Which Icom Scanner?

[bluesti]

Hi
I'm looking at replacing my SDS100 and wondered if there were any suggestions in this forum. I live in Perth, Australia and I'm a keen on aviation, so a hand held scanner best suited for air band would be fantastic.

 

[Hit_Factor]

IC-R30 is their latest handheld receiver. It works well. I also have a couple sds100s, while there is some overlap between the two I consider them to compliment each other.

73, K8HIT
Icom: IC-7300, IC-PW1, ID-5100A, ID-51A Plus 2, IC-R30, Hytera PD782G, Kenwood TH-D74, Uniden SDS100, DVMega, SDRplay RSPduo

 

[byndhlptom]

The R10 & R20 can be had used for reasonable prices if you don't need a digital format. They both support PC programming, the '20 has dual RX capability.

I have heard good things about the R6, but have no personal experience with it. The R3 is a battery sucker, especially with the LCD screen on. but not a bad receiver

$.02

 

[jaspence]

The Icoms are good radios, but are referred to as communication receivers by Icom and have some differences from hobby scanners. Check the specs to see if they cover the systems type (digital, etc) that you want to hear. In the US, Civil Air Patrol uses P25, which is not in the R6 specs. IC-R6 Communications Receiver - Specifications - Icom America

 

[ka3jjz]

It's important to keep in mind that Icom radios aren't really 'scanners' the way the Unidens and Whistlers are. While they do scan, they aren't designed for it, and they don't have trunktracking capability. When an Icom radio lists DMR and P25, for example, it's conventional mode only. No MOTOTRBO, Phase 2, etc.

Mike

 

[bearcatrp]

The R30 is a sweet receiver but as others mentioned, could be over kill if all you want to monitor is aviation. But if you need frequencies the SDS100 doesn’t cover, get the R30. The R6 would be cheaper though. Check out the specs on both before deciding.

 

[bluesti]

thanks for the advice, R30 it is.

 

[bearcatrp]

Make sure you download the advanced manual. The one that comes with it is fine but the advanced goes a bit deeper. On Icom web site.

 

[MrThompson]

Not to cloud the issue but my R6s are a little better than my R30 for airband. I do recommend the R30, it's a brilliant. Purchased a SDS100 at the same time as the R30 and returned it. The R6 was an afterthought. Now I have three of them, hottest VHF/UHF radio I have played with.

 

[iMONITOR]

Not to cloud the issue but my R6s are a little better than my R30 for airband. I do recommend the R30, it's a brilliant. Purchased a SDS100 at the same time as the R30 and returned it. The R6 was an afterthought. Now I have three of them, hottest VHF/UHF radio I have played with.

I keep reading conflicting/confusing reports on the SDS series both the 100 & 200 for the aircraft monitoring.

 

[palmerjrusa]

I keep reading conflicting/confusing reports on the SDS series both the 100 & 200 for the aircraft monitoring.

I haven't reviewed performance of the SDS100 re aircraft monitoring but prior to playing around with the SDS100 filter settings I rated the SDS100 not as sensitive as my 436HP since it failed to receive and track systems in surrounding states. After optimzing the filters settings that evaluation completely flipped, not only is my SDS100 now accurately receiving and tracking those systems it receives and tracks signals the 436HP is deaf to. Optimizing the SDS100 filter settings is clearly crucial to getting the best performance from this scanner.

Moderator; please delete this post, accidently used "reply" instead of "edit".

 

[palmerjrusa]

I haven't reviewed performance of the SDS100 re aircraft monitoring but prior to playing around with the SDS100 filter settings I rated the SDS100 not as sensitive as my 436HP since it failed to receive and track systems in surrounding states. After optimzing the filters settings that evaluation completely flipped, not only is my SDS100's tracking of those systems now superior to my 436HP it receives and tracks signals the 436HP is deaf to. Optimizing the SDS100 filter settings is clearly crucial to getting the best performance from this scanner.

 

[Hit_Factor]

I keep reading conflicting/confusing reports on the SDS series both the 100 & 200 for the aircraft monitoring.

Adjusting filters is new for scanners. It's old hat for amateur radio operators. As scannist work with the filters and report success, resistant users will start experimenting. I hope that the filters will get easier to use while in the field. Maybe, they are and that's something I need to learn.

 

[lzielasko]

The Icom IC-R30 and IC-A25N both receive aero very well for me. YMMV