ianews

August 2007

ianews, your connection to

Icom Americas Land Mobile
Division! Keep up with the
latest products, news and
technical information in
this newsletter.

IN THIS ISSUE:
Washintons Fish and Wildlife Nets
New Icom P25 radios
Meet Your Icom Team
Jennifer Skinner
Administrative Assistant
Fire Department Looks to Icom for
Narrowbanding Solution
Accessories of the Month:
OTTO Profile Speaker Mic
Evolution H2O Immersion Speaker Mic
Tech Corner - Programming a Talk
Group for Selective Communication

Washingtons Fish and Wildlife Nets New Icom P25 Radios

Plagued by aging radios prone to failure
and requiring frequent, costly maintenance,
the Washington State Department of Fish
and Wildlife needed a better solution for its
communication needs.
In May, the agency acquired 160 Icom
F70DT portable P25 radios for its law
enforcement branch. They also purchased
several dozen Icom F1821D mobiles for its
non-law enforcement personnel.
Although Fish and Wildlife officers spend
long hours stomping around in remote
forests and wetlands, the
agency opted for top-of-theline digital P25 radios. The
decision was partially based
on state purchasing rules
that mandate P25-compliant
equipment.
But
another
reason is that officers with the
Washington State Department
of Fish and Wildlife do a lot
F70DT
more than track down illegal
hunters and catch unlicensed fisherman.
Fish and Wildlife officers provide first
response during critical public safety
incidents and natural disasters, assisting
local, county, and state law enforcement
agencies, tribal authorities, and federal
agencies. The departments reach
extends statewide, crossing hundreds of
jurisdictional boundaries, making it a prime
candidate for P25 interoperable radios.
We require interoperable communications
on a daily basis, says Lt. John McIntosh,
supervisor of the communications division
of the enforcement program. We work
across all 39 counties in the state, and we
must be able to communicate with local
and county law enforcement agencies.
According to McIntosh, Fish and Wildlife
maintains communication agreements
with nearly every public safety entity in
the state that operates in the VHF band.
The various frequencies are programmed

into the agencys radios for interoperable

communications at a moments notice.
National Interop, a privately held Northwestbased company that specializes in
designing communications systems for
public safety agencies, worked closely
with the department to choose P25
equipment capable of withstanding harsh
environmental conditions.
A key issue was finding a radio that could
stand up to wet, outdoor environments,
says David Billstrom, CEO of National
Interop.
Icoms F70 portable offers rugged, IPX7
waterproof protection. Large capacity LiIon battery packs provide all-day power,
and the radios two-line display allows
officers to easily view both the zone and
channel an important feature since
the department operates across a vast
geographical area. Other key features
include the radios 256 memory channels
and large knobs.
McIntosh says the agency chose the
F1821D mobile for its good audio quality,
and in the case of both the F70 and F1821,
the price was very important.
The departments previous radios firstgeneration P25 portables manufactured
by Thales went into service in 2001,
making Fish and Wildlife one of the first
Washington state public agencies to
deploy digital P25 radios.
Purchased via the Western States
Contracting Alliance (WSCA), the agencys
new Icom F70 portables and F1821
mobiles have performed exceptionally well
in the field, McIntosh says. Officers report
the radios
operate
100 percent
better than
the previous
F1821
radios.

2007 Icom America Inc.

The Icom logo is a registered trademark
of Icom Inc. All other trademarks remain
the property of their respective owners. All
information and specifications subject to
change without notice or obligation. 9446

For People Who Make Smart Choices

ianews
news
Meet Your Icom Team
Jennifer Skinner
Administrative Assistant

Jennifer Skinner is land mobile

divisions
new
administrative
assistant.
Jennifer
(Jenn)
started last May and is doing
an outstanding job supporting a
growing land mobile sales team.
Jenn possesses a great sense of
humor and comfortable personality
very well liked by Icom staff, reps
and customers. Jenns top duty is
providing administrative support
to the Vice President, Product and
Marketing Coordinator, Regional
Sales Managers, Area Sales
Managers, and Sales Reps. Jenn
administers promotions and makes
sure that the sales team and Icom
partners requests are efficiently
and appropriately handled. Jenns
assistance in with the Land Mobile
Road Shows has helped in making
them a great success.

Fire Department Looks to Icom for

Narrowbanding Solution
At best, narrowbanding is a tricky
landscape for the LMR industry to
navigate. Caught between their need
to upgrade with spectrum-efficient
digital equipment and the continually
shifting narrowbanding deadlines and
regulations, operators are rightfully
cautious when it comes to investing in
two-way radios.

go with Icoms 6.25-kHz radios because

they are compatible with our conventional
25-kHz spread dispatch channel as
well as our newly licensed 12.5-kHz
bandwidth channel, said David Kaskey
of the Jeffersonville FD. The Icom radio
was durable and proved to be the right
choice for us given its price, number of
features and available upgrades.

With the needs of public safety agencies,

fleet operators, manufacturing facilities
and other two-way radio users in mind,
Icom America introduced a line of
multimode two-way radios designed to
help facilitate operators move from 25kHz channels to 12.5-kHz and even 6.25kHz.

According to McIntyre, the fire department

likes the privacy Icoms digital equipment
offers. They dont want someone with a
scanner picking up their conversations
during an emergency, particularly when
patient information is in the mix.

These narrowband-compatible radios

are exactly what the Jeffersonville (Ind.)
Fire Department needed to transition
from their old analog
channels to narrower digital
channels. The agency in
southern Indiana recently
purchased 17 F3061 Series
handheld radios and an
Icom America Systems
6.25 Digital Voice Repeater
(DVR). And later this year,
they plan to replace their
F3061
mobile analog radios with
Icoms digital equipment.
The fire department was in an awkward
position because they had already
received a 12.5-kHz license, according
to Charlie McIntyre of Advanced Radio
Communications, an Icom dealership in
Huntingburg, Ind. Further complicating
matters, the FCC recently issued a
statement encouraging LMR operators to
consider skipping 12.5 kHz and moving
directly to 6.25 kHz.
We looked at other three other
manufacturers products but chose to

The fire department also needed a

repeater that could be easily moved
around, and in particular, hooked up
onsite
during
firefighting
operations. This
radio has so many
different options,
it is sure to meet
F5061
our needs for the
next 10 to 15 years, Kaskey said.
And while Icoms F3061 analog/digital
portable radios met the Jeffersonville
FDs need for narrowband equipment,

6.25 DVR Repeater

McIntyre credits the demo radios he

gave the fire department with solidifying
the sale. Once they tried out the Icom
radios, they fell in love with them, he
said. My advice for other dealers is
to provide demo radios to potential
customers and explain what the radio
can do for them and then leave the radio
for the customer to play with.

For People Who Make Smart Choices

ianews

August 2007

Page 2

ianews
news
Accessories of the Month

TECH CORNER

OTTO Profile Speaker Mic

For use with Icom F70 series radios
The OTTO Profile Speaker
microphone
(V2-L2CM11)
meets the same specifications
as the Evolution but is lighter
and slimmer with a few less
features. It is perfect for public
safety officials to maintain
crowd control, for construction
site foremen or plant engineers
to relay instructions and many
more environments.
Features: Housing fully sealed to meet harsh
conditions like 40 mph blowing rain. Durable
design and construction to meet MIL-STD-810
specs. Heavy-duty cable assembly with strain
relief. Earphone jack that accepts standard
2.5 mm plugs. Flexible design to fit most
portable radio configurations. Clothing spring
clip which can be positioned 360 degrees.
Optional 2.5mm earphone kit available.

Talk groups allow you to call a select group of radios, excluding others
that are on the same frequency. Use the tables below to program
minimal settings for Talkgroups.
Memory CH Window
Field

Setting/Description

CH Type

Set to Digital

Digital Talkgroup
ID List No.

Points to a corresponding line in the Digital

Talkgroup ID window (alias list).

Squelch Type

Set to SEL if you want talkgroup communication

only. Set to NAC if you want to communicate to
Talkgroups and other unmuted radios.

Talkgroup Strapped

ON: Does not allow the radio to change Talkgroups

by pressing the up/down keys.
OFF: Allows changing of Talkgroups using up/
down keys

Evolution H2O Immersion Speaker Mic

For use with Icom F3061 Series radios
The Evolution H20 Immersion
rated speaker microphone has
been enhanced to withstand
prolonged exposure to water
and temperature extremes.
This unit is designed for rugged
environments including Public
Safety Markets (police, fire
and EMT services), maritime
law enforcement, heavy-duty
manufacturing and any other environment with
harsh conditions.
Features Designed to withstand prolonged
exposure to water and temperature extremes.
Durable design and construction to meet
MIL-STD-810 specs. Fully sealed per IP68
(Submersed in 1 meter of water for 31 minutes)*
Heavy-duty cable assembly with strain relief
for demanding applications. Two-position
volume control for operation in various noise
environments. Flexible design to fit most
portable radio configurations. Clothing spring
clip which can be positioned 360 degrees.
Certain models available with an antenna
connector.

Programming a Talk Group

for Selective Communication

Digital Window
Field

Setting/Description

Digital Talkgroup ID

Assign a talk group number and alias to the list.

This list is referenced to channels in the Memory
Ch.

Option Window
Field

Setting/Description

Talkgroup Option
Talkgroup Display on
Receive

Set to ON.

Config Preamble
Length

Set to 500.

Key & Display Window

Field

Setting/Description

Key

Assign a key (P0-P3) for Talkgroups.

Icom America Inc.

2380 116th Ave NE
Bellevue, WA 98004
Phone: (425) 454-8155
Fax: (425) 454-1509
Customer Service: (425) 454-7619

Icom America Systems

Phone: (425) 586-6363
Fax: (425) 586-6321
ias@icomamerica.com

To Make a Talkgroup Call

1. Press the key assigned to Talkgroup.
2. Select the desired Talkgroup by pressing the Up/Down keys.
3. Press PTT. The Talkgroup and TX radios individual ID will show
on the target radios display.
For People Who Make Smart Choices

ianews

August 2007

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