R30 New feature request

[tumegpc]

I feel if enough of us request a specific feature we would like the R30 to have, Icom might consider honoring our wishes.

I've emailed Icom Technical Support for various reasons in the past two months and I always get a quick response. Very happy with their service.

Couple features I requested :

DMR - it goes without saying. This would be the final blow to the AR- DV10.

And better use of the 4 way direction pad. I like the way Whistler makes use of theirs.

 

[UnderwaterWindow]

A GPS battery saving feature would be great. It could turn on/off every 30 seconds or so to refresh the location.

DMR is greatly needed.

 

[woodpecker]

I would buy one if they added DMR, I suspect most European users would feel the same. There is hardly any P25 here and not enough IDAS or NXDN to consider it.

 

[Hit_Factor]

I requested that the near station feature either allow a user defined radius or reduce the current 100 mile radius to 50 or less.

I would really like the option of DMR.

 

[iMONITOR]

I wouldn't hold my breath for ICOM to respond to user request like Uniden does. Uniden is pretty much an exception in that regard.

 

[MStep]

I would buy one if they added DMR, I suspect most European users would feel the same. There is hardly any P25 here and not enough IDAS or NXDN to consider it.

The additional of DMR would make the R30 a truly great receiver, except I have to agree with the majority in terms of "not holding my breath" waiting for Icom to include DMR or Fusion, both of which are very popular here in the NYC area. In fact, there is much, much more Fusion and DMR activity here, as compared to Icom's proprietary D-Star digital mode.

I have to believe that if AOR had hit a home run with their DV10, there would have been more pressure on Icom to incorporate DMR. Because of AOR's floundering with the DV10, there is no real incentive for Icom.

With the exception of Uniden (and perhaps one other scanner manufacturer), neither Icom nor AOR has done anything substantial in terms of adding additional digital modes. And I would not expect that to change.

 

[bgav]

I wouldn't hold my breath for ICOM to respond to user request like Uniden does. Uniden is pretty much an exception in that regard.

I beg to differ. After receiving my R30 I emailed Icom America and requested a backlighting option to turn on the backlight when squelch opens. I know other R30 owners requested the same backlighting option. They replied within 4 hours and lo and behold, that feature was in the next firmware update.

 

[vagrant]

I wouldn't hold my breath for ICOM to respond to user request like Uniden does. Uniden is pretty much an exception in that regard.

Please share your personal experience dealing directly with ICOM. I am interested in the R30 and would like to know more about your interaction with ICOM and their response, good or bad. Thank you.

 

[iMONITOR]

Please share your personal experience dealing directly with ICOM. I am interested in the R30 and would like to know more about your interaction with ICOM and their response, good or bad. Thank you.

It goes back a long time and possibly they've changed their ways since. It was concerning issues and suggestions for the IC-R71B, IC-R7000, IC-R7100 and IC-R7200 receivers. The issue was no response at all.

 

[AA6IO]

DMR would be great for my IC-R30 but I'm not going to hold my breath. ICOM would probably sell a lot more R30s and R8600s worldwide if DMR were available. Add Fusion, and that would be a real winner.
I might even bite at the R8600 if DMR were available. So. Cal is a DMR haven, with all kinds of activity.

 

[bgav]

Make that less than 2 hours for Icom America to respond to my request.

Request sent 8/24/18 12:23PM
Reply from Icom 8/24/28 2:09PM

 

[kruser]

DMR would be great for my IC-R30 but I'm not going to hold my breath. ICOM would probably sell a lot more R30s and R8600s worldwide if DMR were available. Add Fusion, and that would be a real winner.
I might even bite at the R8600 if DMR were available. So. Cal is a DMR haven, with all kinds of activity.

DMR would be my number one request for both, the IC-R30 and IC-R8600.
They are both fantastic receivers but really lack when there is no DMR. I know DMR is more of Icom's competitors mode but I'd say they would sell more if this mode was included. In most areas, DMR is really gaining in popularity over most other modes.

In this area, almost all Public Safety is encrypted using P25.
Most new licenses or modified licenses here are going to DMR of some type. NXDN is next to a lesser extent.
DMR is by far seeing the largest amount of new users in my area.

 

[theoldcop]

In addition to all of the above, I would like the ability to perform a P-Scan Edge search and, when stopping on a frequency that I would like to add into memory, have the radio store both the frequency AND current GPS data. I think that, when traveling, it would be easier to choose “nearby” frequencies.

 

[kruser]

In addition to all of the above, I would like the ability to perform a P-Scan Edge search and, when stopping on a frequency that I would like to add into memory, have the radio store both the frequency AND current GPS data. I think that, when traveling, it would be easier to choose “nearby” frequencies.

I second this one! This is the way it should work as long as the GPS has a good position fix.

It sure would cut down on the time needed to enter position data.

 

[theoldcop]

I’ve forwarded my request to Icom with fingers crossed!

 

[UnderwaterWindow]

It'd be nice to not have the key beep sound mute the receiving audio for that split second.

 

[Lowboy23]

All of the above plus 7.5 Khz search steps, the most popular step size for VHF-High public safety band. How could ICOM have overlooked this step size?

 

[jaspence]

Search step size

All of the above plus 7.5 Khz search steps, the most popular step size for VHF-High public safety band. How could ICOM have overlooked this step size?

Icom is in the two way radio business, not the scanner business. Most of their products are two way radios, both commercial and ham, and the receiver only radios are designed for use in those bands as a monitor type receiver rather than a scanner.

 

[W2GLD]

Icom is in the two way radio business, not the scanner business. Most of their products are two way radios, both commercial and ham, and the receiver only radios are designed for use in those bands as a monitor type receiver rather than a scanner.

That's really irrelevant, this is a communications receiver and it should support all of the proper frequency steps. In North America, more specifically the US, 7.5 kHz is the appropriate spacing on VHF now after the 2013 narrow banding mandate and this step is required in order to tune certain frequencies, including 107-197 railroad frequencies which are at 7.5 kHz steps. With the CS-R30 cloning software, you can fake the radio out, but it's clearly absent from the menu in the radio and in the cloning software as well.

I'll note, on the IC-R8600, it's also missing the 7.5 kHz step; however, ICOM was smart enough to give you the option to create any channel step you desire with a custom button; but I still think ICOM needs to include the 7.5 kHz step option in both radios.

 

[MStep]

That's really irrelevant, this is a communications receiver and it should support all of the proper frequency steps. In North America, more specifically the US, 7.5 kHz is the appropriate spacing on VHF now after the 2013 narrow banding mandate and this step is required in order to tune certain frequencies, including 107-197 railroad frequencies which are at 7.5 kHz steps. With the CS-R30 cloning software, you can fake the radio out, but it's clearly absent from the menu in the radio and in the cloning software as well.

I'll note, on the IC-R8600, it's also missing the 7.5 kHz step; however, ICOM was smart enough to give you the option to create any channel step you desire with a custom button; but I still think ICOM needs to include the 7.5 kHz step option in both radios.

Agreed. It's a pretty standard step size that should have been included. Incidentally, while you can create custom frequency steps on the 8600 (for example 7.5 MHz), you can only program in one digit following the decimal point. (For more information about this, see my Niggles # 2 post in this thread: https://forums.radioreference.com/icom-receivers/376680-icom-r-8600-niggles.html)

Hopefully, Icom will address these issues in future firmware updates.