IC-R5 I need help

[ksabo]

I bought a new IC-R5 about five weeks ago. It got scary trying to program this radio. So then I bought the book from StrongSignals.com. It was still scary, not much help from the book. Then I bought the BlackBag software and cable. This radio is not like the Unidens & Radio Shack units that I've had in the past. Does anyone live in central New Jersey that could give me some help with this radio ? Or anyone out there from anywhere that could talk me thru some basic operations of this unit ? Please ???
Kenny

 

[MarkWestin]

IC-R5 Programming

Hello,

I have had one of these for quite a while now. As you know it is not easy to program even with a software program. I am using the Icom CS-R5 software, but yours should work in a similar way.

When you look at the layout of the unit's memory, it isn't quite as difficult as it might seem. When you look at the "Memory channels" section of the program, you will see that it shows 1000 channels. This is where you enter the frequency, Alpha tag (six characters) and CTCSS(pl tone) or DCS. There is also a section that shows group and channel. The groups need to be set up before you can put anything there. The next section of the memory program is "Bank CH". The first "Bank" is called "Bank Name". this is where you put in the name(s) you want for the bank(s). The banks are A through Y. Each Bank has 100 channels, numbered 0 - 99. When setting up a bank, you select the Channel number "Select CH" with the frequency you want. Example: "Bank A Channel 0 is channel 36". If you go back to the All Frequencies section, you will see Channel 36 shows Group A Channel 0. The only real problem that I can see with the design is that you can only scan "Bank"(One Bank) or "All". There are a lot of times I would like to scan more than 100 but not all the frequencies. Every Scanner and Ham radio I have is somewhat different to program, but the IC-R5 is the most difficult to master. It is similar in concept to the new Uniden BC246T etc, but not as versatile.

Hopefully this pointed you in the right direction.

Mark

 

[ka3jjz]

In addition to the above, Yahoo groups has a dedicated list for the R5....

R5 Yahoo Group

73s and GL...Mike

 

[ksabo]

Hi Mike, I've joined the Yahoo group IC-R5 but unfortunatley, there is not much activity over there. I went back and read nearly every post in that group and picked up a little knowledge. What I really need is someone who totally understands this radio and is willing to walk me thru the correct operation of it via email or phone. I would be very grateful to find someone to help me.

Kenny

 

[Air490]

OK Kenny, tell us exactly what you are having trouble doing and we can go from there.

 

[wendall]

send me your phone number and i will try to explain how to programm it.

 

[ksabo]

OK guys, here's whats going on. I figured out how to use the BlackBag software. I hooked up the radio and wrote from the radio to the program and saved that file with a specific file name. Then, in Bank "A" channel #1, I started to enter frequencys for MilAir. That took me to channel #54. I erased all the other channels on the page I wrote to, then wrote to the radio. Everything seemed to go fine untill I turned on the radio. I figured that now, all that should be in the radio is the 54 channels in Bank "A" and nothing else. Well, I can't even find any of the 54 MilAir channels that I programed in. What is going on ??? Man, this radio is tuff to understand. Should I erase everything out of the radio and start over ? I think there is a way to do this.
Thanks guys,
Kenny

 

[MarkWestin]

Hello,

I would like you to check some thing(s) and let me know what you see. First on the radio, press the band key until the first digit of the "channel number" on the right side shows "A" (example "A01 or A99". If you can't seem to see this, check to see if above the channel number it shows "MR". If it doesn't show "MR" then you need to press "V/M". After you are in the "A" bank turn the scroll knob in both directions and see if anything that you entered is there. If nothing seems to be there, it may still be somewhere in the radio. Press the band key until the channel number says "000" there are two consecutive banks that say 000, the first one shows a "R" just above and to the left of the number. The next band (which also says 000 but without the R) is the one you need to look at. This is the master memory band, which shows all the channels from 000 to 999. Scroll through these and see if your channels are there somewhere. If not, They may not have transferred from the software to the radio. If you saved your work in a file, you may not have to enter it again. I normally save my files by date name (example 09202005a) (the "a" is the first save of that day) If you can't find your work in the file you saved, you will have to enter them again, unfortunately. When you are programming the radio, you should be putting the frequencies into the 000-999 channels and then adding then to the "A" (or other bank of your choice).

Mark

 

[ksabo]

Hi Mark, after reading your post several times it dawned on me that I did do something wrong. I entered the Bank correctly but when I entered the channels, I entered them as 1, 2, 3 and so on. I went back to the software and changed all the channels to 001, 002, 003 all the way to 054. That's how many channels I programed. Hooked the radio up to the cable and wrote to the radio and it worked ! Now I can find the channels on the radio. OK. Now comes the really stupid question. How do I get the radio to scan those 54 channels in Bank A ? I tried following the directions from the manual but what it says it's supposed to do, it doesn't.
At least some of the frustration left me today. I got part of it done.
Thanks guys, we're getting there !

Kenny

 

[MarkWestin]

Hello,

Now that you know that your frequencies are in your radio, you need to do a few more things. Just because the frequencies are in the radio doesn't mean they are in any of the "Banks" yet (except that they should be in channels 000-053). In your software, you need to look at the memory channels to see if any of the frequencies have "Bank Channels" attached to them yet. I don't think we have the same software, but the concept should be the same. There should be 3 sections for each memory channel. Frequency, TSQL/DCS, and Bank. The Bank section should have Group and Channel (Ch). You will have to set the Group and Channel for each frequency. After you verify that the Frequencies have Bank and Channel attached, then you need to select the bank. This is done by making sure it is in memory mode (MR above the channel number). Then press band until the bank shows (A00). then press "Mode Scan" until a text screen comes up. It will be ALL or BANK. Turn the knob until it says BANK and then press "Mode Scan" again.

Mark