10Step Guide
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SMART CHOICE! SERIES 10 step guide to choosing the right MOBILE RADIO Choosing the proper radio affects: • The safety of your staff • Your team’s effectiveness • Profitability That’s why Icom makes a wide range of radios. Use this guide to help choose the features you need while remaining affordable and cost-effective. Let’s get started! RADIOS FOR PEOPLE WHO MAKE SMART CHOICES STEP 1: FORM FACTOR Chassis Size The internal frame of the radio could Varies from large to compact. Some be metal or plastic. Plastic retains mobile radios have removable displays heat, and heat kills electronics. Metal for remote mounting of the body under is an efficient “heat sink”, meaning the seat or in the trunk to preserve it helps dissipate heat quickly. Metal space in the cockpit. also provides a good ground plane for optimum performance. Separate Volume knob sections within the chassis shield the Allows for adjusting the volume transmitter and receiver sections. From without looking. Up-down volume most basic to most advanced, every buttons require looking at the radio. Icom radio features a one-piece, die- cast aluminum chassis for strength, Rotary channel knob durability, and performance. Selects an operating channel that has been pre-programmed to a Case specific frequency by your dealer. The outer shells are usually various Similar to a TV channel selector. grades of high impact plastic materials. A bumper at the lower and upper Rough use requires the best materials for limits and individual detents (clicks) long life. Military-tough polycarbonate in-between provide tactical feed- shells protect every current Icom radio back during channel changes. model. Backlit keys Mil-Spec (MIL-STD) rating Makes night time or dark cabin Test standards set by the U.S. Military. operations easier. Mil-spec radios have a rugged design to provide reliable performance, even in the most demanding industrial and public safety applications. Many Icom mobile radio model have passed a series Easy to use knobs of demanding MIL-STD tests, better While on the move, a volume and known as 810 C/D/E & F. From salt-fog tuning knob is easier and safer to exposure to oven temperatures to rain to operate than up/down buttons. freezer conditions, count on Icom! * N/A in all the charts refers to items that are not applicable. Feature Required Optional N/A* Metal chassis Tough exteriior Mil-Spec performance Rotary channel selector Volume Knob STEP 2: MEMORY CHANNELS & SCANNING Number of memory channels Scan The number of channels varies from Similar to your car’s AM/FM radio, a 8, 128, 250, 256 and 512 by model. land mobile radio scans the designated Simple applications need a few memory channels for radio traffic, stops channels; more complex schemes to listen, and resumes scan unless require more channels. Store your you answer. If you work with multiple frequencies in many combinations channels, you need the scan feature. of operating parameters (i.e. power, signaling, scan, etc). Store frequencies Priority scan you use in other locations. Store Channel or frequency checking of an frequencies to be used during shared assigned channel. A great feature, when response to incidents in various a highly important frequency needs to locations, etc. be continually checked for activity. Users can assign two channels as Dynamic bank configuration/scan priority channel on some radios. Multiple memory channel banks. Assign any quantity of memory Priority (home) channel channels to a bank for “partitioning” Enables instant access to either of the 2 multiple channels into clearly defined priority (home) channels regardless of groups. Example: “Bank 1” is EMT, memory location. “Bank 2” is FD District 4, etc. Tactical Group Function Allows you to copy Busy channel lockout memory channels into a new memory Disables transmitter from use to zone without using PC programming to prohibit transmission if the channel is construct a temporary work group on in a muted state, busy, and/or when a site for working with inter-organization CTCSS tone is received unmatched. groups, in large scale disasters (i.e. hurricane, flood, etc.) Display A visual display is helpful when navigating your channel scheme. Allows entry of upper and lower case characters for easy channel bank tag identification. It also shows the operating status of your radio. As in other devices you may own, a visual display is a useful item. Feature Required 8 128 250 256 512 Display Dual priority scan STEP 3: PERFORMANCE Antenna Icom mobiles may be connected You may need to purchase an antenna for directly to the vehicle battery for secure your mobile radio, and it will need to be grounding. Each line is fuse protected for mounted on your vehicle. Installation is safe operation. made easier with the plug in receptacles on the back of the Icom mobile. Specifications Operational design specifications of Audio quality sensitivity, selectivity, intermodulation, The combination of robust audio circuitry and adjacent channel interference. All and a good speaker provides crisp, clear radios are not the same! audio. One mobile has a chassis that can be rotated to face the speaker in the Power direction you need for maximum audio The transmit output power of the radio clarity, while the control head remains (measured in Watts). May range from right side up. Others have front facint 10 to 50 Watts or higher. Range and speakers to improve audio. clarity may generally be improved by increasing power. Some radios permit Compander selection of L-M-H power by the user Improves audio clarity in new “narrow for use on frequencies authorized for low band” frequencies. power use only. Grounding Grounding is also important to prevent noise from electrical interference from the vehicle and its operation. Installation Front panel is detachable Some mobiles have a detachable face plate. For larger vehicles that install radios high up in the cab, install the radio with the speaker facing down. For on- or under-dash applications, mount the radio with the speaker facing up. Onboard & overhead mounting Feature Required Optional N/A Long talk range (high power) High ambient noise area (better audio) Front facing speaker STEP 4: CUSTOM OPERATIONS Programmable keys Your dealer can customize your radio by assigning functions to the front panel’s programmable keys. User set mode Allows user to adjust backlighting level, function beep on/off, squelch level, mic gain – Gives the user front Internal option slots panel squelch adjust key. Most Icom radios have 1 or 2 internal option slots. These allow for a variety Flash memory of increased radio functions, like Radios with flash memory may be trunking or encrypted messages. upgraded with new features and improvements with simple firmware upgrades in the future. ANI–Automatic Number Identification encode function allows radio to send unique identification with each transmission, to other radio users, or to a dispatcher. ANI Decode function allows other radio users to easily identify on the display of the radio, who is making each radio transmission. Installation & grounding– Choose to install your radio in, on or under the dash. A professional installer is recommended for any radio installation, as they will make sure proper power and grounding. Feature Required Optional N/A Internal option slots Flash memory STEP 5: SPECTRUM Operating frequency range hear, with no limit or regulation of radio The operational band width of the traffic. OK for a family outing but not radio (measured in MHz). Wide band for your critical communications. Make width enables utilization of multiple sure your radio can be programmed to frequencies even if far apart (especially licensed frequencies. important for interoperability with other systems or locations). VHF and UHF Channel spacing offer different propagation advantages. The width of each signal (measured in kHz). The FCC has mandated narrow Licensed vs. unlicensed band operation (12.5 kHz) in the future. The FCC licenses the number of You must have that capability now. users sharing each frequency to Older systems operate on 25 kHz; you ensure availability of the channel and need both in your radio to talk to them. minimize radio traffic jams. Unlicensed Icom also has mobiles that operate on frequencies are crowded, open for all to 6.25kHz channel width. Radio spectrum use enforced by the FCC. The FCC splits It’s a fact of nature: there’s only so the airwaves up into channels. The much radio spectrum that everyone number of channels is set by the FCC, must share. In the U.S.A., how we based on what technology will allow. use that spectrum is decided and Why is that important? Read on: Radio channels (spectrum efficiency) 25 kHz channel spacing is the traditional technology many radios (mostly older, analog units) still rely on. The FCC is in the process of eliminating 25 kHz channel spacing. 25 kHz Old tech, low traffic 12.5 kHz allows double the number of users within the same amount of spectrum, and is how many radios now operate. Nearly all Icom radios offer 25 or 12.5 kHz operation, all 12.5 kHz Better, 2x users within the same radio! 6.25 kHz is the coming future of channel spacing that’s here today, allowing four times as many users. This involves digital technology, 6.25 kHz New, digital and which allows crisp, clear data and 4x the traffic of 25 kHz! voice signals (no static!). Only Icom has 25/12.5/6.25 kHz radios today! Feature Required 136-174, VHF 400-470, UHF 450-512, UHF 440-490, UHF 6.25 kHz STEP 6: OPERATION MODES Talk around SmarTrunk®. Most Icom radios offer Provides direct, mobile-to-mobile at least one version of trunking, and communications, avoiding needless most offer multiple versions-all within repeater use and congestion.