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Icom IC-F80DT opinions

Posted: Mon Jun 18, 2007 10:34 pm
by fat waves
Does anyone have this radio and could share opinions? Does it have freq offsets to hit repeaters?

Thanks

Re: Icom IC-F80DT opinions

Posted: Mon Jun 25, 2007 3:09 pm
by resqjonny
transmit and receive frequencies are programmed separately in the software so you can have any "split" you want so there is no option for a pre-determined offset.

its a fantastic radio over all... i have an F70DT, the P25 digital VHF version. i have had all sorts of radios, from a motorola ht1250 to a kenwood tk-2180 and this is my favorite of them all. if you do get one i would recomend investing in the software...its not real expensive like Moto software and the cable is only $60 or something like that. plus the radio can also be programmed from the keypad. its easier to do with the full DTMF pad, but its possible with out it too. you can't program everything from the keypad, but the most useful things...TX, RX frequency and PL/DPL tones and the channel display name.
and it will go out of band with no problem. there are 2 frequency splits available for the F80, 400-470 and 450 to 512. the 400-470 split covers the ham band with no problem plus you can get pretty good performance up to about 480 or so. the 450-470 split seem to do down to 440 pretty easy to.
this radio has a big bang for the buck
-jonathan

Re: Icom IC-F80DT opinions

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:29 am
by n7maq
I just got a F80DT, and the P25 TX audio is very bad. They have a problem with the gain on P25 from the local mic, but it is OK with a sp/mic. I have Moto Astro Sabers, XTS3000's, 5000's, Kenwood TK5210, and EF Johnson 5100's all P25 (on both VHF and UHF) without the poor P25 TX audio.

Jonathan can you share any info on the programming from the keypad?

Thanks,

Jim

Re: Icom IC-F80DT opinions

Posted: Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:26 am
by resqjonny
i haven't had any trouble with the P25 audio...which firmware version do you have?
you can check by holding down P0 and P3 while turning on the radio. it will list the analog firmware, the checksum and then the P25 firmware. the latest is v2.5. if you need it let me know. you can also adjust the mic gain from the front of the radio as well as in the software.

as far as field programming...
it may already be activated...look under the "common" screen under the "common" settings. under security, there is a field where you can type in a password. thats the power-on password. if keypad programming is already activated there will be a second field called dealer password. thats a 6 digit number that you need to punch in in order to access the field programming.

if its not activated...
you need to access the makes reserve menu. before i tell you how...you NEED to make sure that you read the data from the radio you want to edit, make your changes, and write it back ONLY to the radio it came from. once your done, and before programming anything else, exit the software and start it again. the info in the makes reserve is radio specific and if you write it into a radio it did not come from, you will brick it.
so, to access the makers reserve... go up to the help menu and select "about". that will open a little window that tells you all about the software.
with that window open, type reserve
there is no text field or anything, so you won't see you typing. when you type reserve a little window will pop up telling you all about it and warning you like i did above. hit enter a couple times.
you will now have a new menu on the left of the screen. click on it, and scroll way down to the bottom. it either the last or second to last item called set mode access. you want to enable it.
you now will be able to type in a password in the common/security screen. the default is 157359.(if you don't have the full keypad, its easier if you only use digits 0 to 3)
write the info to the radio.
then while holding down the button below the PTT and P0, turn on the radio. the display will read DEALER.
enter your password, and then push P0.
use the two buttons above the PTT to select stuff, push P3 to edit what you want (whatever your editing will blink) then use the buttons above the PTT or the keypad to change it.

its long winded...but thats what i now
-jonathan