Hiya...

My new PCR-1000 arrived yesterday. My initial impressions are quite good.
I hooked it up to the PC yesterday night, installed the ICOM software and
started to tinker. The PC controlled interface is great to use. I can see
getting to like it better then using a standard receiver.

At first, I used the built in speaker on the PCR-1000, but quickly decided
to run it through my sound card after I heard how weak it was. I had to
open up the cover on the PCR-1000 to set it to use the line-out. Once it was
into the sound card, it sounded good. It comes with a basic telescopic
antenna and I'm currently using that. I was able to hear a lot of the local
municipal stuff. I was also able to hear com from near by Teterboro
airport. Though, I didn't test yet to see if I could hear any of the NOAA
low orbiting satellites yet. I'll do that tonight. I have winorbit
software to track the satellites and a list of the active satellites and
what frequency to tune to.

I gave a try using it for some short wave too. Although it wasn't bad, it
is not even close to being as good as my OR-75 is. It seems to be a very
good UHF/VHF receiver, but for shortwave, it is just an "afterthought" to
have it on there. It will do just fine for strong signals, but it cant do
much with weak and messy signals.

As of right now, I know very little about what and where to listen for good
scanner transmit. I'm not even sure where to use FM and where to use AM or
SSB. I've got a lot to learn. Also.... I have to find out what software to
get in order to use it like an actual UHF/VHF scanner. It has great
potential,but I'm gonna have to figure out how to get what I can out of it.

On the down side, it came with some free Bonito software; RadioComm 4.5. It
has a satellite tacking program, Sitor, PSK, Weather Fax software and a
bunch of other stuff. I was really looking forward to taking advantage of
using it, as I love utility. The problem is, I cant get the program to
work. Every time I launch it, I get a com port error. The ICOM software
works just fine on that serial port. No port problems, but the Bonito
software that I was looking forward to using wont work. I'm not sure if it
is a windows XP issue, problems with my serial port, sound card issue or
what. I was thinking of trying to get a serial to USB adaptor and giving
it a try through my PC's USB port instead of the serial port.

Other then that, I can see I'm going to have a tremendous time with it.
I'll need some software and a good antenna, though.

If anyone has any recommendations for software to use it with I'd greatly
appreciate it.

--
Respectfully,

Michael

Location: New Jersey
Primary Receiver: R-75 with full Kiwa mods
Antennas: G5RV, 200ft "Frankenstein" roof wire
Additional Radios: 7600GR,KA-1101,KA-1102
PL-550, KA-989, Info-Mate 837, GE-SR III
ICOM PCR-1000
Westinghouse H-104 (seven tube)
Web Site: http://md_dxing.tripod.com