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Reviews For: ICOM PCR-1000

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Review Summary For : ICOM PCR-1000
Reviews: 8MSRP: 399.00
Description:
COMPUTER CONTROLLED RECEIVER
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0083.9
LNXAUTHOR Rating: 2020-04-25
works FB thanks to open source software! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
picked up a PCR-1000 recently and got to work configuring it for the casa... it currently is hooked up to a 80M OCF dipole, and is used for 2M, NOAA WX, WWV, 40M, BCB AM/FM listening... i put a bluetooth transmission dongle on it, and run TightVNC on the attached junkbox laptop - this allows me to control the receiver from any laptop or tablet in the house, and my bluetooth headphones get great reception while in the garage, in the front, back on the patio, living room, kitchen, bedrooms and most important - the throne room

i also have the receiver running off 13V battery power that is solar recharged - the ICOM wall wart for this piece of gear is HUGE (12V 1A) and gets in the way

thanks to the generous efforts of open-source programmers, such as the Hamlib, fldigi, and flrig developers, and with a special shout out to KE7ZZ, Paul Lutus, for his work on his java client, JRX, the PCR-1000 still works great 20 years after its introduction!

i won't get into a discussion of the clunky black box's technical merits, but for my needs have found it to work very well on any desired bands (in fact, better so than even SDR receivers introduced much more recently)... so on with what i've discovered:

- flrig and fldigi work on OS X Catalina, Windows 10, and the latest version of Ubuntu - the only cross-platform solution; run flrig to initialize and set flidigi to use flrigi as the control - then watch great CW decoding and other data with a nice band scope!

- JRX works on Windows 7, 10, and Ubuntu (it could not find hamlib even if installed on OS X); there is a nice pre-configured database of 'station' listings included, and you can customize for your needs

- the ICOM PCR1000EXP22 factory release works fine on Windows 7 and 10 - it has three different views and works as expected - i prefer the 'rig' look - kinda like an R75 in software...

hope this helps some folks out there!
- the last free version of Ham Radio Deluxe works very nicely under Windows 7 with many features i have not explored and probably won't because it runs under MSFT platforms (many vintage Windows clients will not install or run under Windows 10, btw)

- PCRAnywhere (java based) works fine under Windows 10 and Ubuntu

- TalkPCR's 2.4 free version works fine under Windows 7, with the advantage of being able to back up the PCR-1000's EEPROM

none of the MSFT variant clients would run under Wine (i did not try CrossOver, but it purportedly runs under Catalina now)

so there you have it... i used to have a TenTec RX320 but sold it - i was disappointed in the factory software support although Hector Peraza's client was exceptional and worked fine under GNU/Linux (i have no idea about RX320 support nowadays); in comparision the PCR-1000 seems more versatile and to work much better than that box...

EI6ITB Rating: 2020-04-20
Was great at the time, not perfect. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned this since about 2000, and made the mistake of not buying the optional DSP unit when new.
As a general purpose receiver, this small unit has been fine and after the first couple of years, I found HRD would operate it, and that's been my only interface with it since.
The supplied software was clunky, and the aftermarket ones, while better, weren't as nice to use as HRD.
Overall, I've been quite happy with this as a GP receiver, and think I'll finally bite the bullet and buy a DSP board for it - that will sting, because the UT-106 is selling for around $100 used or new for $140 plus shipping. However, I think it's worth it. I might get another 20 years out of this thing- provided there's anything left to listen to.
AB3CN Rating: 2014-06-01
Big bang for the buck! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Nice radio. Small. Impressive specs for its size. I have purchased four of these over the years and use two of them currently. At home I use them with a diamond discone antenna just outside my shack so I can bandscope for stations while I'm wasting time on the internet. TalkPCR and the v2.2 of the Icom software work AOK on windows 7. Both free. (TalkPCR allows you to back up the eeprom data from the radios, by the way. If you're worried about eeprom corruption. I've never had an eeprom problem with any of the PCR-1000s I've owned.) When I travel I toss it in my carry-on and later set it up in my hotel room with an adjustable whip. It's rugged so you don't have to pamper it. Works AOK with cheap USB to serial adapters from Ebay. Easy to tap the IF if you want to do SDR. A 1A@12V wallwart power supply is all you need to power it. I have one with the UT-106 and one without. Since I spend most of my time in the VHF/UHF ranges the UT-106 isn't used much. I've paid from $300 to $100 for these black boxes and consider them a lot of fun for the money. Even HRD free version (5.36) supports the PCR-1000.
M3-FJU Rating: 2010-03-25
waste of time on hf Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
i got this pcr-1000 to use in the bed room at night to catch up on the hf bands, i use it with the palm 3 pda, ok i know i cant get the full range of stuff it offers on the pda, ie band scoop etc etc, but as it was all nice and small i dident care, like i said i wanted to use the hf bands and mainly top band, as there is some great nets at night,
WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP THIS IS ON HF i use a wellbroke loop, and forget it all you will hear on 160 is your local broadcast band the inter mod is crazy its like a 2bob set,at frist i thought maybe the loop with its pre amp was to strong for the front end of the icom, so had a go with diffrent antenna set ups, a small whip, a 20mtr delter loop a long wire a shorter wire etc etc, and all were just a waste of time, all you get is inter mod from one band or enother well thats apart from the band you want to rx, or with the smaller antennas nothing but very week signals, maybe its my unit is up the wall,but its ok on any other band ie vhf/uhf etc, again on the loop,my old r-5000 kills it, but then again its kenwood, i have looked on the web for mods hopeing there will be something out there to help but nothing, so its back to the kenwood for hf work at night, all i will say is if you can try the icom at your qth before you buy then do that, if not buy a kenwood as this icom is pants
N7BUI Rating: 2009-08-28
OK on HF, deaf as a rock on VHF/UHF Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned two of these radios because they do have their uses in the HF bands. But I'm really surprised that nobody has remarked about their very poor sensitivity on the VHF/UHF bands. When compared to a signal on my FT-897 with full quieting signal, the same sig will be barely readable on the 1000. Same antenna and cable. This happened on both units that I've owned. If a suitable amplifer is used, it does become somewhat more sensitive. I replaced one of mine with the PCR-1500 and it's even worse!
WB6MYL Rating: 2005-09-28
Good value and fun to use Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I give this radio a "5" also; it is unfair to compare this receiver with more expensive ones; it is not as good as my Harris 590 or the 7800 but ICOM has done a very good job of bringing a good entry-level software defined receiver to market; graphics are large and clear and ICOM has given the user good choices between screens to use. There are a few glitches in this but I find the receiver's sensitivity good and surprisingly quiet for a $400 radio; parenthetically, with a limit on modes and frequency, what market is Icom trying to attract with the (newer) PCR100?? Thanx for reading, phillip W. Harris, PhD.P.C.
GM1SXX Rating: 2005-09-28
Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Hi Folks,

I've owned the PCR-1000 for quite a few years from new. Don't confuse this radio with its stable-mate the PCR-100 which is not a multimode receiver.

The PCR-1000 is an excellent wideband receiver, a triple conversion multimode RX with automatically switched front end selective amplifier stages. I use it with an attic mounted discone to monitor everything from LF navigation beacons through medium wave, 2M, satellites, 70Cms to the 23Cms band.

Its a simple fact that any receiver designed to cover DC-1300Mhz makes certain compromises to achieve that frequency range. The use of the switched front-end tuned amplifiers and high first IF probably contributes to the lack of 'birdies' although its possible to make it produce some with a poor choice of antenna. Basic low-gain antennas work best. This is not a criticism of the radio in any way. All wideband scanners make design tradeoffs. I think ICOM have done an excellent job with this little radio. It works very well indeed.

The receiver sensitivity is good, birdies and with a sensible choice of antenna, unwanted products are surprisingly few, and in general terms it does its job very well. On LF with my discone (a lousy choice for LF I agree but I can't be bothered swapping antennas) I can easily copy many navigation beacons (NDB's) while on MW,VHF & UHF it turns in an excellent performance.

The supplied ICOM software is pretty lousy but there are several excellent alternatives with my favourite being TALKPCR, free from the Internet.

TALKPCR can make the PCR-1000 work as a radio scanner with memory banks or even as a rather good (but somewhat slow) spectrum analyser calibrated in Dbm. In fact the spectrum analyser feature of TALKPCR is rather good for scanning fairly narrow frequency segments and compares very favourably with my rather old but calibrated HP141T / 8553B / 8554B spectrum analyser. It can scan wide chunks of the spectrum also, with a wider filter setting ... but be prepared for a long wait since it uses serial communications for its tuning and control system.

The PCR-1000 with suitable software will do the job of several receivers and in conjunction with TALKPCR makes an excellent tool for a variety of jobs.

It does of course need a Personal Computer to work with but of course many, if not most hams have computers in their shacks nowadays.

My radio works hard for its living monitoring and recording airband signals by day and other stuff at night. It has never let me down in any way. The PCR-1000 is not cheap, but it is a very versatile radio indeed. I like it very much indeed.
Because of its sheer versatility and relative lack of unwanted mixing products compared to other scanners I've tried, I have to give this little receiver a 5.

Well done ICOM. Some better control software would have been a bonus but no matter, others have done that task for you. For this I have to thank Pete Mahy, author of TALKPCR (as a delighted end-user) Nice job Pete!

73 Al.
GM1SXX
KC6HIO Rating: 2003-07-17
WOW Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this receiver 2 years ago, the price has come downits a little deff BUT with a better antenna it can here!with some learning on my part it was up to what icom saysit will do now i read some one is comming out with software, so that it will trunk trackits been a great radio once the operator reads the manual more!
GOOD LISTNEING, i WOULD TAKE ANOTHER ONE IF I HAD THE FUNDS