N9EWO
Review : |
(I
do NOT
own a ICOM IC-R9500. A borrowed sample was used for this test,
limited to the HF part of the spectrum below 30 MHz.)
IMPORTANT
NOTES :
During the testing period, after a 12 hour time
frame being continuously powered on, our test sample exhibited
nasty “buzzy” distorted audio in all modes. After
switching the set off and then immediately back on, the problem
cleared up totally. Weirdly this issue only occurred once in
testing and never returned again (Firmware 1.03). Please keep in mind
that the all tests made in this report were with early firmware 1.03
and are unable to say if any of the bugs were corrected ?
Built
Like
Rock and Weight Is Like One Too / No Front Flip Up
Feet / Manual In
A 3 Ring Binder
This no lightweight box. At 20 Kg (44.1 lbs), unless you are Mr.
Universe this is one receiver where 2 people should be involved
moving it. There are 2 very solid metal rack handles that help
greatly. 2 lesser plastic handles on either side can help
placement as well.
Just as it is with most JRC receivers over the years, there are
no elevation front feet provided and this is a glaring omission.
Even the older IC-R9000 model offered this. There are indents on
the top cover that allows another R9500 to be stacked on top (for
those extremely lucky people who are able to own 2 of these).
Color scheme reminds one of a piece test equipment, not a radio
receiver.
The owners manual is provided in a 3 ring loose binder. This is a
nice touch and is very easy to page through. The down side is
that it seems to leave area’s in the dark on some topics and
is hard to follow sometimes. There are full schematics and block
diagrams provided on the last pages.
Tuning Knob, Push Buttons / General Button Feel
Only OK
Tuning knob is large, sensible, weighted with a rubber track
around the gripping surface. The knob spinner actually rotates.
All other controls are equally good with a solid feel. Just as it
was with the IC-R9000 (and the later IC-R8600), you can have the knob selected for what is
called the “click” mode. This gives the knob a detent
with every tuned step. The only small quirk is a small amount of
play in-between each click was noticed.
All keys have a nice feel and are solid. These are all of the
hard plastic variety (no soft “rubber” type are used
with the IC-R9500). The tactile response varies slightly. For
example the 1 to 0 keypad buttons miss the “sharper”
tactile feel, whereas the buttons along the left side of the LCD
are excellent. However more of the buttons have the
“better” tactile feel than not. So overall this is good and does not use a fiddly touch screen.
Loaded Rear Panel / Good Record “Line” Output
/
Not So Good SPDIF Optical Output.
Rear panel of the IC-R9500 has just about every output and input
one could ask for.
Including multi antenna inputs, DB-9 RS-232 connector, the Icom
standard CI-V (for use with the CT-17 computer interface),
connection for external computer monitor, 10.7 IF output, 10 MHz
reference signal input/output.....just to start with.
The record output “line output” is provided in the rear
using a standard RCA phone jack, and additionally on the front
marked as a “record” using a 1/8 inch phone jack.
Levels are good and work fine in all modes.
Also provided is a SPDIF (also known as toslink) optical digital
output jack. However, in our testing with this output using a
Sony MDS-JE480 Mini Disc recorder deck’s optical digital
input, with any SSB mode the audio was heavily distorted,
clipping and even cutting out (AM modes were fine). No amount of
fiddling of the level control for this output (located in the set
menu) or with the MD deck level control would clear this issue up.
Voice “Speech” Synthesizer Standard / Built In
Power Supply or Use External DC.
Voice “speech” output is standard. The output level and
even the speed of the voice output are adjustable in the set menu.
Built in AC power supply. Our test sample had a voltage
indication marked between 100 and 120 volts. It was unknown if
other higher voltages are able to be connected “almost”
directly. We say “almost” as near the fuse holder, that
is a indication sticker that on 220 to 240 volts of a different
fuse value that is to be used.
One needs to switch on the rear “sub” power switch
before the front power button is turned on. The front panel
indicator will glow orange once the AC power cord is attached and
this rear switch is in the proper position.
There is a connection for external 13.8 vDC input on the rear
panel (at a huge over 10 amp requirement...but untested to what it
really draws). However the matching
plug or cable is NOT included. It appears to be a similar plug as
used on Icom's newer HF transceivers, but I was unable to verify
this in the testing period. But that might give for cooler operation , less RF noise as you can use a non
switching supply,
and just maybe without the annoying loud power supply fan (more on this
next) ? Perhaps a nice regulated "linear transformer" power supply
like the Astron RS-50A would be needed if you do not want the supply's heat sinks pass transistors running too
hot with this continuous current draw mode ? Important
Note : We did not test this.
From viewing the service manual, the internal "switching" power supply appears to be "custom made" for ICOM by COSEL in Japan ?
WARNING : We are aware of THREE samples where this internal AC power supply failed and destroyed the receiver beyond repair.
Receiver Runs Very VERY Warm to HOT /
Internal “Noisy
Fan” Cycles in Operation.
The receiver runs very VERY warm to downright hot. The rear panel
after it is in use for awhile exhibits the most heat.
There is a internally mounted fan on the rear panel that cycles
on and off as long as the set remains on. We found the noise
factor to be distracting and annoying. For those who are used to
the black box computer receivers, and with the computer noise
from those fans, this may be of little moment ?
Being the air being blown out of the R9500 inner shell is quite
hot, one would have to think how hot the inner cabinet is
actually reaching ? The center area where the fan is located gets
so hot that any fingers should be avoided here (burns).
Main LCD Performance, with Connections For a External One
/ LCD uses CCFL Backlight /
Analog TV Watching With Non USA Versions / Also Standard
Composite
Video In and Out / Dimmer
The large 7 inch TFT color screen is beauty to view. It’s
output can also be viewed (at the same time) on any external
computer monitor that uses a standard DB-15 connector (even on
the USA version with this output).
There is also a standard composite video output (or input too)
that can be used for connection to a standard TV (or from another
video source into this display). However this composite output
does NOT work on USA versions.
You can also
watch analog TV
signals (again for NON USA models only) that use the NTSC, PAL or
the SECAM systems. That pretty much covers all systems in the
world. However the "off air TV" watching feature is (more like has)
become useless with everything being digital these days. So is not a
feature anymore (still useful for say Amateur radio SSTV).
A Screen Saver is provided that shrinks the viewed output and
moves it around just like on a PC. It also mutes the any
connected external computer screen when activated. Can be set for
15, 30 or 60 minutes before it activates from non use. When the main
tuning or any other knob or any button is pressed it bounces back
to normal.
A 2 step dimmer is provided and found this to be most useful.
With our test sample the right side of the screen was a slightly
dimmer than the rest of it as noticed in the lower setting.
The LCD backlighting uses the older now outdated CCFL (Cold Cathode "Florescent"
Tube) method.This is a real
disappointment even for when the IC-R9500 was on the drawing board. CCFL's have much less reliability over the now modern LED method for LCD back lighting.
2 screen
colors
are selectable. Blue background with white letters and a Black
background with white letters. We found the black background to
less stressful on the eyes.
Super Wide Band Coverage for a Super Wide Band Price
/ P25
Digital Option For VHF/UHF
DC to Daylight coverage, from 5 Hz right up to 3335 MHz. With the
USA version there is the usual chunk removed in the 800 MHz area
for blockage that is no longer used for any cell phones. Versions
in France have even more coverage neutered above 30 MHz. For
everywhere else it’s a wide open affair.
The UT-122 option board adds P25 (digital APCO Phase 1) mode operation used in
the VHF and UHF public service bands (not tested).
Sensitivity Excellent With Pre-amp In Use, 4 Step
Attenuator / Dynamic Range / Front End
Filtering.
Sensitivity is excellent as long as at least one of the 2
provided pre-amps are used. (Above 30 MHz only one pre-amp is
provided). Using the set without a pre-amp in use makes the set
deaf. So to make it more equal to other receivers, the pre-amp
must be on. Just using # 1 pre-amp gets the job done well.
The pre-amps are at 13 and 17.5 db levels. A nice array of 4
attenuator levels are provided. 6,12,18,24 and 30 db.
Dynamic range doesn’t get any better than this. Will be hard
for any overloading to happen in any part of the world. Ditto for
front end filtering. No strange signals anywhere that we found.
DSP Selectivity That Includes With 4 Roofing Filters
/
Dual Digital PBT / AGC
DSP bandwidths are excellent. You have 3 presets that are user
defined for any these bandwidths (marked as Filter 1, 2 or 3) :
First in AM modes bandwidth can be selected between 200 Hz to 10
kHz in 200 Hz steps. In SSB and CW modes, 50 to 500 Hz in 50 Hz
steps and from 600 to 3.6 kHz in 100 Hz steps.
In addition there are 4 different roofing filters that can be
selected as well in the HF part of the receiver. Shape factor can
also be tweaked for the SSB and CW modes as well.
The AGC control has 3 preset settings. Time constants can
be adjusted for user preference individually for each one, are
marked as Fast , Mid and Slow. Also the front panel knob allows
one to fine tune whatever setting has been selected. It works
well.
Low Audio Distortion Audio with Separate Bass and Treble
Controls / Synchronous Detector Another Icom Bust
/ Very Good Internal
Speaker / DSP Harshness Is Present
General audio distortion is extremely low in all modes (with one
exception, more later).
Excellent separate Bass and Treble controls, and to make it work
even better each mode has it own tone fine tuning (Bass and
Treble separately) to custom tweak ones subjective tastes. Even a
AF high cut filter that is selectable in the Set menu for each
mode.
Not only can the “keypad beep level” can be adjusted,
but the tone of this beep can also be tweaked from 500 Hz to 2000
Hz. Nice touch and works well.
The provided synchronous detector locks well enough on strong and
semi-strong signals, but not well on weaker ones with any kind of
severe to moderate fading. It can do double sideband (just
like the WJ-8711A), but USB or LSB
“Sync” as well.
It appears to only slightly reduce fading distortion however (if
at all).
Actually it’s hard to tell that it is doing much of anything.
Again, it also unlocks with really weak signals with any fading
involved (as it shows on the LCD), there is no squealing or heterodynes
at all. Reminds one of the sync that was used in the JRC NRD-345
(well not quite, as that “sync” was double sideband
only). OK, it's like the IC-R8600 here (syncrhophase detector, see this document).
Using the sync in reducing co-channel interference does a bit
better job, or at least we can hear it do something to reduce
another interfering signal next door. But overall the sync in the
Icom IC-R9500 is in the tradition of the older IC-R75's for
“sync” performance....that is forget it. Yes, even
the double sideband S-AM in the WJ8711A works much better than
with the IC-R9500 sync for at least for reducing fading
distortion.
The front facing speaker in the IC-R9500 is a aural treat. With
it’s separate Bass and Treble controls one may never have to
deal with any external speaker at all. It’s sounds that good.
Of course there is a 1/8 inch external speaker jack provided on
the rear panel as normal.
As is the case with many DSP based receivers audio
harshness is present, but this makes the audio recovery of the IC-R9500
excellent if not right up there with the very best. No annoying background audio amplifier hiss
either, zero-none.
Manual ECSS Another Major Drawback / Stability “Rock
Solid”
With the Sync Detection being a loss, now one might think , OK I
will switch over and use manual ECSS to help reduce interference
or decrease distortion ? Well the R9500 has “Rock”
stability using a professional OXCO OK , but what we experienced was a
unacceptable amount of audio dropouts (and nasty distortion) in
the ECSS mode.
Plain and simple this was a another strikeout. Normal SSB mode
signals work just fine with no problems. We never got a handle on
what was causing this, but a wild guess is that the problem lies
within the DSP firmware ? NOTE : Again the firmware tested was version 1.03
(testing was not done with later firmware).
Here
is a recording I made of this IC-R9500 "Manual ECSS" gremlin on the
test sample (in mp3 format : 13 seconds)
Total Recording Times with Included 128 MB CF Card (may vary slightly) |
QUALITY SETTING - TIME (Hours : Minutes : Seconds) |
* SHQ (48 kHz) 0:22:05 |
* HQ2 (24 kHz) 0:44:11 |
* HQ1 (16 kHz) 1:06:17 |
SQ2 (12 kHz) 1:28:22 |
SQ1 (8 kHz) 2:12:34 |
* Recommend Settings (see text) |
The other on
board
recorder is at a much shorter temporary 15 seconds total (just
tap the REC button for a second). This is for quick ID’s,
addresses etc. This one is volatile and is erased once the power
is removed. Good news is that the quality of this short recorder
is similar to the SHQ / HQ settings in the longer mode above.
Computer Connection via Standard 9-Pin Serial or
Icom’s CI-V Port. Lan Port Too / Auto Tune Function / AFC in
FM and FM Wide Modes
Conductivity between receiver and computer is well covered with
the IC-R9500. We have the usual DB-9 serial connection. The Icom
CI-V port for use with the CT-17 computer interface level
converter or between other Icom equipment.
A USB port used for connection of a USB keyboard (Alpha Tag entry),
Memory for the Audio Recorder, or even a hub. To top that off
there is even a Ethernet LAN connection. This is perfect for use
with any firmware updates, which the R9500 is indeed set up for. Sadly
Icom's number of firmware updates for a over 13 kilobuck receiver has been
extremely disappointing over the years.
Not sure if you are in the middle of a signal ? The IC-R9500
might be able to help you find it using the “Auto Tune”
mode. It’s limited to within +/- 5 kHz on AM, +/- 1 kHz on
SSB and 500 hz on CW. It works well, however not always. It
depends on the strength and fading of the signal. We found this
to work better than expected. Selectable AFC is available in the
FM and FM Wide modes (not tested).
An
Engineering "Beefy" Marvel in 2008, but now outdated - IC-R8600 a much better performer and costs MUCH less (even used)
Icom's IC-R9500 is a very good to excellent performer overall.
But it also is a VERY expensive receiver to boot. Is indeed one super
receiver, but not without some disconcerting bugs in the pie. One also needs to be advised AGAIN of the possible MAJOR power
supply failures too that have been reported (in three samples that we are aware of) where the internal SWITCHING supply failure destroyed the set beyond repair !
It costs a serious chunk of change just to ship it anywhere. This is
the most
expensive receiver I have ever tested to date. Again in my view
it does not make it to the performance standards set by the WJ-8711A,
but is in the near ball park. The more advanced IC-R8600 is
greatly improved in a number of area's including it's "direct sampling"
SDR technology on HF (hybrid elsewhere). It's spectrum scope
performance is greatly advanced and no more CCFL backlight or annoying
fan. It's also
at a much more attractive price to boot. See my review on the
IC-R8600 here.
Officially Discontinued in Mid 2023
From
information via Scott at Icom America, the IC-R9500 was officially discontinued
(USA) in mid 2023. The last remaining samples (Cell blocked and non
Cell blocked versions) from the lone 2007 production runs finally sold
out. It had already been discontinued in other countries a few years before.
Discontinued Receiver
Dave N9EWO
© N9EWO, all rights reserved
Ver 7.0
Icom IC-R9500 LINKS (All Subject To Change Without Notice)
Sherwood Enginerring's Lab Numbers and report on the IC-R9500 (from 2007)
Sherwood Enginerring Lab Numbers and report on the IC-R8600 (from 2017)To any IC-R9500 owners : Be sure and use PROPER Surge Power Line Protection (ZeroSurge or Brick Wall)
Forget the rest and I mean ALL of the rest !
These use NO MOV's (the fire prone "Metal Oxide Varistor's" as found in ALL other surge protectors) !
UPS devices do NOT protect against surges with sensitive electronic equipment !
"ZeroSurge" Inc.
"Brick Wall" Surge Suppressors