From: jeh@cmkrnl.com
Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave
Subject: ICOM R1 Review (reposted from a scanner BBS)
Date: 15 Oct 92 17:43:34 PDT
Organization: Kernel Mode Consulting, San Diego, CA

Here is a review of the ICOM R-1, found on a local BBS. 

	--- Jamie Hanrahan, Kernel Mode Consulting, San Diego CA
Internet:  jeh@cmkrnl.com, hanrahan@eisner.decus.org, or jeh@crash.cts.com
Uucp:  ...{crash,eisner,uunet}!cmkrnl!jeh

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From: paulf@jessica.Stanford.EDU (Paul Flaherty)
Subject: ICOM IC-R1 Review
Date: 26 Jul 90 00:10:37 GMT


                Review:  ICOM IC-R1 Portable Scanner
                        Paul Flaherty, N9FZX



        By now, just about everyone has seen the ads for ICOM's new
wideband receivers.  And, by now, just about everyone also knows that the
R1, and the R100 are not available in the US, and will not be for some
time, due to production problems as well as legal difficulties.  However,
for a few hams who are lucky enough to be able to travel to Japan on a
regular, it is possible to buy an R1.  The list price is Y54,000; actual
prices vary in the Y43,000 to Y48,000 range.  This translates to around
$300US, certainly not bad for a miniature wideband receiver.

        I bought my R1 in Akihabara, where I lucked into finding a store
that didn't have a waiting list.  Since the manual was in Japanese, it took
me a while to investigate all of the features (Watashi no Nihongo wa totemo
heta desu).  I've had about three weeks to play with my R1, so I thought
I'd share some of my experiences.

        As per the ads, the R1 synthesizer does lock up from 100 KHz to 1.3
GHz.  However, an amount of S1 hash limits the useful starting frequency to
200 KHz.  Birdies are quite frequent below 10 MHz, generally four per
megahertz, each 20 KHz wide.  Above 10 Mhz, the design is a bit cleaner,
averaging one birdie per 10 MHz.  Above 100 MHz, things improve further
still, with one birdie every 50 MHz, with the exeception of the range
275-300 MHz, where birdies are quite frequent.  With the exception of one
birdie in the 6m region, all of the ham bands were quiet.  400-500 Mhz was
also very quiet, as were most of the SWBC bands.  Some of the birdies are
obviously LO mixings, while a few of the wider signals are microprocessor
hash.

        The R1 comes with a wideband VHF-UHF scanner antenna, which is
adequate for most purposes.  For shortwave reception, the antenna does
suprisingly well during the evening hours.  I've tried attaching an
external antenna to the R1; unfortunately, this only exacerbates the
adjacent channel interference problem that I'll discuss later.  But, even
without an external antenna, WWV reception is solid, and I've had lots of
fun listening to Radio Australia, Radio Japan, Radio Moscow, Havana, the
BBC -- in short, the rig is indeed useful as a shortwave receiver.  The
best reception seems to be in the 9.5MHz and 13.5 MHz bands, although I've
listened to stations in the 15 MHz and 6 MHz bands as well.

        VHF and UHF coverage is also very good.  I've programmed a number
of local public service frequencies and ham repeaters, from 52MHz to
1.3GHz. The sensitivity lags somewhat above 900 MHz, but everything below
that is solid.   The state park service has a repeater in the 800 MHz
region quite a ways from here, and it's fun to listen in, especially during
the weekends. Since the ICOM ads don't mention the sensitivity figures, I'd
figured that this was where the compromise would be.  That's not the case,
as one can see from the figures I've posted earlier.

        Instead, the compromise was in selectivity.  The R1s will lock up
on very strong signals that are as much as 40 KHz away from the desired
signal, depending on the frequency involved.  In the case of AM
broadcasting, KFS shows up in lots of places, and is omnipresent if I
connect an external antenna.  This isn't so much of a problem for SWLs as
for scanner folks, since the scanner will stop on a channel that's open,
but has a carrier less than 40 KHz away.  I've been able to mitigate this
problem substantially by keeping a tight squelch, but it still does pop up
from time to time.

        The R1 has all of the usual wiz - bang scanner features that one
would expect, including selective memory and range scans.  Scan rate is
variable from 10 - 20 channels per second.  There is a configuration mode,
where the scan rate, division of memory, power consumption, scan stop /
start policy, display contrast et al can be changed as desired.

        As is the case with the IC-SAT line, the R1 has a built-in NiCad,
and the radio itself will operate off of any source between 6-16VDC.  When
the source is above 12V, the power circuitry automatically charges the
NiCads. The documentation doesn't specify the capacity of the on - board
Nicads; I've heard both 300mah and 180mah.  The radio draws 15ma in
squelch, and as much as 300 ma with the volume pot cranked all the way up.
I bought a BP-90 AA battery shell to tide me over while the NiCads charge.

        My overall impression is quite positive.  The R1 packs a
considerable degree of capability into a very small package, that's very
inexpensive. It does have its flaws; however, the birdies are generally out
of interesting places, and the selectivity problems are annoying but not
intolerable.  I've really enjoyed being able to listen to shortwave via a
radio I can clip to my belt (without feeling too geeky).

-=Paul Flaherty, N9FZX/VK2WYX | ->paulf@shasta.Stanford.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave