I'm about 5 years into listening sw, ham, utilities on tabletop
Bearcat, Icom R75, and
Grundig 800...and am ready for next level, after spending 4 of those
years working
on antenna setups ,-)

'would appreciate recommendation for midlevel listening tabletop model.
And if I order
from Canada, how can I get one free of cell blockage (if possible)?

Thanks and regards from Atlanta, GA
--
©2005, all rights reserved
To email, change "ugspam" to "fwmco"

Frank M wrote in news:2005030102445816807%
ugspam@mindspringcom:

I'm about 5 years into listening sw, ham, utilities on tabletop
Bearcat, Icom R75, and
Grundig 800...and am ready for next level, after spending 4 of those
years working
on antenna setups ,-)

'would appreciate recommendation for midlevel listening tabletop model.

Icom is known for some pretty eccentric radios - In particuliar I'm put off
by their tendancy not to be able to scan banks in any order you desire.
For instance, if you wanted to listen to just bank 5 and bank 7, theres no
way to do it. You have the choice of listening to them all, or just one - A
fatal handicap in my view.
Maybe their not all like this. I know some of the most popular ones like R-
10, R-20 are.
But of course Icoms are quality products, packed with features and well
supported.
I've heard AOR customer support is practically non-existant, though they
got some nice radios no question about it.
Best bet is to narrow your possibilities down to a few, and seek info about
them all.
Try ebay [other brands]http://tinyurl.com/3u4ug to give you some ideas, and
though this link isn't working now for some reason
http://www.strongsignals.net/access/reviews/reviews.cgi got some excellent
reviews if the page ever comes back up again.

And if I order
from Canada, how can I get one free of cell blockage (if possible)?

Thanks and regards from Atlanta, GA

Well, units from canada are unblocked by default.
Any outfit in canada will gladly ship you one, if you want to take the
chance.
Question is, is having an unblocked scanner worth a couple hundred $$$
extra, and do you want to take the chance of U.S. Customs seizing it ?
Better order with a CC so you can do a chargeback if it gets confiscated at
the border.

Thanks for the feedback - certainly makes sense, and is well taken!

Regards.

On 2005-03-01 08:35:06 -0500, Jesse said:

Frank M wrote in news:2005030102445816807%
ugspam@mindspringcom:

I'm about 5 years into listening sw, ham, utilities on tabletop
Bearcat, Icom R75, and
Grundig 800...and am ready for next level, after spending 4 of those
years working
on antenna setups ,-)

'would appreciate recommendation for midlevel listening tabletop model.

Icom is known for some pretty eccentric radios - In particuliar I'm put
off by their tendancy not to be able to scan banks in any order you
desire.
For instance, if you wanted to listen to just bank 5 and bank 7, theres
no way to do it. You have the choice of listening to them all, or just
one - A fatal handicap in my view.
Maybe their not all like this. I know some of the most popular ones like R-
10, R-20 are.
But of course Icoms are quality products, packed with features and well
supported.
I've heard AOR customer support is practically non-existant, though
they got some nice radios no question about it.
Best bet is to narrow your possibilities down to a few, and seek info
about them all.
Try ebay [other brands]http://tinyurl.com/3u4ug to give you some ideas,
and though this link isn't working now for some reason
http://www.strongsignals.net/access/reviews/reviews.cgi got some
excellent reviews if the page ever comes back up again.

And if I order
from Canada, how can I get one free of cell blockage (if possible)?

Thanks and regards from Atlanta, GA

Well, units from canada are unblocked by default.
Any outfit in canada will gladly ship you one, if you want to take the chance.
Question is, is having an unblocked scanner worth a couple hundred $$$
extra, and do you want to take the chance of U.S. Customs seizing it ?
Better order with a CC so you can do a chargeback if it gets
confiscated at the border.


--
©2005, all rights reserved
To email, change "ugspam" to "fwmco"

You can select which banks you want to scan on the IC-R20.


"Jesse" wrote in message
...
Frank M wrote in news:2005030102445816807%
ugspam@mindspringcom:

I'm about 5 years into listening sw, ham, utilities on tabletop
Bearcat, Icom R75, and
Grundig 800...and am ready for next level, after spending 4 of those
years working
on antenna setups ,-)

'would appreciate recommendation for midlevel listening tabletop model.

Icom is known for some pretty eccentric radios - In particuliar I'm put
off
by their tendancy not to be able to scan banks in any order you desire.
For instance, if you wanted to listen to just bank 5 and bank 7, theres no
way to do it. You have the choice of listening to them all, or just one -
A
fatal handicap in my view.
Maybe their not all like this. I know some of the most popular ones like
R-
10, R-20 are.
But of course Icoms are quality products, packed with features and well
supported.
I've heard AOR customer support is practically non-existant, though they
got some nice radios no question about it.
Best bet is to narrow your possibilities down to a few, and seek info
about
them all.
Try ebay [other brands]http://tinyurl.com/3u4ug to give you some ideas,
and
though this link isn't working now for some reason
http://www.strongsignals.net/access/reviews/reviews.cgi got some excellent
reviews if the page ever comes back up again.

And if I order
from Canada, how can I get one free of cell blockage (if possible)?

Thanks and regards from Atlanta, GA

Well, units from canada are unblocked by default.
Any outfit in canada will gladly ship you one, if you want to take the
chance.
Question is, is having an unblocked scanner worth a couple hundred $$$
extra, and do you want to take the chance of U.S. Customs seizing it ?
Better order with a CC so you can do a chargeback if it gets confiscated
at
the border.

"Troy R." wrote in
:

You can select which banks you want to scan on the IC-R20.

Excellent.
This has been a major annoyance, and really a fatal flaw, with every Icom
handheld up to the R-10. So you are saying that if you simply want to scan
bank 2 and 7 only, you can do it ?

I have an AR5000+3 and it's a fantastic radio. However, it might be
overkill if your primary interest is HF.
With an AOR receiver, it will really receive everywhere it states. Some
scanners (like the Alinco DJ-X10 that is more or less deaf above
1000Mhz.) claim to receive somewhere, but the sensitivity is measured in
volts or millivolts, but not microvolts as it should be.

I have never owned an Icom (such as the 7100 or the 8500) but they also
have a reputation for being nice receivers.

If you have the bucks, go for the 5000+3 non US version. It will give
you an AFC with display, synchronous tuning, and built in DTMF display.
All nice little perks to have in a rig.

B.


Frank M wrote:
I'm about 5 years into listening sw, ham, utilities on tabletop Bearcat,
Icom R75, and
Grundig 800...and am ready for next level, after spending 4 of those
years working
on antenna setups ,-)

'would appreciate recommendation for midlevel listening tabletop model.
And if I order
from Canada, how can I get one free of cell blockage (if possible)?

Thanks and regards from Atlanta, GA

On 2005-03-03 18:49:05 -0500, bob said:

If you have the bucks, go for the 5000+3 non US version. It will give
you an AFC with display, synchronous tuning, and built in DTMF display.
All nice little perks to have in a rig.


This is the kind of radio I'm anticipating. Any suggestions where to
buy new - so I have at least a 75% chance of no problems? And does AOR
have a US rep for service if need be?

Thanks.
--
©2005, all rights reserved
To email, change "ugspam" to "fwmco"

I didn't have any problem getting this page. And you're right about
them having first rate and
thorough reviews! Thanks.

On 2005-03-01 08:35:06 -0500, Jesse said:
...for some reason
http://www.strongsignals.net/access/reviews/reviews.cgi got some
excellent reviews if the page ever comes back up again.


--
©2005, all rights reserved
To email, change "ugspam" to "fwmco"

www.radioworld.ca

Make sure you are ordering the unblocked version! They have both.



Frank M wrote:
On 2005-03-03 18:49:05 -0500, bob said:

If you have the bucks, go for the 5000+3 non US version. It will give
you an AFC with display, synchronous tuning, and built in DTMF
display. All nice little perks to have in a rig.


This is the kind of radio I'm anticipating. Any suggestions where to buy
new - so I have at least a 75% chance of no problems? And does AOR have
a US rep for service if need be?

Thanks.