This post might be of interest to those members like myself who reside in areas that have analog voice traffic that they can monitor.
There are three hand held small size analog scanners currently available on the Australian market each of which are priced the same at $299.
1 AOR AR-Mini
2 Alinco DJ-X7E
3 ICOM IC-R6
The AOR and the ICOM are manufactured in Japan. The Alinco is Japanese designed and made in the Philippines.
I have not reviewed any of these radios. There is plenty of information already on line. They have the advantage of being pocket size portable and in the event of power outages can still be operated. The AOR and the ICOM use AA batteries. The Alinco is powered by its own Lion battery. It has a dealer supplied plug-in charger, but it isn’t much good if it runs out of power and there’s no electricity in your home. This area of SEQ has had its fair share of power outages, so the AOR and the ICOM have a head start with me as I have plenty of spare batteries.
Having previously owned Icom radios, I will likely choose the R6 for my needs. I have read that the AOR AR Mini is very good, but there are some negative reviews around that place the R6 above it in performance and general finish. $299 for this radio represents good value for a top of the line analog wide band receiver.
Footnote:
I notice my dealer has the new AOR AR8200D Mk3 with ACPO 25. This is about the most expensive HH radio on the Australian market at $899. I think I will hold off on that model for a while! I couldn’t find any reviews on this new model, but I guess someone will have one out anytime soon. It would be of much use to me in this area as the future of emergency radio bands haven’t been decided by our glorious political leaders who are reluctant to spend millions of dollars of the taxpayers money on new radio systems when there are far more important things on their agenda.
