Reuter Pocket vs. Icom IC-705

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Not that long ago, I was asking fellow enthusiast just how well the Icom IC-705 performs with longwave. I got some feedback on the matter and would like to discuss it a little bit today. Since I’s a HAM enthusiast myself, I just wished to perform the SWL and HAM Radio portable in a single go. So I began my SWL a few weeks back and got a used Reuter Pocket RDR. It’s a SDR Receiver (0 … 30 MHz / 50 ..71 MHz) and my B2 version also featured both the Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) and the FM (Stereo/RDS).

At a certain point, the Reuter Pocket RDR had to be set up as an QRP Transceiver. However, unfortunately, it now lacks its support. Still, you can use a newer RDR 52 small tabletop model that can be used as a transceiver as well. Still, keep in mind that due to the Covid supply chain issues and price jumping, the newer model will not hit the shelves any time soon. 

Nevertheless, the Icom IC-705 is still out there and it is pretty much perfect for the HAM operations – no arguing with that. Of course, it will cost you a bit more when compared to the price of the RDR 52 tabletop. Well, in any case, the budget that I allocate for this hobby is somewhat limited and that’s why I sold the Reuter Pocket RDR to get myself the IC-705 – simple as that. I thought it would work nicely to compare the 705, so I could check them both via a single antenna.

Long story short, comparing these two was not that easy. However, in the end, I can conclude that, from the SWL point of view, I would opt for the Reuter Pocket RDR. It is a multitool for any amateur radio enthusiast and one that you can easily use from 2 kHz way up to FM. It is very quiet and pretty functional in all the right ways. In the end, I would say that it does come with every feature you will ever require as an SWL.

My comparison was pretty short but I do believe that you can check it out on your own – you will not need to allocate a huge budget to test my findings in the first place, which does make it so much more appealing to all the radio enthusiasts.