Icom R6 - Thoughts? Good? Bad? Thinking about buying one.

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What are you guys's thoughts on the ICOM R6 reciever? I was looking at one, and I was thinking about buying one. Is it good? Bad? Share your thoughts..
 

Air490

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That's a very vague question!
It really depends what you want to do with it. I use mine for airband and it is great. Fast scan speed and a "hot"receiver. Downside is, it is a pain to try and program in the field, especially if you don't have access to the manual. I'm happy with mine, but depending what you want to use it to monitor will determine how happy you will be with this unit. And remember... it has all the Icom idiosyncrasies that I know and love, but you may not.
 

cru1242

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+1

Agreed. It is a great radio. Buy it has a learning curve since its programming method is different from most scanners.Read the manual, several times.You will need to experiment with it a bit to get the feel for how it operates.Once you do, it's worth it.
 

oregontreehugger

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The R6 is a great receiver -- it seems to run forever on a pair of AA cells (using Eneloops here). Downside when compared to the larger R20, etc. is no SSB; but shortwave broadcast reception is surprisingly good when paired up with a long antenna or reel. Other cons are no digital modes, no trunking, and no 7.5 kHz step size.

As mentioned by posters above, it's really good on the VHF and UHF air bands. And it makes for a awesome little analog radio when traveling, during power outages, waiting at the airport, or just for catching the news.

Paired mine up with a Comet HT-55, which really seems to help improve VHF reception (esp. in the 160-170 MHz range) over the stock whip. Another option is the Diamond RH77 in SMA, but that's a bit longer and slightly awkward if mobile.
 
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Eh... I just thought about getting a PORTABLE HF/shortwave/wideband radio because I recently got a desktop shortwave radio (Hallicrafters S-38B) but I wanted to go the semi-cheap but good quality (100-300$) range because I have some money to spend from my birthday.. so I thought I'd take a look at whats out there in terms of portable wide band recievers..
 

tumegpc

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I had many wide band receivers in the past and the one I like the best and still have is the Alinco DJ-X11T. It has two VFO's and separate volume controls that allow you to monitor 2 frequencies at the same time. Most of the important functions are assigned to one of the keypads, Main, Sub, Scope, Scan and V/P/M so its very easy to navigate. It also receives SSB/CW which is not an option on the R-6.

The last I saw the DJ-x11 was selling for about $300.00 which incudes drop in charger base. There is also an optional EDH-36 Dry cell case that hold 3 AA batteries.

Alinco DJ-X11 Alinco DJ-X11T Wideband Receiver, Alinco djx11
 
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Might get the X11T then! :) Hows the SSB quality recieve? Is it good? I cant tell from YouTube videos..
Whats the pros and cons about it? Whats the Bug Detector do?
 

Air490

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Have a listen to the DJ-X11, if you get the chance, before you buy one. I bought one when they first came out but sold it due to IMO poor audio quality. I was using it mostly for VHF airband and found the audio "muddy". I had previously had a DJ-X30 and sold it for the same reason. As always, your impression may be different :)
 
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Air490

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Feature wise the Alincos, particularly the X11, were great. Whether it was just the X11 unit I had (X30 has a known issue with audio) or my ear, I could never seem to get the audio on airband clear enough. To provide perspective, I use Icom IC-R1500, IC-R20, IC-RX7, IC-R6, Uniden BCT15X and BC125AT for airband receiving at the moment. I am generally happy with all of them, although I think the Icom's sound a touch better.
 

Deboradio

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I have the R6. It is a great little radio for air band. It is not so good for hf because you would need a long wire antenna for this. Also it is a very very fast scanner and picks up all types of analogue communications plus the usual fm broadcast stations. It is great and solidly built and portable. Get one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

safetyobc

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Excellent radio for airband, VHF High band. I loved mine when I had it. I sold it to buy others. I do wish I still had it at times. I think it's an excellent little radio.
 
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