IC-R20 Loading Frequencies From Squawker PC & Squawker Online

Summary: What Squawker PC and Squawker Online can do for an IC-R20: live logging with Squawker Connect, what isn’t supported, and ways to load frequencies.

At a Glance

• Squawker PC Connect supports the IC-R20 for live monitoring and logging over CI-V (default address 6C).
• Squawker PC’s Scanner Programmer doesn’t program the IC-R20. The only Icom it programs is the IC-R15.
• Squawker Online has no IC-R20 export. Its Icom exports are the IC-R6, IC-R8600 and IC-R15, and none of them is documented as compatible with the IC-R20.
• The IC-R20 has no SD card. Its memory channels are loaded by hand or with Icom’s optional CS-R20 software and OPC-1382 cable.

Squawker PC: Connect (Live Logging)

Squawker PC is UKAFG’s Windows app. In Connect Settings create a profile with Scanner System ICOM CI-V and Scanner Type IC-R20, choose the COM port, enter the CI-V address (6C, the receiver’s default) and use Test Connection. Squawker PC then follows the frequency the receiver is on and matches it against UKAFG’s data so you can see and log who you’re hearing.

The manual describes CI-V control only through the [SP/CI-V] jack with the optional CT-17 level converter (the [USB] jack is for cloning). It doesn’t say whether the USB cloning cable can carry CI-V, so I haven’t confirmed which connection Squawker Connect works best with on this radio. On the receiver keep CI-V Address 6C and CI-V Baud Rate AUTO. CI-V Transceive defaults to ON on the IC-R20; Squawker’s guide for the IC-R15 recommends OFF for that radio, so try OFF if the IC-R20 connection misbehaves. See IC-R20 Cloning, CS-R20, CI-V & USB Driver and IC-R20 Set Mode Reference.

The connection guides: Supported Radios & Scanner Systems, Creating a Connection Profile, Connecting Your Radio: Drivers, Ports & Menu Settings and Launching a Profile.

Getting UKAFG Frequencies Into an IC-R20

1. Type them in. Look up frequencies in Squawker Online (search at ukafg.co.uk/squawker-online-search) and programme them: see IC-R20 Memory Channels & Banks. The IC-R20 has 1,000 regular channels in 26 banks, with 8-character names.
2. Use the CS-R20 software. Icom’s cloning software edits memory on a PC and writes it to the receiver. UKAFG’s CSV or Excel exports (see Exporting to Scanner Software and Exporting to Icom Radios) are a convenient list to copy frequencies from. The CS-R20 and its driver were written for Windows 98 to XP, so check whether they run on your version of Windows.
3. Use scan edges and the auto-memory write scan to find what’s active locally, then keep the useful ones (see IC-R20 Scanning).

Tips

• Check coverage: UK receivers are normally the “other” version: 0.150-1304.999 and 1305-3304.999 MHz. Airband is AM with the 8.33 kHz step.
• Back up first: the CS-R20 can save the receiver’s contents to a PC before you change anything.
• More UKAFG tools: Common Scanner Frequencies, WTR Business search and Amateur Repeater search.