mwisz
Member
Trying to program my 208H to TX on one channel while RX on another...any one know how or if this is possible?
IC-208H RX and TX
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tbnmaster
Member
What frequencies exactly? You can manually set the offset frequency to something other than the standard offset. Check on page 24 of the manual for complete instructions.
Here's a link to the manual online: http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/mobile/208h/default.aspx
Just click on the "instruction manual" link.
Here's a link to the manual online: http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/amateur/mobile/208h/default.aspx
Just click on the "instruction manual" link.
mwisz
Member
To be exact our EMS is now on a county wide repeater system. which Tx on 158.9700 PL 88.5 but rx on 155.23500 PL 88.5
mwisz
Member
Ok
Part 90 Certified since this is being placed in emergency vehicle.
Part 90 Certified since this is being placed in emergency vehicle.
pappy1
Member
Your offset will be 3.750 mhz. Your manual will tell you which frequency to enter to use the offset. (tx or rx).
tbnmaster
Member
mwisz said:
Program it with a negative offset (-3.735 mHz).
tbnmaster
Member
Never mind my retarded post. kma371 is correct. It should be a positive offset. Good thing he was paying attention because I wasn't!!
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n1das
Member
mwisz said:
Doesn't matter if it's being placed in an emergency vehicle or not. The radio has not been type accepted by the FCC for Part 90. The equipment is technically not legal for Part 90 use in the FCC's eyes. It is a technical rule violation in the FCC's rules and regs. And since the FCC's rules and regs are promulgated by federal law, they have the same legal effect as federal law.
It's perfectly OK to Rx on Part 90 freqs with this radio. It's not legal to Tx on Part 90 freqs with this radio, even if already licensed to transmit on those particular Part 90 freqs. It's not an issue of having the appropriate permission to transmit on those freqs. The issue is the equipment being used has not been type acceped by the FCC for use in Part 90 radio services. While the radio may meet all applicable technical specs with regard to frequency tolerance, spectral purity (i.e., suppression of harmonics and other spurious emissions), emission masks, etc. and work just fine on Part 90 freqs, the bottom line is this radio is NOT LEGAL to transmit with on Part 90 freqs even if licensed there because it has not been type accepted by the FCC for Part 90 use.
ICOM sells a complete line of Part 90 radios that would be 100% legal, even has P25 digital capability, and work way better than the 208H would on those freqs. I have a 208H in one of my cars. I love its features for legit ham use but hate it as far as general coverage receiving goes. I've also had to work on it to clean up the bad (very tinny) transmit audio. The receiver is broad as a barn and prone to intermod pickup in RF-dense areas. For general coverage receiving, I'd be better off with a scanner. While I was attracted to the radio because of all the features it offers, the radio overall has been a bit of a disappointment. It's essentially nothing more than a ham appliance compared to a top of the line Part 90 mobile radio. I'll go with commercial equipment instead of ham equipment the next time around for my next vehicle installation.
Quality Part 90 radios have much better receiver front ends in them than most ham equipment and will work far better than a ham rig (modified for out of band Tx) would. The transmitters are fully Part 90 type accepted. They meet technical specs far more stringent than any ham equipment has to meet. The mil-spec ruggedness you get with these radios comes as an added bonus. Where the performance difference in these radios compared to a lot of ham gear shows up is when you need it to hear a weak signal in a very dense RF environment. In the presense of strong local transmissions on adjacent frequencies in the same band, the 208H's receiver will be more or less rendered DEAF by the other transmitters or plagued with intermod while the Part 90 radio will still hear the intended signal fine. Even for my licensed ham use, I'm leaning toward using all Part 90 commercial gear instead of ham gear because the good commercial stuff works well on the ham bands too. I've found from experience I'm liking the good commercial stuff better than the ham stuff because of the better RF performance. The ham gear simply isn't up to snuff compared to the latest Part 90 commerical gear. I've also recently been bit by the P25 bug on amateur radio so all future Part 90 commercial equipment of mine shall be P25 capable.
Ham equipment -- does everything but does it half-arsed. Since licensed hams can home-brew and operate their own transmitters, they aren't formally type accepted by the FCC and are only required to be constructed to "best engineering practices." Ham gear whether home-brewed or commercially made technically aren't FCC type accepted at all for ANY radio service. The only FCC type acceptance commercially made ham gear carries is for the receiver under Part 15 rules so that the local oscillator emissions don't pose an interference threat plus the cell phone freq bands are required by law to be censored out.
Part 90 commercial equipment -- does the things which are needed but does them well. Transmitters must meet stringent technical specs and are type accepted by the FCC for Part 90 use and the receivers meet Part 15 rules.
In emergency services, you're dealing with the safety of life and limb. For mission-critical safety of life communications, you need communications that WORK! Stick to using the latest Part 90 equipment and don't consider cheaping out and using modified ham gear (aside from the FCC type acceptance isssues).
Good luck.
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mwisz said:
Wrong.
The Icom 208H is an amateur radio transciever that is NOT type accepted, therefore can not be legally operated on any freqs outside 144-148 MHz and 430-450 MHz.
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