R5

[bryank49]

Not a great reciever by any means. Very difficult to navigate; I have an AOR8200mk3 and a Uniden BC250D, and am comparing to those 2. For all it's worth I was told by a reputable company whichs sells the equipt. that the R2 which the R5 was built after was a much better reciever.

 

[racin06]

Not a great reciever by any means. Very difficult to navigate; I have an AOR8200mk3 and a Uniden BC250D, and am comparing to those 2. For all it's worth I was told by a reputable company whichs sells the equipt. that the R2 which the R5 was built after was a much better reciever.

Just curious...do you own the Icom R20? I own the AOR8200 MK3 and the R20. I've had the R20 for two days now and I am impressed with its performance. Actually, I believe the R20 is a better overall receiver than the the 8200. The R20 has more features such as the CTSS (another $100 for the 8200), Dual Watch and the recorder. The R20 has much better audio than the 8200 IMO. The display on the R20 beats the 8200 hands down. The 8200 display looks like something from the 1980s with blocky and large dot matrix characters. The 8200 is a pain in the butt to operate with its very complicated menu system. The R20 is a breeze and a pleasure to operate.

The R20 is $69.00 cheaper than the 8200 ($169.00 cheaper if you want CTSS in the 8200). Lastly, the PC cable for the 8200 is a ridiculous $100.00.

The 8200 is still a fine receiver; however, I will say that for the money you can't beat the R20.

 

[boy_ryan22]

I have an R5 and its fine for me to navigate. its hard at the start but so is any radio.

 

[Air490]

I can't dsiagree more...

My R5 and R20 leave the 8200 dead for receiver performance! It's not fair to compar Uniden with the Icoms, because the Uniden is a scanner where as the Icoms are receivers that scan. There is an important difference there.

I agree that the R5 can be hard to use, but it just takes some getting used to.

I sold my 8200 after I bought the R20 and have never regretted it.

 

[Mr44]

R5 Hard to navigate?

Maybe for a crack baby or product of the U.S. public education system :wink:, but I for one am so used to navigating my R5 that I have to remind myself that my R20 allows direct frequency entry.

It's almost as fast to enter frequencies with the dial on the R5, especially considering that on the R20 one has to tweak the dial anyway to enter something like say "413.2125". (why, ICOM, Why can I not just type "413.2125" rather than "413.212 - dial twist" :?)

As for performance, with a Maldol AS-30 antenna my R5 hears things at half scale that don't even break the squelch on the R20 with the stock whip. I tried putting the AS-30 on the R20 via an adapter but still no go. Go figure. I think the center pin from the antenna is not making a good contact with the crappy adapter I have but I'm not 100% sure.

I love my R-20, but in terms of sheer delight from a product the R5 cannot be beat. It feels so solid and indestructable -- mine has hit the floor three times since I got it and it still looks MINT. If it had a faster scan rate I would have really thought twice about investing in the R20.

PM

 

[Dubbin]

Never had a problem with my R5 from the start. Also I never really seen a difference in performance from my R2.