Monday, September 4, 2017

New products released in Tokyo Hamfair 2017

I saw and checked some new products in Tokyo Hamfair 2017. Let's talk about those.



AOR

Three new digital mode receivers are revealed.


AR-DV10

AOR AR-DV10

AR-DV10 back
Charger for the AR-DV10

A handheld digital mode receiver which covers 0.1-1300MHz. It also has SSB and CW. No dual band simultaneous receiving is available but it has VFO A, B and Z which is identical to AR-DV1.

Size of the AR-DV10 is taller than Alinco DJ-X11 and the weight is massive.

With 2000mAh high capacity Li-ion battery, it lasts about six hours. Dry battery case and car adapter will also be released. No larger capacity Li-ion battery is offered.


Next we check appearances of the AR-DV10.

A large full-dots LCD with white LED backlite, keypads and a speaker on the front panel.
Squelch/monitor key, power key, and TF card slot on the left side.

Although it supports recording function, it does not exceed the AR-DV1. Once you started recording, recorded files are not divided up to limit of the system specification. That is an disappointing point. Perhaps only Uniden and ICOM are much superior ?


Earphone jack, mini USB connector and external DC jack on the right side.

Battery cannot be charged from the external DC jack. We must use the supplied charger when charging.

BNC antenna connector and volume (upper)/main dial(lower) are on the top.

Auto decoding mode such as AR-DV1 can also be equipped. It covers DMR and not trunked TETRA too. Unlike AR-DV1, no digital mode demodulator worked under high-VHF band.
No band scope feature and no IF output supported.Control software will be released.



Here are comparison between the AR-DV10 and Uniden BCD436HP.



Well, you noticed the AR-DV10 looks like Yaesu FTA-450, FTA-550 or FTA-750 etc.? True!
YAESU FTA-450
AR-DV10


These are the evidence. "YAESU" logo is marked under the round "PS E" on the center left (click the following photo to enlarge).

And the lock feature on the bottom is also very similar to current Yaesu handhelds such as VX-3R and VR-160.


The case might also be supplied by Yaesu. I asked an AOR staff for it and he said "No comment!".



Available date of the AR-DV10 is late December within 2017. The price is a little cheaper than AR-DV1.




AR5700D

AOR AR5700D

A wide band desktop receiver which covers 9kHz - 3700MHz with digital mode decoder like AR5001D plus ARD300. The displayed model covers only 25-3700MHz but has actually decoded P25, DMR and D-CR. Appearance of the back panel has two N-type connectors, one SMA connector for GPS, DC IN, IF output etc..


Mode selection assignment also has AUTO and DALL. AUTO sets mode and frequency step. DALL detects received digital mode and sets automatically. FM stereo demodulator will also be equipped.


The AR5700D will be available next year or later.



AR-ALPHAII

AOR AR-ALPHAII

The AR-ALPHAII is successor of the discontinued AR-ALPHA. It covers 9kHz-6000MHz. No more details available as the development not started yet.

An AOR staff also said "Many many functions have been added to our AR-DV1 since released. Further additional features might not be equipped anymore. It might approach a limit of the memory capacity."





AZDEN


AZR-1000

AZDEN AZR-1000

AZR-1000 top panel picture

A 1.8 - 50MHz 1kW linear amplifier. Six antennas can be connected. It operates via front color LCD with touch panel.

Each antenna can be assigned to each frequency. That means, if you preset antenna and the frequency into the AZR-1000 and when transmitting, the AZR-1000 recognizes the TX frequency and switches antenna as preset. That is not all. The AZR-1000 will adopt silent switching mechanism. Some conventional ATUs alter relay sound noise. The AZR-1000 will reduce the noise sound drastically. The show model is only for displaying. "Concept of the AZR-1000 has been finished. Now we make samples and test." A staff said.

Release date will be 2019. Price might be less than $7000.





ICOM


IC-9700

ICOM IC-9700 concept model
IC-9700 rear panel

A 144/430/1200MHz desktop transceiver. It will equip SDR. Size is almost similar to IC-7300. It is assumed that we use with IC-7300. No details and no price mentioned.


IC-R30

ICOM IC-R30

A handheld wideband receiver with Digital mode. It covers 0.1-3304.99999MHz with SSB/CW on main band and 108-520MHz on sub band without SSB/CW. Minimum step unit is 10Hz. Digital&digital reception not available but digital&analog is. It has simultaneous receiver recording function.The standard battery pack is BP-287, 3280mAh.

Squelch, volume up/down, power button and a micro SD card slot on the left.

Earphone jack and micro USB connector on the right.
 
Why is the antenna connector SMA, not BNC?



I use the prototype IC-R30 and checked the digital mode function. My impression is...
- Demodulated sound sometimes muted
- Too small decoder sound
- No independent main and sub volume control
- Direct frequency input is enabled after F-inp key pressed
- No scope available yet
- Not stereo type earphone jack

Maybe some of those issues are improved after on sale.


Here are comparison between the IC-R30 and Uniden BCD436HP.



Release date expects late December. Price will be about $1300(not announced officially).


Oh, I forgot the new all mode rig of IC-7610!




KENWOOD

KENWOOD TS-590SG70

TRIO branded TS-590SG (100 Watt model), TS-590SG70, only 70 sets limited edition, is displayed. No internal specification upgraded from the TS-590SG.





Diamond Antenna


Three new HF/50MHz antennas, “HFV217” 7/21MHz Dualband V-type dipole, “KW50” 50MHz 1 lambda delta-loop and “HFV6” 7/14/18/21/28/50MHz six band short V-type dipole, are displayed.





That’s end of report. For more information, it will be available soon.