Talk:IC-R3

[edit] R-3 User Reviews

Added: July 18th 2005
Reviewer: Chris
Score: 4 stars
Hits: 119

I bought this radio, much as all of my equipment used for $250. First and foremost, this thing is an incredible battery hog, and takes an average of 10-13 hours to recharge. With the LCD on, you get maybe 1.5 hours tops on operational time (not accounting for old batteries that lose charge over time). Turn it off and use the small screen, and you get a whopping 25 hours- both using the supplied battery pack. The supplied wall charger will not operate the unit without the batteries installed. Even with the wall charger connected, the batteries are still drained. Even still, if you try to operate the scanner with the charger connected, the screen goes haywire. I installed a RF choke along the power line, and it cleared the interference, but still nothing for the power issue. Radio shack makes a 6v 1800ma wall charger that is supposed to charge the batteries, as well as operate the radio with the LCD on. I have not tried it yet, but will shortly. The Radio Shack part # is: 273-1763. ICom also makes a 12v plug that will do the same. It can be found at Grove Enterprises. Some of the more advanced features of the radio cannot be found unless the LCD is turned on. What a shame. Now that we have the bad stuff out of the way, this radio is complicated to get used to- for all of use that are used to a Uniden or a Radio Shack keypad. Once all of the dial functions and key combinations are learned, I have found that it is quicker for me to tune in a frequency(ies), program it/ them, and start scanning. Scan speed is relitavely slow, but it will do the job. I am a Lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol, an aviation emergency services orginization. Radio communications are extremely important to our service and I have discovered the direction finder is excellent for tracking ELT's (Emergency Locator beacons for downed aircraft...Have yet to try it on anything else than a practice mission). As far as the range of the unit, I have found it to be astounding to say the least. Just last night I was sitting in my dining room eating pizza and listening to Radio Baghdad crystal clear...Wheras my dedicated shortwave reciever was having trouble keeping up with a HANDHELD wide band scanner! I can hear MILAIR in the staging areas nearly 100 miles away using a Radio Shack telescoping antenna fully extended. Connect the radio to a quality discone, and the performance is awesome. TV reception is excellent, but in my instance it could be the terrain. I live on the coast of South Carolina... not exactly a rugged area. Where I work, we have a scanner running 24/7 to hear aircraft on final. Out of the line shack, we cannot hear the scanner, and have to rely on our Mk1 eyeballs to see what's coming. Using this thing on the ramp is a big help, as I can know exactly what's going on around the field, regardless where I am. Plus...it's fun to see pilot's eyes light up with envy when they ask about "that wierd radio on my belt" One note when programming, you have to be sure to select the correct modulation setting. I was sorely disappointed soon after buying mine when I discovered that it could not hear the local tower 3 miles from my house. Catching a transmission one day, I happened to notice that it was set to 126.00 FM. Air band is of course AM. Once that little mistake was corrected, I now listen to crystal clear transmissions from 108.000 all through the MILAIR band. I look forward to many more hours of enjoyment using this radio. If you can be as lucky as I and find one used for a good price, I say jump at the opportunity. You will certainly not regret it, as long as with every radio, you realize and accept the limitations they all have. I give it an 8 because of the power issues.

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