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Author Topic: ICOM IC-R8600  (Read 611 times)

K2SOG

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ICOM IC-R8600
« on: December 14, 2019, 06:47:03 PM »

The dream is now a reality and holy smokes what a receiver for SWL and Utilty HF stations.
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TURBO68

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Re: ICOM IC-R8600
« Reply #1 on: December 15, 2019, 05:44:10 AM »

Well done what anteena are you using for hf..

Regards Lino..
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HFCRUSR

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Re: ICOM IC-R8600
« Reply #2 on: December 16, 2019, 09:30:44 AM »

The dream is now a reality and holy smokes what a receiver for SWL and Utilty HF stations.
Congrats on your new rig! I bought my R8600 August of last year and I am impressed every time I use it. This thing also performs extremely well in VHF and higher-wait until you give that a try. I run the R8600 on a Wellbrook loop on the roof up 50', and it also shares a Diamond D130J at the same height with my Uniden BC785D for stuff VHF and higher. The R8600 will hear stuff on that same discone that the BC785D will not. And what the scanner does pick up along with the R8600, is 100% cleaner copy on the R8600. When the fires were going on here I could only rely upon the R8600 to pick up on the VHF fire command frequencies-sometimes only getting them at a half to 2 S-units, but crystal-clear.
Now that is where this R8600 really shines.
And I haven't even begun to tap into the amazing abilities of this rig yet.
Not to mention what you can do to tailor an HF broadcast signal with PBTs, RFgain, filters and especially S-AM, S-AM upper and S-AM lower plus a bunch of other attributes I haven't mentioned. It's almost infinite.
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Not a ham, but an avid hobbyist in HF world. All things, short of transmit happen in this shack.

K2SOG

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Re: ICOM IC-R8600
« Reply #3 on: December 16, 2019, 03:51:08 PM »

Well done what anteena are you using for hf..

Regards Lino..

Just a random wire with a tuner for HF and a J-Pole for VHF/UHF.  Someday I'll get a real antenna LOL
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K2SOG

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Re: ICOM IC-R8600
« Reply #4 on: December 16, 2019, 03:55:13 PM »

The dream is now a reality and holy smokes what a receiver for SWL and Utilty HF stations.
Congrats on your new rig! I bought my R8600 August of last year and I am impressed every time I use it. This thing also performs extremely well in VHF and higher-wait until you give that a try. I run the R8600 on a Wellbrook loop on the roof up 50', and it also shares a Diamond D130J at the same height with my Uniden BC785D for stuff VHF and higher. The R8600 will hear stuff on that same discone that the BC785D will not. And what the scanner does pick up along with the R8600, is 100% cleaner copy on the R8600. When the fires were going on here I could only rely upon the R8600 to pick up on the VHF fire command frequencies-sometimes only getting them at a half to 2 S-units, but crystal-clear.
Now that is where this R8600 really shines.
And I haven't even begun to tap into the amazing abilities of this rig yet.
Not to mention what you can do to tailor an HF broadcast signal with PBTs, RFgain, filters and especially S-AM, S-AM upper and S-AM lower plus a bunch of other attributes I haven't mentioned. It's almost infinite.

That sounds like a great setup.  I'm really enjoying taking my time and learning the features of this rig.  So much to read and learn.  Definitely worth the price.
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W3YHF

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Re: ICOM IC-R8600
« Reply #5 on: December 17, 2019, 07:11:52 AM »

Congratulations.  Sounds like a great receiver.

I'm so curious to see how it performs as an "SDR" via PC based SDR software. Is the tuning instantaneous? Does it lag as you roll the VFO?  Man, if I could replace 2-3 radios, an SDR and endless cables and switches and connectors with the R8600 someday...

My Whistler TRX-1 with Diamond D130J discone is practically useless for anything other than public safety trunks.
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KC6RWI

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Re: ICOM IC-R8600
« Reply #6 on: December 17, 2019, 11:18:54 AM »

I don't know the abreviations PBTs and S-Am and the upper and lower S-am..Thanks, I'd love one,,but $$$s


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HFCRUSR

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Re: ICOM IC-R8600
« Reply #7 on: December 17, 2019, 06:10:16 PM »

I don't know the abreviations PBTs and S-Am and the upper and lower S-am..Thanks, I'd love one,,but $$$s
Hi KC6RWI sorry about that. S-AM is synchronous AM and this rig has that mode in upper AM and lower AM to the carrier as well as synchronous AM digital.
PBTs are the twin pass band tuners.
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Not a ham, but an avid hobbyist in HF world. All things, short of transmit happen in this shack.

WW5F

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Re: ICOM IC-R8600
« Reply #8 on: December 18, 2019, 11:49:21 AM »

It's a great receiver!

The only problem I had with mine is there's no way to mute it when transmitting.  And I never found anything interesting to listen to above 30 Mhz.  So I sold it and bought a couple of ICR-75's before stock ran out.

EDIT:  OOPS!  Sorry, I was talking about my IC-R8500.  Disregard.  I expect the IC-R8600 is a great SWL radio.  And it *has* a mute connector on the back.  I may buy one some time in the future if I see the price drop significantly.  I think it's kinda pricey for me at this time at $2100 for just a receiver.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2019, 12:01:40 PM by W5UAA »
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K2SOG

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Re: ICOM IC-R8600
« Reply #9 on: December 18, 2019, 03:16:37 PM »

Congratulations.  Sounds like a great receiver.

I'm so curious to see how it performs as an "SDR" via PC based SDR software. Is the tuning instantaneous? Does it lag as you roll the VFO?  Man, if I could replace 2-3 radios, an SDR and endless cables and switches and connectors with the R8600 someday...

My Whistler TRX-1 with Diamond D130J discone is practically useless for anything other than public safety trunks.

Hi,

I'm not even trying SDR via PC yet.  I haven't even programmed any memories yet.  I'm just taking my time and experimenting with the spectrum scope and filters.  SDR via PC is way down the line, but I'll be sure to post when I do.

73
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W7AIT

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Re: ICOM IC-R8600
« Reply #10 on: December 20, 2019, 09:53:20 AM »

I Own ICOM R8600.  Have it running with Ham Radio Deluxe.  Makes the receiver real easy to use.

Programmed bands, specific frequencies, setups, etc.  Do scanning groups.  Scanning bands, ranges - either with HRD setup scans OR the internal R8600 scanning.

Best SWL setup I ever owned. 

Antennas:  Marconi L end fed wire, COMET CHA-250B, LARSON 2?440 whip.
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VR2AX

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Re: ICOM IC-R8600
« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2020, 02:15:57 AM »

I've had my R8600 since December 23, 2017. Two years and one month old today!

It really is my receiver of choice if I just want to listen. I've had it side by side, at different times, with the following transceivers which I also own: IC-7300, IC-751AF, IC-7410, FT-991.

Something to watch, if you have reason to ditch yours off for a moderate period of time, is the on board lithium battery. It discharges after about a month or two. This is described in the manual where it deals with time set. Icom recommends connecting the radio to power for a couple of days every month or so to recharge the battery.

Happy listening!
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