Icom shows new IC-R15 at Tokyo Ham Fair

[nickwilson159]

Latest is now mid May, at least in Europe.

The IC-R15 does not disappoint, great Icom quality and performance, it blows my Uniden BCT15X and Icom A25C out of the water as far as VHF air which I monitor. It picks up CLE tower & ground control which the other two struggle with, all this with the Signal sticks dual bander.
Wonder if Icom has a desktop scanner with similar VHF air specs as the IC-R15.

This is great to hear - sounds like the performance should be in the same range as the R30.

Any chance you could do the same sort of side-by-side with some of the NOAA frequencies in the 162 MHz band? Us rail enthusiasts (which Icom also explicitly mentions along with air enthusiasts in R15 advertising materials) are curious about how it performs in that part of the VHF spectrum. Should be able to find a distant NOAA station to compare.

 

[xms3200]

NOAA comes in very clear at 162.50Mhz where I live, it is just as clear as the A25C which has preset WX channels which my Euro version IC-R15 does not. I am very impressed with the unit...however, the only thing lacking is the speaker performance since it is a very small unit, I use bluetooth headphones. It is a pity Icom is so slow in shipping these scanners.

 

[bcradio]

I'm tempted to pull the trigger on the Radioworld UK one, but... I would like to be hassle free in case of a warranty issue. Crossing my fingers for availability ASAP ;-)
@xms3000 , do you make much use of the dual watch function? Does each transmission sound intelligible or is it kinda a bunch of noise?

 

[xms3200]

Don’t be afraid of the Euro version, pull the trigger, it says Icom, they will honor it. Only difference is no preset WX channels and 76 to 108 mhz, why would they refuse a warranty, I can understand a vehicle with different emissions and some other physical differences, as grounds for refusing a warranty.
I use dual watch all the time for twr and departures, the only hard part is trying to figure out which pilot to listen to.

 

[bcradio]

I had an issue with a radio ordered from the US imported to Canada. Not a road I want to go down again.

 

[palmerjrusa]

Don’t be afraid of the Euro version, pull the trigger, it says Icom, they will honor it. Only difference is no preset WX channels and 76 to 108 mhz, why would they refuse a warranty, I can understand a vehicle with different emissions and some other physical differences, as grounds for refusing a warranty.
I use dual watch all the time for twr and departures, the only hard part is trying to figure out which pilot to listen to.

I can wait, I'm 90% sure by the end of the month it will make its debut in the US...

 

[AK9R]

Same as with "gray market" cameras that were all the rage 40 years ago, if the device is not a North American version sold through a North American retailer, Icom America may feel that they are under no obligation to provide warranty service on a non-North American unit.

 

[N4DJC]

Same as with "gray market" cameras that were all the rage 40 years ago, if the device is not a North American version sold through a North American retailer, Icom America may feel that they are under no obligation to provide warranty service on a non-North American unit.

The same thing happened when some were buying ID-52’s from Japan prior to the introduction of the US version, they will not offer any warranty.

 

[xms3200]

Seems like it might be best to hold off till it makes its US debut, only bad part is, "The waiting"

 

[krtz07]

NOAA comes in very clear at 162.50Mhz where I live, it is just as clear as the A25C which has preset WX channels which my Euro version IC-R15 does not. I am very impressed with the unit...however, the only thing lacking is the speaker performance since it is a very small unit, I use bluetooth headphones. It is a pity Icom is so slow in shipping these scanners.

Is 162.5 the only frequency that comes in ?

162.400 162.425 162.450 162.475 162.525 162.550 are some others

Be interesting to see how some of the weaker ones comes in if at all compared to the other receiver you have. Railroad frequencies are around 160.x and the 162.x is close enough. Railroad enthusiasts need something extremely sensitive and selective to listen in.

Seems like it might be best to hold off till it makes its US debut, only bad part is, "The waiting"

 

[eorange]

162.550 is the main NOAA deal here. I wouldn't exactly call that a challenging receive test 😃

 

[xms3200]

It has continuous tuning from 108 to 500mhz. NOAA comes in on 162.50 where I live. I am sure it will work great for railroad, some of the stuff I pick up for VHF air with some clarity amazes me.

 

[eorange]

162.500 is NOAA Youngstown.

 

[DudleyG]

I think what folks are asking is - how well the R15 can receive the WX Channels since they are very close to the railroad frequencies, obviously the R15 won't have any trouble with the strong local Cleveland WX frequency, however distant WX Channels would be a reasonable test.

Attached is the table that ICOM Receivers (and Transceivers) use for weather channels. Put the ICOM A25C in WX mode (func-3), and set it to one of the frequencies in the attached image, then using VFO tuning on the R15, tune in that same frequency and see how each receives the broadcast.

The table is valid for R6, R30, and A25C (all of which I have and can verify they use the exact same table).

The only "weak" part of the test is - The A25C in very fine tuned to the civilian air band (108 to 137) for both receive and transmit and tries to filter out other frequencies outside of that range plus the antenna is "cut" to the 108 to 137 band also, thus the A25C can receive the 162.xxx frequencies but not at the full strength that it can 108 to 137. I did the suggested test with the R6, R30, and A25C and the R30 is the best, R6 is pretty good, but the A25C was weak on the distant WX frequencies, for example Louisville Ky WX is 75 miles from my house and the R6 and R30 had no trouble, R30 was very clear, R6 was almost clear, but the A25C was very scratchy and hard to make out the words. I also did the testing on an AOR AR8200MK3 and it performed as well or maybe better that the R30 on the WX testing.

My opinion - till someone test the R15 against the R30 or the R6, we really won't know how well the R15 can receive railroad frequencies.

 

[DudleyG]

To clarify one thing in my above post, the A25C and the A25N use the same tuner but the A25C can only tune in 118.000 to 136.975 where the A25N can tune in 108.000 to 136.975 (since the A25N has navigation capabilities), however both the A25C and A25N can ONLY transmit in the 118.000 to 136.975 range.

 

[xms3200]

Here are the test results. A25C received WX on 162.50, 162.55.
IC-R15 (with the Signal Sticks) picked up 162.4, 162.50 & 162.55, the strength of the 3 signals was definitely louder on the IC-R15 and of equal strength.

 

[G7RUX]

For a number of reasons I’m fairly tempted by the R15 and for much of my use it would replace my R30.

 

[xms3200]

Besides excellent reception on VHF air, it has a lot of nice, newer features as compared to my A25C

 

[G7RUX]

Incidentally, has anyone tried the R15 Bluetooth audio? With both my ID52 and R30 (using VS-3 or Bluetooth earbuds) I notice something very peculiar …when the squelch breaks and a not-perfectly-crisp signal is received I hear the noise level drop abruptly after about one second. It doesn’t drop to zero but does reduce somewhat. The effect is quite pronounced and is rather distracting…does anyone else notice this or have I missed some setting or other?

 

[xms3200]

I use bluetooth all the time with the Beats Flex, love it.