Article: 17737 of rec.radio.shortwave Path: news.cs.tut.fi!news.funet.fi!sunic!mcsun!Germany.EU.net!news.netmbx.de!mailgzrz.TU-Berlin.DE!math.fu-berlin.de!ira.uka.de!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!usc!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!ames!sun-barr!news2me.EBay.Sun.COM!exodus.Eng.Sun.COM!newbirth!rja From: rja@newbirth.Eng.Sun.COM (Robert Allen) Newsgroups: rec.radio.shortwave Subject: Re: ICOM ICR7100 RECEIVER (365 lines) Date: 29 Jan 1993 01:56:26 GMT Organization: Sun Lines: 346 Message-ID: <lmh3maINN74q@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> References: <SWL-L%93012803494166@OHSTVMA.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU> NNTP-Posting-Host: newbirth In article <SWL-L%93012803494166@OHSTVMA.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU> Francesco Bosio <CALC0X@UNI-BOCCONI.IT> writes: >Hi all > >I'm considering to change my actual scanner (AR 1000) with an >ICOM IC-R7100. I would like to hear any impression about it. >Is it a good choice ? What else do the market offers for the >same price/performances ? Here is my accumulated net data on the R7100: Article 853 of alt.radio.scanner: Newsgroups: alt.radio.scanner,rec.radio.shortwave Path: exodus.Eng.Sun.COM!jethro.Corp.Sun.COM!news2me.ebay.sun.com!sun-barr!decwrl!mips!nec-gw!netkeeper!vivaldi!rsd0!rsd.dl.nec.com!dave >From: dave@rsd.dl.nec.com (Dave Rogers) Subject: Re: Has Anyone Purchased An ICOM R7100 Yet? Message-ID: <1992Jun8.133057.23728@rsd0.rsd.dl.nec.com> Sender: usenet@rsd0.rsd.dl.nec.com Nntp-Posting-Host: rsd22.rsd.dl.nec.com Organization: BINJFBA Society References: <1992Jun5.173215.8369@cbnewsc.cb.att.com> Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1992 13:30:57 GMT Xref: exodus.Eng.Sun.COM alt.radio.scanner:853 rec.radio.shortwave:16072 In article <1992Jun5.173215.8369@cbnewsc.cb.att.com>, rats@cbnewsc.cb.att.com (ICOM ICR-70) writes: |> |> I haven't seen any evaluation of the R7100 VHF/UHF receiver here, |> or in any hobbyist publication other than Bob Grove's Monitoring |> Times. |> |> If anyone has one, could they kindly share their experiences with |> said receiver? My wife bought me one for my birthday last month. So far I am very pleased with it. One of my favorite features is "program scan auto memory write". This feature alows scaning between two scan limits with all hits saved to memory channels 800-899 (no dups). There are ten scan edge pairs for setting up continuous scanning between any two freqs. Another great feature is the ability to store a "select code" with any memory channel. Select codes are "S" (skip) and 0-9. This allows you to scann for only select code 3, for example, so that you can categorize all memories and scan for them easily. This is important since there are 900 regular memories plus the ten scan edge pairs. I have no way of judging the sensitivity, selectivity or IMD or the receiver but I can say it is more sensitive, selective and noise free than any of my ham band only VHF/UHF equipment. In fact it is my prefered receiver for 2m and 70cm. Scan rates, delay times and may other features are programmable from the front pannel. It can be programmed to to both a primary scan (simple, normal scan) as well as a lower priority background scan. For example, say you want to scan the VHF areo freqs from say 127-139 MHz to find out what was there and save any hits to memory while scanning the local trunked police freqs at 840 MHz. Simple. Program in the police freqs in say memories 100 thru 150. Program in the scan edges of the areo band into one of the scan edge pairs. Then select programed scan with advanced scan mode. Presto. While scanning the police freqs it will do double duty and check for any activity on the areo bands. There are five simple scan modes and three advanced modes. Duty cycle of the forground/background scans is, of course, programmable. The computer interface is the same as previous Icom gear so you can control up to four receivers from a single computer port. So far the only thing that I have a problem with is a relay cutting in when it switches above 800MHz (don't know the exact freq). Finally since it is an all mode, continuous coverage receiver, there is absolutly nothing between 25 and 2000 MHz that you cannot receive. They are extreeeeemly hard to get hold of. My wife bought mine through Grove. The Icom folks at HAM-COM '92 (Dallas) this weekend said that a certain US government agency had purchased several thousand of them because they were so much better than most of the milspec stuff... =============================================================================== Dave Rogers M & R Software, Inc. Internet: dave@rsd.dl.nec.com On contract to: NEC America, Radio Software Dept Article 16076 of rec.radio.shortwave: Path: exodus.Eng.Sun.COM!jethro.Corp.Sun.COM!news2me.ebay.sun.com!sun-barr!decwrl!sdd.hp.com!caen!kuhub.cc.ukans.edu!spssig.spss.com!uchinews!kimbark!gary Newsgroups: alt.radio.scanner,rec.radio.shortwave Subject: Re: Has Anyone Purchased An ICOM R7100 Yet? Message-ID: <1992Jun8.162317.1453@midway.uchicago.edu> >From: gary@kimbark.uchicago.edu (Gary Mr.OS/2 Buchholz) Date: Mon, 8 Jun 1992 16:23:17 GMT Reply-To: gary@midway.uchicago.edu Sender: news@uchinews.uchicago.edu (News System) References: <1992Jun5.173215.8369@cbnewsc.cb.att.com> <1992Jun8.133057.23728@rsd0.rsd.dl.nec.com> Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations Lines: 27 Xref: exodus.Eng.Sun.COM alt.radio.scanner:855 rec.radio.shortwave:16076 I had an ICOM 7000 and got rid of it for the following reasons 1) San rate way too show - like a few channels per sec rather than 28-38 channels per sec typical of the PRO2006 and AR1000XLT. 2) No banks. "Categories.." in the R1700... I'll think about it ? Nost disgusting.. 3) No freq centering on scan. My ICOM-7000 always stopped 5 Khz too soon. Not a problem with the PRO2006. I think that if all you want to do is listen in on a few freqs then the R7000 (any maybe R7100) is a great "communications receiver". But, if you really want to scan, in my mind, the R7000 doesn't quite make it. Its computer-controled scanning is anemic. Problem is that, since it does not use any "banks", it transfers VFO info across the serial port. This is way too slow... like 2ch/sec. Fix these problems... and I'll buy one (again) Gary -- Gary Buchholz / KE9ZM Internet: gary@midway.uchicago.edu University of Chicago Packet: KE9ZM@N9HSI.IL.USA.NA Academic and Public Computing 1155 East 60'th St., Chicago, Ill. (312) 702-7611 From exodus.Eng.Sun.COM!news2me.ebay.sun.com!sun-barr!cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!nec-gw!netkeeper!vivaldi!rsd0!rsd.dl.nec.com!dave Thu Jun 11 09:01:16 PDT 1992 Status: RO Article 16147 of rec.radio.shortwave: Newsgroups: alt.radio.scanner,rec.radio.shortwave Path: exodus.Eng.Sun.COM!news2me.ebay.sun.com!sun-barr!cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!nec-gw!netkeeper!vivaldi!rsd0!rsd.dl.nec.com!dave >From: dave@rsd.dl.nec.com (Dave Rogers) Subject: Re: Has Anyone Purchased An ICOM R7100 Yet? Message-ID: <1992Jun11.131928.22873@rsd0.rsd.dl.nec.com> Sender: usenet@rsd0.rsd.dl.nec.com Nntp-Posting-Host: rsd22.rsd.dl.nec.com Organization: BINJFBA Society References: <1992Jun5.173215.8369@cbnewsc.cb.att.com> <1992Jun8.133057.23728@rsd0.rsd.dl.nec.com> <1992Jun8.162317.1453@midway.uchicago.edu> Date: Thu, 11 Jun 1992 13:19:28 GMT Lines: 57 Xref: exodus.Eng.Sun.COM alt.radio.scanner:871 rec.radio.shortwave:16147 In article <1992Jun8.162317.1453@midway.uchicago.edu>, gary@kimbark.uchicago.edu (Gary Mr.OS/2 Buchholz) writes: |> I had an ICOM 7000 and got rid of it for the following reasons |> |> 1) San rate way too show - like a few channels per sec rather |> than 28-38 channels per sec typical of the PRO2006 and AR1000XLT. Scan rate is programmable (without computer control) but the default is 14 channels/sec. |> 2) No banks. "Categories.." in the R1700... I'll think about it ? The 7100 has 9 banks of 100 channels each. |> Nost disgusting.. |> 3) No freq centering on scan. My ICOM-7000 always stopped 5 Khz |> too soon. Not a problem with the PRO2006. |> The AFC does freq centering and the step rate is programmable. |> I think that if all you want to do is listen in on a few freqs then the |> R7000 (any maybe R7100) is a great "communications receiver". But, if |> you really want to scan, in my mind, the R7000 doesn't quite make it. |> |> Its computer-controled scanning is anemic. Problem is that, since it does |> not use any "banks", it transfers VFO info across the serial port. This |> is way too slow... like 2ch/sec. |> With computer control the scan rate can be as high as 1000 channels/sec (even on the 7000). |> Fix these problems... and I'll buy one (again) |> |> Gary |> The Icom 7000 and 7100 are not even remotely related (unless you consider Icom a relation :-) The 7000 was notorious for overheating and serveral other problems, however, I feel that they have all been fixed or improved with the 7100 and there are numerous bells and whistles on the 7100 that no other scanner that I have seen has (such as VSC) and the Icom Window Scan. If all you do is listen to the local fire dept., then just about any old Rat Crap scanner 'll do. =============================================================================== Dave Rogers M & R Software, Inc. Internet: dave@rsd.dl.nec.com On contract to: NEC America, Radio Software Dept COMPARING THE ICOM R7100 TO THE R7000 RECEIVER by Bob Parnass, AJ9S [Note: The following information is gleaned from 6 years experience with an R7000 and the past 3 days experience with a brand new R7100. -BP] The radio RF/IF/AF portions of the R7100 are similar to the older R7000, but the R7100 is constructed using surface mount parts. Consequently, the R7100 is smaller. A-B tests indicate both the R7100 and Radio Shack PRO-2006 receivers are about equally sensitive, and more sensitive than the 6 year old R7000. Both the R7000 and R7100 are much more immune to intermod than the Uniden/Bearcat 760XLT and the portable PRO-43. Many of the functions controlled by separate rotary switches and potentiometers in the R7000 are controlled by pushbutton switches and firmware in the R7100. Deleted Tuning Meter, Added AFC Too bad the R7000's analog center reading meter function was replaced with 3 indicators on the R7100. The R7100 has an interesting AFC circuit, controlled by a front panel switch. The AFC will automagically tune the receiver close to the center frequency if you tune near an FM signal. You can watch the frequency change as the AFC steps the receiver in 100 kHz increments. The AFC never quite tunes to the exact center, but tunes within a window set by a difference amplifier circuit, so the station sounds good even though the R7100 is slightly off center frequency. Modes R7000 and R7100 users have the same choice of modes, but they are easily selected from front panels controls in the new R7100. A rear mounted slide switch is used for USB/LSB selection in the R7000. Fancy Firmware for Memory Organization and Scanning The firmware in the R7100 is much more sophisticated, and a brief article wouldn't do it justice. There are 9 banks of 100 channels. Further, you can associate each channel with 1 of 10 groups. There are many possible ways to scan, more than listed here. You can scan: all channels all channels in a given group all channels in a given group in a given bank all channels in a given emission mode all channels in a given emission mode in a given bank As with most other scanners, there is a lockout bit for each channel, so you don't have to scan the NOAA weather channel even though you have it in memory. There are 10 pairs of search limits. The search and store ("memory write") scan mode lets you store 100 frequencies instead of the 20 in R7000. Another R7100 improvement is that you can program up to 100 channels for the R7100 to skip while searching. I used this for searching for federal stations in the 162-170 MHz range while skipping the NOAA weather channels 162.55, 162.4, and 162.475 MHz, as well as some veteran's hospital paging channels. The R7100 has 2 VFOs, but Icom calls them windows. There are several window scan modes, but they resemble priority scan modes in a Bearcat scanner. New Memory Query Feature The R7100, like the Bearcat 200xlt, has a feature which allows you to detect memory channels programmed with dupli- cate frequencies. Tuning Step Selections The R7000 tuning step size is selected using a rotary switch. The R7100 tuning step size is selected by using a pushbutton to step through the selections. The R7100 has more choices, including a 100 kHz step, useful for tuning around the aircraft bands. Another new R7100 feature is that a tuning step size can be stored into each of the 900 memory channels, so when you use the tuning knob to tune off a memory channel, the R7100 tunes in reasonable increments (e.g., 12.5 kHz in the 450 MHz range, 10 kHz in the VHF-low band, etc.). Rescan Delay Added, but Nondefeatable Icom finally included a decent 2 second rescan delay in the R7100 which owners complained was missing from the R7000. Ironically, you cannot defeat the rescan delay in the R7100, so it's now more difficult to scan trunked systems in which the frequency changes with each new repeater transmission! It's ironic that the R7000 lacked a rescan delay. Power Supply and More The internal power supply in both radios runs hot. The R7100 comes with a 12 VDC power cord included, an option in the R7000. The R7000 comes with a handy carrying handle and rubber feet, an $8.50 option on the R7100. Added Clock and Timers Unlike the R7000, the R7100 contains a digital clock and timers which can be used to turn the radio on an off, and tune to different channels, several times each day. I prob- ably won't be using timers, though. What to Buy The R7100 is more complicated to use than the R7000. There are so many firmware controlled features and there are several 2 key sequencies. Faced with choosing between an R7000 or an R7100 in a simi- lar price range, I prefer the R7100. Sensitivity aside, both are about equal communications receivers, but the R7100 is a better scanner, especially for finding new frequencies and organizing memory. -- ============================================================================== Bob Parnass, AJ9S - AT&T Bell Labs - parnass@ihlpm.att.com - (708)979-5414 -- Robert Allen, rja@sun.com DISCLAIMER: I said it, not my company. Samuel Addams: Brewer, Patriot. "The right to brew beer is the right to be free!" - me