R8600 Tips & Tricks

[AOR-262]

For my next Tip 'n Trick suggestion ...

I've owned my IC-R8600 for almost 6 months and have never physically touched any of the buttons or the screen. There has never been a finger mark/smudge on the screen.

Quite simply, look at the attached picture. It's nothing special -- it's a Stylus. But, it's not any Stylus; simply because the tip of the Stylus has a spongy tip -- and that is very important. If you use a Stylus with a pointed tip, there is a possibility you could physically scratch the screen. I would recommend anyone who has an IC-R8600 to buy a spongy tipped Stylus. They can be purchased usual places, eBay, Amazon etc. and cost almost nothing. You can use the spongey tipped Stylus to press any of the buttons incl. Dial A, B and C. Even you can spin the Main Tuning dial.

Buy one! Never again will you have finger smudges, mucky screen. Just a screen that looks as new forever.

P.S. Slight little white-lie admission -- I do have to physically turn Dial A, B and C but everything else is only touched with the Stylus.

 

[MStep]

Thank you so much for that AOR-262. As for myself, that would be a little drastic-- I am decidedly a "hands-on" kinda guy. But I always make sure my hands are clean before operating any of my equipment. And of course, no food or liquid in vicinity of the equipment.

Your stylus suggestion is excellent for those who want to keep their 8600's (or any other radio, especially a touch-screen device) in pristine condition.

Thank you for this contribution and the others you've made, along with your excellent illustrations.

 

[ridgescan]

At least try what I stated in post #17 using very light taps with the top of your fingernail. No smudges here-very clean screen You may find you don't need to buy anything. The manual states to not use your nails but I'm sure they mean they don't want you "punching" the screen with a straight finger using your nail. My method is quite harmless.

 

[AOR-262]

@ridgescan

At least try what I stated in post #17 using very light taps with the top of your fingernail. No smudges here-very clean screen You may find you don't need to buy anything. The manual states to not use your nails but I'm sure they mean they don't want you "punching" the screen with a straight finger using your nail. My method is quite harmless.

I'm sure tapping the screen even just slightly with your fingernail works just fine and also with the tip of whatever finger you use to press any of the buttons. I think I'm a little bit more precious with my IC-R8600 in that no offence to your suggestion but I think I'll stick with my spongey tipped stylus. Fingernails are not as soft as the tip of a sponge tipped stylus -- I would drop dead if I tapped my 8600 screen with my fingernail only to see a hairline scratch on the screen -- :roll:

 

[ridgescan]

@ridgescan



I'm sure tapping the screen even just slightly with your fingernail works just fine and also with the tip of whatever finger you use to press any of the buttons. I think I'm a little bit more precious with my IC-R8600 in that no offence to your suggestion but I think I'll stick with my spongey tipped stylus. Fingernails are not as soft as the tip of a sponge tipped stylus -- I would drop dead if I tapped my 8600 screen with my fingernail only to see a hairline scratch on the screen -- :roll:

I hear ya plus I keep my nails short and round your tip on the stylus is more reliable as we cannot control how guys keep up on their nails

 

[MStep]

Mike's Tip / Trick # 4: The Forgotten "100"

In Tip/Trick #1 of this thread, we discussed the various tuning increments available on the R8600, along with the necessary presses on the frequency digital display needed to implement them.

This particular observation is perhaps most applicable to tuning around on the crowded ham bands as opposed to other types of services, and what I found interesting is that several of my fellow R8600 enthusiasts also overlook the 100 Hz tuning step during their monitoring activities.

Perhaps because my antenna situation is somewhat limited, and I don't receive the vast amount of signals that some of you might on bands like 40 or 20 meters, I tend to tune around in 1 KHz steps and then switch to the 10 Hz increment for finer tuning, especially during periods of high activity or "pile-ups". There also seems to be a protocol among fellow amateur radio operators to operate their equipment on the low bands on the KHz step, conditions permitting of course. (For disclosure purposes, I am a licensed General, although most of my activity is in the VHF and UHF spectrum.)

Which brings us to the purpose of this post. That elusive 100 Hz tuning step seems to get overlooked by many R8600 enthusiasts, although it's probably the best increment to use for ham band monitoring during periods of moderate to heavy activity levels. It's available for that very purpose-- but for a number of various reasons, many of the R8600 users I speak to seem to overlook it.

Incidentally, (and referring back to the my first post in this thread, about the segments of the frequency display), when tuning in the 100 Hz mode, pressing on the center digits (the kilohertz section of the display) toggles the tuning increment between 100 and 10 Hz.

Yes, I do know that most of you guys and gals that appreciate the operational intricacies of the R8600 are already familiar with the use of the 100 Hz tuning step--- so this is just for the very few that might have missed that in the process of learning about all the great features that this receiver offers.

 

[ridgescan]

Am I right in thinking the "speech" function cannot be set to announce signal/frequency automatically? It sure would be cool if it could announce every time I change frequencies without manually pushing the speech button

 

[AOR-262]

@ridgescan

You're not right in thinking the "Speech" function cannot be set to announce signal/frequency automatically. Can't remember off the top of my head how to do it but I know to have the 8600 'speak' out the frequency, mode and signal strength -- go into the settings somewhere. I guess it's a great feature if your eyesight isn't great or you're blind ... or maybe you just like hearing everything spoken out every time the receiver stops.

 

[dlwtrunked]

At least try what I stated in post #17 using very light taps with the top of your fingernail. No smudges here-very clean screen You may find you don't need to buy anything. The manual states to not use your nails but I'm sure they mean they don't want you "punching" the screen with a straight finger using your nail. My method is quite harmless.

I have used my nails before on other touch screens, eventually they all developed a permanent mark where the screen was damaged by my finger nail. DO NOT DO THAT. (yes, I am yelling)

You can get packs of the writing pen/touch screen thing at office supply stores for a reasonable price.

 

[kruser]

I think the info ridge is looking for can be enabled or disabled on the "record out" jack on the rear. This has been a feature of Icom receivers for some time if my memory is correct.
One would need to hookup some kind of external amp or powered speakers such as the cheap ones sold for computer use as that output will not drive speakers directly. This feature was intended for knowing what you are hearing if you record and playback later.
I'm pretty sure this feature is still available on the 8600. I'm not sure it can be enabled for direct speaker output though without pressing the speech button.
I'd also find it annoying if it announced the frequency and other info each time I tuned to a new channel or changed the frequency via the VFO! For those that need or want it though, the option to do it would be nice.

 

[ridgescan]

Thanks everyone kruser I will try that record connection-right now I have the R8600 patched via the ext. speaker jack to my Sony A/V receiver for big sound.
I will also go buy those touch pens when I get a chance obviously worth it.

 

[kruser]

Thanks everyone kruser I will try that record connection-right now I have the R8600 patched via the ext. speaker jack to my Sony A/V receiver for big sound.
I will also go buy those touch pens when I get a chance obviously worth it.

On the older Icom's there was usually a switch on the rear panel that enabled the speech output to the record out jack. Then for some reason I think the R9000 had a separate record out jack that also combined the speech audio.
What could really be handy is to use a stereo jack and send the receive audio to one channel and the speech info to the other channel.

I really can't recall if this feature is included with the 8600 but I think I remember reading that it can be done. You may need to read the manual and will hopefully find what you are after.

Good luck

 

[palmerjrusa]

Some interesting ones here maybe?


2 ... Tap once on the clock (located top right of the screen) to activate the dual clock feature which will display the current time and UTC time below.

Is there a way to choose which of the time signals is permanently displayed, i.e. UTC or local time apart from going back to the main menu and resetting the clock?

It seems the receiver is configured to only show the upper time signal in the main display that's shown when the dual clock feature is activated.

As an aside, the ic-r8600's internal clock seems to be very accurate.