[ICOM] Ideal Replacement for Icom R9000

[Adam Farson]

Hi Ed,

The R-9000 (and its cousin, the IC-781) were discontinued several years ago.
There are rumours about an R-8900 floating around some German websites, but
I cannot find any other reference to it on the Web. The information I have
from various sources is that Icom cannot make a good business case for a new
high-end receive-only "box". From what I can gather, most SIGINT/COMINT work
nowadays is done with sophisticated, DSP-based spectrum analysers feeding
bitstreams to equally sophisticated signal-analysis software, rather than
the "old-fashioned way" with operators sitting in front of receivers.

>From a business-case standpoint, I also find it somewhat difficult to
justify a $10 ~ 15K one-box DC-to-gamma-ray receiver, given the
highly-sophisticated digital spectrum analysers which are on the market
nowadays. Signal analysis in the COMINT/ELINT/SIGINT world has become so
computer-driven that one of these instruments can feed raw signal intercept
into an analysis program much more efficiently than an operator sitting at a
receiver, tuning across the band (or equivalent). Such techniques can also
deliver a far higher volume of useful product per unit time than a whole
roomful of human operators.

A receiver designer can actually do a much better job developing individual
boxes (or cards) optimised for specific frequency ranges, rather than a
"do-everything" box.
 
Cheers for now, 73,
Adam VA7OJ/AB4OJ