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Just when you thought GRE was dead, they pull something like this. First, there
was the slow, painful death of the GRE line from Radio Shack stores here in the
US. Models are disappearing yet no word has been given on when we can expect to
see replacements arrive on the shelves!
Meanwhile, RCA is introducing models based on former Radio Shack offerings made by GRE. First is the RP-6150 which was based on the PRO-62. Not much longer saw the introduction of the RP-6198 which was a repackaged PRO-64. What's next? And over in the UK, GRE has introduced three new scanners under their own name. Is GRE striking out in new directions? Have they severed ties with Tandy Corporation? Will we ever see another GRE-made scanner again in the US? Then, from out of nowhere, comes the new Commtel COM225 base model scanner. It has a few new improvements as well and one naturally wonders, will we ever see this creature as an FCC-approved model? What follows are my personal impressions regarding the features and performance of this receiver. This, in no way, should be viewed as an endorsement to purchase this radio nor is it intended to discourage anyone from buying it. I have no personal nor business relations with Commtel or GRE. These are simply thoughts offered to my fellow hobbyists who may be interested in purchasing this particular radio or simply knowing more about it. A lot of hard work and effort has gone into the testing and writing of this review. I would appreciate it if every effort is made to keep this document whole with me as the original author. Of course, it doesn't hurt that this document is copyrighted and therefore protected by US law and international treaties governing intellectual property. Except for personal use, and for the sake of brief passages quoted in reviews and given appropriate credit, no part of this work may be reproduced in any forms or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author. And if you want to share your thoughts about this review with me or have further questions, feel free to send e-mail. Thank you and enjoy!
Rich Wells |
| Channels | 500 |
|---|---|
| Banks | 10 |
| Coverage | 25 - 1300 MHz |
| Scan | 40 chan/sec |
| Search | 75 steps/sec |
| Steps | 5/12.5/25/50 kHz |
| Modes | AM, FM & WFM |
| Sensitivity | As listed in the manual : 25 - 500 MHz 500 - 1000 MHz 1000 - 1300 MHz |
| Conversion | Triple |
| IFs | 1=225.4125-225.5875 or 226.4125-226.5875 MHz 2=45 MHz 3=10.7 or 0.455 MHz |
| Priority | 10 channels |
| Search limits | 10 |
| Search skip | 200 frequencies |
| Auto-store | Yes |
| S-meter | Yes |
| Delay | Yes |
| Lockout | Yes |
| Attenuator | Yes |
| Lock | No |
| Tone codes | No |
| Computer intf | No |
| Rotary control | Yes |
| Channel count | No |
| Data skip | No |
| Clock | No |
| Timers | No |
| Weather | No |
| Weather Alert | No |
| Light | Display, constant |
| Power | AC: 220-240 volts, 50 Hz DC: 13.8 volts, 400 mA |
| Audio | 1.5 W at 10% THD |
| Size | 232(W) x 210(D) x 90(H) mm 9.1(W) x 8.2(D) x 3.5(H) inches |
| Weight | 2.0 kg/4.4 lbs |
| Memory | 3 month backup |
For starters, the manual covers the scanner details in 5 different languages. This alone speaks of this radio's intended European distribution and is probably the main factor in explaining its "compact" nature.
All that aside, it does do a good job of explaining this radio and its operation. Its biggest drawback is poor grammar throughout its pages. Not a real big issue but it will cause some confusion in parts to those who are not as familiar with scanners as some us.
There's a preparation section detailing how to use the stock whip antenna as well as connecting to an optional external model. It also covers headphones, attaching an external speaker and hooking up this radio to a tape recorder.
It then moves on to cover all the keys with a brief explanation of what each is responsible for. The same is done for the LCD and all its various indicators.
A brief section on programming the memory is followed by a detailed explanation of the auto-store, band, limit and direct search features. Scanning is up next as well as coverage of the memory management features for moving, deleting and sorting.
The Special Features section covers the use of delay, search lockout and review, priority, attenuator, receive mode, key beep and tape recorder control.
The last section is the Technical Data which we normally call the specifications. Like most GRE radios, this section is quite detailed, listing figures for sensitivity, selectivity, scan/search rates, IFs, IF rejection, squelch sensitivity, audio power, internal speaker stats, physical dimensions and weight.
All things considered, it is nicely done and comprehensive. My only real beef is that to fit it all on 8 small pages the font is quite small. And trying to find particular details is not only hampered by a missing Table of Contents but also the way everything is jam-packed together.
Construction and Physical
One look at the new COM225 and my mind said "PRO-2041". Except for the obvious
difference of the COM225's rotary control, the two are very similar. A bit
larger, the COM225 specifications label it the same size as the PRO-2042. That
makes it one of GRE's largest footprints but even so it still takes up little
real estate on your desk; especially when compared to its Uniden competitors.
Like almost all models in this class, the cabinet is composed entirely of high impact plastic. Molded entirely in dark gray, the front panel has the typical, silver metallic flake like most other recent GRE models.
The front panel itself is broken down into four major areas: LCD, keypad, volume & squelch controls, and rotary control. The LCD is quite large and dominates the upper half of the panel. To its immediate left is the COMMTEL badge and model identification.
Below the LCD is the keypad composed of 29 keys. While 28 of these are arranged in a 4 x 7 grid, the last key is the FUNC key which I believe to be a first on a GRE model. To the left of the keypad in the lower left corner is the usual 1/8" monaural headphone jack.
Immediately to the right of the keypad are the volume and squelch controls. These are typical GRE knobs with ribbed edges and around their circumference a series of hash marks printed for setting reference. Unfortunately, the control's matching set mark is only a small, engraved slot which is easy to miss and makes setting verification visually difficult. But it's not much of a problem to take some white nail polish or model paint and fill in the slot to help out. Some day GRE will do this for us at the factory.
Continuing to the right, we find the large rotary control knob. It's surrounded by a series of ribs which help with gripping. There's also a dimple in its front face but this is mostly cosmetic seeing as how it is not deep nor wide enough to facilitate tuning with the average sized finger.
Directing our attention to the top panel, we see the typical series of shallow slots toward the rear half. The left hand side of these slots allow the speaker audio out while a middle section allows heat to escape the cabinet. The speaker is spec'd at 77mm in diameter and 8 ohms. In the right rear corner is the hole through which the stock antenna is inserted and descends to screw into the circuit board inside.
The right and left panels are barren. The bottom panel houses a small grill for cooling, two rubber feet in the rear to prevent slipping, and two flip-down feet in the front. When flipped down, the extended feet raise the front edge of the radio by over an inch.
The rear panel contains a number of interesting details. Starting to the left, we see the usual BNC antenna connector. This is followed by the 1/8" (3.5mm) tape remote and RCA tape audio output jacks. Next we see the 1/8" (3.5mm) external speaker jack. While the internal speaker is rated at 1.6 watts, the manual specifies that any speaker hooked up to the external speaker jack should be of 8-ohm impedance and capable of handling 2.5 watts!
The DC power jack is next in line and is used to power the radio with between 12 and 14 volts at 400 milliamps. This is the jack that those of us outside of Europe will be using since the radio is designed to take 220/240 volts AC at 50 Hertz (unless you have the appropriate power adapter/converter or decide to replace the stock transformer). The polarity of this jack is printed just above and it indicates a positive tip.
Next to this jack is the RESET switch which is used to activate the reset and initialization procedures should your scanner decide to "act up."
Like the PRO-2035 and PRO-2042, a quick peek can be had inside by simply removing the two screws along the very top of the rear panel. This allows the top panel to swing up and then slide backward. Some care must be taken as the speaker is attached to the top panel by two wires connecting it to the circuit board mounted inside.
Nothing too spectacular here. A single piece of metal creates a frame for the left, right and back sides. The transformer is mounted to the left hand side. A number of wires run between components and boards but all are well bundled and organized neatly with tie wraps.
Holes are drilled out the back panel to allow passage of the various jacks and connectors. There is a smaller metal piece mounted horizontally toward the front and halfway up the sides. This is the anchor point for the one and only RF printed circuit board.
There is a smaller printed circuit board mounted to the front panel which is used to drive the LCD and house the keypad interface. The LCD driver circuitry and three other sections on the RF board are contained in metal enclosures to keep RFI from interfering with signal reception.
The most interesting detail can be found on the rear panel by examining the cutouts in the metal frame. Not only is there a spot for what is certainly the older, physical attenuator control but there is also a hole for a 9-pin D-shell connector! Perhaps a computer-controlled model is in GRE's future or perhaps they are simply thinking ahead to a simple Optoelectronics interface?
The owner's manual notes that the antenna should be extended fully for VHF frequency reception (25 - 300 MHz), three segments extended for 300 - 520 MHz, and fully collapsed for monitoring above 520 MHz. Since you'll probably be monitoring frequencies across the 225's entire receive range, you'll probably be best served by leaving it fully extended.
This antenna does a decent job which is helped by the fact that it's 26" long when fully extended. To get the most performance out of the 225, you'll want to work on installing an external antenna and connecting it with the shortest run of lowest loss co-ax cable you can afford.
Features
One of the first things you'll notice about this radio is its large LCD; over
3 inches (7.6cm) wide and nearly an 1 inch (2.5cm) tall! All of the indicators
are very large and easily readable at a distance. What helps even more is the
superb contrast and wide viewing angle. The display can be read very well at
eye level and viewing off-center holds up well.
My biggest gripe about the LCD is that if the radio is placed too far below eye level, the blackened edges of the faceplate surrounding the LCD can obscure the top row of indicators. It isn't too much of a setback though since these consist of the bank/band activity numerals.
The LCD is wonderfully backlit by an evenly illuminated yellowish-green color. It is quite brilliant but unfortunately there is no method provided to turn it off.
A great new feature for this GRE model is the addition of an S-meter to the LCD! It consists of 8 segments arranged horizontally with each segment getting successively taller. My unit seemed to be well calibrated when compared side by side to the readings given by a AR-3000A.
Other indicators on the LCD consist of: scan/manual/search mode, attenuator, selected scan/search banks, priority, lockout, program, delay, auto-store, tune, receive mode, function, up/down arrows, channel/monitor memory # and frequency value (to 500Hz resolution).
Turning our attention to the keypad, as mentioned earlier it's arranged in 4 rows of 7 columns each; just like the PRO-2041. I had pointed out in my review of the 2041 that its keypad was a nightmare. What a relief it was to see that the COM225 carried a much improved version! Key presses are light and have a short throw which adds to great feedback and therefore pleasant use of this radio's features. The keys also don't stick out as far nor "wobble" around which greatly enhances their usability.
Looking to the far left we see the new FUNC key which is used to gain access to the secondary function of two keys. These are used to access the tape recorder control and delay functions. It's also used to gain access to new scan and search auxiliary functions.
And like most radios, each key press is accompanied by a beep for an audible confirmation of your action. The manual specifies how this can be turned off if you so desire. The pain is that it's one of those "hold down the keys while you turn on the scanner" methods. Since GRE thought it necessary to add a FUNC key for secondary key strokes, I would have thought it natural to make this key beep function make use this new key. Live and learn I guess.
Moving from the front panel onto the top of the radio we pause to consider the audio qualities. Power, like most GRE models, is quite adequate for my needs. Some might find it lacking and for them, plugging in their own speaker to the external speaker jack will deliver more wattage.
Power output can be set to about 70% of maximum before the usual distortion sets in. Interestingly, at these high power settings, the LCD backlight pulses annoyingly with the peaks in the audio signal being received. This was probably due to my use of a simple 300 mA DC adapter while the power spec calls for 400 mA.
Audio quality is quite nice on all three receive modes. As usual, AM signals are a far cry above the muddy AM audio quality found on the competition. Being a commercial and military airband freak, I'm always pleased to see this. And when it comes to the squelch tail on FM signals, it is almost non-existent. Good deal!
A welcome surprise to this latest GRE model is to find that the attenuator is keypad selectable and not a physical switch located on the back panel! The bad news is that it is global in scope, much like the old physical switch. Once it's enabled, it's enabled for memory, scanning and searching.
A minor nit is that the usually well done specifications (as well as the rest of the manual) don't list the attenuator rating. Past models used 10dB and that seems about right here as well but this has typically varied widely (5 - 15dB) depending on the frequency range being tuned.
Another new feature is that of tape recorder control which, up until this point, has been the prominent domain of Uniden models (one wonders about a number of patents that Uniden held but which recently expired.)
Using the two jacks on the rear panel, it's possible to connect a tape recorder to the COM225. This allows the audio of active memory channel signals to be recorded for later playback. Once the tape recorder is physically connected to the scanner, you go through memory tagging each desired memory channel to be recorded. The radio can be left to monitor a single channel or put into scan mode to record everything the scanner "hears!" The drawback to this feature is that only 10 channels can be specially tagged for recording in this manner.
The last item to cover concerns the reset actions available to the user. While there is little chance you'll have to use them, if the need ever does arise, you'll be appreciative of their existence.
They come in two flavors, both using the RESET switch located on the rear panel. The reset is used to clear minor lockups that may occur due to disturbances in the voltage supply. The initialization is used to give the entire radio a firm kick in its behind and should only be used as a last resort. Why? Because using it will erase all of memory and other programmed settings.
Pseudo-VFO
While the COM225 doesn't have a "real" VFO like that found on an AOR or Icom
model, it does come pretty close. By punching in a frequency and then pressing
the TUNE key, you have instant access to the frequency spectrum. Using the
rotary control, you can tune up and down the bands looking for signals. While
tuning about, you are allowed to override the default receive mode but pity
you can't do the same for the step size.
Speaking of the rotary control, it not only allows frequencies to tuned in TUNE mode, but also while viewing memory or paused during a search. During scan mode, this control allows you to change the direction of scanning accordingly. Unfortunately for some odd reason, the same is not true while searching.
GRE first put a rotary control on their PRO-2035 and the follow-up PRO-2042. While the control was a great benefit, is was on the small side and did not stick out far enough for "proper" handling and control. The version on the COM225 is much nicer in that it is both large and projects out farther! The feel when using it has also been improved.
Unfortunately, the "dimple" which is normally used for single-finger control is eye candy only. It is simply too small and shallow to be useful. Especially given the amount of friction needed.
This control has also been programmed for accelerated "slewing". While slow, constant turning moves you through memory or a frequency range at a predictable rate, quick twists will bring about rapid changes in the memory channels or frequency value. Once you get the hang of it, tuning around the frequency spectrum becomes a breeze as a quick flick will advance you several megahertz.
Memory
Right off the bat we can see that this is not the ordinary 200 channel radio.
The COM225 comes with 500 channels split up into the usual 10 banks. While the
50 channel banks are not as unwieldy as the 100 channel banks found on the
PRO-2042, 20 banks would be much nicer. Someday GRE will get the hint...
Moving around within memory is a breeze using the rotary control. Even so, the tried and true methods of pressing MAN to advance one channel at a time, or keying in a channel number followed by MAN are still allowed.
This GRE model uses the Radio Shack method of programming memory. The scanner must first be put into programming mode using the PGM key. Then, frequencies are simply keyed in and ENTER is pressed. Pressing PGM will advance to the next or previous channel in memory (depending on which way the LCD arrow indicator is pointing). It's also possible to use the rotary control to select the desired memory channel.
Should you try to program a frequency which is already resident in another channel, the radio beeps three times, and displays the channel number in which this frequency is already stored along with 'duPL' on the LCD. At this point the frequency can still be programmed or the entry sequence aborted.
To delete a memory channel frequency, a value of 0 is programmed into it. And empty memory channels are automatically locked out and therefore not scanned.
While in memory, individual channels can be selected and their delay, lockout tape record and receive mode settings can be changed. If the receive mode is changed from the programmed default value, it will flash on the LCD to indicate this condition.
Like the PRO-2042, the COM225 comes with a number of handy memory management features:
A slight variation to the usual scanning scenario is what GRE calls 'seek scan.' In this mode, started by pressing FUNC then SCAN, should the radio stop on an active memory channel frequency, it will monitor it for a maximum of 5 seconds. After 5 seconds of activity, the radio will automatically resume scanning.
Searching
Here's where we get to the real "meat" of monitoring as GRE has provided the
COM225 with limit, auto-store, direct, and band search capabilities.
The typical limit search allows searching between two user programmable frequency limits. What's even more handy is that the COM225 comes with 10 of these limit pairs just like the PRO-2042. Similarly, these 10 can be searched individually or linked together in any manner you see fit!
The auto-store search is simply another limit search which stores active frequencies into one or more memory banks of your choosing. And this auto-store is "smart" in that duplicate frequencies will not be stored.
A direct search allows the radio to begin a search based on a memory channel frequency or one which is directly keyed in via the keypad. Once started, it acts just like a limit search except that the limits are the physical frequency limited values of the radio itself; 25 and 1300 MHz, respectively.
A sub-feature of direct search is that it can be made to resemble a limit search by imposing a range between 1 and 10 megahertz in 1 MHz increments. After a frequency is selected but before the direct search is begun, a number between 1 and 0 is selected from the keypad which selects the 1 - 10 MHz range within which the search will be confined.
The last, and least useful, search mode is band search. Looking at the front cover of the owner's manual, there can be seen a chart which divides up the COM225's 25 - 1300 MHz receive range into 23 distinct bands. When a band search is started, the number corresponding to the band to be searched is keyed in and then the search begins within this specified band.
Regardless of the search mode used, up to 200 frequencies can be locked out. This is quite helpful for skipping over those birdie, annoying or already logged frequencies.
Also the up and down arrow keys can be used to reverse the search direction at any time. Simply use the currently displayed arrow indicator on the LCD to note the direction and any changes made to it.
If the scanner stops on an interesting frequency, it can be stored into the current display memory channel by pressing ENTER or into one of the 50 monitor memories by pressing MON.
Not only will pressing MON store the frequency into a monitor memory, it will then stay on this frequency for you to monitor it. At a later time (once you're done with searching) you can come back to monitor memory and view any of the 50 frequencies stored therein. Even better, you can move one or all of them into a memory bank of your choosing!
The search lockout review feature displays a list of all the currently locked out frequencies. This list can then be scrolled about to examine its contents. This method allows individual frequency to be removed from the search lockout list. There's also a method which simply removes all frequencies from this list.
If limit, direct or band search is performed, the seek search function can be employed. In this mode, like its scanning counterpart, active signals will only be received for a maximum of 5 seconds. After this limit has expired, the scanner will automatically resume the search.
While searching, you can also change the receive mode at will. If the mode is changed from the programed preset, the selected mode blinks on the LCD to inform you of this change. If you ever encounter "weird" sounding audio, this is the first indicator you should check to make sure you are using the proper receive mode.
Even though this model is manufactured for the European community, a quick look at its preprogrammed receive mode settings indicate no discrepancy with the US bandplan (not a big concern since we can manually override it.)
Since the step sizes are preprogrammed and unchangeable, these present a greater threat to the US listener. Luckily there are no major drawbacks here either; just very minor inconveniences.
| Frequency | Receive mode |
|---|---|
| 25 - 29 | AM |
| 29 - 87.5 | FM |
| 87.5 - 108 | WFM |
| 108 - 137 | AM |
| 137 - 225 | FM |
| 225 - 400 | AM |
| 400 - 1300 | FM |
| Frequency | Step Size |
|---|---|
| 25 - 87.5 | 5 |
| 87.5 - 108 | 50 |
| 108 - 137 | 25 |
| 137 - 144 | 5 |
| 144 - 146 | 12.5 |
| 146 - 225 | 5 |
| 225 - 1300 | 12.5 |
Priority
Another similarity to the PRO-2041 is the COM225's priority scheme; 10 channels
in an independent bank. But unfortunately, it also has the 2041's annoying
manner of taking 20 seconds to sample all ten frequencies.
This set of 10 priority channels is maintained in a separate memory bank with the channels being labeled P01 - P10. Frequencies are programmed into these channels similar to regular memory channels. When programming, the scanner will give the duplicated frequency warning when needed.
As an added flexibility, any channel can be locked out of the priority sampling to keep that frequency from being checked.
Once programmed, the PRI key is used to enable priority sampling indicated by the PRI indicator on the LCD. Every two seconds, the next priority channel in sequence will be checked for activity. Therefore, the amount of time it takes to check all programmed priority frequencies is equal to 2 seconds times the number of priority frequencies. For best detection, you'd better keep the number of priority frequencies to a minimum or lock out any that you can.
The good news is that priority can be enabled while in memory, scan and search modes!
VHF/UHF Performance
Taking a look at the manual section under birdies, I was dismayed to see 49
listed frequencies along with the entire 147.66 - 148.105 MHz range! That comes
out to be 139 birdies! Interestingly, the manual lists no birdies above 512
MHz. How convenient!
Doing my own check of the enire receive range, I came up with 14. And 11 of them were above 512 MHz!
Next, I set up the radio at home and using the stock antenna fully extended, I swept the same range looking for any signs of interference. The only things I got were 5 TV images, all above 946 MHz.
I then decided to cut to the chase and hooked it up to the 20-014 ground plane antenna I have mounted outdoors. This monster is 7 feet tall and the radials cover a width of 13 feet! I swept the entire range and...uh-oh. Houston, we have a problem.
Between the combination of the low 1st IF and wide FM receive sensitivity, this radio is plagued almost throughout its entire receive range with nearly exact copies of much of the FM broadcast band, repeating over and over at about 40 MHz intervals. There are other problems with TV and FM intermod but this broadcast FM image problem is the worst.
As if that weren't enough, typically scanning on some frequencies becomes very annoying due to a similar problem. One of the first things I did when I got the radio was to plug it into this antenna and start testing various frequencies; mainly commercial aero and VHF-hi public safety.
Right off the bat I noticed that when I was receiving a signal in these bands, in the background was a faint but very readable broadcast FM image. While normal voice signals typically drowned them out, the could be heard quite easily during moments of silence and while waiting for the carrier to drop.
Feeling a bit disappointed, I figure I'd give the radio another chance by hooking it up to the 20-013 discone (which is near the 20-014 and at the same height) and testing it again. The results were much better and in fact, very similar to the results obtained by using the stock antenna. While the FM broadcast image problem was gone, it could still be heard in the background on some signals.
Now it was time to put it back-to-back with the PRO-2042 to see how it would perform against one of my favorite radios! I tested both using the same antenna on many frequencies between 26 and 936 MHz. The results appear in the table that follows:
| Freq | COM225 | PRO-2042 |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | 1 | 1 |
| 43 | 1 | 1 |
| 73 | 1 | 2 |
| 89 | 1 | 2 |
| 99 | 1 | 2 |
| 106 | 1 | 2 |
| 117 | 1 | 1 |
| 119 | 1 | 1 |
| 124 | 1 | 1 |
| 127 | 1 | 1 |
| 156 | 1 | 1 |
| 162 | 1 | 2 |
| 258 | 1 | 2 |
| 388 | 1 | 1 |
| 451 | 1 | 2 |
| 454 | 2 | 1 |
| 460 | 2 | 1 |
| 852 | 2 | 1 |
| 857 | 2 | 1 |
| 863 | 2 | 1 |
| 936 | 2 | 1 |
Adding these results gave the COM225 a 27 and the PRO-2042 a 28! Nearly identical performance but varying over different ranges.
The COM225 is clearly superior on the FM broadcast band (imagine that!) and on VHF-hi and the start of UHF. Once we get around 450 though, the PRO-2042 pulls ahead and does a better job of landing the upper UHF signals.
| Category | Score | Out of |
|---|---|---|
| Sensitivity | 25 | 25 |
| Selectivity | 5 | 15 |
| Interference rejection | 15 | 20 |
| Coverage | 70 | 90 |
| Channels | 15 | 15 |
| Channels per bank | 5 | 15 |
| Ease of use | 5 | 20 |
| Scan/Search speed | 10 | 10 |
| Receive modes | 5 | 15 |
| Step sizes | 0 | 25 |
| Conversion | 10 | 10 |
| Audio | 20 | 20 |
| Antenna | 10 | 20 |
| Construction | 10 | 20 |
| Size | 5 | 15 |
| Search | 30 | 35 |
| Attenuator | 15 | 20 |
| Auto-store | 20 | 20 |
| Search frequency lockout | 10 | 15 |
| Backlight | 15 | 30 |
| Alpha-tagging | 0 | 20 |
| VFO | 5 | 10 |
| Squelch tail | 10 | 10 |
| Priority | 20 | 20 |
| Delay | 10 | 15 |
| Hold | 0 | 10 |
| Rotary Control | 10 | 10 |
| S-meter | 10 | 10 |
| Power-on resume | 0 | 10 |
| Computer Interface | 0 | 20 |
| Tone Decode | 0 | 15 |
| Battery indicator | 0 | 10 |
| Channel count | 0 | 5 |
| Tape record control | 5 | 5 |
| Clock | 0 | 5 |
| Timers | 0 | 5 |
| Weather programmed | 0 | 5 |
| Weather alert | 0 | 5 |
| Data skip | 0 | 5 |
| Bank delete | 5 | 5 |
| Bank sort | 5 | 5 |
| Total | 380 | 670 |
| Total | 57 | 100 |
Many will appreciate the tape recorder control while others will like the variety of search options. Scan and search speed are also nothing to laugh at either!
500 channels will be more than enough for most of us although I would prefer more flexible 25 channel banks than the COM225's 50 channel version. For what I monitor at least, that's just too many wasted channels for "typical" monitoring.
Like the 2042, I'm sure I'll love this radio for just basic tuning due to its pseudo-VFO as well as a good auto-store radio; that's where the large bank size does comes in handy. It would have been really sweet, however, if GRE had added in selectable step sizes!
While it's nice to see a separate priority bank, taking the sampling at one channel at a time every two seconds is simply not useful. If I program five frequencies and it takes ten seconds to get around to checking it, that's not what I call giving it priority. Every two seconds, ALL programmed, non-locked out priority frequencies should be checked.
The COM225 also has great sensitivity and good interference rejection; as long as you don't get carried away with the choice of external antenna used!
Recommendations
Here in the US, the COM225's only real competition comes from Uniden models
since Radio Shack is no longer carrying any GRE-made models. Considering the
COM225's $300 price range, that puts it in the same league as the BC9000XLT
but a couple of steps above the near $200 BC895XLT.
Over in Europe, it's pretty much the same story; most will be considering the UBC9000XLT with the obvious lack of the BC895XLT as a choice. Those who live in Germany or order from it might also consider a competing model from Albrecht.
Regardless, comparing a GRE and a Uniden is in many ways similar to comparing an apple to an orange due to their wide variance in features.
The COM225 has a vastly superior LCD and I prefer the keypad and smaller size as well. The ability to directly tune any frequency is also a great aid. Also consider the 10 linkable search limits with 200 search lockouts. And don't forget the S-meter!
What the 9000XLT has going for it is twice the number of banks, alpha-tags on 250 channels, CTCSS decoding, channel count and selectable step sizes. It should also scan and search about twice as fast as the GRE. Its attenuator is more flexible as well. A nice touch is the LCD backlight which can be dimmed or turned off completely.
Both have 500 channels and receive AM, FM and WFM while allowing the user to override the preprogrammed selection. Both allow "smart" auto-store to any number of selected banks, a handy rotary control and tape recorder control.
Not an easy choice to make, is it? And I can't make any easy recommendation. Just like the PRO-2042 versus the BC9000XLT; it's not an easy thing to try and decide between the two. Both are great radios and will serve you well, but you need to evaluate both radios based on their differences and see which one seems to come away with more of what you are personally looking for.
And if you're one of those types who mourned the loss of the PRO-2042 here in the US, now is the chance to pick up a radio which is bound to be just as popular. Don't put off tomorrow what you can buy today! At around $300, this kind of performance and features shouldn't be passed by!
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If you are interested in purchasing one of these radios or simply want more information, please stop by their web site or write Jonathan at info@javiation.co.uk.
| Copyright © 2010 by Richard J. Wells |
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