Talk:IC-R20

[edit] Icom R20 User Reviews

Added: February 1st 2005
Reviewer: Kieran
Score: 5 stars
Hits: 786

I'm going to bill this as a preliminary review. After figuring out the learning curve of this radio, I have to say, I like it. I have one or two pet peeves, one of them being the level of audio for SSB. Maybe it's my rig, but it seems kind of low for me. I was listening to NY ATC on 11.309, and had to hold the rig up to my ear to hear it. I'll pick up an earphone at the local Rat Shack; small price to pay for portable HF monitoring. I think my R10 was the same way. VHF Air booming in with the stock antenna...I'll be testing it with the Maldol Dualband Air Antenna later on. UHF Air is not that common in my parts, so I'll have to wait until Colorado for that. It's an extremely sensitive receiver...does well on Public Safety frequencies. A nice little toy...more in a couple of weeks!

Posted by AEMTKieran on 2005-02-24 14:20:15
My Score: 5 stars

OK, the trip to Colorado is over, and I gave the R20 a hell of a workout. It works fantastic on UHF air...I was near Peterson AFB and KCOS, which handles military air traffic as well. No problem hearing ATC and, of course, the aircraft. Not a whole lot of activity on VHF/UHF public safety, as just about all of the Colorado Springs Metro Area public safety is on the 800 MHz trunked system, as is the state police. I tried the radio out on AM broadcast with the bar antenna. Reception was good, though I can't say where the transmitters were. AM BCB works much better with the bar antenna. FM BC reception was also good, as was TV BC. I solved the weak HF SSB reeceive...it's called weak signal because of the antenna. I hooked the radio up to my Cushcraft R6000, and ATC's and aircraft boomed in on 13.354. I did need to fiddle with the RF gain to prevent front end overload...no sweat. All in all, this is like an R7100 downsized for your pocket. Worth the bucks!

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