/Ubbe

 

[eorange]

I don't consider the BCD160 to be in the same class as the R15. There seems to be a notion that the 160 is somehow descended from the very good BC125, but reports here indicate otherwise.

 

[Swipesy]

Having not seen a direct comparison of the R15 to the BC125AT it is not possible to pass judgement on the R15 except that without the R15 having Alpha Tags by frequency is 1997 technology.

 

[KD9KSO]

Alpha tags can be assigned to categories, groups, and individual channels for the R15.

Page iv of the basic manual.

 

[bearcatrp]

It would be a very location dependent comparison, how many other transmit signals are in the air that could desense the scanner. The 160 seems to be pretty sensitive to go into overload and desense but then Icom scanners are usually much more sensitive to that, so the outcome of a comparison would probably be extremely dependent of what antenna are used and of the local RF environment at the test area.

/Ubbe

Can agree on location dependent. Am living out in the country and compared the 160 to the R30. No overload seen on the 160. The R30 beat it out on distant signals. pretty much neck and neck on close signals. I have not tried in a large city. Will give it a try when I get a chance.

 

[Swipesy]

Alpha tags can be assigned to categories, groups, and individual channels for the R15.

Page iv of the basic manual.

I stand corrected. Looking at the Butel ARC-15 Software I see that the Alpha Tags can be programmed.

 

[KD9KSO]

Mine showed up today from the UK. They shipped on Monday, so using UPS, that is the time it takes to get about anything from Europe.

In addition to the new set, I also ordered the alkaline battery holder and the drop-in quick charger. An SMA to BNC adapter came from DXE.

 

[oregontreehugger]

Mine showed up today from the UK. They shipped on Monday, so using UPS, that is the time it takes to get about anything from Europe.

In addition to the new set, I also ordered the alkaline battery holder and the drop-in quick charger. An SMA to BNC adapter came from DXE.

Nice! Curious to hear what you think about the AA battery holder after some use -- wondering about the real-world runtime on that, especially if using Eneloops or Energizer lithium primaries...

 

[footage]

Nice! Curious to hear what you think about the AA battery holder after some use -- wondering about the real-world runtime on that, especially if using Eneloops or Energizer lithium primaries...

I put in lithiums, turned on the radio, and got an overvoltage message

 

[oregontreehugger]

Appreciate you checking -- in that case, I sure wish Icom would adjust their battery settings/firmware and allow for lithium primaries as an option. They are really handy while traveling or in a longer-term power outage.

 

[footage]

Appreciate you checking -- in that case, I sure wish Icom would adjust their battery settings/firmware and allow for lithium primaries as an option. They are really handy while traveling or in a longer-term power outage.

Agreed. They are extremely useful. I guess I could run them down a bit in the R30 before installing them in the R15.

 

[KD9KSO]

After a couple of days with this receiver I like it a lot.

I used the Butel software to program it, and mostly copied the data from one of my other Butel receiver programs. This software though, does not have a receiver settings page and that must be done on the receiver itself.

This is the fastest scan speed I've ever seen on any scanner or receiver. The radio was non-stop busy yesterday morning with constant traffic from aircraft talking to St. Louis, Indy, Chicago, and Memphis ARTCCs, as well as local traffic from three regional, one international, and many minor airports using UNICOM.

The only gripes I have so far, is that it is somewhat confusing at times to link catagories and groups, and then unlink them. I am not used to the nomenclature used and have to refer to the manual until I get used to this.

All other settings are easily accessed and used, text entering is straightforward and fast using the control knob, and generally navigating around the radio is easy.

My second gripe is when you are monitoring VFO B and the same frequency comes up during a memory scan on VFO A and transmission starts, the volume on both VFOs nearly disappears. Locking out the scanned frequency stops this while still allowing monitoring of the same frequency.

Sensitivity is among the best I've heard or used. The audio is clear and sharp without any muddiness, much like what I would hear in a set of H10-30s.

This was receiving five NOAA WX stations with the Moonraker Super Gainer inside my home. It was also receiving AWOS from the local airport three miles away, same antenna and location. Only the AR8200 MkIII can receive this signal inside my home until now.

Most of yesterday it spent time on a Hustler G6 5/8 wave ground plane. Frequency mismatch didn't matter. This radio was pulling in everything including a repeater 40 miles away that I had trouble hearing even on my Kenwood TH-74D.

Except for the volume problem on both VFOs receiving the same frequency, ICOM did good with this receiver. I'm very glad I added it to the collection. It makes a few of my other rigs look bad.

 

[bearcatrp]

The R30 has that link feature. You get used to it. Helps me link only what I want to hear vs all of it. Just wish there where multiple links to choose from instead of unchecking and checking groups to monitor.

 

[DudleyG]

On the R15, there are 3 LINK GROUPS AND each link group is used on both sides (A and B). Example if you link groups 1 and 3 in the LINK GROUP #1 setting on the "A" side, that is the same LINK GROUP #1 on the "B" side contains the same groups. In other words, the LINK GROUPS are not tied to one side or the other like on the R30.

 

[DudleyG]

The other "need" thing about the A side versus the B side is - On the R15, the scan settings for HOLD and DELAY are side specific and not global across both sides as they are on the R30.

For example, on the A side, you can set the delay to 0 AND that only affects the A side scanning, the B side delay setting will remain at the default of 2 until you change it.

A good example - if scanning airport frequencies at a major airport and you are close to the airport, you probably want the DELAY of 2 seconds so your hear both the controller and the planes, so you scan the airport on the B side where the delay is 2 BUT when scanning the ARTCC frequencies, you are probably better off with a DELAY of 0 since you aren't likely to be able to hear the controller but can hear the planes. So have both sides scanning (local airports on B side, ARTCC on A side) at the same time and hear everything.

AND YES, I do have a R15 and a R30 thus my comments are actual experiences versus guesses from reading the manuals.

 

[bearcatrp]

We need Icom to do a update on the R30 to ad the multiple group links that the R15 has. Time to start emailing them.

 

[DudleyG]

Unfortunately an update is not likely to happen since the R30 is no longer available or manufactured.

There has only been one update to the R30 since it was released in 2018 and that was a firmware update to fix a couple of problems. There have been no "feature" updates (hardware or software) to the R30 and it very unlikely that ICOM would do a feature update to a discontinued product.

 

[Ubbe]

My second gripe is when you are monitoring VFO B and the same frequency comes up during a memory scan on VFO A and transmission starts, the volume on both VFOs nearly disappears. Locking out the scanned frequency stops this while still allowing monitoring of the same frequency.

Try the Heterodyne function. It will switch the local oscillator between above or below the received frequency and will then shift the phase of the signal, as it now seems to work in opposite phase between VFO A and B.

/Ubbe