SAFA Skysailor Magazine

30 SKY SAILOR May | June 2021 Monitoring multiple frequencies using the Icom IC-A15/16 If you’re flying in areas where you may need to monitor several different air band frequencies during the flight (eg: SAFA, Multicom, local CTAF and ATC), you might consider the use of the ‘Memory Scan’ feature of your radio. This describes how to set this up. However, the use of the Icom programming software is required for some functions. In memory scan mode, the radio very quickly searches through a group of frequencies looking for a transmission, stops on that frequency so you can listen to it, then waits for a few seconds on that channel in case you want to reply. You can set up several different scans to suit areas you fly in. If you do reply, the radio stays on that frequency until you start the scan again. If you don’t, it just resumes scanning. On the downside, if you want to stop scanning to transmit on a particular channel, you’ll need to make a few button presses. Just hitting transmit while still scanning will start transmission on whatever (unpredictable) frequency the radio was scanning at the time. This can be simplified (a little) by setting up a ‘Home’ channel, but you need the Icom software for that. How to set up the frequencies to scan (memory channels) The radio has the capability of storing up to 200 frequencies in memory and of organising these into up to 10 ‘Banks’ (called ‘Groups’ on the IC-A16). By setting up different lists of channels in each bank, you can set up the radio to scan different lists of frequencies for different areas. This can be done either via the keypad (laboriously) or via the programming software (much easier). Setting up the software in expert mode While (almost) all the things you need to do can be done from the keyboard, it’s much easier to get someone who has access to the CS-A14 (for the A15) or CS-A16 software and the appropriate OPC-478 cable: Ask them to start the software in ‘Expert’ mode. This will allow them modify some useful parameters. (To start in Expert mode, add the ‘/expert’ switch to the software startup string in the program settings.) Once the basics are set up, it’s easier to maintain the settings using the keypad. Expert mode may be required to change some defaults depending on how your radio was initially delivered. Expert mode can also be used to limit user keypad options so they can’t screw up important settings. The following instructions show the IC-A14 software, but the IC-A16 should look very similar. Creating ‘Banks’ After reading in your current configuration (Clone < Read), the first thing you need to do is set up at a bank with the group of channels you need to monitor. First, create the bank/group and give it a name. (‘Banks’ in the IC-A15, ‘Groups’ in the IC-A16.) Putting channels in a bank/group Next, create the channels you want to monitor and select each one to be scanned as TAG. You can add extra channels, but if they’re not tagged, they won’t be scanned (eg: Central/ Eastern VIC Class G FIA frequency below not scanned as shown below). The software allows you to easily add word descriptions for each channel. This is a pain to do if you are trying to do it with the keyboard. Repeat ‘creating banks’ and ‘channel lists’ for all the areas you fly in. Do this for as many areas as you like. Setting a ‘Home’ bank/group and channel Then you need to set up your ‘Home’ options. This is the part you can’t fully do without using the software, as the keyboard does not allow you to change the default frequency selection method, bank/group or channel.