R6, RX7, and R20, alternatives to a "scanner"?

[Baskt_Case]

I've got another thread going in the Uniden forum and then I discover these little gems from ICOM.

Are these receivers practical for usage as a fulltime scanner for EMS/Fire/Law? I dont care about trunking or P25, I've got other radios for that, I'm more interested in the band coverage afforded by these radios, especially at their price points.

Whats the difference between the RX7 and the R6?

 

[NineSierraGolf]

I am an ICOM fan and my current radio is the IC-R6. Very handy for travel and has good performance with the supplied whip. Eneloop NimH X 2 last for ages even with the dial light permanently on. I have four and rotate them thru an Eneloop charging unit.

The radio is slightly larger than a cigarette pack and has like all HH ICOM's an SMA connection.

Here's mine with a cellphone holder and a Diamond whip:

I've never owned an R20, but they look rather big and heavy, rather like an AOR 8000 MkIII. They have some great features I believe, including dual watch, shortwave and SSB and an inbuilt recorder.

I don't know how they perform against the R6, but they are over double the price here. I don't think they are twice as good though.

I did own an RX7, but I sold it on as I hated the lack of conventional memory bank/channels. Complex to program as well.

No ICOM receivers I know of are capable of receiving trunked radio. I use my R6 mainly for aeronautical monitoring.

Cheers, Stevie

 

[safetyobc]

I had an R5 and loved it! If you have other scanners, then the R6 will be a great little radio. I wouldn't want one as my only scanner but as a secondary, they are great! Very small! I did a small review of my R5 a long time ago lol. I regret selling it and will likely pick up a R6 soon.

 

[lindsay34654]

I agree with you, but does it get trunking and re-banding. It is great if you have single channels.

 

[safetyobc]

The Icoms do not do trunking.

 

[Baskt_Case]

I had an R5 and loved it! If you have other scanners, then the R6 will be a great little radio. I wouldn't want one as my only scanner but as a secondary, they are great! Very small! I did a small review of my R5 a long time ago lol. I regret selling it and will likely pick up a R6 soon.

Nice review. Yea, I have my other scanners for my dedicated full time targets. And seeing as desktop wideband receivers are quite pricey, these little radios seem quite attractive for someone who wants the super-wide coverage at an affordable price.

 

[safetyobc]

Thanks. Don't expect too much receive in the HF bands though. The R5 was great on VHF High.


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[questnz]

Icom RX 7 is a very good scanner, audio not the best specially when you listen in the vehicle, best to program with Icom software (optional purchase), however I read somwhere that this model is now discontiniued? You can get more info here Icom IC-RX7 Wideband Receiver Product Reviews

 

[SCPD]

Do not get the RX7, it has issues. The R6 is a much better 'scanner' and the R20 is a 'communications receiver' meaning that it covers HF with USB/LSB, etc. It's much more costly however.

I would not recommend it for HF unless you wanted the best of both worlds.

The only complaint I've heard about the R20 is the battery life.

 

[LesWurk]

Yaesu made some small wideband handhelds also. The VR120 is similar to the Icom R5. I use a VX-2 transciever for a compact conventional scanner (discontinued but replaced by the VX3). Less money and more features than the VR120.

 

[Turbo68]

Hi i use the Icom-R20 to monitor across all bands excellent h/h receiver antennas i use for portable are Diamond-RH771Miracle-IL Ducker that tunes everything hf/vhf/uhf excellent antenna can take it anywhere can also use the original telscopic antenna to tune when im home its hooked up to my Wellbrook-ALA1530 active hf loop without any overloading problems as for battery life get around 22 hours very realiable receiver as for the RX7 good receiver battery life last around the same the only thing i dont like is the speaker is not loud enough.

Regards Lino.
ALINCO DJ-X11,ALINCO DJ-X2000,ALINCO DX-R8 (2)
AOR-8200MK3,AOR-8600MK2
FUNCUBE DONGLE PRO
GRE-PSR400,GRE-PSR500
GRUNDIG SATELLIT-750
ICOM-PCR1000,ICOM-PCR1500,ICOM-R3,ICOM-R20,ICOM-R71,ICOM-R75 (2),ICOM-R2500,ICOM-R7100
ICOM-R8500,ICOM-RX7
PALSTAR-R30A
REALISTIC-PRO2035
TEN TEC-320D,TEN TEC-340
UNIDEN-245,UNIDEN-396 (2),UNIDEN-780
YAESU-VR500

 

[JohnGingras]

R-6

I love my R-6 in fact I have two of them. I use it for VHF-UHF air and it works great with the PAR FM filter I have no intermod problems at all. If anybody is interested I'am going to sell one of the two radio's I just don't have the time to listen at work anymore. The radio is in perfect condition with the programming cable included.

John

 

[oregontreehugger]

Icom R6 and newbie R20 user here. They are both excellent receivers. Had an R2 and R5 in the past, too. Personally, I think the R6 hits the sweet spot of capability vs. price. I am still very surprised at the number of SW broadcast stations I can pick up with the R6 and a small wire antenna. (Just wish it had 6.25 kHz step sizing for the narrowband stuff and stereo headphone output.) As others have mentioned, if you need trunking or digital look elsewhere...