Icom shows new IC-R15 at Tokyo Ham Fair

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xms3200

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Well…comparing it to my Icon A25C which is an outstanding receiver for Airband, the antenna falls short of expectations. I agree…the A25C is dedicated to VHF air only, and that is what I listen to only…hence my disappointment. I can’t wait for my Signal Sticks antenna to arrive.
 

G7RUX

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Can you describe how bad the "sucks" is? Factory antennas aren't ideal, but I've never had one where it made me think, wow I'm hearing almost nothing (or something like that).
My personal experience with the S270C on airband is that it is “ok” when near the airfield but not much use elsewhere, unless you can get up very high. For 2/70, for which it is designed, it’s not bad although especially on 2m it’s not brilliant.

I wouldn’t necessarely say it “sucks” but, much like any small, loaded VHF antenna on a pocket transceiver it is of limited effectiveness.
 

bcradio

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Any thoughts on how the dual watch works for you? I’m interested in that, and also the recording function if you have any comments on that and how it’s working for you, that would be awesome hear ;)
 

N4DJC

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Smiley Antennas are cut to specific frequency ranges. I’ve been using a rail band version for a few years.
 

vagrant

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Any thoughts on how the dual watch works for you? I’m interested in that, and also the recording function if you have any comments on that and how it’s working for you, that would be awesome hear ;)
I am curious about that as well, the actual device functionality. Perhaps start different threads on A/B comparisons of receivers and antennas. I think we are better served waiting for the U.S. release as a current owner of a different model did not realize it could RX NOAA frequencies, or at least what others were referring to. Yeah, let’s wait.
 

xms3200

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The dual watch works very nice, also, bluetooth is an outstanding feature.

Right now, the receiver is feature packed, lots of serious scanning stuff all packed into a small scanner. The weakest link so far is the antenna for my scanner needs.
 

eorange

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I'm most interested in how the R15's features compare to the R30's, which I have. For example, I already have the dual watch and BT. The one feature someone mentioned was something that helped interference when scanning the A and B bands simultaneously. The R30 doesn't have that.

Ultimately I want a side by side comparison!
 

xms3200

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I just got my dual band Signal Sticks antenna and tried it, what a difference the antenna makes, ATIS is louder with the signal sticks antenna as compared with the Icom antenna.
Now that I have had the unit for a few days, I am absolutely delighted with it, the scan rate is much faster than the A25C, (I know the A25C is a dedicated transceiver) as well as the numerous other features that a 2024 scanner has, no regrets, money well spent.
 

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nickwilson159

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I just got my dual band Signal Sticks antenna and tried it, what a difference the antenna makes, ATIS is louder with the signal sticks antenna as compared with the Icom antenna.
Now that I have had the unit for a few days, I am absolutely delighted with it, the scan rate is much faster than the A25C, (I know the A25C is a dedicated transceiver) as well as the numerous other features that a 2024 scanner has, no regrets, money well spent.
How does the reception with the new antenna compare to the A25C?
 

dzirzow

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I just got my dual band Signal Sticks antenna and tried it, what a difference the antenna makes, ATIS is louder with the signal sticks antenna as compared with the Icom antenna.
Now that I have had the unit for a few days, I am absolutely delighted with it, the scan rate is much faster than the A25C, (I know the A25C is a dedicated transceiver) as well as the numerous other features that a 2024 scanner has, no regrets, money well spent.
I primarily use my radios outdoors for aviation only also. The R30 display is very weak in sunlight and drives me nuts. How is this display to read outdoors and have you picked up any milband traffic yet?
 

palmerjrusa

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No problems in sunlight, amazing how clear the display is. I just now programmed the scanner for UHF military. I hope military is UHF FM

The default mode for UHF military aviation is also AM, though some can be FM or digital.

Part of the fun for me is searching for new frequencies and researching them on the Internet.



Warning, it can take a while to find and build up a military aviation frequency database...
 
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eorange

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The only time I've ever heard military aviation on NFM is at the airshows, and even then it's in the 140 MHz range used by the ground crews.
 

xms3200

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That is a great way to remember it...Anything in the air is AM....is it because of range, AM gets a longer range than FM, just curious.
 
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