Icom R-70 ??
 

Anyone out there still using this 20 some year old radio and is it good
enough for serious SWLing. If so what are they going for in good shape?
The reason I ask is for a short time I used a borrowed about 20 years ago
and kind of liked it but my memory isn't that good.
tnx

--

73
Hank WD5JFR

Henry Kolesnik wrote:
Anyone out there still using this 20 some year old radio and is it good
enough for serious SWLing. If so what are they going for in good shape?
The reason I ask is for a short time I used a borrowed about 20 years ago
and kind of liked it but my memory isn't that good.
tnx

I remember reading reviews and talking with guys on the old Fido BBS
nets that either loved or hated the radio. No middle ground. As I
remember it had some Icomisms that you had to get used to. One was
having to re-tune when switching modes and of course it lacks direct
keypad entry and memories. And dxing.com notes some undetailed problem
tuning at the margins of the bands?? But in the right hands it was a
good radio.

Here's a pretty good summary at: http://www.dxing.com/rx/pcr1000.htm
altough the valuation seems high to me. More details if you speak
German are at: http://www.dr-boesch.ch/radio/icom-r70.htm The google
translation to english is a bit rough, but readable.

"D Peter Maus" wrote in message
...
Henry Kolesnik wrote:
Anyone out there still using this 20 some year old radio and is
it good
enough for serious SWLing. If so what are they going for in good
shape?
The reason I ask is for a short time I used a borrowed about 20
years ago
and kind of liked it but my memory isn't that good.
tnx



R-70, and it's later sibling, R-71, are getting a bit long in the
tooth. That's not necessarily a bad thing. The technology still
performs, and can still hold its own among some, but not all, of
today's
offerings.

R-70 is not exactly feature rich. It's basic performance. With
more
than a few bugs that were worked out for the release of R-71. I'd
Recommend R-71 over R-70...R-70 being a good 'first draft.'

I've never used an IC-R71A, but I have used an R70
in the past. It's a nice radio that's a step up from
the portables (the 2010 being the exception), but
it's rather idiocyncratic in some ways. Tuning
using the knob used to drive me nuts after a while
because you'd be constantly switching between
step size. Dual VFO's helped a bit, but after having
had a keypad to move around or an old style band
switch and dial on a tube radio, it's a bit harder to
get used to.

That said, the performance was rather nice. Not
as good as a tabletop of today, mind you, but it
probably fits in line with the Kenwood R-2000
and the Yaesu FRG-7700 and FRG-8800. Audio
wasn't the greatest, but it wasn't bad either.

Being of it's age, components have begun to drift, caps have
begun to
deform. As a result, any R-70 you may encounter may be in need of
attention to restore it to performance. Bellevue can help you with
that.
Figure at least a couple hundred bucks for this service. This is one
time that factory service is the wiser choice. They know more about
the
radio than aftermarket service sources, and their expertise can save
a
LOT of time. Time is money, here, and irrespective of rates, you
want
this work done right.

I've seen R-70 go for as low as $250, and as high as $450 in the
last
year, so if you're determined to go in this direction, shop
carefully.

The main drawback of ebay is that you don't get a chance
to actually listen to the radio, like at a hamfest. If you
find one at a hamfest, make sure you bring along a
piece of wire and an extension cord so that you can
try out the radio before you buy.

--Mike L.

Thanks for the pointers. Does anyone know for sure if the R-70 have to be
sent back to the factory if the internal memory battery dies?
tnx

--

73
Hank WD5JFR

"Henry Kolesnik" wrote in message
. ..
Anyone out there still using this 20 some year old radio and is it good
enough for serious SWLing. If so what are they going for in good shape?
The reason I ask is for a short time I used a borrowed about 20 years ago
and kind of liked it but my memory isn't that good.
tnx

--

73
Hank WD5JFR

Henry Kolesnik wrote:
Anyone out there still using this 20 some year old radio and is it good
enough for serious SWLing. If so what are they going for in good shape?
The reason I ask is for a short time I used a borrowed about 20 years ago
and kind of liked it but my memory isn't that good.
tnx

I have one. It is excellent but the band arrangements by HAM vs. Non-Ham
is inconvenient to ME,,,,also the tuning knob fixed by some odd-sized
allen screw keeps falling off

But it's an excellent radio till i find my lost RX 320

anyone got one to sell?

Yodar