Icom IC-R20 first impression

[tumegpc]

I've been looking for a wide band receiver/scanner that would have coverage that my Pro-106 lacks. Some of my wide band radios that I've had in the past were the AR 8200Mk2 & 3 and the Yaesu VR-500 . Both were my favorites for some time, then trunking and digital came along and I had to keep up with the technology.
After several nights of reading reviews and a taking a quick glance at the IC-R20's owners manual I was hooked. I' am in awe with the quality and build of this radio. The LCD display has to be one of the best one I've seen in any scanner. The display has several font sizes that adjust depending on what mode you're in. Its very easy to read with or without the green backlight on.
One feature that I really like is the bandscope, this radio has two of them and you can sweep both at the same time! Another jewel in this radio is a digital recorder . With it's 32mb of memory you can record up to 4 hours of radio transmissions on the fly, or set it to record automatically when squelch breaks. You can playback the recordings with ease with one touch of a key. I prefer the high quality 1 hour setting.You can also monitor two frequencies and hear them both at the same time ! The CS-R20 software takes a little to get use to but does the job and make programming the R20 a lot easier. It's a shame that Butel gave up on ARC20 , Gommert are you listening? As you can tell I 'am impressed with the IC-R20.

 

[mancow]

There's also a freeware program that converts the proprietary recordings into regular WAV files.

 

[Mike_G_D]

avatar admiration

tumegpc,

I don't mean to hijack this thread, nothing about the R20 (though that was interesting!), but I have to say "COOL!" on your avatar! I have one of those radios in pieces that I received as a give away from a friend. When I was a "youngin'" I wanted one of those really badly! Maybe one of these days after I get some more test equipment I may try and revive that old thing. Do you have one and does it still work? Just wondering! Sorry for the OT post.

-Mike

 

[tumegpc]

tumegpc,

I don't mean to hijack this thread, nothing about the R20 (though that was interesting!), but I have to say "COOL!" on your avatar! I have one of those radios in pieces that I received as a give away from a friend. When I was a "youngin'" I wanted one of those really badly! Maybe one of these days after I get some more test equipment I may try and revive that old thing. Do you have one and does it still work? Just wondering! Sorry for the OT post.

-Mike

It's a 1975-76 GE Mobile Searcher. It was my first scanner when I was youngin too, but some how I lost it. My sweet wife surprised me on Christmas with one that she found on ebay. It came in it's original package with owners manual,registration certificate,frequency guide and ac adapter.It looks almost new and works fine. How cool is that ? Maybe we need a "My first scanner" forum.

 

[trap5858]

The R-20 was one of my favorite radios and it served me well for the services it received. I used it mostly for marine and air band (mil air especially) and it was outstanding there. Most of my listening is done to public service agencies who use trunked systems so the R-20 was not appropriate.

As you stated it was very well constructed and had loads of specialized features. I used the Icom software to program it. The manual was quite cumbersome and took lots of hands on practical work to learn how to use this radio.

I sold it a while back to make way for digital scanner but if one fell in my lap again, I would be quite happy.

Good luck and hope you enjoy it.

 

[2ManyToys]

Damn tumegpc, been jonesing for one of these & you have to go & give a glowing review. LOL

 

[K2KOH]

Still have my R20 and use it for aircraft, both V/UHF and HF. Damned fine radio!

 

[tumegpc]

Damn tumegpc, been jonesing for one of these & you have to go & give a glowing review. LOL

I can't believe what I've been missing .There are plenty of comms in the VHF-H /UHF bands that I never new that were there. Using my R20 with a Watson 889 I can receive other systems that are two counties away and that is pretty consistent. Using my Pro-106, I did a quick comparison to the R20 on a specific frequency using the same antenna. Results were that the Pro-106 was barely audible the R20 was loud and clear. I'm not knocking the Pro-106 at all, it's one of the best digital scanners available today. I've realized that there are a ton of non digital frequencies to monitor and the R20 makes it possible .

 

[Mike-KC8OWL]

I also have an R20 and really like the radio - for the price it's a great radio that is easy to use ... now, if there was only a better software application to manage it with (the Icom application is NOT very flexible).

 

[Turbo68]

I always take my Icom-R20/Aor-8200MK3 when i go somewhere radios performanc is excellent and they are realiable.

Regards Lino.

 

[aar9sm]

R20

tumegpc,

If i remeber right didnt you sell your AOR 8200 Mk111? Now that you have the IC-R20 how would you compare it it to the AOR you had?

One thing i noticed about the R20 is the CTCSS feature and it is included. So if the 8200 and the R20 had the same features which one would you go with?

Mike

 

[tumegpc]

tumegpc,

If i remeber right didnt you sell your AOR 8200 Mk111? Now that you have the IC-R20 how would you compare it it to the AOR you had?

One thing i noticed about the R20 is the CTCSS feature and it is included. So if the 8200 and the R20 had the same features which one would you go with?

Mike

I feel that the 8200 series was robbed of it's potential. AOR had an opportunity with the Slot Cards to offer more options and to build on what they had. Chip based recording for 20 seconds at the cost of 70.00 is crazy. Why not combine a memory card with 30min of audio recording? Why not combine several options on one card? , the technology is there, AOR is not. I may be wrong, but I don't see an AR8200MK4 being released anytime soon.So why not give someone else a try.
Icom comes along and makes the R20 wideband receiver that has CTCSS, DTCS, 1-4 hours of digital recording, dual bandscope with live monitoring , USB interface ,built in bar antenna , faster scan rates, and optional Li-ion batter pack. Now the R20 is not perfect by any means. The audio is somewhat weak, the keypad backlight could be brighter, and there is NO real mode software for PC controlling or logging that I'm aware of. This alone is a deal breaker for many of us. I can live with Icom's CS-R20 software and only hope that something better will be released . I look at it this way , I payed 90.00 for the AR8200 programming cable alone , I would easily pay that much for ARC20 or something like it. And if both radios had the same features, I would go with the one that had the best software support. Pio

 

[2ManyToys]

OK, canceled my R5 order, now TRYING NOT TO SPEND $500.00 ON A R20 LOL

 

[Star56]

There's also a freeware program that converts the proprietary recordings into regular WAV files.

Mancow,

Could you point me to the freeware that does this conversion?

Thanks!

Tom

 

[mancow]

Here you go.

icw2wav

 

[Star56]

Here you go.

icw2wav

Thanks!

Tom

 

[fineshot1]

This thread is good and bad. I like the info but am trying to resist the urge to buy one of these R20's due to lack of funds.

 

[Star56]

This thread is good and bad. I like the info but am trying to resist the urge to buy one of these R20's due to lack of funds.

I know what you mean. I don't need another radio but this is tempting!

 

[tumegpc]

IC-R20 for sale here @ good price .

I see there is an IC-R20 for sale here . Look at thread -"Pro-106 Brand New In Box 12a08" and page down .