Icom IC-R5, Yaesu VR-120D and Alinco DJ-X3 with one to chose?
EDesign
I am interesting in buying a new scanner for myself. I am a beginner so not
qualified in choosing one of few scanners.
The question is: Icom IC-R5, Yaesu VR-120D and Alinco DJ-X3 with one to
chose?
The prices in my country for these model is: IC-R5 - 290 euro; VR-120D - 205
euro and DJ-X3 - 180 euro.
I would like to have more for less price:-)
Your opinion, suggestions are warmly welcome.
Thanks in advice,
Edgar
kevcat
but it is cheap
I'd go for the Icom being the newest of the lot
Kev
Mefix
"EDesign" <edes...@takas.lt> wrote in message
news:b8jrnh$afq2f$1...@ID-164367.news.dfncis.de...
The IC-R5 looks nice but I've used one and wasn't impressed; it had lots of
wandering birdies and the memory system is, well, bloody awkward. However if
you can find an IC-R2 then bag it, it's a great radio which I can't fault
(how Icom managed to bugger things up so completely with the R5 is beyond
me.)
Melv
"Mefix" <me...@home.scotland> wrote in message
news:b8lsb4$rb2$1...@hercules.btinternet.com...
Mefix
"Melv" <melvyn.ratt...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:o0wra.740$gn2...@newsfep1-gui.server.ntli.net...
> Get the software it makes programming a hell lot easier
Tried that already - the R5 memory system is unwieldy and unworkable. At
least with the R2 I can scan a bank without having to waste time linking
channels together. Why Icom didn't just divide the 1000 channels into 10 or
20 banks and enable banks to be scanned individually or in tandem is beyond
me. I'll stick with my R2...tried and tested. :)
Povl H. Pedersen
> Fellows,
> I am interesting in buying a new scanner for myself. I am a beginner so not
> qualified in choosing one of few scanners.
> The question is: Icom IC-R5, Yaesu VR-120D and Alinco DJ-X3 with one to
> chose?
> The prices in my country for these model is: IC-R5 - 290 euro; VR-120D - 205
> euro and DJ-X3 - 180 euro.
> I would like to have more for less price:-)
Most features for the bucks is Trident TRX-200 aka Camnis HSC350
aka Stabo 1810 for 298 Euro. It has 1000 memories, has all
the frequency steps, including 8.33 and 6.25 KHz. Does
SSB (USB+LSB) as well as CW on top of the normal NFM/WFM/AM.
Has a full keypad. Can be fully remote controlled from the
computer. Covers 100kHz to 2149 MHz. Shortwave reception sucks though.
Using my Sony 7600GR for that.
Overall, I am happy with my unit which I have had for around a month.
I was also considering the R5 and the VR-500 instead of the 120,
and ended up with the Trident, which Herbert Thieking (owner of
www.thiecom.de) recommended, and is using himself.
--
To get blacklisted please mail to lis...@listme.dsbl.org
Writing to the above address will blacklist your mailserver.
Hvis du skriver til ovenstående e-mail bliver din mailserver blacklistet.
Jim Mac Donald
one (1) bank at a time by selecting BANK or ALL for the TEN BANKS AT THE SAME
TIME!
The way around this is to keep the channels loaded in say three (3) banks of
the R-2 small in number and just us three (3) or four (4) of the banks, with
the ALL setting.
Then when you select ALL it will only have to go through 3 banks.
With the computer software allowing for quick programing of memories its easy
to taylor the channels/banks in this way and change them on the fly.
I agree not being able to link several banks or just punch a bank number
to toggle them in and out of the scanning sequence is a pain! I think this is
what
ICOM was trying to do with the bank set up and frequency link up on the R-5.
Jim
Jim Mac Donald
Before you buy one of the radios.... do a web search for the on line
owners manuals. Then down load them all and look over the features and
specifications , do a comparison of each of them, so that you can make a
informed purchase.
Also make sure the software and programming cable that work with the radio your
interested in buying is available. Many software programs are also available on
line for evaluation check them out b fore you buy. The software is just as
important as the radio itself! Software makes a world
of difference in the usability of these small radio scanning receivers. One
accessory, if you want
to do any shortwave HF work is an antenna tuner and about 50 Feet of wire!
Jim
bb...@green.home.org
> Edgar;
>
> Before you buy one of the radios.... do a web search for the on line
> owners manuals. Then down load them all and look over the features and
> specifications , do a comparison of each of them, so that you can make a
> informed purchase.
>
> Also make sure the software and programming cable that work with the radio your
> interested in buying is available. Many software programs are also available on
> line for evaluation check them out b fore you buy. The software is just as
> important as the radio itself! Software makes a world
> of difference in the usability of these small radio scanning receivers. One
> accessory, if you want
> to do any shortwave HF work is an antenna tuner and about 50 Feet of wire!
> Jim
- excellent advice... here are my views (i own an r2, vr120d, and vr500):
r2 - small, good audio, free programming software (tk2), decent battery life
downside is no alpha tags, but still a good radio... slightly deaf on
broadcast AM w/ducky.. green backlight...
vr120d - small, good audio, alpha tags, unbelievable battery life and has
ability to toggle int/ext AM bar antenna - my personal recommendation!
cool orange backlight, free programming software (tk120)
vr500 - small, keypad, good audio, broadcast AM reception on a par w/the r2,
BUT has a hidden 'narrow AM' mode toggle, making reception a tad better
expensive, but i got mine used from grove so i saved some $$$... good
battery life, free programming software (tk500)
i use one programming cable: RT Systems, CT-29A ($25)... these radios are
Linux compatible, which is a bonus as i won't let Windows infect any of
my computers...
hth
RustYŠ
> Well I have to agree with you there, it took me ages to programme the
banks
> because I never thought in a million years that someone could come up with
> such a stupid idea!
Interestingly I find the R5 system to have an edge on the R2. Icom were
trying to give customers the flexability to design their own banks system
and they have certainly done that. If like me you use lots of banks with
just a few freqs in it is better. This certainly is a very clever and novel
approach to the problem and I think that it could catch on. I do sympathise
with anyone else, who like me spent hours trying to figure out this system
from the manual !
--
RustY
for Welsh Military Flying visit..... http://groups.yahoo.com/group/V-A-S/
Mefix
"RustYŠ" <No-Mail> wrote in message
news:d51f87a08d1ebc03183e9cd11aa3c081@TeraNews...
I hate it; the fact that channels cannot exist in more than one bank makes
me hate it even more. What were the Icom engineers smoking when they
designed the R5? :(
scanman
to refere to them as 'communications receivers'
I've yet to see an Icom receiver that has a well designed channels
system and decent scanning capabilities.
At least the receive on most of them is pretty good. But thats only
one factor you look for when buying a scanner.
Dave
On Thu, 1 May 2003 13:46:57 +0000 (UTC), "Mefix" <me...@home.scotland>
wrote:
Troy R.
into the "master" section more than once.
I also agree with Rusty that the R5 system is far better than the set bank
sizes in the R2.
"Mefix" <me...@home.scotland> wrote in message
news:b8r8gh$65l$1...@titan.btinternet.com...
Troy R.
There is a world of difference.
"scanman" <nos...@nospam.com.au> wrote in message
news:3eb1c984...@news.internode.on.net...
RustYŠ
"Mefix" <me...@home.scotland> wrote in message
> I hate it; the fact that channels cannot exist in more than one bank makes
You appear to be missing the point here and indeed confusing things. You
have 1000 'channels' with the R5 and you can only have one frequency in each
channel just like any other set. However, the R5 gives you the ability to
quickly move these channels from bank to bank and to put any channel into
any bank, you can have 10 banks of 100 or 12 banks of 83 or 18 banks of 55.
Now for me that is a real step forward in scanner technology.
You can of course have the same frequency in every bank if you like.......
Mefix
"RustYŠ" <No-Mail> wrote in message
>
> "Mefix" <me...@home.scotland> wrote in message
> news:b8r8gh$65l$1...@titan.btinternet.com...
> > I hate it; the fact that channels cannot exist in more than one bank
makes
> > me hate it even more..............
>
> You appear to be missing the point here and indeed confusing things. You
> have 1000 'channels' with the R5 and you can only have one frequency in
each
> channel just like any other set. However, the R5 gives you the ability to
> quickly
Quickly?! The R5 is the most unfriendly, fiddly radio I've ever used.
> move these channels from bank to bank and to put any channel into
> any bank, you can have 10 banks of 100 or 12 banks of 83 or 18 banks of
55.
> Now for me that is a real step forward in scanner technology.
>
> You can of course have the same frequency in every bank if you like.......
>
>
Yes, but say I program the eight PMR446 frequencies into channels 0 to 7. I
then decide that I want to keep an eye on them no matter what else I'm
scanning - can I link channels 0 to 7 into more than one bank
simultaneously? Oh no. Someone at Icom is having a laugh...
RustYŠ
However, the R5 gives you the ability to quickly.........
>
> Quickly?! The R5 is the most unfriendly, fiddly radio I've ever used.
>
bank - how quick/easy do you want it to be ?
> Yes, but say I program the eight PMR446 frequencies into channels 0 to 7.
I
> then decide that I want to keep an eye on them no matter what else I'm
> scanning - can I link channels 0 to 7 into more than one bank
> simultaneously? Oh no. Someone at Icom is having a laugh...
>
-----------But you can't do that with any other scanner either. On all
scanners if you want freqs in more than one bank you have to enter the freq
into each and every bank that you want it in using a different channel
number each time. The R5 is no different in that respect.
BDK
tro...@optusnet.com.au says...
Well, if they wanted to pay GRE and Uniden royalties, they could/would
have a normal channel set up. But they don't want to for some reason.
Same goes for the other Amateur manufacturers.
BDK
BDK
Mail> says...
But you can just simply scan banks 1, 3, 6, 9, and 10 by pressing a few
buttons, and in a couple of seconds turn off bank 10 and turn on bank 4.
It would be worth a lot of sales if Icom just bit the bullet and paid
Uniden and/or GRE for the rights to link banks and all the other things
a 100 buck Uniden or Radio Shack scanner can easily do.
I wonder how much it would raise the price of say, an R5?
That would make a nice little radio...
BDK
Mefix
"BDK" <kin...@buckeye-express.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.191cc1031...@news.buckeye-express.com...
> > > >I hate it; the fact that channels cannot exist in more than one bank
> > makes
> > > >me hate it even more. What were the Icom engineers smoking when they
> > > >designed the R5? :(
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> Well, if they wanted to pay GRE and Uniden royalties, they could/would
> have a normal channel set up. But they don't want to for some reason.
> Same goes for the other Amateur manufacturers.
>
> BDK
I stand to be corrected but I believe that Yupiteru got around this problem
without having to pay royalties to any greedy American companies.
Mefix
> But you can just simply scan banks 1, 3, 6, 9, and 10 by pressing a few
> buttons, and in a couple of seconds turn off bank 10 and turn on bank 4.
That's the sort of scanning which we all like and want, being able to
include and exclude banks from a scan operation with just the press of a
button. :)
> It would be worth a lot of sales if Icom just bit the bullet and paid
> Uniden and/or GRE for the rights to link banks and all the other things
> a 100 buck Uniden or Radio Shack scanner can easily do.
How in hell's name can any company be allowed to patent an idea as vague as
bank linking? What happens next? Will someone try to patent the idea of
using a volume control or liquid crystal display?
BDK
says...
I don't know, it seems that it isn't exactly rocket science to figure
out how to link banks without stepping on Uniden's and/or Gre's toes.
But none of the ham companies, who can make some awesome stuff that
would sell to a whole new audience if they just scanned/searched like a
100 buck RS POS handheld. You would think at least one of them would
bite the bullet and pay the money to get speedy and easy to use
scanning, I wonder how much the royalties per radio are?
Btw, Uniden (Taiwan), and GRE (Japan) are both foreign companies!
BDK
BDK
says...
If you check into it, Uniden and GRE have almost all the faster scanning
patents, PERIOD. There are a few others, but they got them first and
they are, to be honest, better at what they do than the other ones.
I don't really understand how some of this type of stuff even gets
patented, it seems a little odd.
BDK
scanman
patent the idea ( suject to the patents offices approval of course. )
Read somewhere recently that some company applied for a patent, that
after you interpreted the technical jargon it had submitted, it showed
they were trying to patent putting lights into PC casings.
Dave
On Sat, 3 May 2003 13:43:20 +0000 (UTC), "Mefix" <me...@home.scotland>
wrote:
>
Povl H. Pedersen
>> It would be worth a lot of sales if Icom just bit the bullet and paid
>> Uniden and/or GRE for the rights to link banks and all the other things
>> a 100 buck Uniden or Radio Shack scanner can easily do.
>
> How in hell's name can any company be allowed to patent an idea as vague as
> bank linking? What happens next? Will someone try to patent the idea of
> using a volume control or liquid crystal display?
I wonder why the "operating system" or a console to play games on
that can be connected to a TV-set is not patented ?
US patent system sucks. You can legally patent the wheel if you want,
but a patent is not worth anything before you try to cash in on it,
and then it might fall in court.
The worst is, that you are not forced to enforce your patent when you
know about violations. You can wait 10 year until your patent has enough
market penetration before taking it to court. So by being slow you can
make lots of profit.
S613
had took me 5 mins to realise it was shite
<bb...@green.home.org> wrote in message
news:slrnbb0eav...@green.home.org...
Povl H. Pedersen
> If you find something simple that doesn't have a patent, you can
> patent the idea ( suject to the patents offices approval of course. )
> Read somewhere recently that some company applied for a patent, that
> after you interpreted the technical jargon it had submitted, it showed
> they were trying to patent putting lights into PC casings.
The US patent office has also the wheel in their datase, and if
you have ever had you cat/dog hunt the light spot of your flashlight,
you have been using your flashlight in a patented way.
Sometime on slashdot, there comes a new article with 5-10 patents
that should never have been patents.
RustYŠ
> Well, if they wanted to pay GRE and Uniden royalties, they could/would
You can't patent an idea such as having 10 banks of 100 channels or being
able to lock them out individually or not. You can patent the software that
does this though, so as long as Icom or whoever start from scratch and write
their own software they can do what they wish. I still maintain that the
new method of Icom's has some advantages but as always its 'horses for
courses'.
Mefix
"S613" <nospa...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:b92jav$cr6$1...@news6.svr.pol.co.uk...
> the 120 d is rubbish the only thing it picks up is interferance i know i
one
> had took me 5 mins to realise it was shite
Maybe you weren't using it properly?
kevcat
not a easy as the Uniden system of just hitting the number keys
you just set up the bank links for instant recall or you can reset them
at any time
and you can also adjust the bank size from 10 channels to 90 channels
with the corrisponding opposite bank changing to match
Kev
kevcat
pieces of electronic crap switched on
Kev
BDK
nos...@nospam.com.au says...
I read some article a while back in some magazine about how some of the
car companies have tried, and sometimes sucessfully patented stuff that
was already patented by someone else years earlier. The best part is
that one of the bigger patents was filed using the original guy's own
drawings with his name on them! They actually thought about fighting it
in court, but a mock jury's reaction convinced them to settle for what
the guy asked for along with all his court costs, and agree to pay him
all the royalties they had collected from the other car companies on the
item. Made the guy like $20 million overnight, and with more to come.
Seems like the Feds would be prosecuting them for fraud, if nothing
else. But they rarely do..
BDK
BDK
Mail> says...
>
You would be amazed at what Uniden and GRE have patents on, and there is
no software involved.
BDK