Ok I agree on the tuning steps especially if critical to you but looked quickly and could not find them. Would this be a big problem in either rail or air? Have monitored both without even thinking about that, but I understand it could be a problem in some cases…My old icom ic-v80 does have a problem with newer narrowband channels but I have always been able to receive with entry of the closest freq. comparing the exact frequency on my sds200 or bcd325 to the v80 reception is comparable. The major issue would be if searching for new frequencies, the v80 would not read exact…I assume this would be your concern.
palmerjrusa
Member
It seems like a relatively small thing, but I have an ID-52 and for some signals I couldn't tune to the exact frequency due to lack of the necessary TS, which is not a problem with my IC-R30.
palmerjrusa
Member
I will say when it comes to the UHF military aviation spectrum (which is of major interest to me) comparing my ID-52 vs my IC-R30, I couldn't detect any difference, at least when it comes down to sensitivity.
I’m having great reception on the military air bands. 225–380 is performing better than my IC-R2.
Loving the IC-R15, I bought it as an air band scanner and it’s doing the job very, very well.
Loving the IC-R15, I bought it as an air band scanner and it’s doing the job very, very well.
It beats my Icom A25C hands down when it comes to air band. No comparison, I am hoping Icom’s next generation of VHF air transceivers will incorporate all the tech and features of the IC-R15
The tuning steps question could be an important one if you are trying to monitor a U.S. VHF land mobile licensee. With the advent of "narrow band", VHF land mobile frequencies (roughly 150-173 MHz) are being assigned on a 7.5 kHz channel spacing. If your radio doesn't have 7.5 kHz or 2.5 kHz as available tuning steps, you may have difficulty tuning to the exact frequency of your listening target.
Most Japanese radios intended for the amateur radio market do not have 7.5 kHz or 2.5 kHz tuning steps. Looking at top of the line models:
Icom ID-52 5.0/6.25/10/12.5/15/20/25/30/50/100/125/200 kHz plus 8.33 kHz on the air band
Kenwood TH-D75 5.0/6.25/8.33/9.0/10/12.5/15/20/25/30/50/100 kHz
Yaesu FT5D 5.0/6.25/10/12.5/15/20/25/50/100 kHz plus 8.33 kHz on the air band and 9 kHz on broadcast AM
Which brings us to the IC-R15 which has 5/6.25/10/12.5/15/20/25/30/50/100/125/200 kHz plus 8.33 kHz on the air band.
Compare this to the IC-R30 which has 0.01/0.1/1/3.125/5/6.25/8.33/9/10/12.5/15/20/25/30/50/100/125/200 kHz.
I think that the IC-R15 misses the mark when it comes to tuning steps.
Most Japanese radios intended for the amateur radio market do not have 7.5 kHz or 2.5 kHz tuning steps. Looking at top of the line models:
Icom ID-52 5.0/6.25/10/12.5/15/20/25/30/50/100/125/200 kHz plus 8.33 kHz on the air band
Kenwood TH-D75 5.0/6.25/8.33/9.0/10/12.5/15/20/25/30/50/100 kHz
Yaesu FT5D 5.0/6.25/10/12.5/15/20/25/50/100 kHz plus 8.33 kHz on the air band and 9 kHz on broadcast AM
Which brings us to the IC-R15 which has 5/6.25/10/12.5/15/20/25/30/50/100/125/200 kHz plus 8.33 kHz on the air band.
Compare this to the IC-R30 which has 0.01/0.1/1/3.125/5/6.25/8.33/9/10/12.5/15/20/25/30/50/100/125/200 kHz.
I think that the IC-R15 misses the mark when it comes to tuning steps.
You had to pay tax on an imported item? Was that a state tax or a customs duty fee? The first $800 of imported goods are duty-free unless on a certain list of exempted items.
I import from Germany about once a month, sometimes more often. Items are under $1K and usually under $800. I've never paid duty or tax on any imported item.
Most airband transceivers do not have the sensitivity nor selectivity that a good receiver or scanner has. Very few to no restrictions to line of sight in the air, and for airport ground ops how far can you be from a controller? A mile, maybe two at the end of a major airport runway? It just doesn't need to be that good.
G7RUX
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2021
- Messages
- 504
That's really interesting that you say that as I have tested a couple of the r15 on the bench and their sensitivity matches the claim in the specs ("less than 0dBuV" the same as quoted for the A25 series) with both of them coming in at around 0.8 uV. The adjacent channel rejection of the R15 is around 10 dB worse than that of the A25 series.
I'm not suggesting you are incorrect but I'm wondering what it is that makes it appear that the R15 is more senisitive than the A25 receiver.
The signal is stronger with much less noise. I am 5 miles line of sight from the tower…flat land, lots of trees.
Yeah... I'm in Canada, so they like to get us for everything, eh!
palmerjrusa
Member
The narrower tuning steps are likely absent from the IC-R15 since it doesn't go down to the HF region, whilst the IC-R30 does.
The IC-R15 also has 8.33 khz for the airband.
G7RUX
Active Member
- Joined
- Jul 14, 2021
- Messages
- 504
This is indeed interesting but I will refrain from speculating on this until I can get both units on the test bench with a noise generator to compare them in more controlled conditions.
That said, I wonder if you have nearby VHF FM broadcast transmitters.
palmerjrusa
Member
For anyone here that owns the IC-R15 and the new Uniden BCD160DN.
With respect to the features they have in common, how do the two radios compare?
With respect to the features they have in common, how do the two radios compare?
The R15 is much more sensitive than the BCD160DN. I have done an A&B test of FRS and low-power UHF business freqs and the 160DN is almost deaf -- this is with Smiley duckies that are identical except for the connector. The same is true on airband. I now use the 160DN just to monitor local DMR business repeaters. If you have analog monitoring needs, the R15 is an excellent receiver, better perhaps than its close cousin and interface near-twin ID-52.
I still find the R15 to be much more sensitive than the R30, but I lack the equipment to test and support that assertion.
I still find the R15 to be much more sensitive than the R30, but I lack the equipment to test and support that assertion.
Not surprised about the BCD160DN..obviously if really a serious airband monitor the r15 wins as it should for the price…if I got one and they were equal, I would be very disappointed!…however what about rail and also the future with digital? I know it has been coming for a long time but it will eventually get here.
Asking a favor once again: I was so excited to load my R15 memories that I overwrote the original files in the scanner. Could anyone send me the default memory channel setup .csv file? I loaded a .csv from the ID-52A, which works fine, but I have no documentation of the preferred memory channel format for the R15. Grateful for the favor.
palmerjrusa
Member
A system reset might achieve this...
