Instruction manual

56 April 2012 ARRL – the national association for Amateur Radio www.arrl.org
Prior to lab testing the IC-9100,
I installed the UX-9100 23 cm band
unit. The electronics are concealed in
a die cast metal box, with few connec-
tions necessary, but you must follow
the single page of instructions closely.
Installation took about 40 minutes and
went smoothly.
We also added the UT-121 module
for digital voice (D-STAR) operation. It’s
a 1
3
⁄4 inch double sided circuit board with
a tiny, multi-pin connector that plugs in
directly behind the radio’s front panel.
This entails removing both covers and
tilting the front panel. Double-sided tape
secures the UT-121. The instructions
were easy to follow, but have a magnify-
ing glass handy to ensure the plugs are
properly seated. Installation took about
20 minutes, and I confirmed proper
operation by contacting the W1HQ
D-STAR repeater at the ARRL Lab.
ARRL Roanoke Division Vice
Director Jim Boehner, N2ZZ, mentioned
that after he installed the UT-121 in
his new IC-9100, the radio locked
on transmit whenever he made a DV
transmission. A few other users have
reported this issue as well. “I reseated
the module several times to no avail,”
he told us. “What did work, though, was
slightly rotating the module clockwise
and counterclockwise about a degree or
so after insertion. I guess this allowed
the contacts to finally seat properly.”
Satellite Operation
Since VHF/UHF lab results overall
were quite good, I was curious to try
the IC-9100 using the satellite mode.
So, it was off to W1AW where station
manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, hooked
up the satellite tracking antenna.
Rotator control was via Orbitron
software, which also provided a
Doppler-corrected frequency readout
of the uplink and downlink frequen-
cies of available satellites. If you’re
relatively new to satellite operation (as
I am), you’ll soon realize the need to
do some homework before attempt-
ing contacts. I picked the AO-27 FM
“Easy Sat.”
As a first time satellite operator, I
naively pushed the SATELLITE button
and hoped for the best. Most who have
operated through satellites will not be
surprised that after aimlessly pressing
other buttons I had to go to the well
written manual.
With a bit of practice, I determined
how to enter satellite mode and dial
in a satellite’s uplink and downlink
frequencies. The ’9100 has 20 satellite
memory channels. I simply used VFO
mode, which is pretty slick. The uplink
and downlink frequencies track each
other, and you can reverse the direction
in one VFO for inverting satellites (as
well as invert sidebands as necessary).
As AO-27 passed above the hori-
zon, I simply tuned for best reception
while matching the predicted Doppler
adjusted frequency that Orbitron dis-
played. To ensure you’re not running
too much power (doing so can sap
the satellite’s power resources) you
can perform a loop test. This is done
by noting the satellite beacon’s signal
strength and then listening to yourself
on the downlink. Your downlink signal
should always be weaker than that of
the beacon. I found that just 2 or 3 W
did the trick.
During the next pass I made two
contacts. Many were waiting to do the
same, so I kept each contact brief.
I greatly appreciated the ease with
which the ’9100 makes satellite con-
tacts possible. The sensitivity on each
Into the Great Beyond: VHF/UHF and Satellite Operation
server, I got excellent advice and assistance
from the Yahoo! RS-BA1 users’ group,
especially from Herb Schoenbohm, KV4FZ,
who is extremely knowledgeable regarding
the ins and outs of networking in general and
this software in particular.
Figure 4 — The RS-BA1 control screen.
I was able to connect to the IC-9100 via my
wireless LAN and control it from my den
using a laptop. The virtual front panel
(Figure 4) is smallish and generic, since the
RS-BA1 software works with other ICOM
radios, including the IC-7600, ’7700 and
’7800, and even some older ICOMs, such as
the ’PROIII. It is not possible to access all of
the radio’s functions remotely — most
notably in the case of the ’9100, the satellite
mode — and only one VFO is available,
although split operation is still possible. You
cannot change filter settings or adjust noise
reduction or noise blanker levels. The screen
offers full metering capabilities, including an
S-meter. Among other limitations, while you
can access the radio’s four CW memories,
there is no way to adjust the CW keyer speed
from the remote PC, and there’s no VOX for
phone operation. A loud and increasingly
annoying beep accompanies every mouse
action on the control screen. This includes
tuning up and down, done via the right and
left mouse buttons, respectively.
Operating CW involves inputting text from
the keyboard, which either goes into a buffer
or can be sent immediately (there’s no way to
connect a key or paddle). This takes getting
used to, but I was able to work stations after
a fashion. Operating phone was another
matter, and I never really was able to get
clear, untroubled audio from the remote PC
to the transceiver. When connected via the
remote laptop, considerable hiss and hash
threatened to overwhelm the spoken word
completely. Connecting “locally” at the