R9000 The dream of the Icom R9000 is it still worth it?

[PACNWDude]

+1 on the Winradio.
And some government agencies I have dealt with have banks of them attached to their network.

 

[EricCottrell]

Hello,

I am on my second Winradio G305e. It was an impulse buy years ago at Dayton. I had problems when getting the unit repaired with both the Grove and Radixon repair depot. The receiver has a warmup drift because the microprocessor crystal is used as the PLL reference oscillator. The drift is not bad on HF, but a killer on 800 MHz. The software has bugs and missing features. So given my experience with the G305e, I am not in a rush to buy another Winradio product.

The deal killer for me on the R9000 is the lack of 6.25 KHz and 7.5 KHz tuning steps. I am spoiled by the programmable step feature on the AORs.

For slightly more than a used R9000, I bought a used AOR AR-Alpha around New Years. It also has some bugs, and is "abandoned" like the R9500. It is not totally useless. It does not have the two 4 MHz wide spectrum outputs of the Winradio Excelsior, but I was able to write a EXTIO dll and see 1 MHz of specturm using the HDSDR program. It also has 12 KHz IF output for DRM. The receiver does good on HF, but my main HF radio is a used WJ-8711A. The WJ-8711A is an amazing and beautifully engineered HF radio.

73 Eric

 

[dkf435]

The fix for 800 on the 7100 took about 15 minutes to do. Very simple.

Solder blob in the keyboard matrix.

Now for the next test how do you do the early AR5000 and AR3000A radios.

David

 

[scseh]

Did you buy the R9000?

I been monitoring on and off since the 90's and for along time those early years I lusted over the Icom R9000 receiver. I wanted one so bad but a new unit back then was way out of a young mans price range.

Now that I'm older and can swing some major purchases I see R9000s here and there on ebay or other places used of course and for still a nice chuck of change but doable as long as the wife don't find out. But also in the back of my mind I'm wondering is it even worth getting a 15-20 year old tech radio. I can certainly use that money to pay for a new radio for sure, but somehow I don't seem to be as excited over anything else. I still love to have a R9000 that is in good working order that seem to be rare but pop up sometimes I dont look forward to having to replace all the capacitors but will cross that bridge if I get there.

So what you all think R9000 still worth it? still a contender? Or just another old radio that may get little to no use with todays tech and SDRs.

Oh and BTW the R9500 price WTF!

Thanks

I just came across this thread and wanted to ask if you ever scratched the R9000 itch?

Steve

 

[iMONITOR]

I think any IC-R9000 receiver you might find these days would require a lot of internal work, ie; solder joints that would need to be redone, numerous capacitors replaced, and likely a new CRT tube/display.

 

[K2KOH]

BTW, not all 7100's were cell blocked. Mine was before the ECPA and has full coverage. I remember listening to analog cellphones WAAAAY back when. Blocking the cell band is useless now because you can't decode cell phone digital.

 

[iMONITOR]

BTW, not all 7100's were cell blocked. Mine was before the ECPA and has full coverage. I remember listening to analog cellphones WAAAAY back when. Blocking the cell band is useless now because you can't decode cell phone digital.

Icom manufactured and sold unblocked versions after the ECPA. The ECPA did not apply to everyone in the U.S. Universal Radio could order you an unblocked version if you were a qualified buyer.

 

[philcovington]

I have two unblocked IC-R9000s - one with LCD and one with amber CRT. Both still work perfectly after all these years. I also have a replacement LCD display for the CRT model if the amber CRT ever goes out.

I will not get rid of them and I love using them, but I also probably would not buy one today... not with the IC-R8600 out now, which I also have.

 

[Fast1eddie]

Good posts... I bought a clean R9K from Universal Radio maybe three years back. Excellent receiver and thankfully much of our vuhf traffic remains analog in the Pittsburgh area. I typically turn off the CRT when in use to extend the service life. Thankfully, the prior owner (s) babied it too, so no issues.

Have to admit I bought a 8600 without much research into it, and actually prefer the 9K for HF. Dunno, guess I remain old skool and prefer knobs with a few buttons tossed it. Yes, it's a great receiver as a Ferrari is a fine automobile, but my well maintained '11 Ford Escape coming up on 155K miles does the job just fine.

Speaking of old, when I feel the urge to knob turn, I fire up the Galaxy R 530. Despite it's age (I was in the 4th grade when she was made), the dial accuracy is utterly amazing with extremely little drift.

Sorry if I deviated from the topic, just had to throw this in.

Do have some technical questions regarding proper setting of the 86's reference level. Default is 0.0 db and wanting to determine what would be a optimal setting. Leaning towards monitoring environment ambient noise levels and type HF antenna.

Thank You!

 

[cistercian]

I had a long conversation with a man who repaired R9000 receivers back when spooks were using them.
He said they were a PITA to keep right but were excellent in performance. Of course this was long ago. He also called them pigs. They run very hot and experience component aging that is more like the tube era. A seldom used privately owned unicorn would make for a nice gigantic and heavy fun to use piece of gear.
I own a R8500 which is a much better radio in terms of ease of repair and heat management. I would buy a clean used one without hesitation.
I imagine a R9500 would be nice but not for what they are asking. I have a 7410 which is so good for HF and VLF use I am horrified by how capable it is.

Pass on the 9000. Try something newer. I hear the 8600 is nice but I don't have one. I am hesitant to pull the trigger.

 

[dlwtrunked]

I had a long conversation with a man who repaired R9000 receivers back when spooks were using them.
He said they were a PITA to keep right but were excellent in performance. Of course this was long ago. He also called them pigs. They run very hot and experience component aging that is more like the tube era. A seldom used privately owned unicorn would make for a nice gigantic and heavy fun to use piece of gear.
I own a R8500 which is a much better radio in terms of ease of repair and heat management. I would buy a clean used one without hesitation.
I imagine a R9500 would be nice but not for what they are asking. I have a 7410 which is so good for HF and VLF use I am horrified by how capable it is.

Pass on the 9000. Try something newer. I hear the 8600 is nice but I don't have one. I am hesitant to pull the trigger.

Advice from one having an R-8500, R-9500, and an R-8600: pull the trigger.

 

[cistercian]

Advice from one having an R-8500, R-9500, and an R-8600: pull the trigger.

Thanks. My choice is complicated by having excellent HF gear already, IC7410, IC9100.
My main interests in vhf and above are currently covered well. Digital P25 phase 1 and 2 are
handled by the TRX2 and SDS100. Airband and trains by the IC-2730A...which is also my favorite
FM rig in the shack for ham use. If it had video decode it would be an easy decision!

I need a couple of lenses for my Nikon D500. They will probably be where I nuke the account next.
A 70-200 F2.8E and a 200mm F2. After that no toys for awhile.

 

[oceans777]

I've had the R-8500, R-9500 and now have two R-8600's and love the 8600 every bit as much as the former two. I wouldn't invest in an R-9500 today but I still regret having sold the AOR-AR5000+3 and if I see one in great shape I'd buy it still.

 

[vince48]

Oceans777

contact me off list, I have a 50000+3 for sale.

vince48

 

[w4amp]

I tried to duplicate the R9000 coverage back in the 1990's by buying an R7100 (before they were cell blocked) and an R72. As it turned out, the R72's specs were just not that great, but the R7100 was everything it set out to be. I still have both. I'd gladly sell the R72, but I won't part with the R7100.

The sex appeal to the R9000 back in the day was the display. Now that I have an IC-7600 HF transceiver, the R9000's display looks very old school.

I still have an R7100 and the FM/TV decoder. The Stereo FM is really good. Like the fact it does all mode it's entire range as well.

 

[Fast1eddie]

Interesting comments. I purchased my unblocked R9000 (used) from Universal Radio late fall of 2015. Great radio! I paid a very reasonable price with the confidence it had been gone over at Universal. Heavy! Going to be interesting when it comes time to move as I am on the second floor and obviously she has no handles. I added the SP-34 maybe a year ago along with a Timewave Noise Cancelling box, really helps out with all the locally generated noise. Say what you will, but I actually sold off my R8600 simply because it was too advanced for my monitoring needs. No doubt a very nice receiver, but I am quite happy with the R9K and my Galaxy R 530.

Understand the economics of potential repairs with a older radio, but I will worry of that when and if the time comes. Put it this way...I drive a 2011 Escape XLT which just turned 160K. I prefer to use Ford for routine service, they take care of me and extend unsolicited discounts. Hate running the gauntlet of sales staff when I visit, not only can they be demanding, but find their arguments full of holes which make zero sense. Take care of your equipment and your equipment will take care of you.

But I digress, the R9k's notch and IF shift are great and when minor adjustments are made with bass and treble, there are no issues pulling audible voice from the noise. Like to monitor Canadian 2Mhz weather broadcasts, lately the lower freqs have been propagating well and were pretty solid the other night here in my suburban Pittsburgh location.

Mine has the amber CRT, and like with a 'scope, the trace is set lightly to minimize burn in and once tuned, I turn the display off. No issues with heat, although she does get warm, but as others have mentioned, Icom has engineered the case to work as a heat sink. I'm planning on transitioning to a non switching DC supply soon, so we'll see how that works out.

I doubt the economics would justify it, but i would love to see someone offer enhancement service and touch ups. I've noticed a capacitor whine following power on when the radio has not been used for several days. But otherwise, solid performance all modes and frequencies. Spoke with Mr. Sherwood recently and he is retired now. Interesting man and enjoyed the conversation.

Happy Holidays and good DX,

ed