This old pipe smoker, at one time in his younger more adventurous years
in Vietnam and elsewhere, was among other things a military
communications intercept operator AKA DittyBopper. The old bug has
bitten me and I'm considering entering the SWL-DX hobby and I'd
appreciate some equipment recommendations from any of you kind
gentlemena nd ladies.

At present I am considering that ICOM PCP1000-02 PC driven semi
broadband receiver with the DSP module and the upgraged BONITO 5.2
software package. The following is the link to the ICOM page describing
this unit.

http://www.icomamerica.com/pro=ADduc...ivers/pcr1000/

I am not sure if this system will be compatible with my XP home 3gig
plus hyper-thrading Pentium IV, 2 gig RAM PC etc system which does not
have a 3.5 floppy drive. The commercials for the PCR1000 states its
ICOM software is on 3.5 inch floppies but a retailer tells me
otherwise. GROAN.

So to you computer gurus who happen to be SWL-HAM experts, any problem
burning the floppies to seperate CDs and installing the ICOM software
in that manner, or am I barking up the wrong tree here and should
justgo with a tabletop broadband model? If so specific recommendations
would be apprecaited. I'd love to have an ICOM R9000.

Yes. Yes. I sent an E-mail to ICOM. Silence thus far, and I suspect the
competency of all sales personnel whose only interest is making a
comissioned sale.

Thanks in advance for any (useful)input.=20


David(N)

My software came on a CD. There are several other software programs out
there, Talk PCR being my favorite, that are far superior to the Icom
software.
My PCR 1000 also came with the Bonito software. I, and many others, are of
the opinion that if you pay ANYTHING for the Bonito software, you paid too
much. It is a resource hog that crashes and hangs. The software DSP does
NOT function (for me). If you can afford an R-9000, you got no business
buying a PCR-1000. ;~). I also have a Yaesu VR-5000 tabletop wideband that
is my most used and loved radio. It is not for the faint of heart due to
it's horribly written and converted to "ENGRISH" manual. It also has a lot
of functions buried in sub-menus which take some getting used to. Whatever
you choose, good luck and remember to "NOT feed the trolls" that dwell
here...



"David" wrote in message
ups.com...
This old pipe smoker, at one time in his younger more adventurous years
in Vietnam and elsewhere, was among other things a military
communications intercept operator AKA DittyBopper. The old bug has
bitten me and I'm considering entering the SWL-DX hobby and I'd
appreciate some equipment recommendations from any of you kind
gentlemena nd ladies.

At present I am considering that ICOM PCP1000-02 PC driven semi
broadband receiver with the DSP module and the upgraged BONITO 5.2
software package. The following is the link to the ICOM page describing
this unit.

http://www.icomamerica.com/pro*ducts/receivers/pcr1000/

I am not sure if this system will be compatible with my XP home 3gig
plus hyper-thrading Pentium IV, 2 gig RAM PC etc system which does not
have a 3.5 floppy drive. The commercials for the PCR1000 states its
ICOM software is on 3.5 inch floppies but a retailer tells me
otherwise. GROAN.

So to you computer gurus who happen to be SWL-HAM experts, any problem
burning the floppies to seperate CDs and installing the ICOM software
in that manner, or am I barking up the wrong tree here and should
justgo with a tabletop broadband model? If so specific recommendations
would be apprecaited. I'd love to have an ICOM R9000.

Yes. Yes. I sent an E-mail to ICOM. Silence thus far, and I suspect the
competency of all sales personnel whose only interest is making a
comissioned sale.

Thanks in advance for any (useful)input.


David(N)

If you can afford an R-9000, you got no business
buying a PCR-1000. ;~).

Well I can if I budget for one. Where can I get one though? They seem
to be totally unavailable to the likes such as I.

Bonito 4.x comes bundled with the PCR1000. The Bonito 5.2 retails for
$180.00 as an upgrade through national radio in Ohio.

And thanks for the input all!

davidN

"David" wrote:

If you can afford an R-9000, you got no business
buying a PCR-1000. ;~).

Well I can if I budget for one. Where can I get one though? They seem
to be totally unavailable to the likes such as I.

Bonito 4.x comes bundled with the PCR1000. The Bonito 5.2 retails for
$180.00 as an upgrade through national radio in Ohio.

And thanks for the input all!

davidN

The '9000 is no longer made. It was once available in the US, then
couldn't be sold here because of the idiotic cellular restrictions.
It was still on the market for a while afterwards, in several
iterations. The last was the '9000L, with an LCD replacing the CRT
which was no longer available.

If you want a high end radio, solely for shortwave, consider a Ten-Tec
RX-340, or ask about high-end surplus radios. Be ready to wade
through more "religious" flames, though, since people are very loyal
to their favorites.

At least the flames will be on-topic, though...

Regards,

--
Eric F. Richards

"Nature abhors a vacuum tube." -- Myron Glass,
often attributed to J. R. Pierce, Bell Labs, c. 1940

If you want a high end radio, solely for shortwave, consider a Ten-Tec
RX-340, or ask about high-end surplus radios. Be ready to wade through
more "religious" flames, though, since people are very loyal to their
favorites. At least the flames will be on-topic, though...

Thanks Eric - Yes I have noticed all the OT Trolls here. I'll continue
to filter them out. I've bought an ICOM R7100 and a Drake R8. It should
arrive sometime in early May, plenty of time to consider antennas and
computer aided software for them and acquire the RS-232 interface
cables. Comments on these acquisitions would be apreciated as well. g

I've looked at the ERGO 4 software and an ERGO rep said it will work
with these receivers. For the R7100 I'll have to use the generic driver
he said.

The suggestions and opinions offered me have really been quite helpful.
Thank you all.

A final general question (The detailed techo-challenged questions will
follow in May and June g)

What other software is there out there that I might want to consider?

Thanks again.

DavidN

David schrieb:

If you want a high end radio, solely for shortwave, consider a Ten-Tec
RX-340, or ask about high-end surplus radios. Be ready to wade through
more "religious" flames, though, since people are very loyal to their
favorites. At least the flames will be on-topic, though...

Thanks Eric - Yes I have noticed all the OT Trolls here. I'll continue
to filter them out. I've bought an ICOM R7100 and a Drake R8. It should
arrive sometime in early May, plenty of time to consider antennas and
computer aided software for them and acquire the RS-232 interface
cables. Comments on these acquisitions would be apreciated as well. g

Hi!
Your quoting is horrible...I have repaired it...
Your choice on RX's is really not bad and generally very good value on
the money.

For the R7100 I would highly recomend the Diamond X50 or X5000 multiband
verticals. They have much gain on the bands they are cut for. And they
still have some gain compared to a dipole on most other freqs in its
range. They outperform a discone easily wich has no gain over a dipole.
If needed and there is space enough add a LDPA (logrithmic dipole array)
antenna for VHF/UHF with a rotator.
For SW DX a 27ft vertical with many loooong radials and antenna tunerfor
impedance match(!) will work extremely good on DX from 60 to 10 mtr
bands. A horizontal dipole will work better on continental stations.
Have much fun with your new toys!

The Icom and Bonmito software suck.
The Icom software will operate under XP.
There are seveal 3rt party,freeware, packages
for the PCR1000 that are outstanding.
Download the icom software from the web and burn
it to a CD and install.

Ham Radio can be found at http://hrd.ham-radio.ch/
Very nice program.

The PCR1000 is a fairly decent VHFlo/VHFhi/UHF scanner.
On HF and MW it is maybe OK. Prone to overload, so add
an external attenuator.
A radio shack antenna will work fairly well on SW/HF for
international broadasters. For serious DX or utility a
preslector is an almost must have.

The DSP is nice on HF.

Terry

On 19 Apr 2005 15:50:54 -0700, wrote:

The Icom and Bonmito software suck.
The Icom software will operate under XP.
There are seveal 3rt party,freeware, packages
for the PCR1000 that are outstanding.
Download the icom software from the web and burn
it to a CD and install.

Ham Radio can be found at http://hrd.ham-radio.ch/
Very nice program.

The PCR1000 is a fairly decent VHFlo/VHFhi/UHF scanner.
On HF and MW it is maybe OK. Prone to overload, so add
an external attenuator.
A radio shack antenna will work fairly well on SW/HF for
international broadasters. For serious DX or utility a
preslector is an almost must have.

The DSP is nice on HF.

Terry

Why not a TenTec RX320?

Why not a TenTec RX320?

I don't know. I'm Googling it right now. Thanks!

DavidN

David schrieb:

Why not a TenTec RX320?


The RX320 is superior on the PCR-1000but only has HF.
For HF I would recommend a JRC NRD-535 and computer controll it if you
want to.
The PCR-1000 is fine on VHF/ UHF.
Another good overall performer is the AOR AR-5000