P25 vs FM on 900Mhz

Since I've been using P25 with some 900Mhz gear, I thought it might be nice for those without the gear to hear the difference.  Check out the link to YouTube

Thanks to Dave (N4MW) and Fred (WB4KXS) for the great QSO :)

73 de KJ4WLH

Interesting Observations

Last summer I posted a YouTube video of a comparison between my IC-7000 and IC-9100.  Just listening to some VHF FM chatting going on; I thought I'd see what the difference between the 2 rigs would be - I re-cabled the antenna's to an Alpha Delta switch and was able to switch between them.  That's it, pretty simple.

YouTube Video

When I switched between the 2 rigs, I was pleased with the apparent sensitivity of the 9100 compared to the 7000.  The night was somewhat quiet and there was very little background noise anyway; but still - the 9100 S-Meter was reading S-5 or so with the 7000 having no S-Meter movement.

The interesting thing is that I received a number of comments/e-mails/suggestions that I turn the 7000's pre-amp ON in order to have a "fair comparison" between the 2 rigs.  Adam Farson (AB4OJ) has a FAQ which mentions the S-Meter is calibrated accurately when the Pre-Amp is ON.  Page 148 of the 7000 manual states "Sensitivity (at pre-amp ON)" - which I never noticed at all before this event occurred...

Anyway, I suppose I need to give it a try and see what the difference is - I'm also wondering if the 7000 actually has a 2m/70cm pre-amp built in.  It's on thing to turn on a setting, but it's another for the setting to do something useful.  The 2m/70cm/1.2ghz pre-amp setting for the 9100 is designed to power an external pre-amp - doesn't do anything for the VHF+ bands at all.