Rob Sherwood R-8600 test data!

[prcguy]

Here is the long version of Rob Sherwood's test data for the 8600. He will update his receiver test data site soon and place the 8600 in pecking order with other receivers. Here is a link to the test data site: http://www.sherweng.com/table.html
prcguy

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Here is the long version of Rob Sherwood's test data for the 8600. He will update his receiver test data site soon and place the 8600 in pecking order with other receivers. Here is a link to the test data site: http://www.sherweng.com/table.html
prcguy

Not seeing it...l

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[prcguy]

Still waiting for Rob to update his site. He mentioned his two sample radios had some differences and he may use the average between the two on his site.
prcguy

Not seeing it...l

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Still waiting for Rob to update his site. He mentioned his two sample radios had some differences and he may use the average between the two on his site.
prcguy

Thanks. Would like to see how my R9000 stacks up !

I wonder if it is time to upgrade.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[prcguy]

Rob had commented the R8600 will outperform all the older wide band radios like the R9000. Upgrade, upgrade, upgrade!
prcguy

Thanks. Would like to see how my R9000 stacks up !

I wonder if it is time to upgrade.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

 

[JerryX]

Rob's report makes interesting reading.

I got to try an R8600 at the local Ham Radio Outlet over the weekend for about thirty minutes and I was quite impressed. One thing from Rob's report stuck out, however. He said "In addition, the receiver is
quite small, and runs cool." After using it for thirty minutes, I found it to be quite warm, surprisingly so. I can understand a transceiver running warm after transmitting, but in a receiver like this it seems anomalous.

Have any of you R8600 owners noticed this?

 

[prcguy]

If you read this report: N9EWO Review : Icom IC-R8600 SDR Receiver you'll see the 8600 can run hot with the Icom power supplies for this unit that put out way too much voltage causing excess power to be dissipated in the radio. I run mine off 13.8V for long periods of time and its always very cool.
prcguy

Rob's report makes interesting reading.

I got to try an R8600 at the local Ham Radio Outlet over the weekend for about thirty minutes and I was quite impressed. One thing from Rob's report stuck out, however. He said "In addition, the receiver is
quite small, and runs cool." After using it for thirty minutes, I found it to be quite warm, surprisingly so. I can understand a transceiver running warm after transmitting, but in a receiver like this it seems anomalous.

Have any of you R8600 owners noticed this?

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Here is the question. If you had a brand new in the box IC-R9000 and someone wanted to trade you a new R8600 for it. No cash involved straight up deal, Would you do it?

 

[n2pqq]

YES
The newer tech alone would make me trade.

look here for what a icom R9000 has sold for.


https://www.universal-radio.com/used/sold194.html

 

[n2pqq]

Rob's report makes interesting reading.

I got to try an R8600 at the local Ham Radio Outlet over the weekend for about thirty minutes and I was quite impressed. One thing from Rob's report stuck out, however. He said "In addition, the receiver is
quite small, and runs cool." After using it for thirty minutes, I found it to be quite warm, surprisingly so. I can understand a transceiver running warm after transmitting, but in a receiver like this it seems anomalous.

Have any of you R8600 owners noticed this?

I use the Icom AD-55NS with the radio.

https://www.hamradio.com/detail.cfm?pid=71-002546

The radio is cool to the touch have had no problems.

 

[JerryX]

I'm reading conflicting information here. pcrguy says his runs cool on 13.8v and n2pqq says his also runs cool with the AD-55NS.

The N9EWO report mentioned by pcrguy saying the following:

The IC-R8600 runs HOT after a few hours of operation for N9EWO standards (at the marked regulated 13.8 DC volts, screen saver off) !! We ran extensive test to see if operation at a lower voltage would help to reduce cabinet heat (less internal voltage regulator burn off it has to do). The voltage input specifications are regulated 13.8 DC volts plus or minus 15%. That puts the low end at 11.73 volts, and sure enough as one goes around this voltage the receiver stops operating. I wanted to see a .5 volts (half a volt) buffer above that, so we went with a setting of 12.2 volts (adjustment made with the IC-R8600 on / as loaded to the host Astron RS-12A power supply). Good news is that this does indeed help to reduce cabinet heat. Mind you it will not make for cold operation, but we found this to help make a definite noticeable difference even if only slight (and can only help with the receivers longevity). We have not noticed any degradation of performance as this text was added at the 12.2 volt setting. Yes, it's even a bit hotter operation with the Icom AD-55NS or SP-39AD with those being at 15 volts, see additional below.

He says the R8600 runs hot on either 13.8vDC or on the AD-55NS and runs his at 12.2 volts.

Who is right? I don't have an R8600 so I can't experiment, and my only experience with it was at HRO, where the display model definitely ran warm (it was powered by 13.8v in the store).

 

[Token]

I'm reading conflicting information here. pcrguy says his runs cool on 13.8v and n2pqq says his also runs cool with the AD-55NS.

I run mine on the AD-55NS, and compared to most of my other radios it is relatively cool. On the left side (facing the radio) it is the warmest, but it is still not hot, it is mildly warm at best. The right side and most of the top are slightly above ambient temp.

All in all I would say it runs cool, certainly not hot at all.

I just turned mine on for the evening, in an hour I will hit it with a thermometer and see what the hottest part is, and how much above room temp it is.

T!

 

[prcguy]

The 8600 will heat up more with higher supply voltage like the AD-55NS, question is what is hot to you? Whenever I buy a new radio I leave it on for at least a week or two 24/7 to weed out infant morality problems. After a week or more my 8600 was only slightly warmer than ambient inside my house running on 13.8v.

When I get home from my travel I'll also measure my case temp after its been on for several hours and report here.
prcguy

I run mine on the AD-55NS, and compared to most of my other radios it is relatively cool. On the left side (facing the radio) it is the warmest, but it is still not hot, it is mildly warm at best. The right side and most of the top are slightly above ambient temp.

All in all I would say it runs cool, certainly not hot at all.

I just turned mine on for the evening, in an hour I will hit it with a thermometer and see what the hottest part is, and how much above room temp it is.

T!

 

[Token]

The 8600 will heat up more with higher supply voltage like the AD-55NS, question is what is hot to you? Whenever I buy a new radio I leave it on for at least a week or two 24/7 to weed out infant morality problems. After a week or more my 8600 was only slightly warmer than ambient inside my house running on 13.8v.

I do the same thing with a new radio, turn it on and leave it on for a while, to see what will happen.

OK, I turned my R8600 on an hour ago. When I turned it on the ambient case temp was 77 F. One hour later the top of the case is 8 F warmer, or 85 F. The hottest spot on the radio is 94 F. So from off to on, and an hour later, the hottest part has warmed 17 F, and the majority of the case is 10 F or less above turn on temp.

I don't consider that hot at all.

Like I said, slightly warm, but cooler than many electronics. In fact the LCD monitor I am using with this computer is significantly warmer than the R8600.

T!

 

[n2pqq]

I can only say radio is cool to the touch.
I do have the flip down bar extended.
Radio is well ventilated .
Not in a desk inclosure , no radio on top of it.

 

[prcguy]

Rob Sherwood finally got the R8600 info published on his receiver test data site. It ranks way up there with some of the best contest HF rigs and higher than any other general purpose receiver I see tested. He also just posted data on the new IC-7610 HF transceiver.
Receiver Test Data
prcguy

 

[prcguy]

Sherwood re tested his original sample R8600 and posted the results on his site. It now takes the number 2 slot of all receivers he has ever tested for close spaced dynamic range and better than the Elecraft K3S. That's both impressive and confusing, I need to make some phone calls to see what changed.
prcguy

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Sherwood re tested his original sample R8600 and posted the results on his site. It now takes the number 2 slot of all receivers he has ever tested for close spaced dynamic range and better than the Elecraft K3S. That's both impressive and confusing, I need to make some phone calls to see what changed.
prcguy

Got to see one close up here at the Orlando Hamfest. Wow it is tiny. I think a dozen of those would fit inside my R9000!

Please keep us posted as to Sherwoods personal opinion on this radio. I think what I glean, at least in comparing with the IC-R9000 is that the new receiver has much improved dynamic range and lower LO noise. Would I be correct? And are these strictly HF assessments, not the UHF and microwave bands?

 

[prcguy]

It turns out the new data Rob Sherwood posted is his personal unit that was tested along side of mine and I posted that info early on in this thread. Both receivers were tested under identical conditions and his was checked again at a different lab and produced the same results. Rob initially put my radio on his website as the lower numbers are probably middle of the road for this model.

The discrepancy seems to be the actual A/D converter chip in each radio differs from unit to unit and that is probably responsible for the varying levels of measured performance. You might get a radio with really good performance worst case, or you might get a radio with stellar performance if your lucky.

Rob seems to think there is little difference in actual on air performance when you get into these upper receivers, even with the 10dB or so difference in close spaced dynamic range. Personally, I think someone could make a living testing R8600s and charging extra for a premium unit.

Here is a comment Rob had comparing the R8600 to earlier Icom models: "VHF/UHF dynamic range (DR3) and reciprocal mixing (RMDR) wide-spaced performance is similar to the IC-9100. Close-in, however, the performance is significantly better. HF performance 10 kHz – 30 MHz is state-of-the-art." In other conversations it was mentioned the R8600 is a better receiver than the R9000 and for a lot less $$. You might read that pdf again in this thread that has some comments on VHF/UHF performance.
prcguy

Got to see one close up here at the Orlando Hamfest. Wow it is tiny. I think a dozen of those would fit inside my R9000!

Please keep us posted as to Sherwoods personal opinion on this radio. I think what I glean, at least in comparing with the IC-R9000 is that the new receiver has much improved dynamic range and lower LO noise. Would I be correct? And are these strictly HF assessments, not the UHF and microwave bands?

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

It turns out the new data Rob Sherwood posted is his personal unit that was tested along side of mine and I posted that info early on in this thread. Both receivers were tested under identical conditions and his was checked again at a different lab and produced the same results. Rob initially put my radio on his website as the lower numbers are probably middle of the road for this model.

The discrepancy seems to be the actual A/D converter chip in each radio differs from unit to unit and that is probably responsible for the varying levels of measured performance. You might get a radio with really good performance worst case, or you might get a radio with stellar performance if your lucky.

Rob seems to think there is little difference in actual on air performance when you get into these upper receivers, even with the 10dB or so difference in close spaced dynamic range. Personally, I think someone could make a living testing R8600s and charging extra for a premium unit.

Here is a comment Rob had comparing the R8600 to earlier Icom models: "VHF/UHF dynamic range (DR3) and reciprocal mixing (RMDR) wide-spaced performance is similar to the IC-9100. Close-in, however, the performance is significantly better. HF performance 10 kHz – 30 MHz is state-of-the-art." In other conversations it was mentioned the R8600 is a better receiver than the R9000 and for a lot less $$. You might read that pdf again in this thread that has some comments on VHF/UHF performance.
prcguy

Were the two samples fitted with same firmware updates? I am no expert in ADC's but it would seem the performance might be affected by firmware differences as opposed to the silicon.

When I worked at the Motorola plant in the 70's, a friend of mine was in final test for CB radios. He used to mark the boxes with a small dot indicating radios with better performance so friends could pick good ones.