The Uniden 160 I have is very close to my R30 for airband. The R30 was just a smudge better. Don't own the R15. If Icom would have added the waterfall display like on the 52A, would have bought one. My R30 is my top radio for now.
Icom designed the IC-R15 as an analog only receiver geared mainly for the airband and railroad. It excels in those two bands, personally, I am totally delighted with its airband performance which is what I only monitor. I am considering ordering another IC-R15 as a spare, just in case Icom discontinues it somewhere in the future just like the IC-R30. I paired mine with a Smiley airband antenna and that seems to be the very best combo....YMMV
Agreed with XMS3200, it's the best receiver in airband I've ever used. I also use it for marine and ham monitoring where it is excellent.
I think all the pros and cons have been discussed in this thread, so I'd encourage folks to go back and read through it - it'll help make your mind up.
I think all the pros and cons have been discussed in this thread, so I'd encourage folks to go back and read through it - it'll help make your mind up.
I'm looking at the Smiley antennas for an antenna upgrade for my R15. I see 3 antennas listed on their website, any suggestions on which one to use? Note: I'm in the Los Angeles area.
REGULAR DUCK AIRCRAFT BAND 118-132 MHZ 6 1/2”
REGULAR DUCK AIRCRAFT BAND 132 - 136 MHZ 6 1/2”
REGULAR DUCK AIRCRAFT BAND 118-125 MHZ 6 1/2”
REGULAR DUCK AIRCRAFT BAND 118-132 MHZ 6 1/2”
REGULAR DUCK AIRCRAFT BAND 132 - 136 MHZ 6 1/2”
REGULAR DUCK AIRCRAFT BAND 118-125 MHZ 6 1/2”
Yes, the Regular Duck Aircraft Band 118Mhz to 132Mhz....I have spoken to the owner, Lori a few times , she told me that even though it is listed in three different freq ranges, they all cover 118 to 137 Mhz, it almost sounded like the website needed updating. Also, as far a the connector options, if you get .....SMA MALE NON REMOVABLE COVERED (ANTENNA & CONNECTOR ARE FULLY COVERED NO RETURNS), it is fully insulated and looks like an Icom antenna, excellent performance as well as that OEM look... No Exposed Metal
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Thanks for the quick reply. Interesting that they would list 3 antennas if they are really the same.
I was thinking the same thing, I really believe it is for those who want to transmit, the freq ranges are intended for the user freq. For those who want to receive...One size fits all!!
Makes sense...
I asked ChatGPT about the following Smiley Antennas Aircraft on the R15.
REGULAR DUCK AIRCRAFT BAND 118-132 MHZ 6 1/2”
REGULAR DUCK AIRCRAFT BAND 132 - 136 MHZ 6 1/2”
REGULAR DUCK AIRCRAFT BAND 118-125 MHZ 6 1/2”
ChatGPT response:
If your goal is general aircraft monitoring with the Icom IC-R15 (a wideband handheld receiver), then:
• ✅ Best all-around choice: 118–132 MHz duck
• That’s the “center” of the civil airband and where you’ll spend most of your time (tower, ground, departure, approach, en route).
• It gives you the broadest useful coverage with good efficiency across the majority of ATC channels.
• 🎯 Use the 118–125 MHz duck if you’re mainly interested in local airport ops (tower, ground, clearance).
• 🎯 Use the 132–136 MHz duck if you’re focused on center/high-altitude comms or if most of your traffic is at the upper end of the band.
But for “normal” scanning of everything (tower, approach, center, etc.), stick with the 118–132 MHz Smiley duck as your default antenna on the IC-R15.
REGULAR DUCK AIRCRAFT BAND 118-132 MHZ 6 1/2”
REGULAR DUCK AIRCRAFT BAND 132 - 136 MHZ 6 1/2”
REGULAR DUCK AIRCRAFT BAND 118-125 MHZ 6 1/2”
ChatGPT response:
If your goal is general aircraft monitoring with the Icom IC-R15 (a wideband handheld receiver), then:
• ✅ Best all-around choice: 118–132 MHz duck
• That’s the “center” of the civil airband and where you’ll spend most of your time (tower, ground, departure, approach, en route).
• It gives you the broadest useful coverage with good efficiency across the majority of ATC channels.
• 🎯 Use the 118–125 MHz duck if you’re mainly interested in local airport ops (tower, ground, clearance).
• 🎯 Use the 132–136 MHz duck if you’re focused on center/high-altitude comms or if most of your traffic is at the upper end of the band.
But for “normal” scanning of everything (tower, approach, center, etc.), stick with the 118–132 MHz Smiley duck as your default antenna on the IC-R15.
Great info, however, when you do select that antenna, first option is the connecter, second choice is Size, options are 118 - 125, then 125 - 132, and lastly, 132 - 136Mhz. I still think the web site needs updating.
I agree, the website should be updated.
I was doing a test of reception of my two Icom’s on VHF air. The Icom IC-R15 with a Smiley 6” rubber ducky received a United 737 at 183 miles, my Icom IC-705 with a Smiley super stick retractable was 156 miles. Both radios were indoors on really flat land, and both receivers work well with the Smiley as well as the Icom FAB02AR. The distance was viewed on ABS-B Exchange web site.
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I've had an R15 for a few days now. Still figuring out the features, quirks, etc.
I'm very disappointed with the RT Systems software. It's "external data" functions are basically useless when trying to obtain data from the RR database. The only option to directly import data is from a specified state/county? What about the other thousands of frequencies? And as others have already described, the importing of data as exported from the RR database as a csv file only gets as far as an error message shown in the RT Systems program. It seems clear to me that RT just slapped some crap together in a hurry and never finished the job. I've used RT Systems software for many years (5 or 6 other radios), it's sad they don't make it right for the R15.
So after my griping, I wonder how everyone uses the RT Systems software to for the R15? For example, is there a way to clean up an export from the RR db and then import it to the R15? With the huge amount of memories in the R15 I had envisioned loading it up with a lot of freqs, but not by manually typing them into a spreadsheet.
The R15 is a great little radio !
This is the only "external data" option. SMH
I'm very disappointed with the RT Systems software. It's "external data" functions are basically useless when trying to obtain data from the RR database. The only option to directly import data is from a specified state/county? What about the other thousands of frequencies? And as others have already described, the importing of data as exported from the RR database as a csv file only gets as far as an error message shown in the RT Systems program. It seems clear to me that RT just slapped some crap together in a hurry and never finished the job. I've used RT Systems software for many years (5 or 6 other radios), it's sad they don't make it right for the R15.
So after my griping, I wonder how everyone uses the RT Systems software to for the R15? For example, is there a way to clean up an export from the RR db and then import it to the R15? With the huge amount of memories in the R15 I had envisioned loading it up with a lot of freqs, but not by manually typing them into a spreadsheet.
The R15 is a great little radio !
This is the only "external data" option. SMH
I have to agree, I also purchased the BuTel software because it allows you to pick and choose what you want from the RR data base where the RT systems software does a full dump from the data base- a lot of sorting.
I have an R15. I use RT Systems for my scanner programming software.
I'm a subscriber to RadioReference.
My workflow is:
Export systems from RadioReference to a CSV file.
I manipulate the CSV file using Numbers, saving it in a CSV file format.
I then import the CSV file to RT Systems
Final step is uploading the CSV file to the scanner
I have multiple CSV files that get uploaded to the scanner
While I normally use Numbers on Mac you can also use Excel on Windows or some other spreadsheet program.
Note: As @trap5858 mentioned, BuTel has a much better interface to RadioReference than RT Systems. I use RT systems because I have many radios which I program using RT Systems.
I'm a subscriber to RadioReference.
My workflow is:
Export systems from RadioReference to a CSV file.
I manipulate the CSV file using Numbers, saving it in a CSV file format.
I then import the CSV file to RT Systems
Final step is uploading the CSV file to the scanner
I have multiple CSV files that get uploaded to the scanner
While I normally use Numbers on Mac you can also use Excel on Windows or some other spreadsheet program.
Note: As @trap5858 mentioned, BuTel has a much better interface to RadioReference than RT Systems. I use RT systems because I have many radios which I program using RT Systems.
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Thanks for your kind reply. Looks like BuTel is in my future.
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I am grateful for your detailed reply, thanks so much.
The manipulation part seems like it would be time consuming, but I'll have another look. I use excel, perhaps a macro could be built to speed things up a bit. Much appreciated!
You can download a trial version of the BuTel software to get a first hand look at it.
Others may like the RadioReference interface with RT Systems. For me it's useless. I live in Los Angeles and the interface does not work for me with the large number of systems in my area. My workflow bypasses all of the integration between RadioReference and RT Systems. I use the inbuilt RadioReference CSV exports to download the data and use the RT Systems function to import CSV data.
I talked to RT Systems about the poor RadioReference search and select capability they have, but they were not interested in expanding the selection process to match what RadioReference does.
Butel took a different approach. From my research they appear to mimic the search and select capability in RadioReference. For my use case I could skip the intermediate step of using the CSV files. But I do use RT Systems for 10 radios. Other than the RadioReference integration it does serve my purpose.
The best airband antenna right now is the Radtel Aviation Antenna from Amazon. It is a thick, tall antenna but it's very broadband and covers 118-136 almost entirely under 2:1 SWR.
For the price, it's a great value: https://a.co/d/dePHuY8
Update: you can get (2) for $10
