Specifications

ManualsBrandsS9 Antennas ManualsAntennaS9v

48 November 2010

frequencies by MHz to speed the process.

From a convenience standpoint, it’s for-

tunate that the IC-R6 is loaded with memory

channels — more than 1300 of them. It is

easier to flip through these channels, which

can also be organized by band or activity,

than it is to rely on VFO tuning. The radio

arrives with weather, marine and a slew of

shortwave broadcast frequencies prepro-

grammed. You can populate the remaining

memory slots in several ways. One

method is to manually dial up your de-

sired frequency and write it to memory.

You can add an alphanumeric tag for

easy reference later. Another approach

is to allow the IC-R6 to scan a given

frequency range and automatically

fill the memory channels with any

signals it finds. The IC-R6 offers

extremely fast scanning, on the order

of 100 channels per second.

My preference was to invest

in the ICOM OPC-478UC USB

“cloning cable” and do the mem-

ory programming from my laptop

computer. This turned out to be

the easiest method by far. Using

the ICOM CS-R6 software for

Windows (Figure 1), I was able to

PRODUCT REVIEW

Mark J. Wilson, K1RO



Product Review Editor



k1ro@arrl.org

Bottom Line

Reviewed by Steve Ford, WB8IMY

QST Editor

My very first receiver, the one that

introduced me to the strange noises being

generated by people who called themselves

“hams,” was a monster. The Hallicrafters

S-40B was a hulking black box that tipped the

scales at something in excess of 25 pounds.

Fast forward 40 years and the breakneck

evolution of technology has turned the

S-40B and radios like it into little more than

beloved curiosities. Over the years we’ve

seen radios become ever smaller thanks

to astonishing progress in semiconductor

technology combined with ultra-miniature

surface-mount components. The new ICOM

IC-R6 portable receiver is an example of

how far we’ve come. My S-40B has ef-

fectively shrunk to a pocket sized box that

weighs less than 8 ounces. Moreover, its

frequency coverage has expanded from

the depths of longwave to the rarified at-

mosphere of microwaves. And then there

are the IC-R6 memories, multiple scanning

functions and … well, at least the S-40B still

retains its nostalgia value!

Tiny Package, Large Feature Set

The ICOM IC-R6 is a wideband AM

and FM receiver that covers 100 kHz to

1300 MHz (cellular telephone frequen-

cies blocked, of course). At first glance it

looks like a handheld transceiver complete

with a rubberized PTT button on the side.

That actually serves as the FUNCTION and

SQUELCH/MONITOR switches. The antenna

connector is a female SMA; it sits next to

an earphone jack that doubles as the data

port. The knob on top is normally used to

change frequencies or memory channels.

UP and DOWN buttons on the front panel

control the audio volume, although you can

use the IC-R6 menu options to switch the

volume adjustments to the knob and assign

frequency tuning to the UP/DOWN buttons.

The IC-R6 offers a variable frequency

oscillator (VFO) tuning function, but this

works best when you’re navigating a limited

range of spectrum within a given band. There

is no way to easily enter a specific frequency

directly. Instead, you must first navigate to

the desired band, then twist the VFO knob

until you see the desired frequency on the

liquid crystal display (LCD) — you can step

ICOM IC-R6 Portable Wideband Receiver

read the contents of the receiver’s memory,

modify the contents (or add new frequen-

cies) and then write everything back to the

radio. You can organize the entire memory

array any way you desire, add alphanumeric

channel labels, select tone squelch frequen-

cies and designate particular channels to be

skipped while scanning.

Power Options

The IC-R6 is supplied with two AA size

NiMH rechargeable batteries and a small

wall charger. If you wish, you can swap the

rechargeable cells for AA alkaline batteries,

but I found that the NiMH cells provided

plenty of listening time.

When it comes to charging batteries

in the IC-R6, it is important to read the

manual. If the batteries are being charged

for the first time, or if you’ve removed the

batteries for longer than two seconds, you

have to go through a multi-step process to

place the receiver in the charging mode. I

skipped this page in the manual and found

myself frustrated with what I thought was a

defective charger!

It is worth noting that there is a drop-in

charger option for the IC-R6 — the ICOM

BC-194. However, I didn’t have the unit to

test for this review.

Surﬁng the Ether with the IC-R6

One of the first things I discovered about

the IC-R6 didn’t come as a surprise. The

radio is supplied with a 6 inch flexible

rubber antenna. This antenna is fine for

local VHF/UHF signals, but woefully

inadequate for shortwave listening. If you

confine yourself to the stock antenna, you

may hear a few of the louder shortwave

broadcasters, but not much more.

Adding a longer antenna makes a world

of difference. I had a 4 foot telescoping whip

antenna that I attached to the IC-R6 by way

of a connector adapter to go from the whip’s

BNC connector to the radio’s SMA connec-

tor. Such adapters are available from many

dealers. Alternatively, you can use the IC-R6

option menus to switch the external antenna

from the SMA jack to the earphone cable.

That’s right; the IC-R6 has the ability to turn

your earphone or headphone cord into an

antenna. If you don’t have a longer antenna

at hand, this option is vastly superior to the

flexible antenna for shortwave listening.

The IC-R6 portable

wideband receiver packs

a lot of performance into

a tiny package.

Summary of content (8 pages)

PAGE 1
PRODUCT REVIEW ICOM IC-R6 Portable Wideband Receiver Reviewed by Steve Ford, WB8IMY QST Editor My very first receiver, the one that introduced me to the strange noises being generated by people who called themselves “hams,” was a monster. The Hallicrafters S-40B was a hulking black box that tipped the scales at something in excess of 25 pounds. Fast forward 40 years and the breakneck evolution of technology has turned the S-40B and radios like it into little more than beloved curiosities.
PAGE 2
Be warned that if you take the antenna possibilities to their logical conclusions and connect the IC-R6 to something much bigger, such as an HF dipole antenna, you’ll be treated to horrendous overload. Fortunately, the IC-R6 has an attenuator option that goes a long way toward reducing the cacophony. Speaking of antennas, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the IC-R6 features an internal ferrite bar antenna for AM broadcast listening. That is something you don’t find often in receivers of this type.
PAGE 3
Hamtronics R303-137 Weather Satellite Receiver Board Reviewed by Mark Spencer, WA8SME ARRL Educational and Technology Program Coordinator I have been a user of the NOAA polar orbiting satellites sending automatic picture transmission or APT imagery for years. Additionally, during the ARRL Teachers Institutes, I encourage teachers to use these NOAA satellite signals and their imagery in their classrooms.
PAGE 4
QS1011-ProdRev03 Figure 3 — Image received using a simple turnstile antenna with no preamp. Note how noise bars in the image correlate with nulls in the antenna pattern. Table 2 Hamtronics R303-137 Weather Satellite Receiver Manufacturer’s Specifications Measured in the ARRL Lab Frequency coverage: 137.9125, 137.620, 137.100, 137.500 MHz. As specified. Power requirement: 13.6 V dc at 38-100 mA. Full volume, no signal, 90 mA. Minimum operating voltage: Not specified. 6.9 V dc.
PAGE 5
level to the computer is critical for quality imagery. If you elect to use the speaker audio, any change in speaker volume will affect the imagery. Therefore I prefer to use a dedicated computer audio connection that is independent of the speaker volume. The output level of the dedicated audio line, however, is fixed and at too high a level to be handled by the Windows sound card VOLUME control.
PAGE 6
not a full duplex transceiver. The TDR button just below the speaker switches the receiver from single band to dual band operation. The easy to read 9⁄16 × 11⁄2 inch display is backlit automatically when you press SIDE KEY 2 or any key on the front panel and it stays illuminatred for about 4 seconds. The 16 button keypad includes the function button and shortcuts to some features.
PAGE 7
Table 3 Wouxun KG-UV2D, serial number J08-8772 Manufacturer’s Specifications Measured in ARRL Lab Frequency coverage: Receive and transmit, Receive, 136.0-174.995, 350.0-470.995 MHz, 136-174 MHz; 350-470 MHz, 76-108 MHz (FM broadcast); 76-108 MHz (“FM Digital”). transmit 144.0-147.995, 420-449.995 MHz. Modes: FM. FM, FM narrow. only).† Power requirements: 7.4 V dc (battery Receive, battery power, 287 mA (max vol, no signal, lights on), 30 mA (power save); transmit, 1.43 A high, 0.
PAGE 8
SHORT TAKES S9v Multiband Vertical Antenna Change is good, painful as it may occasionally be. Recently my local electric company decided to undertake a sweeping upgrade of the lines along our street. This entailed replacing the ac drop to our house with a new line arriving from a very different angle. Unfortunately, the new ac drop was going to pass entirely too close to my short inverted L antenna. It was time to move.