REVIEW OF IC-92AD
Gerard Hickey
WTØF@arrl.net
2/1/2012
Capabilities
• Dual band, dual VFO transceiver
• VFO-a: Wide band receive; FM only
• VFO-b: FM and D-STAR capable
• Four power settings
• 5 W (H), 2.5 W (M), 0.5 W (L), 100 mW (S)
• 850 memories for VFO-a
• 450 memories for VFO-b
Basic Controls
• PTT
• Volume Control
• Memory/Freq Selector
• Microphone
• VFO a/b Selector
• Lock Key
• VFO/Mem/Call
Buttons
Review of the Keypad
• Most common functions
available from the keypad
• Direct frequency entry
• Backlit keypad for operation
in dim environments
What is on the Display
Primary
VFO
Repeater
Offset
Freq/Me
m Label
Tone/S
quelch
Mem
Chan
Battery
Level
Modulation
Mode
S-Meter
Bank
Chan
VFO vs. Memories
• VFO is used to tune to an arbitrary frequency
• Don’t forget repeater offset, tone, squelch
• Memories allow all the settings to be stored for quick
retrieval
000
446.000
001
147.080
002
003
004
W7GL
B
156.7
103.5
DUP+
VFO
Simplex
TSQL
IC-92AD Memory Structure
• The memories for VFO-a and VFO-b are completely
separate
• Each VFO has a pre-assigned number of memories and 2
call memories
• VFO-a: 850
• VFO-b: 450
Saving VFO to Memory
• First step is to set the VFO with all the settings to program
the memory with
• Frequency, tone, offset, squelch, power
• Press and hold
for 1 second
• Rotate channel selector dial to find blank memory or
desired memory entry to program
• Use
and
to set bank and memory label
• Press and hold
for 1 second to program
ICOM Memory Banks
• Memory banks are used to organize programmed
memories into functional groups
• 26 banks ( A – Z )
• Up to 100 memories per bank ( 00 – 99 )
• Great to use for traveling between areas or “modes”
• normal use, public service events, emcomm and interop channels
Critical Menu Functions
• Menus on both VFOs
• SET MODE
• Power save, Weather alert, Attenuator, Lock
• DUP/TONE
• Repeater and CTCSS tone, DTCS code, Offset
• D-STAR Menus ( VFO-b)
• CALL SIGN (also press
for 1 second—triple beep)
• Modify UR, RPT1 (R1), RPT2 (R2) and MYCALL (MY)
• DV SET MODE
• DV DATA TX, GPS TX MODE
Setting Power Levels
• Each band (i.e. 2m or 70cm) has separate power level
settings
• Press and hold
for 1 second to switch power levels
• High(5W) -> Med(2.5W) -> Low(0.5W) -> Super Low(100mW)
• Tip: Rotate channel selector while holding
Setting Subaudible Tones
• Subaudible tone and DTCS are set in the
DUP/TONE menu
• Subaudible tone has both repeater (TX) and CTCSS (RX)
settings
• Don’t forget to enable the squelch setting!!!
• Hold
for 1 second to set TONE, TSQL or DTCS
• Tip: Rotate channel selector while holding
Setting Repeater Offset
• Standard band offsets are already programmed into the
IC-92AD
• Non standard offset can be set through the OFFSET entry
in the DUP/TONE menu
• Hold
for 1 second to switch positive, negative and no
offset
• Tip: Rotate channel selector while holding
Setting Modulation Mode
• The IC-92AD can use FM, FM-N (narrow band), WFM
(wide band, RX only), DV (D-STAR) and AM (RX only)
modulation modes
• AM is also used in the aircraft bands
• Hold
for 1 second to switch modes
• Tip: Rotate channel selector while holding
Two Minute Intro to D-STAR
• D-STAR allow simultaneous transmission of voice and
data at the same time
• D-STAR does not use tone or DTCS
• D-STAR still uses repeater offsets
• D-STAR introduces Call Sign memories to enable
transmission to be routed through repeater or over the
internet
D-Star Addressing
• Four items are necessary in order to communicate on the
D-Star network
• UR: The final destination of your transmission. Used for callsign routing,
linking and unlinking from reflectors, and STARnet Digital talk groups.
• RPT1: Your entry point in to the D-Star network. This is almost always the
callsign of the the local repeater and the port you are using.
• RPT2: Used for cross banding and sending transmissions over the internet
through the gateway. Most of the time this is set to the callsign of the repeater
with the port of “G” to access the gateway.
• MY: The callsign that you are transmitting with. Allows others to see who is
transmitting and how to transmit back to you.
Special Broadcast Callsign
• To address all users, the UR memory gets set to
CQCQCQ.
• Most of the time when you transmit on D-STAR your UR
memory will be set to CQCQCQ.
• If you are really not sure what your UR memory should be
set to, start with setting it to CQCQCQ and try to make
contact.
Special UR Callsigns
• When working with a repeater, there are two callsigns to
invoke special functions. Always use the callsign of the
repeater in the UR.
• Use an eighth character of I to request link status.
• Use an eighth character of E to request an echo test.
• RPT2 must be set to the repeater’s gateway port.
Go Forth and Play
• The only real way to learn the radio is to play with it and
make mistakes. We have all made the mistakes
• Don’t worry!
• Become regular participants on Nets (not just the one for
your club)
• Get up on the Mike and Key repeater (K7LED) and talk to lots of
people. Awful lot of experience out there that you can learn from
• Most of all just have fun