We have assembled a low-cost portable ice-radar receiver that is based on a personal computer (PC). The unit consists of a digital storage oscilloscope controlled by a lap-top PC. The total weight is 22 kg. The radar wave forms are digitized by the oscilloscope, displayed on the computer screen, and stored on a floppy diskette. All components are commercially available at a cost below $2000 U.S. The radar receiver has proved to be very versatile because the computing capabilities of an IBM-compatible PC are available in the field to control signal acquisition, to display radar wave forms in near-real time, and to perform sophisticated signal processing as measurements are taken. The PC-based ice-radar receiver was used for ice-thickness and bedrock power-reflection coefficient surveys of Mount Estelle glacier in the Alaska Range, Alaska, in 1988.