I called old man Icom yesterday and he said to be patient. I figure there will be a follow up handheld receiver due to the demand/prices on the used market, but I am unsure of the changes they would make, or added features. (For those that will bemoan...Icom will not add DMR)
I lucked out and purchased my R30 for $400 used. It really is a fine receiver for both sensitivity and selectivity when compared to other wide band handheld receivers and transceivers. With the adjustable gain it has, it works well with passive antennas. Anyways, what new features would you like the subsequent model to have Johnnie?
Hello again, vagrant.
New features for the R30 replacement? Let's see . . . I can dream, can't I?
1. Trunk tracking - Icom makes land mobile radios for IDAS/NXDN, and P25 phase 1 and 2 trunked radio systems, so I know they have the capability, but they seem to be entirely focused on "communications receivers," not trunk-tracking "scanners" when it comes to their receiver lineup.
2. DMR - That will probably never happen because their IDAS/NXDN radios are competing head-to-head with DMR in the commercial and public-safety radio world, but hope springs eternal because a competitor, Kenwood, sells D-Star radios in the amateur radio world, presumably with Icom's blessing.
3. Linear simulcast modulation reception - I don't know if Icom's commercial and public-safety trunked radios can handle simulcast systems, but I'm guessing it's a technical possibility, given their ability to deal with just everything else out there. I'd settle for an R30 replacement that can receive digital simulcast signals in conventional, non-trunking mode via an I/Q receiver front-end like Uniden's SDS series scanners.
4. A truly useful remote-control app - The RS-R30 software and the VS-3 Bluetooth are interesting options, but they stop well short of higher-level remote-control capabilities.
5. Decryption - Unication pagers can monitor encrypted systems if they have an encryption key. Yes, I know this feature must be authorized and legally blessed by system owners.
6. A brighter, higher-contrast display - Icom's commercial handheld radios have brighter, higher-contrast displays, so I know it could be done for the R30 replacement. One small irritation I have with the R30's display is that it seems to generate some subtle, low-level noise that interferes with signal reception when it automatically lights up. The low-level noise goes away when the display light is turned off.
7. A color display? - A color display like Icom's ID-52 D-Star radio that's visible even in bright sunlight would be nice.
8. A separate jack for AC power that bypasses the battery-charging circuitry would be nice. I'm not sure what might happen if I left my R30's charging circuitry on for hours or days on end.
9. Automatic volume gain control - The R30 already has some really nice control features (VSC, AFC, ANL, RF gain, etc), but circuitry that could be used to moderate voice-volume levels while scanning multiple systems would be cool.
I'll think of some more things to add around 2 a.m. tonight, but I guess that's about it for now.
I already have a couple of Uniden SDS100's and a Unication G5 pager, but the possibility of an R30 replacement that can apply Icom quality to take us a step or two further is fun to think about . . . and yes, I know it would be very expensive.
Thanks for listening!
-Johnnie (KC5IGH)
