I suppose you could call the Icom IC-R2500 the successor to the IC-R8500. At the performance cost of being not quite as good at weak signal work. These radios can do all the same modes that the R8500 does, but include the features needed by scanner type users and half the purchase price of the R8500. To cover the more average users needs Icom came out with the IC-PCR1000/R1500/R2500 series. Remember, the R7000 was a relatively “big ticket” item when it came out, and I would bet a large portion of sales were originally government and professional. The real users of communications receivers in the VHF/UHF range, people with a need for this type of performance, with this range of coverage, are probably specialized, and so something like the R9000 or the R9500 and their associated price tags are acceptable business costs.
It is not optimized for “scanner” types of needs, such as P-25, Trunked systems, etc.
It is good at weak signals and odd modes. For the majority of its range of frequency coverage the concept of a communications receiver is really a specialized application. The R8500 was around $2000 or a little more in 1996, a good “lower cost” option to the R9000 or the combined R-72/R7200.īut the key is “communications receiver”. In 1992 the R9000 was about $8000 if I remember right. Remember that the R7000/7100 could not do HF and to get “full” range required a second HF radio, such as the matching R70/71/72/75, and the combination of the two radios ran to a list price between $2100 and $3400, depending on the exact combination. If I remember right the list price of the R7000 in 1986 was about $1400 and the follow-on R7100 in 1992’ish was $1800. The 8500 combined the two radios into a single piece of hardware. Originally this series of radios involved two radios, say the R71 for HF combined with the R7000 for VHF/UHF to cover the full range. It is a communications receiver that covers the HF/VHF/UHF range.
The R8500 is a “left over” concept that followed the R7000/7100/8500 path of development. I am not quite sure why you think there needs to be, or will be, a direct successor to the R8500. Foreign vendors have the same model since many of those countries do not have the requirement to block cell frequencies. Yes, the Icom IC-R8500 is still made today, although if I am not mistaken only the unblocked Gov version can be found in the US and so only certain buyers can purchase it.
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