R30 R30: My early impressions

[N9JIG]

So a month or so ago I bought a lightly used R30 from a prolific member here. It arrived quickly and appeared in great physical shape. Having an R8600 as well as multiple Icom receivers in the past and many different Icom transceivers. Many of the current radios in my collection share similar operating protocols so I was pretty easy to figure out right from the box. The main difference is the lack of a touchscreen on the R30 that the IC-7100, IC-705, IC-7300 and R8600 I have all have.

Now I have to digress a little. A couple hours before I found my R30 I bought an ID-52A Plus, figuring it would be a decent alternative to the R30 due to the R30 being discontinued and used ones going for as much as they were new it seemed. I like the ID52, it has great audio and covers many of the ranges I am interested in and is compact, especially with all the features it packs in. It does however have a glaring issue for me; it will not receive in AM mode from 375 to 380 MHz., important for me as I like to listen to a nearby air force base and the tower freq falls there. It also does not receive HF nor P25.

As luck would have it I found the R30 within a couple hours of buying the ID-52A and I toyed with returning or reselling the ID-52A but decided to keep it as I would like to get into D-Star and other 2M and 440 activity. This now provides me with another toy to play with...

So back to the R30: As I said before it was easy to get started. Within a few minutes I figured out the basics and started listening to the local rail channel since I was railfanning at the time. I stopped by the base and listened to the tower operations, worked great.

I like the feel-in-hand of the R30, it just feels right holding it. I have gotten pretty good at manipulating the keypad with my thumb while holding the radio so many of the actions can be done with one hand.

I do have a small gripe: the radio uses a proprietary Li-Ion battery pack. I did buy an extra one as well as a AA pack (which works well). I am a little worried that the batteries might be hard to obtain as AFAIK the only other radio that uses it is the R15. I wish they would have used the BP-272 like my IC-705 and ID-52. I have 3 of these as well as a BP-307 higher capacity one.

As for receiver performance I am very happy. Connected to the same multicoupler as my other radios it is at least as good as the R8600 and the various Uniden scanners. On HF it seems as sensitive as the R7100 and 705 if not a little better.

A couple days ago however the belt clip broke so I ordered a replacement from American Communications, it should be here in a week or so. I also got the leather case, something I usually don't get. I figured I would want to protect it.

I do wish however that the main control knob on the R30 (as well as the ID-52A) was a push-button for quick entries, it really would make actions easier.

It was suggested that I get the CS-30 software for it, I did so and it seems to work just fine. I usually get the RT Systems programs but I am happy with the CS-30 even though it was more expensive.

All in all the R30 is everything I had hoped it would be and pairs nicely with the rest of my Icom fleet.

 

[vagrant]

As for receiver performance I am very happy. Connected to the same multicoupler as my other radios it is at least as good as the R8600 and the various Uniden scanners. On HF it seems as sensitive as the R7100 and 705 if not a little better.

Thank you for your comparison report. I am also quite happy with the sensitivity and selectivity of the R30. It is fantastic. When not connected to a multi-coupler, I use a Thales 1600500-1 antenna. It handles 118-500 MHz for me. I use a TNC to BNC adapter on the antenna and an SMA to BNC on the R30.

As to the battery concern, for extended monitoring, or if the Li-Ion goes bad, I simply connect an external USB battery. The one I often use is 3000 mAh and it comes with a small nylon bag and charging cable. I simply hang the battery bag from the top of the belt clip using the drawstring. I have the AA battery pack as well, but don't often use it.

Hey, don't forget that the R30 has an Android and iOS app for remote control. You can use a BT speaker, or earbuds as well. This allows me to keep the R30 connected to whatever improved antenna system while outdoors at the pool. The app also comes in handy when I keep the R30 in a backpack and control it using a phone and listening via a BT earbud. It is truly discrete like that when portable.

 

[N9JIG]

Thank you for your comparison report. I am also quite happy with the sensitivity and selectivity of the R30. It is fantastic. When not connected to a multi-coupler, I use a Thales 1600500-1 antenna. It handles 118-500 MHz for me. I use a TNC to BNC adapter on the antenna and an SMA to BNC on the R30.

You could eliminate a little loss by using a single adapter, such as this one: https://www.amazon.com/Ahoaepy-Adapter-Coaxial-Connector-Antennas/dp/B0D29K1NBC

If I get one of these Thales antennas I will get that adapter, that is if I don't already have one in my stash someplace I have an entire 24-bin hardware organizer full of different RF adapters!

 

[N9JIG]

Recently, a year and a couple months later I found that the R30 has relatively poor sensitivity on the VHF high band (at least...) compared to other radios. I connected both it and my ID-52+ to the same multicoupler and the ID-52+ can hear much more and weaker signals on both the rail and weather bands.

I also compared it to the other scanners on that same multicoupler and it is definitely less sensitive. I was able to hear 4 weather stations (Flagstaff, Phoenix, Tucson and Payson AZ) on the ID-52+ as well as my R8600, BCD260DN and others on the same antenna/multicoupler. I then swapped the coaxes between them and the conditions remained the same. I also could definitely notice worse results on a couple local rail channels. On the air band I was not able to hear the VHF ATIS at Luke AFB on it while I was able to on the other radios.

I didn't really notice this right away after I bought it last year but then I only used the local antenna and did not try it with external antennas. I have used it occasionally for railfanning and plane watching and it performed fine there, but then I am dealing with stronger signals.

I have it boxed up and it will be going to Icom service in the morning, I will report back on the results when it returns.

One of these days I have to invest in a service monitor!

 

[bearcatrp]

The R30 does great on my discone. Beat out all my other radios I have compared it to. Haven’t tried HF on it. Was mostly used on P25 and airband. Post your results from the Icom service.

 

[vagrant]

Did you try the freqs on A and B? Poor on both?

 

[N9JIG]

Did you try the freqs on A and B? Poor on both?

Ya know what? I did not think to do that. I rarely ever used the Dual Watch feature and it appears to work much better on the lower (which I presume is the "B" side). While still not quite up to par with the ID_52+ or the R8600 it is better than it was on the top band.

I might hold off on sending it in for a bit or at least modify the repair form request.

Thanks!

 

[bearcatrp]

Did you call Icom to see if they will work on it? If they labeled it EOL, they may not. Reason they gave for discontinuing was unable to get parts for it.

 

[N9JIG]

Did you call Icom to see if they will work on it? If they labeled it EOL, they may not. Reason they gave for discontinuing was unable to get parts for it.

It is not listed as "Non-supported" at Non-Supported Products | Non-Supported Products | Repair | Support | Icom America. so I presume they still do service it.

In more testing between the A and B bands I have found that the B band works SO MUCH better than the A band on VHF, both on the 108-136 air and the 150-165 public safety sectors. I know that the B band is limited to VHF and UHF while the A band also has HF and SHF. This might explain the better performance of the B band on VHF.

Before I send it in for an expensive service call can anyone verify that their R30 also has significantly less sensitivity on VHF on the A band than the B band? I am trying to figure out if it is my radio or just the way it is with the R30 in general.

 

[KevinC]

It is not listed as "Non-supported" at Non-Supported Products | Non-Supported Products | Repair | Support | Icom America. so I presume they still do service it.

In more testing between the A and B bands I have found that the B band works SO MUCH better than the A band on VHF, both on the 108-136 air and the 150-165 public safety sectors. I know that the B band is limited to VHF and UHF while the A band also has HF and SHF. This might explain the better performance of the B band on VHF.

Before I send it in for an expensive service call can anyone verify that their R30 also has significantly less sensitivity on VHF on the A band than the B band? I am trying to figure out if it is my radio or just the way it is with the R30 in general.

Do you have the RF gain for A and B set the same?

 

[N9JIG]

Do you have the RF gain for A and B set the same?

Yes.

Interestingly on the A Band I get better results at with the RFG set to level 7 or 8 rather than at Max. I suspect that is overloading the receiver. The B Band works fine at any level from RFG6 thru Max.

 

[KevinC]

Yes.

Interestingly on the A Band I get better results at with the RFG set to level 7 or 8 rather than at Max. I suspect that is overloading the receiver. The B Band works fine at any level from RFG6 thru Max.

I just tested mine on several NWS freqs and both A and B received the same weak signals. It took me some experimenting to get the RF gain set to balance noise vs reception deires.

Hopefully others will chime in with their results.

 

[DudleyG]

I figured out real quickly that the "B" side works best for analog (especially airplanes and trains) and that the "A" side works best for digital. If you look at the specifications for the R30, the two receivers have VERY different designs, the "A" side is triple superheterodyne and the "B" side is dual superheterodyne. The intermediate frequencies are also very different.

Don't get too carried away with scanning speed, the "A" side is 200, the "B" side is 150, but rather pick the best side for what you want to scan.

Come on Rich, an old tech guy like you usually teaches us to look at ALL of the specs.

 

[N9JIG]

I figured out real quickly that the "B" side works best for analog (especially airplanes and trains) and that the "A" side works best for digital. If you look at the specifications for the R30, the two receivers have VERY different designs, the "A" side is triple superheterodyne and the "B" side is dual superheterodyne. The intermediate frequencies are also very different.

I suspect that the difference on my radio is mostly due to the different construction of the two embedded receivers.

Don't get too carried away with scanning speed, the "A" side is 200, the "B" side is 150, but rather pick the best side for what you want to scan.

I rarely, if ever, use Icoms for scanning. My base units (R8600 now and others before) are almost exclusively used for dial twiddling and spectrum explorations.

Scan speed is an overrated spec anyway to me. Does it really matter much if 100 channels are scanned in half a second or a third? Too fast and the scanner will skip activity on weak signals. Too many channels to scan means the radio will be busy trying to get thru stuff to find your activity.

Come on Rich, an old tech guy like you usually teaches us to look at ALL of the specs.

You are right of course, I am however trying to get some real-life results from others before sending it in for service. I don't mind spending the money for the work but don't want to waste it.

 

[N9JIG]

I just tested mine on several NWS freqs and both A and B received the same weak signals. It took me some experimenting to get the RF gain set to balance noise vs reception deires.

Hopefully others will chime in with their results.

Thanks. I suspect that the reason I had to reduce the RF gain on the A band was that the signal had already been amplified via the multicoupler. I think my next experiment is to connect the radio directly to the antenna and see if the results are different.

I did this and it is still the same, the A band works best on RFG7 and the B on RFG Max. The overall reception and voice quality is better via the multicoupler than when connected directly to the antenna.

I suspect DudleyG has hit the nail on the head, due to the differing construction of the receiver types between the A and B units the results are going to be different. Since your radio shows them almost identical in performance I still suspect mine has some deficiency on the A band, but not as much as I originally suspected now that I reduced the RF gain a bit on it.

 

[N9JIG]

I uploaded a quick video to demonstrate the situation. The NWS Flagstaff (Mt. Elden) transmitter is about 120 or so away from my house.

 

[cbehr91]

Your observations about R30 A band vs. B band on VHF are the same as mine. I think it's just the design of the receiver.

 

[vagrant]

There were various posts about this around five years ago, which is why I asked about A/B. I use the B side for 108 - 500 MHz stuff. Here was my reply to that thread. I am very pleased with the R30 performance to this day. It is the closest thing to an R8600 I can fit in a pocket.

Post in thread 'R30 Searching Multiple Ranges & More'
R30 Searching Multiple Ranges & More

P.S. I prefer the RF gain at 7 on both sides, but that’s me.

 

[N9JIG]

There were various posts about this around five years ago, which is why I asked about A/B. I use the B side for 108 - 500 MHz stuff. Here was my reply to that thread. I am very pleased with the R30 performance to this day. It is the closest thing to an R8600 I can fit in a pocket.

Post in thread 'R30 Searching Multiple Ranges & More'
R30 Searching Multiple Ranges & More

P.S. I prefer the RF gain at 7 on both sides, but that’s me.

I just read thru that thread, thanks for the referral. I have only had this R30 for a year or so, purchasing it used of course.

I suspect the differences are mostly due to the differing receiver designs at this point. I will hold off a bit, now that I find it works better on the A band with a lower gain setting and the B band with the higher.

 

[cbehr91]

I feel like I did this some years back when I first got my R30 five or so years ago, but this thread renewed my curiosity in the A vs. B band on VHF.

While listening to a moderately strong NOAA WX signal, with the RF gain on MAX on VFO B and the RF gain at 7 on VFO A, the received signal sounded the same with the same "voice" clarity and level of background noise on both VFOs, but the S-meter on VFO A was only about 1/3 of the way full but was pegging at maximum on VFO B.

That being said, much like @vagrant, I'm very pleased with the performance of the R30.