RX7 - Gone Deaf??

[FlyByNight]

Hi,
I was at an airshow yesterday with my lovely new IC-RX7 and by the end of the day I felt like tossing it in the bin! OK, so maybe I am being to quick to criticise the scanner and I should probably consider the chump using it (me!) before blaming it for poor performance.

I had only had a few days to familiarise myself with it but I had been happily receiving airband transmissions at home and was pretty happy with it. At the airshow I had a selection of frequencies programmed for tower, approach, director, ground etc and set the RX-7 to scan through those - easy. However when I got there and set it scanning I could usually only hear the tower side of the transmissions and even they were broken and moderate strength at best.

I was positioned just 1/2 mile from the tower and less than 1/4 mile from some of the aircraft that were transmitting yet I could hear the aircraft's transmissions very infrequently and they were very weak if they did come through.

I started double checking the settings on the receiver and tried the following

AM antenna selection - I tried it in all three settings
Attenuator - Off, but I tried switching it on just in case the RX-7 rejected very strong signals for some reason???
RF Gain - Max, but I tried it at min and 5
Squelch - Auto, but I tried leaving it open and eventually set it to level 1

The antenna was the stock Icom FA-S270C which I understand isn't the greatest antenna but at that range I thought I should have been able to pick up the transmissions without even having an antenna attached!

I confirmed the frequencies with someone else who was getting great reception on his Yupi 7100 and I double checked that I all were in AM mode.

So am I missing something?
Paul.

 

[fgleason]

I have been using the RX7 for Air Shows here in the States and I have had not problem at all. It has replace my other Icom radios and is a joy to use after struggling with the menu systems of the other handhelds.

Your configuration sounds fine, mine is
AM - ext-dx
RF Gain - Max
Squelch - Auto
Attenuator - On

I have never used the stock antenna and I think this is your problem. I use a Diamond RH77CA. You will need a BNC adapter to use most antennas.

Also I recommend the dry cell holder (BP-262) if your going to be at a show all day.

 

[SCPD]

Can you get the local Wx channel? 162.55, etc?

 

[fgleason]

I can get Seattle 162.55 with 1/3 signal using the stock antenna and full meter with any other antenna. Puget Sound 162.425 I get almost full strength with the RH77CA, nothing with stock. Olympia 162.475 full strength with RH77CA, nothing with stock. I am in Kirkland, near Juanita HS.

 

[SCPD]

I was asking the thread starter, but I didn't realize they were in the UK. I was asking if they could verify some other frequency to make sure the RX7 isn't deaf.

Try HAM, Police, Fire, etc. If you can get other frequencies to work then the radio is likely fine.

 

[nanZor]

Sounds like you are doing everything right. The following is a total longshot, but here goes: do you have the FM antenna option set for headset - even though you are doing AM aircraft listening?

Reason I ask is that I've heard that under extraordinary nearby broadcast FM overload, it isn't wise to have the fm antenna option set to headphones when you are doing other types of scanning. I'm not sure that if you aren't even using a headset that this would be a problem, but who knows...