1 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Congratulations and Thank You for selecting the PRODIGI RDR1520 Series portable two-way radio from RCA Communications Systems - The most trusted name in radio! Our newest digital series professional communications products based on DMR technology establishes a benchmark in premium digital two-way radio equipment, made to perform flawlessly under the most demanding commercial conditions.
2 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual CONTENTS: Safety and General Information.......................4 Product Inspection.............................................5 RCA RDR1520TM Series Overview.........................6 Preparing Radio For Initial Use Setting Up the Charger.....................................7 Charging the Battery........................................7 Battery Storage................................................
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual CONTENTS continued Utilities Setting the Squelch Level................................21 Setting the Power Level...................................21 Care and Cleaning............................................22 Troubleshooting...............................................23 FCC Statement..................................................24 Industry Canada Compliance...........................
4 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual SAFETY AND GENERAL INFORMATION This radio is restricted to occupational use only to satisfy FCC RF energy exposure requirements. Before using this product, read the operating instructions. »» Turn radio off prior to entering any area with a potentially explosive atmosphere, such as gas, petroleum, chemicals, blasting caps, etc. »» Do not charge the battery in a potentially explosive atmosphere.
5 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual PRODUCT INSPECTION Prior to unpacking your RDR1520 Series portable radio, please inspect the packaging for signs of damage and report any damage or missing components immediately to your RCA Communications Systems Sales and Service Outlet. Every RDR1520 Series portable radio comes with the following items: Item RDR1520TM Handheld Radio B1520LI Li-Ion Battery (2000 mAh) Qty.
6 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual RCA RDR1520TM Series Overview 1 1 2 3 2 4 3 4 5 6 7 7 8 9 10 8 5 11 11 12 6 9 12 13 14 10 Antenna Channel Knob LED Indicator On/Off/Volume Knob Speaker Microphone Screw-On Belt Clip Push-to-Talk (PTT) Button Side Button 1* Side Button 2* Accessories Connector Micro-USB (for charging & programming) Battery Battery Charging Contact Points 13 14 Copyright © 2019 RCA Communications Systems * These buttons are p
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Preparing Your Radio for Initial Use Setting Up Your Charger 1. Plug the adapter’s AC connector into the AC outlet socket. (see image A) 2. Plug the adapter’s DC connector into the DC socket on the back of the charger. (see image B) 3. Place the radio with the battery attached, or the battery alone, in the charger. (see image C) 4. Make sure the battery contact is touching the charging terminals.
8 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Image C Caution: To reduce the risk of injury, use only batteries specified by RCA Communications Systems. -- To avoid risk of personal injury, do not dispose of batteries in a fire. -- Dispose of batteries according to local recycling regulations. Do not dispose as household waste. -- Never attempt to disassemble the battery.
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual battery may work again when it returns to room temperature, so keep it for later use. -- Dust on the battery contact may cause the battery not to work or charge properly. Use a clean dry cloth to wipe it before attaching the battery to the radio. -- Batteries with damaged contacts can be extremely dangerous. Any battery with damage to one or more contacts should be replaced immediately and not used under any circumstances.
10 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Figure 1 Attaching / Removing the Antenna 1. With the radio turned off, set the antenna in its receptacle and turn clockwise until it is screwed down. (See Figure 3) 2. To remove the antenna, turn the radio off and turn the antenna counterclockwise. (See Figure 4) Figure 3 Figure 2 Figure 4 * If antenna needs to be replaced, ensure that only RCA Communications Systems antennas are used.
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Attaching / Removing the Belt Clip Using a small screwdriver, align the belt clip’s screw holes to the radio’s chassis. Attach by turning the screws clockwise into the belt clip’s screw holes. Remove by doing the reverse. (See Figure 5) Figure 5 Connecting Audio Accessories The accessory connector is located on the side of the radio. It is used to connect RCA audio accessories to the radio.
12 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Turn On/Off the Radio Adjusting the Volume 1. Rotate the On/Off/Volume Control Knob clockwise until you hear a click. (See Figure 7) The LED blinks green and a brief tone sounds, indicating that the power up test is successful. 2. To turn off the radio, rotate this knob counterclockwise until you hear a click. Note: There is no power up tone if the radio tones/alerts function is disabled.
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Programmable Buttons Your RCA Communications Systems Dealer can program the programmable buttons as shortcuts to radio functions or preset channels/groups depending on the duration of a button press: - Short Press - Press and release quickly. - Long press - Press and hold for the programmed duration (between 1 seconds and 3.75 seconds).
14 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Scan On/Off - Toggles scan on or off. Tight/Normal Squelch - Toggles squelch level between tight and normal squelch levels. Privacy On/Off - Toggles privacy (basic voice encryption) on or off. Privacy On/Off - Allows the user to toggle the Privacy feature between on and off for the channel. VOX On/Off - Toggles Voice Activated Function on or off. Battery Indicator - Indicates battery charge level, low, medium or high.
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Note: When switching from digital to analog mode, certain features of the radio become unavailable. Transmission Analog transmission: Press PTT key and speak into the mic. Digital transmisson: Each channel can be set as a digital channel: Press PTT key to call all other members in this talk group, and release PTT to receive calls.
16 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Once the transmission is completed, press* and hold the [PTT] button to respond to the call and the LED indicator lights up red. When done, release the [PTT] button to listen again. If there is no voice activity for a set period of time, the call ends. *Note: If Talk Permit Function is enabled, wait for the Talk Permit Tone to finish and then speak clearly into the microphone.
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual [PTT] button to make the call. When done release the [PTT] button to listen. *Note: If Talk Permit Function is enabled, wait for the Talk Permit Tone to finish and then speak clearly into the microphone. Making a Group or Private Call One Touch Access Button The One Touch Access feature allows you to make a Group or Private Call to a predefined alias or ID easily.
18 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Each alarm has the following default setting: Disabled: Radio cannot transmit alarm signal, but can receive alarm from other radios. Each alarm has the following types: Regular: Radio transmits an alarm signal and shows audio and/or visual indicators. Silent: Radio transmits an alarm signal without any audio or visual indicators.
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual • Emergency Alarm acknowledgement is received (for Emergency Alarm only), OR • All retries to send the alarm have been exhausted, OR • The Emergency Off button is pressed, OR • The [PTT] button is pressed Note: If your radio is powered off, it exits the Emergency mode. The radio will not reinitiate the Emergency mode automatically when it is turned on again.
20 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Starting and Stopping Scan Press the programmed Scan On/Off side programmable button to start the scanning. Press it again to turn it off. Responding to a Scan During scanning, your radio stops on any channel / group where activity is detected. After the transmission is over the radio remains on the active channel for a programmed time period known as “hang time”.
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Restoring a Nuisance Channel To restore the deleted nuisance channel, power the radio off and back on again or press Stop and Start to restart a scan via the programmed Scan button. Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) The Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) feature allows the radio to operate in a radio system with an interface to telephone or other DTMF based systems.
22 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual Settings: High enables communication with radios located at a considerable distance from you. Low enables communication with radios in closer proximity. Press the programmed Power Level button to toggle transmits power level between high and low. CARE AND CLEANING • Do not hold the radio by its antenna or external microphone. • Do not place the radio in a dusty environment.
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual TROUBLESHOOTING Symptom Solution Radio will not power on a. The battery needs charging. Recharge the battery or replace it with a fresh one. b. The battery is not properly installed. Remove the battery and reattach it. The operating time is noticeably shorter than normal even though the battery is properly charged. a. The battery has worn out; it is time to buy a new battery. b. The battery is not fully charged.
24 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual FCC Statement: This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual ISDEC Compliance This device complies with Industry Canada’s license-exempt RSSs. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause interference; and (2) This device must accept any interference, including interference that may cause undesired operation of the device. Le présent appareil est conforme aux CNR d’Industrie Canada applicables aux appareils radio exempts de licence.
26 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual RF Exposure Compliance and Control Guidelines and Operating Instructions To control your exposure and ensure compliance with the occupational/controlled environment exposure limits always adhere to the following procedures. Guidelines: • Do not remove the RF Exposure Label from the device. • User awareness instructions should accompany device when transferred to other users.
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual ensure the antenna and the radio are kept at least 2.5 cm (one inch) from the body when transmitting. Keeping the radio at the proper distance is important because RF exposures decrease with increasing distance from the antenna. Use only RCA Communications Systems approved, supplied or replacement antennas, batteries, and accessories.
28 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual la radio dans un clip pour ce produit. Le recours à la procédure de recours est important parce que la use de ces produits ou autres produits non réglementés peut avoir des effets secondaires, C’est ce qui est le plus important.
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual WARRANTY STATEMENT RCA Communications Systems warrants each new radio product it supplies to be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use and service for the time period listed below, provided that the user has complied with the requirements stated herein. The warranty period begins on the date of purchase from an Authorized RCA Communications Systems Sales and Service Outlet.
30 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual RCA Communications Systems shall have no obligation to repair or replace the product, if there is damage as a result of normal wear and tear or if the damage is caused in whole or in part by catastrophe, fault or negligence of the user, improper or unauthorized alterations or repairs to the product, incorrect wiring, use of the product in a manner for which it was not designed, or by causes external to the product.
ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual No part of this manual may be copied, reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose without the expressed, written permission from RCA Communications Systems. The end-user of any two-way radio is solely responsible for obtaining any license or other authorizations required by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
32 ProdigiTM RDR1520 Series Professional Digital Two-Way Radio Instruction Manual NOTES: Copyright © 2019 RCA Communications Systems
