Icom IC-R75 - Feb 4, 2003
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I've had my eye on this one for a while. And when Icom provided $250 off in
the form of a coupon and a special while throwing in a free UT-106 DSP option I
simply couldn't resist the temptation any longer!
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Uniden BC785D - Feb 3, 2003
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See comment about BC250D below...
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GP 2000 NiMH 4-pack - Jan 14, 2003
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The latest and greatest in high-capacity, rechargeable technology on the NiMH
front. Although the cells are called 2000 series, they are only guaranteed for
1900 mAh minimum. We'll also have to see how long these last since they are
spec'd for 1000 recharge cycles.
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Uniden BC250D - Jan 3, 2003
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If you don't know what this is then you just got into the hobby yesterday or
your only reading is the Farmer's Almanac!
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Icom IC-W32A - Jan 2, 2003
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For some strange reason I always thought this looked like a cool radio so when
a used model passed by, I snapped it up!
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AOR AR-2002 - December 5, 2002
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It's AOR ancestory clearly evident from its resemblance to the very popular
AR3000, the AR-2002 was highly sought for its wide receive coverage (not to
mention its cute red/green LED S-meter). Owners were undoubtedly frustrated by
the puny 20 memory channels and paltry 5 channels/second scan rate. But at
least it was nowhere near as hard to operate as the wide-range AR1000XLT
handheld (and all the clones that followed it).
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Icom IC-R8500 - November 25, 2002
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We picked this demo up in perfect condition and carrying Icom's full warranty.
Subtract out Icom's $100 off holiday coupon and you just can't go wrong! And we
already have her hard at work scanning a bunch of mil air freqs.
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Uniden BC760XLT - November 21, 2002
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This little gem just arrived and it looks almost brand new. It came with both
the CTCSS card and RF pre-amplifier. We'll have to see how she works with some
of our latest mobile antennas.
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Maldol MH-209SMA - November 20, 2002
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It's a 3" stubby HT antenna for 2m/440 and is quite flexible. It makes a fine
mate to our radios which have SMA antenna jacks like the IC-R5, IC-T90, and
TH-F6. It's also available with a BNC connector.
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Antennex ABSCANC Mobile Scanner Antenna - November 12, 2002
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Listed as a 150/450/800 MHz antenna, this model seemed like another likely
candidate for our mobile antenna testing round up. Overall it looks very much
like the design and element sizes of the MAXRAD MAXSCAN1000 we are also
testing. It is also an NMO mount and should screw right into place on the
Radiall-Larsen NMO mag-mount we've been using.
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Icom IC-R5 - November 11, 2002
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Many thanks to Jonathan at
Javiation
for quickly providing us with a Japanese-version IC-R5 to review!
As expected, it looks very much like a cross between the old R2 and the IC-T90
amateur HT that Icom released just a few months ago. Its antenna seems to be
identical to that of the R2 so that should make antenna testing easy! I was
glad to see that the R5 was not supplied with the same quick-release, cell-like
belt hanger of the T90 but disappointed that the supplied belt clip is the
same, chintzy, plastic job that came with the R2. I guess there's something to
be said for reusing parts from other radios!
Now, off to deciphering the Japanese manual!
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Austin Spectra Mobile Scanner Antenna - November 8, 2002
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We were delighted to be contacted by John Rommelt who generously offered to
loan us his Austin Spectra mobile antenna as part of our ongoing mobile antenna
testing.
The Spectra is touted as a 4-band (30-50, 150-174, 430-512, 806-896 MHz)
design which tops out at 33". It does come with a tuning chart for low-band
coverage. The top element measures 14" which is tuned for 33 MHz. If this was
our antenna, we would be cutting that down to 7" for coverage at 42 MHz which
lowers the overall height to 26" which we find a much more acceptable length.
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Radiall/Larsen Mobile Scanner Antenna - October 30, 2002
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Continuing to check out worthy mobile scanner antennas, our attentionn was
drawn to the new Radiall/Larsen NMO designed for 150/450/800 coverage.
Topping out at 16", it looks similar to the recently acquired MAXRAD and should
easily replace it on the Radiall/Larsen NMO mag mount.
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RadioShack PRO-95 - October 24, 2002
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How can you say no to a trunking scanner with 1000 channels, alpha-tags, great
performance and wonderful audio?
Welcome to our shack, my little GRE-made friend!
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MAXRAD Mobile Antenna & Radiall-Larsen Mount - October 22, 2002
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It was time to check out another mobile antenna and the MAXRAD MAXSCAN100 was
our choice. We received the black model (it's also available in chrome) which
comes with an NMO mount so we also purchased a Radiall-Larsen mobile magnet
NMO mount to keep it firmly attached to our vehicle.
The MAXRAD is listed as a 1/4 wave for VHF and a collinear array for
UHF/800/900. It is rated for receive over 150-174, 450-470 and 800-840 MHz and
stands around 21" high.
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FM/TV Filters - October 2, 2002
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We have three 1200' foot towers just a few miles up the road from us which
house about a gazillion antennas; everything from public safety, to NOAA
weather, paging, cellular, and FM and TV broadcast. It's your basic nightmare.
The strongest signals come from 4 TV and 2 FM radio stations, two of which
peak out at 50kW.
Thanks to Cortland Richmond, KA5S, who turned us onto the Microwave Filter
Company, we've just taken delivery of one FM notch filter and three TV filters
designed to notch out both the video and audio carriers for three TV channels
that we specified. Now it's time to put them to the test and see how well they
do at reducing our nuisance RFI!
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Yaesu VR-5000 - October 1, 2002
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With Yaesu's $200 off coupon coming to an end, I took the plunge and ordered
their high-end receiver to see just what has changed since we last saw this
receiver for our February, 2001 review. I was also lucky enough to buy their
"package" deal which provided me with the DSP unit for just $10 more!
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Regency ACT-T-K100 - September 11, 2002
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Another "antique" has been added to our shack! While it only has 10 channels
and limited receive range (by today's standards), it's a sensitive and
selective model from the once mighty Regency Corporation.
And my purchase of it has absolutely nothing to do with those sequencing red
LEDs which are quite hypnotic and scream "police scanner!"
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Icom IC-T90A - September 6, 2002
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Icom has thrown their hat in the ring with the introduction of this handheld
tri-band amateur HT with wide band receive. It's a direct competitor to the
popular Kenwood TH-F6 and the less popular Yaesu VX-7R. I own a TH-F6 so I
guess it will soon be time to acquire the Yaesu so I can put these three
back-to-back and see which one makes the best scanning HT!
Our thanks to the Ham Station for selling us one of the first they received and
shipping it out ASAP!
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Radioware SE1300 - August 26, 2002
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It was time to try a new base antenna and this one fit the bill. It's a typical
discone with a nice, long vertical element for better VHF-lo and HF coverage.
I was also interested in getting one with a N-type connector rather than the
older and frequency-restricted PL-259 that comes on many base models. I also
need to make sure it fit in the upper attic and it does just that at 5.5 feet
tall.
This antenna is very well made and is actually imported by Radioware from
Nevada Communications where it is sold as the Scanmaster B1300. Now we'll
just need to see how it compares to the other base models in our monitoring
arsenal by hooking it up to our new AR-5000+3!
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AOR AR5000+3 - August 12, 2002
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I came across a great deal on this high-end radio and simply could not resist
the urge to own one any longer. It came with the three Collins mechanical
filters so all I have to do is add the CTCSS board and we'll be good to go!
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Scan*Star Spectrum Explorer - May 2, 2002
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Thanks to the kindness of Sam Dunham at Signal Intelligence, we have a copy of
his latest software, Spectrum Explorer, to put through its paces using a number
of the radios it supports.
Scan*Star Spectrum Explorer
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Regency HX1500 - April 24, 2002
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Another popular and old favorite has taken up residence in the shack!
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Uniden BC70XLT - March 3, 2002
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An oldie but a goodie. My collection just couldn't be complete without this
favorite so into the shack it was welcomed!
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RadioShack 20-044 Scanner Antenna - January 11, 2002
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Recently discontinued, this popular model was also sold as the Scantenna and
Monitenna by various dealers and manufacturers. It comes with 50' of RG-6/U
cable, a 300-to-50 ohm balun, F-type to BNC adapter and mounting hardware.
Talk about your bargains for a measly $20!
I stopped into the local RadioShack and bought their last two and put them up
immediately! After a bit of testing this looks like a very good, wide-band
model.
And don't let this tiny picture fool you. This puppy is 8'5" tall and 26"
wide.
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Frequency Fan Club - December 3, 2001
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As we posted a few days ago, Frequency Fan Club has come up with a device which
allows you to use a 9-volt battery in many Uniden handhelds. And as promised,
Mike and David sent us one of these backup power adapters for review!
Frequency Fan Club - Accessory page
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RadioShack PRO-2053 - November 26, 2001
RadioShack PRO-93 - October 27, 2001
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RadioShack's follow-on to the PRO-92 is the Dual-Trunking PRO-93. While it
"lost" PL/DPL, it keeps the large display and alpha-tags and gains faster
scanning/searching, much improved backlight, and trunked ID scan lists while
using only 4 AA batteries!
Our thanks to Scanners Unlimited
for loaning us a sample!
RadioShack PRO-93 Radio Reference page
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Police Call - October 16, 2001
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I finally got around to picking up a copy! And I never would have recognized it
with the new cover (no longer one of the orange, blue or green covers). This is
the first edition to include the National CD-ROM (3rd edition).
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Alinco DJ-X3 - October 15, 2001
Yaesu VR-120 - September 25, 2001
Kenwood TH-F6A - September 11, 2001
MAHA MH-C77PLUS - June 2001
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MAHA have updated their popular MH-C777 charger/reconditioner to not only
handle Lithium-Ion cells but a new LCD display shows battery voltage and
cell capacity!
MAHA MH-C777PLUS page
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Uniden BC-004 Preamplifier - June 2001
Uniden's dated but popular preamplifier!
Out thanks to Lee Electronics for
loaning us a sample!
RadioShack PRO-2002 - May 2001
An oldie but a goodie! Gotta love those fluorescent displays!
RadioShack PRO-2002 Radio Reference page
RadioShack PRO-94 - May 2001
Grove PRE-5A Preamplifier - April 2001
Grove's popular pre-amp which can be dialed from -10dB of attenuation up to
+18dB of gain.
JiM M-75 Preamplifier - April 2001
A pricey Japanese model which is hard to find!
Uniden BC780XLT - Dec 23, 2000
AOR AR8600 - December 21, 2000
Memorex Scannocular - November 9, 2000
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What more could you ask for when someone combines a pair of binoculars and
a scanner for race track use?
Our thanks to Frequency Fan Club for
loaning us a sample!
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Alinco DJ-X2000 - November 3, 2000
Commtel Earpiece - November 3, 2000
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Commtel's latest accessory; a Walkman-like earphone with a mutli-way,
adjustable ear clip to secure it.
Our thanks to Javiation for
loaning us a sample!
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Yupiteru MVT-7300 - July 5, 2000
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