THE ROCK BOTTOM BASICS OF PROGRAMMING YOUR ICOM IC-T90A HT</H3> <style> li { margin-top: 6pt; } h1, h2, h3 { font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica, san-serif; } </style> </head> <body topmargin=20 leftmargin=40 rightmargin=25> <H1>THE ROCK BOTTOM BASICS OF PROGRAMMING YOUR ICOM IC-T90A HT</H1> <p>In the sections that follow, words in the text in all caps refer to modes or states the radio's tiny little brain finds important: VFO mode, MEMORY mode, SET mode, and EDIT mode. When you see something in square brackets like [BAND] that refers to a button on the front of the radio and the stuff inside the braces is what's on the key. Most keys have a couple of functions so [8 SET] means that if you press the key until it beeps once and let go the radio thinks you want to enter an 8 but if you hold the key until the radio beeps again the radio goes into SET mode. This little guide only talks about some of the uses of the buttons and you'll need to study the manual to figure out the rest if you want to dig deeper. Footnotes (at the end of the document) are indicated in the text by enclosing a number in curly braces: <a href="#footnote-0">{0}</a> ... no there's no note for that one. <HR> <H3>SEVEN STEPS FOR PUTTING IN A FREQUENCY AND STORING IT IN MEMORY FOR THE FUTURE</H3> <OL> <LI> You are in VFO mode if you see an "A" or a "B" on the right hand side center of the screen. You are not in VFO mode if you see three numbers or a letter and two numbers there. If you don't see an "A" or "B" on the right edge of the middle of the screen, put your radio in VFO Mode by pressing the [VFO MHz] key and holding it until it beeps once. <p> You MUST be in VFO Mode to begin programming your radio. <LI> Set the frequency you want to use by pressing and releasing the corresponding numbers on the keypad. You MUST enter six digits in this frequency string. To enter a 6m frequency that only has 5 digits, start with a zero (0). <LI> Make sure the radio is in FM mode (upper left corner of the LCD screen). You want FM, not WFM or AM. Your radio only transmits in FM mode. If your radio shows either AM or WFM, press the [MODE SCAN] switch until it beeps once then release it. It will change modes. Do that until FM shows up. <LI> Now we have to set offset operation for repeaters or turn it off for simplex frequencies. You generally don't need to worry about this, see note <a href="#footnote-1">{1}</A> below. Check it anyway. Right next to that FM mode indicator in the upper left you will see either "-DUP", "DUP" or nothing. For a simplex frequency, it should be blank (say nothing). For a repeater, it should be "-DUP" or "DUP" depending on the direction of the offset (see the frequency listings ... when you see a repeater listed as 145.490-107.2 the minus sign in the middle means it is a negative offset and a plus would be a positive offset). If the offset isn't right, press and the [4 DUP] button until it beeps one time then release it. It will change the offset by one. If that isn't right or you do it too often, keep pressing and holding [4 DUP] until the offset looks right. See <a href="#footnote-2">{2}</a> for advanced nattering about the size of offsets which you will almost never have to worry about. <LI> If the frequency in the frequency list or communications plan indicates a sub-audible tone (PL tone, CTCSS) you will need to set the tone frequency (or check to make sure it is correct). If no tone is required, skip the rest of this step. To check or set the tone frequency, press and hold the [8 SET] switch until it beeps the second (and longer) time then release it. The display will say something. If it says "R TONE" you're there. If not, rotate the knob on the top of the radio until the display shows "R TONE". Now press the [8 SET] key briefly (just one beep) and let go. You'll see a number like 100.0 or 82.5. Rotate the dial on the top of the radio until you see the frequency you need to program (from the listing, 107.2 in the earlier example). When that frequency is in the display, press the [VFO MHz] switch to save it and exit SET mode <a href="#footnote-3">{3}</a>. <LI> Having set the sub-audible tone frequency or checked to make sure it is correct, we need to tell the radio whether to use it or not. The tone indicator is immediately to the right of the "DUP" indicator. It will either be blank (no tone), be a "T", "T SQL", "T SQL (*)", "DTCS", or "(*) DTCS". If this is a simplex frequency (which generally use no tone), it should be blank. Otherwise, it should be "T" unless someone makes a point of telling you to use "T SQL" which cool but unusual. You press and hold the [2 TONE] until the second and longer beep then release to change the tone mode. It changes in the sequence above so you may have to do the double beep thing with [2 TONE] a few times to get it right. <LI> Check the frequency, offset (DUP), tone setting and the tone frequency (again). Now, if you are programming a local repeater, you can try transmitting to it and see if it responds. Either way, you are ready to save the settings in a memory. To save this, press and hold [MR S.MW] (memory switch) until it beeps the second and longer time then release it. You will see a memory number on the very right hand middle of the screen. To the left, you will see what's in that memory slot already (if anything). Rotate the knob on top of the radio until the number on the right of the screen is the memory slot number into which you want to store this frequency. Once you see the intended memory number, press and hold [MR S.MW] again until the second and longer beep then release it. Press the [MR S.MW] switch for only one beep to go into memory mode. Your new frequency should show up when you dial up that memory number. </OL> <P>Repeat as necessary. <HR> <h3>SIX STEPS FOR NAMING A MEMORY SLOT ON YOUR ICOM IC-T90A HT</h3> <OL> <LI> Make sure you are in Memory Mode. In VFO mode there will be either an "A" or a "B" in the center right of the screen. In Memory mode, there is a number like 001 or A01. You switch to Memory mode by pressing and releasing the [MR S.MW] button (only one beep). <LI> Find the memory slot you for which you want to enter a name by rotating the knob on the top of the radio. If you know the slot number, you can enter three digits on the keypad ("003" or "102") to switch to it. <LI> Now, press and hold [MR S.MW] until the second longer beep then let go. Then press and release the [CALL TV] button below [MR S.MW] two times (just a single beep each time). That puts you into Memory Name programming mode. The first character of the name will be blinking or there will be a blinking cursor under an empty space. <LI> Select a character for this (each) position by rotating the knob on top of the radio until the character you want shows above the blinking line (cursor). There are lots of characters to choose from including a blank space and some punctuation but there are only six spaces for the name. <LI> To move to the next character press the [BAND] button. If you move off a position and it isn't right, press and release [BAND] until the blinking line is back around under the position you want to fix/change. It loops around as many times as you need! <LI> When you have the six characters set the way you want, press the [VFO MHz] key until it beeps once then let go. The name will be stored. You can go back to step 1 to change it at any time. <LI> But your name doesn't SHOW!? BOO HOO and WAA WAAH! Press and hold the [6 M.N] key until it beeps a second and longer time then let go. Bam Bam ... your name is there. You can go back and forth between frequency display (numbers) and name mode any time by pressing and holding [6 M.N] like that. </OL> <HR> <H3>ASSIGNING MEMORY SLOTS TO BANKS ON YOUR ICOM IC-T90A <a href="#footnote-4">{4}</a></H3> <OL> <LI> Get into Memory mode pressing the [MR S.MW] switch for a single beep to get into memory mode if you were in VFO mode. <LI> Dial up the memory you want to put in a bank by rotating the knob on the top of the radio. <LI> Get into memory foostering mode by pressing [MR S.MW] (just like you were going to change the name) until the second longer beep then letting go. <LI> Press the [CALL TV] button just one time and you'll see a bank Letter followed by a two digit number. <LI> Select a Bank (A - Y) by repeated pressing and releasing [BAND]. <LI> Select a slot within the Bank by rotating the knob on top of the radio. <LI> When your Bank setting is right, you can press the [VFO MHz] key to exit programming. You can set both the bank and the name in one edit session by switching between the editors using [CALL TV]. </OL> <HR> <H3>Advanced Notes (the stuff in the curly braces {})</h3> <ul> <LI><a name="footnote-0">{0}</A> OK, Jordan felt some of the Stoats and Otters would get confused if there was no {0} (which makes this a self-referential recursive footnote and would send most of my stranger friends off for a stiff drink. <LI><a name="footnote-1">{1}</a> Generally, the radio sets the offset direction for a repeater correctly without you having to do anything. This used to be complicated but got standardized a LONG time ago and the manufacturers generally have it automated for you. BUT you MUST check it and should know how to change it if for some reason the automatic setting isn't what you want (because somebody decided to be "creative" which does happen). <LI><a name="footnote-2">{2}</a> The size of offsets is very standard except when it isn't. There are a tiny number of repeaters using strange offsets (either backward as in {1} above or at different distances in frequency). This is REALLY UNCOMMON but, of course, you will undoubtably run into it at some point. On your IC-T90A, you do the following: <OL> <LI> Press and hold [8 SET] through the second beep. <LI> Rotating the knob on top select "OFFSET". <LI> Press [8 SET] through the first beep to go into edit mode. <OL> <LI> For two meters, the standard is 0.600. <LI> For 70 centimeters, the standard is 5.000 <LI> For something different, you'll find it from a listing </OL> <LI> Change the offset amount by rotating the dial on top of the radio <LI> Exit edit mode by pressing [8 SET] through one beep. <LI> Exit "set" mode by pressing [VFO MHz] or the PTT switch. </OL> <LI><a name="footnote-3">{3}<a> You can get out of edit mode a bunch of ways. You can just press the [PTT] button for a bit then let go or press the [VFO MHz] button through the first beep. Either of those takes you all the way out of "EDIT" and "SET" modes and back into operating mode. Otherwise, you can press the [8 SET] key through one beep to get out of "EDIT" mode but stay in "SET" mode. <LI><a name="footnote-4">{4}</A> Memory banks are terrific if you have literally hundreds of memories programmed. However, you will probably have the most frequently used frequencies in slots where it is easy to find them. Either way, setting up a sensible bank map is fun and can keep you off the streets for days. It can also make the radio MUCH easier for you to use if you do program in all those enticing frequencies. </ul> </body> </html>