Icom 8600 and R75?

[bearcatrp]

Ok. got the R75 last month. Sweet receiver. BUT, since previously owning a IC 705, I miss the waterfall display. Anyone move up from the R75 or still own both? Is it better than the R75? My R30 works great with P25. Since the 8600 covers P25, plus allot more, am considering the 8600 to cover all the bands. The price tag sure has jumped since release. Would sell the R75 to offset costs a little. it would be my ultimate receiver if I fork out the cash. Is it worth it? I emailed Icom to make a desktop version of the R30. Never got a response.

 

[kruser]

The R30 and R8600 were announced together at a Japanese trade show.
They were meant to complement each other with the R8600 being the desktop version of the R30.

 

[KC1UA]

The 8600 is an amazing piece of equipment, despite some flaws that can be overcome through the use of external software, namely DMR decoding and instant CTCSS/DCS decoding. It is the cornerstone of my shack and simply a beautiful piece of gear. One can only hope that Icom will continue to support it as time passes, it is a software defined receiver and its performance on the HF bands with direct sampling is superb. It's VHF and above performance is excellent as well. I don't own an R30 and likely won't, but I've had the R75 and many other Icom communications receivers to include the R71, R7000, R7100, R8500, and this one surpasses them all easily. It's not without its quirks as mentioned, but if you can afford it, it won't let you down.

 

[MStep]

My biggest gripe with the beautiful Icom 8600 is that they DID NOT illuminate the operation keys on the front panel. In my experience, most shacks are operated under subtle lighting, and it's darm hard to see the functions printed on some of the keys since they are not illuminated from the rear of the key.

 

[commscanaus]

Yes the lack of key backlighting is a pain, but common with all the new Icom offerings unfortunately.

One of my gripes with the 8600 is no external video output.
Given the radios asking price, surely it wouldn't have been a major cost to have added at least DVI out?

But that said, I really like the 8600 would recommend one in a heartbeat.
It really works beautifully on HF and is the main receiver here now.
Still use an IC-R75 for sitting and monitoring a frequency of interest while tuning around elsewhere on the 8600.

Looking forward to taking the 8600 out away from the city noise to really see it shine in a low noise environment!

Commscanaus

 

[bearcatrp]

The 8600 is an amazing piece of equipment, despite some flaws that can be overcome through the use of external software, namely DMR decoding and instant CTCSS/DCS decoding.

Can you elaborate? What software are you using?

 

[KC1UA]

Can you elaborate? What software are you using?

I use SDR# and set its input to "Baseband from sound card". Make sure the 12 KHz IF out of the 8600 is set to IF and not AF. SDR# should also have the DSD Interface plug-in, and you need DSD+ software and either Virtual Audio Cable or VB Audio Cable. Start SDR# and tune it to 12 KHz. Using SDR#'s DSD Interface you can then pipe the audio via the virtual audio cable out to DSD+ and as such decode DMR or for that matter any of the other digital voice modes DSD+ supports.

Edit: SDR# also has plug-ins to decode CTCSS and DCS tones, but I use a program called KG-Tone as I like the display better. It uses the same audio piped out through the DSD Interface.

 

[cmed325]

what do you use for antenna with the R-75?

 

[bearcatrp]

what do you use for antenna with the R-75?

My discone. Which works surprisingly well. Someone posted do this so using my R30 (didn't have the R75 yet), I compared to a wire I still had up. The discone did just as good and even a little better in some areas.

 

[bearcatrp]

Thanks KC1UA for the detailed reply. Will check it out if I jump on the 8600.

 

[ka3jjz]

I use SDR# and set its input to "Baseband from sound card". Make sure the 12 KHz IF out of the 8600 is set to IF and not AF. SDR# should also have the DSD Interface plug-in, and you need DSD+ software and either Virtual Audio Cable or VB Audio Cable. Start SDR# and tune it to 12 KHz. Using SDR#'s DSD Interface you can then pipe the audio via the virtual audio cable out to DSD+ and as such decode DMR or for that matter any of the other digital voice modes DSD+ supports.

Edit: SDR# also has plug-ins to decode CTCSS and DCS tones, but I use a program called KG-Tone as I like the display better. It uses the same audio piped out through the DSD Interface.

Scott it would be valuable, I think, if you were to write up some detailed instructions and put it in either your or our wiki. I'm sure other novice 8600 users would find it useful

Mike

 

[bearcatrp]

Anyone using 2 different antennas hook up at the same time? HF and UHF/VHF?

 

[Ubbe]

Using SDR#'s DSD Interface you can then pipe the audio via the virtual audio cable out to DSD+ and as such decode DMR

I use the free DSD+ and that can pick up the audio directly from the line in jack of the PC without going thru SDR# or using virtual cables. Didn't they change DSD fastlane to also be able to do that in addition to its network connection?

/Ubbe

 

[KC1UA]

Wouldn't that require a discriminator output from the 8600? Unless I've missed it all of this time there isn't one; thus the more complex method I use. I'll be happy to create a tutorial for this when time allows but if there's an easier way I'm surely all for it.

I use the free DSD+ and that can pick up the audio directly from the line in jack of the PC without going thru SDR# or using virtual cables. Didn't they change DSD fastlane to also be able to do that in addition to its network connection?

/Ubbe

 

[Ubbe]

Wouldn't that require a discriminator output from the 8600?

I thought you could use the normal audio out jack when you change from AF to IF out, that would defeat any filtering of the audio, in the same way that Whistler allows it in their TRX scanners. Too bad that Icom didn't implement that function.

/Ubbe

 

[Token]

Anyone using 2 different antennas hook up at the same time? HF and UHF/VHF?

You might have to describe what you mean by that a little more.

The R8600 has 3 antenna inputs, Ant 1, Ant 2, and Ant 3. Ant 1 an be selected for any frequency range, from 10 kHz to 3000 MHz, Ant 2 and Ant 3 can only be selected below 30 MHz.

So yes, basically I always use my R8600's with 2 (or 3) different antennas hooked up at the same time, the radio automatically (once you define it) selects the right antenna for the frequency range I am in.

As for using an R75 and an R8600 at the same time, of course, more receivers are always better. I don't think I have ever found a situation where I had too many receivers to use. Typically I am more likely to leave the R75 (or any other traditional receiver I am using) setting on a frequency, while I tune around and hunt with the SDR, taking advantage of the waterfall.

T!

 

[bearcatrp]

Thanks Token. That’s the answer I was looking for.