IC-R8600 Meter, Locks & Antenna Selection

Summary: The IC-R8600’s signal meter types, dial and panel locks, backlight, and how to choose an antenna connector below 30 MHz.

Meter Display

Touch the meter (or use the QUICK MENU) to cycle four readings:

• S-meter – relative strength S1-S9. At S9 the input is 50 microvolts (34 dBuV); S9+20 dB is 54 dBuV.
• dBu meter – absolute voltage into a 50 ohm terminated load (0 dBu = 1 microvolt).
• dBu EMF meter – open-circuit voltage (6 dB higher than terminated).
• dBm meter – absolute power into 50 ohm (0 dBm = 1 mW).

Meter Peak Hold (Set, Display) holds the peak for 0.5 seconds. The overflow OVF indicator shows an excessively strong signal (see IC-R8600 Preamp, Attenuator, IP+ & AGC).

Dial Lock and Panel Lock

• Dial Lock: hold SPEECH/LOCK 1 second. Locks the MAIN DIAL (the LOCK LED lights); it doesn’t work while MENU, FUNCTION, QUICK, Set mode or SCAN START is open. The key’s function can be swapped (SET, Function, [SPEECH/LOCK] Switch).
• Panel Lock: push the PANEL LOCK key. Locks all front panel controls except POWER and one other key (or only the keys, with P.LOCK Key set to KEY; then rotating a dial turns the backlight on). Holding it for 1 second turns the display off.

Backlight

Push DIAL B, touch BACKLIGHT and rotate (0-100%). Also SET, Display, LCD Backlight and LED Bright, Screen Saver (Off, 15, 30 or 60 minutes) and Display Type (A black, B blue).

Selecting the Antenna Below 30 MHz

The IC-R8600 has three antenna connectors. Between 10 kHz and 29.999999 MHz you can use ANT1, ANT2 or ANT3: set a frequency in that range and touch the antenna indicator under the mode icon to cycle them (or use ANT on the FUNCTION screen). The receiver remembers the selection for the same frequency next time. Above 30 MHz ANT1 is used.

If sensitivity is poor, check you’ve chosen the right connector for your antenna (see IC-R8600 Troubleshooting).