Programming your RACAL

1
Programming your RACAL

• Its Easy to Do

2
One of the best features of the Thales Racal
radio is the ease of programming new channels
into the radio. There are various times that you
will have to add channels.
3
First of all, you must be authorized to use the
new frequencies. Channels on the ICS-205 at an
incident, frequencies supplied by your
supervisor, or from your briefing at an
off-district assignment are authorized for your
use.
4
These new frequencies are only to be used while
you are involved with the new assignment. Do not
continue to use them while returning home or
after you are back. Likewise, dont use our
frequencies while you are off District.
5
After you have received your frequency list it is
time to start the programming process. Review the
list and create unique names for the channels
that are 8 characters or less in length. If you
are programming these in the main bank, they
cannot exactly duplicate any names that have been
already used.
SOA RPTR is good
GERLACH1 would be needed as GERLACH is in main
bank
BL LAKE would be needed As BLUELAKE is in main
bank
?
?
6
The names should reflect the use or location of
the frequency. DIV A, MAIN RPT, CAMP, and
A2G WEST would be good names for Division A,
the main incident repeater, the inter-camp net,
and Air-to-Ground on the west side.
7
Select a user programmable Zone or a Zone in the
Event Bank. Our regular channels are locked to
avoid overwriting them.
8
Place the radio in programming mode by pressing
ENTER, selecting PROGRM and pressing ENTER. The
radio will ask for a password and enter 000000,
the default password. Select CHANEL.
9
Depending upon whether or not the channel was
previously programmed, you will see EMPTY or an
ID and TAG with the old channel name. Just
pressing ENTER and then scrolling down to TAG
will allow you to enter a channel name.
10
ID is set by the radio and you cannot change it.
If it is an existing channel, reprogramming will
change the data in all appearances of that
channel in the radio. If there is a little
padlock in the lower right corner, the channel is
locked.
11
Enter your channel name. Like a cell phone, you
may need to push a button several times to get
the right letter or number. You can back up with
the arrow softkeys to correct a mistake.
12
The 1 key will give you a space, and the
key will give you the special characters
.ltgt-!? as well as a space. All labels are
displayed as capital letters with keyboard
programming.
13
The curser will advance to the next space in
about 1.5 seconds after you press a key.
Remember, you can use the arrow softkeys to
correct a mistake. Press ENTER to accept the name
and then scroll down to MODE.
14
MODE is where you set the modulation
characteristics of the radio. We are primarily
using ANALOG channels, though DIGITAL ones are
used for special purposes like crew nets. Select
the correct MODE.
15
In ANALOG mode, B/W (bandwidth) will need to be
set. All Federal Frequencies will be Narrowband
12.5 kHz. Cooperators, like VFDs, sheriffs and
state forestry departments, may have Wideband
25 kHz channels.
16
Federal frequencies will usually be between 162
and 174 MHz, and these must be narrowband.
Cooperators usually have frequencies between 150
and 162 MHz. Below 150 MHz there is a mix of
government, commercial and Amateur Radio.
Narrow
Wide
17
The next screen is for encryption. It should
always be set for disabled (DISABD). Only the Law
Enforcement radios have encryption at this time.
Scroll down to the Receive (RX) screen.
18
This is where you enter the receive frequency.
The radio will not accept a frequency that is out
of range or is an invalid channel. The decimal
point is always added after the third number
entered. You can use the softkey arrows to
correct mistakes.
19
RXSQMD is where you set your receive squelch. On
most of our channels, we use carrier or NOISE
squelch as it is called in this radio. When there
is enough signal on the channel, the squelch
opens and sends audio to the speaker.
20
When you select NOISE, you will have the
opportunity to initially set the squelch level.
The default setting usually works fine. You can
always change this setting with the MONITOR
button on the side of the radio.
21
Other RX squelch settings are NONE, DCS and
CTCSS. NONE sets the radio in open squelch and
the channel will always be noisy. DCS tones are
used by some cooperators, but CTCSS tones may be
commonly used in communication plans.
22
Receive CTCSS tones may be specified on a
communications plan to eliminate squelch opening
from unwanted signals. Many users use these in
radio noisy urban environments for this purpose.
23
To set a tone, select CTCSS and the TON line will
appear on the display. You can scroll through the
correct tones to find the one listed on the plan.
If you cannot find the one that is listed on the
plan, there is an error in the plan so contact
the radio tech.
24
The next screen sets the transmit (TX) frequency.
Enter the transmit frequency the same way you did
the receive frequency. If this is a Receive
Only frequency like the Weather, put all zeros
in for the frequency.
25
TXSQMD (Transmit squelch mode) can be set to
NONE, CTCSS or DCS in analog mode. If you select
CTCSS, it will display TON and you can set the
tone to the correct value from your programming
list.
26
The next screen will allow you to set your
transmit power. Default is 1 watt LO and 5 watts
HI. For some applications we will set these lower
and that will conserve batteries. Reducing power
also helps avoid interference with other users.
27
If the channel was EMPTY when you started, the
radio will ask you if you want to save the new
channel. Press ENTER to save the channel and it
will revert to that channel in regular
operational mode.
28
After programming an empty channel, if you wish
to program another channel, you would have to
re-enter programming mode. You will not be asked
for a password again until you turn the radio off
and on.
29
If you programmed over an old channel, when you
scroll past the power screen, you will come back
to the ID-TAG screen. You can ESC out if you are
ready to use the radio, or you can use the
channel selector to go to the next channel to
program.
30
When you finish programming, you will want to
turn the radio off and on to reset it.
31
Digital channels require setting the NAC (network
access code) and the TG (talkgroup) These may be
different for the transmit and receive.
32
NACs come in two flavors, decimal and
hexadecimal. The Racal will only take hex NACs at
this time. Generally, decimal NACs will have 4
digits and hex will have 3. Besides the usual
0-9, hex includes A, B, C, D, E, and F.
HEX NAC
Decimal NAC
33
If you have any question about whether or not a
NAC is hex or decimal, ask. If they are in
decimal form, ask the tech to perform the
conversion. The computer radio programmer can
perform the conversion and they can also be done
with the Windows scientific calculator.
34
It is important to enter the leading zero(s). The
letters can be selected by multiple presses of
the 2 or 3 key. The NAC will default to 0x293.
0x prefix, or the h or suffix denotes hex
and are not entered into the radio.
(0x293293h293)
35
Think of the NACs as the equivalent of the CTCSS
tones. Actually, DOI came up with a conversion
where the CTCSS times 10 equals the decimal NAC.
A repeater that was formally 123.0 CTCSS will now
be decimal NAC 1230 or 4CEh in hex.
36
There are a couple of special NACs. 293 is the
default NAC. 0xF7E and F7Fh are the equivalent of
carrier squelch, they will open the receiver on
any digital signal with any transmitted NAC.
37
On the RXSQMD screen you can select P25MON,
P25SEL,or P25NOR. P25SEL requires the correct NAC
and the correct talkgroup in order to open the
squelch. P25MON will open on all non-encrypted
digital signals. P25NOR will open on any
talkgroup but requires the correct NAC.
38
The TX screen will require a NAC. The TXSQMD will
always be P25SEL. TALKGP defaults to 00001. Enter
the correct talkgroup or the all talkgroup
number 65535.
39
The power screen is the same as on the analog
channel. On inter-crew frequencies, you might be
directed to use lower power settings to avoid
interference with other users.
40
There are other menus in the programming area.
GLOBAL contains items that affect the entire
radio. LITE will allow you to set the brightness
of the display. DIM and BRIGHT use almost the
same power.
41
LT DLY is the time the light stays on when you
press a key or the squelch opens. It is set at 5
seconds. LTONRX can be set to ON for a light when
the squelch opens.
42
TOT is the transmitter time out timer. It should
be set to 120 seconds or less. This prevents a
stuck PTT switch from keeping the radio in
transmit and clogging the channel.
43
DISPLY can be set to ALPHA or NUMBER. NUMBER will
display the receive frequency on the channel
screen, or the transmit frequency when the PTT is
pressed. ALPHA is the default.
44
UNIT ID should be left ON. In Digital mode, an
identifier is sent. Each radio is assigned a
unique number. This will allow some new
communications options with digital channels in
the future.
45
HOM is a home channel. This is useful if you have
a button programmed as a home button or with the
HOME function in the main menu to go to your home
channel. It stays on that channel until you
change channels, zones, or turn the radio off.
46
EMG is used to set the channel for the red
button. Since the red button is not activated, it
does nothing. ALERT changes the function of the
emergency activation of the red button if it were
activated.
47
TX INH is also known as busy channel lockout.
It is used to prevent you from transmitting on
top of another station. Default is NONE. This may
be used in the near future.
48
RPTR is reserved for future use. BAUD is used to
set the communication rate for external data
devices. Please leave it at 9600.
49
The best way to keep current on your radio
programming skills is to practice. Programming a
channel each week will only take a couple of
minutes, but will keep you current.
50
Thank you for taking this class. If you have any
questions, stop by the Radio Shop.