Michael Holme
The folly of buying a DMR radio that doesn't actually support the DMR digital mode
ICOM's IC-R8600, high-end communications receiver, appears to have settled at firmware v1.35. I listen to mine nearly every night. It's the best bedside radio in existence. I've used mine for around an hour a night, for the last five months. Having been a shortwave listener on and off ;) since the 80s, and having not noticed a single problem with my R8600; upgrading the inner code beyond v1.35, seems pointless. I've found zero wrong with it to fix. Ariving at the DMR debate (digital mobile radio) is silly. ICOM chooses its own proprietary solution. If you had wanted DMR as passionately as others do, you ought to have bought a radio with it in. It reminds me of some women who marry so-called bad boys or players. They want excitement without infidelity, etc.; and marry their man with plans to modify him to suit. It's a classic mistake that often ends in divorce, and more so, an eventual bonding with a partner installed with figurative DMR, from the beginning.