Actually, at this stage of my learning processes, it would be wrong to call my article a “Review”. These were just a few ramblings and off-the-cuff observations.
I did neglect to explain what CW and CW Reverse modes do. So that oversight, I shall correct now. CW, or, Carrier Wave, works similarly to the way sidebands work, although in the case of CW there is a modulated carrier wave, whereas with SSB (Single Sideband),there is no carrier wave at all. CW and CW reverse differ only slightly. But it’s useful to have both modes available. Usually, when somebody with eyes uses a radio in CW mode these days, they have access to wave form imagers. Thus it is a simple matter to tune for what’s known as “Zero Beat”. That is to say, the receiver and transmitter are tuned to precisely the same frequency. If you monitor a CW signal, you will find that the tone of the signal can be, to put it in layman’s terms, pitch-tuned. That is where Zero Beat comes in. Usually, if the receiver is tuned to the precise transmitted signal’s frequency, a morse key would cause the transmitter to emit tones at precisely the same frequency as the remote station. In the case of CW Reverse, when you modify your frequency by increasing it, the reverse occurs. So, instead of decreasing in pitch when you tune up, the pitch of the tone you hear or see goes down, and visa versa. It is very uncommon to find a receiver these days which makes use of this kind of reception tuning. Where it comes into its own is when you have two very strong CW signals, both transmitting at the same time, on almost adjacent frequencies. By switching to CW Reverse mode, you can modify your centre, or “Spot” frequency so that, in reality, it differs from that of the remote station you’re tuning too, but it actually sounds exactly the same as if you were on the same frequency. Many amateur radio tuners use a system which some call a “Clarifier”, (such as Yasue). Kenwood, for example, call the function “R.I.T.”, (Receive Incremental Tuning). So all Icom have done here is taken the function to the next stage. In effect, therefore, all CW Reverse amounts too is a posh name for a good old--fashioned R.I.T. system. That’s a very crude explanation, but it just about sums up what the mode is used for. This receiver also decodes many of the now used digital modes of transmission, amateur and commercial. For example, it can decode D-Star transmissions without breaking sweat. I could continue to ecstorl the virtues of this radio for the next several hours. But I really don’t think I’ll do so. Right at the moment, if you don’t mind. It’s late, I’m tired and have a busy day ahead tomorrow. ;-) Actually, last night I dispensed with my media centre in my bedroom and used this radio instead to listen to Smooth Radio on FM. I found the audio reproduction perfectly adequate for those times when one is drifting off to sleep, and not really fussy about audio sound quality. It may even be that you are drifting off to sleep just reading or listening to this message. I certainly know how to waffle, don’t I! :-) On 6 Jan 2020, at 14:20, Dane Trethowan <grtd...@internode.on.net> wrote: Thank you for an interesting review. I first heard about the Icom IC-r30 in October last year when a friend of mine mentioned a fully featured hand-held receiver had been available for some time of excellent quality with an excellent feature set. I was anxious to find out more so I asked about and it didn’t take me long to discover that the Icom IC-R30 was already very well regarded and a star in its own right when it comes to handheld receivers which I had little regard for until this time. It seemed therefore fitting that I should make an attempt to get to know a radio such as this so I bought one for my Birthday. I echo many of the points by Gordon and I also agree that the IC-R30 is not a radio I will fully master overnight. The equipment is feature rich without a doubt, like a car whose every nook and cranny is in occupation. Some of the functions I think worth notting concern the wide variety of control the user has over the radio. The IC-R630 has a 3.5MM jack above the USB socket on the right-hand side. By default this jack will accept a standard pair of stereo headphones but that’s just the beginning. The socket can be programmed to do several different thinks: act as an external speaker or line-out connection, as an external antenna connection etc. Those who read Gordon’s review will know that this radio is able to receive the standard AM Broadcast Band, not a necessary quality perhaps in a receiver of this calibre but convenient all the same. So what if I told you that Icom had actually gone a step further by including a lipstick aerial for the AM Broadcast Band inside the radio? How Icom managed to get anything extra into such a small body is beyond me but they managed and thus one can easily tune to and send to memory any frequency on that band. The lipstick itself can be toggled on and off so the ability to isolate the lipstick and use a dedicated AM Broadcast antenna loop for example awaits the curious. Internal speakers of such small devices are usually tinny and unpleasant to listen to, this isn’t the case with the Icom IC-R30 which has one of the best sounding speakers for a device of this size I have ever heard. The volume by default is controlled by a pair of up/down buttons on the left-hand side of the radio, I say default because this can be changed. The dial on the tip of the radio can be toggled with the up/down pair of buttons, a neat arrangement as I have already discovered. Some times one might prefer to use up/down button tuning rather than the dial to move between frequencies or memory’s, its all dependent on what you are looking for. If held down when the buttons are in tuning mode the radio races through the frequencies at 2000 spots a second, that’s moving so thank Goodness one can change the frequency step easily down to a fine 10HZ.
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