R30 IC-R30: Last Shipment From ICOM Has Arrived at HRO

[palmerjrusa]

Just spoke with someone at HRO*, they've just received their last shipment of IC-R30s from Icom.

The HRO rep said they have quite a few units, he estimated maybe around a month's supply, but once they're gone that's it😥.

Just ordered my second IC-R30 from the HRO VA store.

I love this wideband receiver, think it's going to maintain its value on the second-hand market and will be in demand for the duration...

*thanks HRO for alerting me re IC-R30 availability as requested

 

[vagrant]

Woosh! $617 - Glad I picked mine up for $400 used and it was/is in great shape. That was late 2020. Still, I'd probably drop another $400 on a spare and sell one of them once something better comes out. Hmm...actually, I will probably spend that and a bit more on a QRP transceiver and just use it for RX at times.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

If only it did DMR & YSF then I'd probably trade in my AOR AR-DV10 for this

 

[palmerjrusa]

If only it did DMR & YSF then I'd probably trade in my AOR AR-DV10 for this

I don't have an AR-DV10 (I do posses an ARDV1) but am aware of the technical issues this radio suffers from.

There's some DMR traffic where I am but not a great deal.

Why not sell your DV10 and buy an IC-R30 and a cheap DMR radio?

The IC-R30 is an outstanding wideband radio.

 

[jaspence]

Icom has avoided other digital formats except P25 and their own D-Star. A new company President for IcomAmerica was just announced, but don't hold your breath for a new model with DMR.

 

[N4DJC]

There won’t be an R30 replacement for a very long time, I’d suggest an extra battery as well. It’s a great handheld RX, fast scan rates, long battery life, and very durable. Wish it had the 52A screen…

 

[palmerjrusa]

There won’t be an R30 replacement for a very long time, I’d suggest an extra battery as well. It’s a great handheld RX, fast scan rates, long battery life, and very durable. Wish it had the 52A screen…

I love the screen on my ID-52A too, but the IC-R30's screen does the job.

I already have Icom's alkaline battery case for the IC-R30, works fine.

I thought buying a second IC-R30 gets me an extra battery if one goes south, as well as added insurance if one of the units goes bad.
However, out of all the Icom radios/transceivers I own and have owned (and that's a lot) I've never had any problems at all, never needed to ship anything back to Icom for repair.

Plus, I think this radio will hold its value on the second-hand market and be in demand for the duration (it wasn't on the market for that long), so I could easily sell one of the units if I ever decided to.

 

[wa8pyr]

Icom has avoided other digital formats except P25 and their own D-Star. A new company President for IcomAmerica was just announced, but don't hold your breath for a new model with DMR.

The R30 also decodes NXDN.

Icom has been very open about the fact that they will not add DMR to their products. They do NXDN, which as a format is basically in direct competition with DMR, so they won't be cutting their own throats by selling DMR-capable gear.

 

[kruser]

The R30 also decodes NXDN.

Icom has been very open about the fact that they will not add DMR to their products. They do NXDN, which as a format is basically in direct competition with DMR, so they won't be cutting their own throats by selling DMR-capable gear.

That is all 100% correct.
The R30 can handle 4800 and 9600 NXDN at that.

 

[Air490]

There won’t be an R30 replacement for a very long time, I’d suggest an extra battery as well. It’s a great handheld RX, fast scan rates, long battery life, and very durable. Wish it had the 52A screen…

Or will there be? Will it be a new receiver that replaces both the R30 and the aging R6? Just a thought...

 

[KC1UA]

I've been on the fence about this radio for years and the part that's kept me from tipping is the DMR thing. I have an IC-R8600 as well and at least I can get it to decode DMR with some "outboard assistance". Clearly there's no way to do that with the IC-R30 and even were there, there goes the portable factor. I get why Icom hasn't and won't add DMR; it's just a shame. That said I use a Uniden 325P2 with DMR and NXDN add-ons as my "knockabout" portable radio and it does the job well enough. My area is DMR heavy, both conventional and trunked. There is NXDN also but so far it is in its entirety 4800 baud trunked systems.

If Icom produces another portable receiver my guess is that it'll go the route of SDR as is most stuff these days. For now I guess if I ever decide to get an R30 it'll be via the used market. I know I'm missing out on some great features and this is the last chance for a new one, but I just can't bring myself to justify it.

 

[N4DJC]

Or will there be? Will it be a new receiver that replaces both the R30 and the aging R6? Just a thought...

I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[prcguy]

I believe the R30 is an SDR. If major functions are handled within a DSP like IF BW, demodulation, etc, and these things can be diddled with firmware upgrades, then its an SDR.

I've been on the fence about this radio for years and the part that's kept me from tipping is the DMR thing. I have an IC-R8600 as well and at least I can get it to decode DMR with some "outboard assistance". Clearly there's no way to do that with the IC-R30 and even were there, there goes the portable factor. I get why Icom hasn't and won't add DMR; it's just a shame. That said I use a Uniden 325P2 with DMR and NXDN add-ons as my "knockabout" portable radio and it does the job well enough. My area is DMR heavy, both conventional and trunked. There is NXDN also but so far it is in its entirety 4800 baud trunked systems.

If Icom produces another portable receiver my guess is that it'll go the route of SDR as is most stuff these days. For now I guess if I ever decide to get an R30 it'll be via the used market. I know I'm missing out on some great features and this is the last chance for a new one, but I just can't bring myself to justify it.

 

[KC1UA]

I never really thought of it as such, not that that matters for a second what my perception is as it very well may be, but I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that the next one, if it ever happens, absolutely will be!

 

[prcguy]

It would be foolish and expensive for any mfr to design and make a brand new multiband, multimode receiver without using SDR technology. It would be a failure on the market.

I never really thought of it as such, not that that matters for a second what my perception is as it very well may be, but I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that the next one, if it ever happens, absolutely will be!

 

[GlobalNorth]

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[KC1UA]

It would be foolish and expensive for any mfr to design and make a brand new multiband, multimode receiver without using SDR technology. It would be a failure on the market.

I wonder if it becomes such a niche item that it ceases to exist altogether. I'm guessing that a majority of hobbyists turn to less expensive devices like Airspy, SDRPlay, etc., and a minority of us continue to seek the high end devices. Do the manufacturers see this and just say the hell with it? We'll never make enough $$ to justify it. I'm an admitted "semi-technical end user" of all of these products but I'm constantly on the lookout for new ones. There are surely portable SDR devices out there already, but their availability is fleeting and sometimes difficult to obtain, such as the Afedri's, the Malahits (and all of their crappy clones), etc. I have the Afedri LAN-IQ and an original Russian Malahit and both are quirky but perform well, but at the end of the day they don't stack up to the familiarity of using an Icom or even a Uniden for portable use. But they do offer some promise of some likely amazing things to come. As you suggest they will almost certainly all be SDR's going forward, no matter what they are. Under the hood the R30 may be an SDR but I don't recall (or I missed) Icom going out of their way to say so.

Hopefully in some way, shape, or form, the portable receivers we have become used to over the years will continue to exist beyond this one.

 

[prcguy]

The R30 and similar receivers are hand held and very refined with good performance. I don't think a cheaper almost cobbled together handheld SDR like a Malahit will ever become serious competition to Icom or will hurt its sales. The people who demand predictable and flawless operation will always reach for the higher end and more expensive item.

I wonder if it becomes such a niche item that it ceases to exist altogether. I'm guessing that a majority of hobbyists turn to less expensive devices like Airspy, SDRPlay, etc., and a minority of us continue to seek the high end devices. Do the manufacturers see this and just say the hell with it? We'll never make enough $$ to justify it. I'm an admitted "semi-technical end user" of all of these products but I'm constantly on the lookout for new ones. There are surely portable SDR devices out there already, but their availability is fleeting and sometimes difficult to obtain, such as the Afedri's, the Malahits (and all of their crappy clones), etc. I have the Afedri LAN-IQ and an original Russian Malahit and both are quirky but perform well, but at the end of the day they don't stack up to the familiarity of using an Icom or even a Uniden for portable use. But they do offer some promise of some likely amazing things to come. As you suggest they will almost certainly all be SDR's going forward, no matter what they are. Under the hood the R30 may be an SDR but I don't recall (or I missed) Icom going out of their way to say so.

Hopefully in some way, shape, or form, the portable receivers we have become used to over the years will continue to exist beyond this one.

 

[N4DJC]

I've been on the fence about this radio for years and the part that's kept me from tipping is the DMR thing. I have an IC-R8600 as well and at least I can get it to decode DMR with some "outboard assistance". Clearly there's no way to do that with the IC-R30 and even were there, there goes the portable factor. I get why Icom hasn't and won't add DMR; it's just a shame. That said I use a Uniden 325P2 with DMR and NXDN add-ons as my "knockabout" portable radio and it does the job well enough. My area is DMR heavy, both conventional and trunked. There is NXDN also but so far it is in its entirety 4800 baud trunked systems.

If Icom produces another portable receiver my guess is that it'll go the route of SDR as is most stuff these days. For now I guess if I ever decide to get an R30 it'll be via the used market. I know I'm missing out on some great features and this is the last chance for a new one, but I just can't bring myself to justify it.

I understand, but while you think you might be missing out, without those digital modes and trunking the R30 just doesn’t meet your needs. Yep, I’d love one with a 52 screen, DMR, trunking with talk groups alpha tagged, but we will never see it.

The future of unencrypted digital communication is a bit bleak. Will another manufacturer invest heavily in that market?

 

[KC1UA]

Because I still look because "you never know".... HRO has jacked the price of these up to $659.95. They were originally $617.95, went to $649.95 yesterday, and up $10 today. Guess they plan to get top dollar for the remaining units.