ALINCO DR-03T (01) PDF Document

Before operating your ALINCO DR-03T, please observe the following precautions:

• Do not remove the case or touch the interior components. Tampering can cause equipment trouble.

• Do not use or keep the transceiver where it is exposed to direct sunlight, dusty places, or near sources of heat.

• Keep the transceiver away from TVs or other equipment if it interferes with reception.

• When transmitting for long periods at high power, the transceiver might overheat.

• Turn the power off immediately if the transceiver emits smoke or strange odors. Ensure the transceiver is safe, then bring it to the nearest Alinco service center.

• An operator’s license is required for this device.

• The transceiver has no protection against lightning. The user is responsible for providing adequate protection for an outdoor antenna. Any vehicle does not present a safe environment during lightning, especially with an outdoor antenna installed. Move the antenna and its cable into the car at the first sight of a forthcoming thunderstorm and lightning.

The ALINCO DR-03T features some of the most advanced functions and reliable engineering available. The ALINCO design philosophy is focused on developing innovative usable features, including the following:

• Three different styles of display are available on a large LCD panel including frequency, channel number or 7 digit alphanumeric label.

• Simple, clean layout of keys and knobs ensure convenient operation.

• High-quality materials are used throughout the product and a huge heat sink around the chassis ensures stable and durable operation.

• 100 fully programmable memory channels with alphanumeric memory channel labels.

• CTCSS, DCS and 4 different Tone-Bursts are standard for selective calling and repeater access worldwide.

• The transceiver has a cable clone capability.

• The Theft Alarm feature gives an extra measure of security for mobile installation.

Please carefully unpack your ALINCO DR-03T to ensure the following items are found in the package in addition to the instruction manual:

• Transceiver

• Microphone EMS-57 (with DTMF keypad)

• DC power cable with fuse holder (UA0038)

• Mobile mounting bracket (FM0078Z)

• Alarm cable A (with wire) (UX1259) (T models only)

• Alarm cable B (extension use) (UX1260) (T models only)

• Hardware kit for bracket (Complete set available as ADHK130)

• Theft Alarm stickers 2pcs. (PR0454) (T models only)

• Instruction manual (PS0530B)

Note: The standard accessories may vary slightly depending on the version you have purchased.

To set up your ALINCO DR-03T as a base station, follow these steps:

1. Connect the microphone to the front panel of the transceiver.

2. Connect the antenna port to a 50 ohm antenna that is tuned to the band of operation, using good quality 50 ohm coaxial cable.

3. The transceiver requires a 12-13.8VDC negative grounded power source. Use a regulated power supply capable of providing a continuous current of 12A or more.

4. Connect the DC power cable to the power supply. Connect the red lead to the positive terminal and the black lead to the negative terminal.

CAUTION: The body (heatsink) of this product may become very hot during and after operation. Never touch the unit until it cools down.

For a mobile installation of your ALINCO DR-03T, follow these guidelines:

Location:

Install the transceiver in a position where the controls and microphone are easily accessible and it does not interfere with the safe operation of the vehicle. If your vehicle has airbags, ensure the radio will not interfere with their deployment. While installing the unit, be aware that DC cables should never touch the heatsink of the unit, as it may become excessively hot and melt the insulation, causing a short circuit.

Installing a Mobile Antenna:

Use a 50 ohm coaxial cable to connect the antenna. Mobile antennas require an appropriate mounting base for proper installation and operation. After installing your antenna, ensure that you have the best possible SWR reading. High RF environments can cause severe damage to your unit.

Installing the Transceiver:

Use the supplied mounting bracket to secure the transceiver in your vehicle. You may need to drill holes to mount the bracket securely.

The front panel of the ALINCO DR-03T has several keys and controls. Here are their primary functions and secondary functions when the ‘F’ icon is displayed (after pressing the FUNC key).

Primary Functions:

Functions activated while F appears (after pressing the FUNC key):

Turning the unit on and off:

Press the power switch (PWR key) to turn the unit on. Press the power switch again to turn it off.

Audio Volume level setting:

Rotate the VOL knob clockwise to increase the audio level, and counterclockwise to decrease it. Set it at the desired level for comfortable listening.

The squelch eliminates background noise when no signal is being received. Higher levels require a stronger signal to open the squelch, while lower levels allow weaker signals to be heard but may also allow noise to come through.

1. Press the SQL key. The “SQL” icon will appear on the display, and the current squelch level (0-20) will be shown where the memory number is usually displayed. “0” is the lowest setting (most sensitive).

2. Rotate the main dial or use the UP/DOWN keys on the microphone to adjust the squelch to the desired level.

3. To return to normal operation, press the PTT key or any other key on the front panel. If no keys are pressed within 5 seconds, the unit will store the new setting and return to its original status. The new squelch level is stored until it is adjusted again.

VFO (Variable Frequency Oscillator) mode allows you to manually change the frequency.

1. Identify the current mode. If “M” (Memory) or “C” (Call) icons are NOT displayed, the unit is already in VFO mode. If they are, press the “V/M” key until these icons disappear.

Change frequency by the channel step:

Rotate the main dial clockwise to increase the frequency and counterclockwise to decrease it. The UP/DOWN keys on the microphone perform the same function.

Change frequency by 1 MHz step:

1. Press the MHz key. The digits after 100 kHz will disappear from the display.

2. Rotate the main dial or use the UP/DOWN keys to change the frequency in 1 MHz increments.

3. Press the MHz key again to return to normal VFO tuning.

To change the frequency step used in VFO mode on your ALINCO DR-03T, follow these steps:

1. Ensure the unit is in VFO mode. Refer to the manual section on VFO mode if needed.

2. Enter the Parameter Setting (SET) mode by pressing the FUNC key for more than 2 seconds.

3. Use the SQL key or UP/DOWN keys to navigate to the channel step setting menu (e.g., STP-20).

4. Rotate the tuning knob to select the desired channel step. Available steps are: 5, 8.33, 10, 12.5, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 50 kHz.

5. Press the PTT key or any key on the front panel (except SQL) to save the new step into the transceiver’s memory. The display will then return to its original status.

To use a repeater, you need to set the shift direction (+ or -) and the offset frequency. The offset is the difference between the repeater’s transmit (DOWN-LINK) and receive (UP-LINK) frequencies.

1. Press the F key. While the “F” icon is on the display, press the MHz key. The display will show the current status of the shift direction (+, -, or none for simplex) and the offset frequency.

2. Press the MHz key repeatedly to cycle through the shift directions: negative (-), positive (+), and simplex (no icon).

3. To change the offset frequency, rotate the main dial or use the UP/DOWN keys on the microphone while the offset frequency is displayed. The frequency changes according to the selected channel step.

4. For faster setting, you can press the F key again while in this mode to change the offset frequency in 1 MHz steps.

5. Press PTT or any key except F or MHz on the front panel to save the settings and return to the original status.

The default offset value for the DR-03T/DRM03R is 0.100 MHz (100 kHz) in the negative direction.

CTCSS (Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System) and DCS (Digital-Coded Squelch) are used for selective calling, allowing you to access repeaters or hear only specific transmissions.

1. Press the TS/DCS key repeatedly to cycle through the available modes:

– Tone Encode (T): Transmits a sub-audible tone to access a repeater. The display shows “T” and the tone frequency (e.g., 88.5).

– Tone Squelch (TSQ): Both transmits and receives a specific tone. You will only hear calls with the matching tone. The display shows “TSQ” and the tone frequency.

– DCS: Transmits and receives a digital code. The display shows “DCS” and the 3-digit code (e.g., 023).

– Off: No icon is displayed, and no tone/code is used.

2. Once you have selected the desired mode (T, TSQ, or DCS), rotate the main dial or press the UP/DOWN keys on the microphone to select the specific CTCSS frequency or DCS code from the available lists.

3. Press any key (except TS/DCS or UP/DOWN keys) to enter the setting and return to normal operation. The corresponding icon (T, TSQ, or DCS) will remain on the display to show the current status.

Follow these steps to program the current VFO settings into a memory channel on your ALINCO DR-03T:

1. First, set up all desired parameters in VFO mode. This includes the frequency, repeater offset and direction, CTCSS/DCS settings, etc.

2. Once the settings are complete, press the FUNC key. The “F” and “M” icons will appear, and a memory channel number will be indicated on the display.

3. Rotate the main dial or use the UP/DOWN keys to select the memory channel you wish to program. An empty channel is shown with a flashing “M” icon.

4. While the “F” icon is still on the display, press the MW (V/M/MW) key. A beep will sound, and the VFO settings will be copied to the selected memory channel.

5. If you select a previously programmed channel, you can overwrite it with the new settings.

To delete a programmed channel:

1. Select the memory channel you want to delete in memory mode.

2. Press the FUNC key, then press the MW key while the “F” icon is on. The memory will be deleted, and the “M” icon will start flashing, indicating the channel is now empty.

The memory channels (0-99 and CALL) on the ALINCO DR-03T can store the following data:

• Frequency

• Shift frequency (offset)

• Shift direction (+ or -)

• CTCSS tone (both encode and decode)

• Tone Squelch setting

• DCS code (both encode and decode)

• DCS squelch setting

• Scan skip channel

• Busy Channel Lock Out setting

• Priority monitoring frequency (PC programming required)

The CALL mode provides quick one-touch access to a pre-assigned memory channel.

1. To activate CALL mode, press the CALL key. The “C” icon will appear on the display, and the transceiver will switch to the frequency stored in the CALL channel.

2. In CALL mode, the main dial and UP/DOWN keys cannot change the frequency or memory channel.

3. To exit CALL mode, press the CALL key again or press the V/M key.

To store a setting in the CALL channel, follow the standard memory programming procedure and select memory channel “C”.

To transmit with your ALINCO DR-03T, follow these steps:

1. Select the desired frequency. Ensure you are authorized to operate on this frequency and monitor it to avoid interfering with ongoing communications.

2. Select the output power. Press the FUNC key, and while the “F” icon is on the display, press the CALL/H/L key. Each press cycles the power through 3 levels: Low (“Lo” icon), Medium (“Mi” icon), and High (no icon). You cannot change the power level during transmission.

3. Press the PTT (Push-To-Talk) key on the microphone to transmit. Release it to receive.

4. During transmission, the relative power output is shown on the RF meter:

– LOW power = 2 segments

– MID power = 3 segments

– HIGH power = 5 segments

Overheating Protection: If the internal temperature rises above approximately 80°C (176°F), the power is automatically reduced by 20% until the unit cools down. The display does not show any warning during this status.

The Parameter Setting Mode allows you to change various operating parameters of your ALINCO DR-03T.

1. Press the FUNC key and hold it for more than 2 seconds to enter the Parameter Setting mode.

2. Use the SQL key or the UP/DOWN keys on the microphone to scroll through the menu of available parameters.

3. Rotate the main dial to select the desired setting for the chosen parameter.

4. Press the SQL or UP/DOWN keys again to enter the selected setting into the radio’s memory.

5. Press any key OTHER than SQL/UP/DOWN to exit the Parameter mode. (Note: The Channel Tag setting has specific keys for exiting).

The selectable parameters menu includes:

• STP-20: Channel Step setting

• TIMER: Scan type (time scan/busy scan)

• BEEP-ON: Beep sound ON/OFF

• TOT-OFF: Time-Out-Timer ON/OFF

• TP-OFF: TOT penalty ON/OFF

• APO-OFF: Auto-Power-Off ON/OFF

• TB-1750: Tone-Burst Frequency setting

• BCLO-OF: Busy-Channel-Lock-Out ON/OFF

• SCR-OFF: Theft Alarm ON/OFF

• A: Alphanumeric Channel Tag setting

The ALINCO DR-03T has several features to manage transmission time and prevent accidental interference.

Time-Out-Timer (TOT): This feature automatically stops transmission after a preset time.

1. Enter Parameter Setting Mode.

2. Select the “TOT-OFF” menu.

3. Rotate the main dial to select a time-out duration (up to 450 seconds). The radio will beep 5 seconds before the time expires.

TOT Penalty: This function prohibits another transmission for a selected period after a TOT shutdown.

1. In Parameter Setting Mode, select the “TP-OFF” menu.

2. Rotate the main dial to select the penalty time (up to 15 seconds).

Busy-Channel-Lock-Out (BCLO): This function prohibits transmission when a signal is being received.

1. In Parameter Setting Mode, select the “BCLO-OF” menu.

2. Rotate the main dial to select “BCLO-ON”. With BCLO on, the radio will only transmit if the channel is clear (BUSY icon is off) or if a tone/DCS squelch is opened by a corresponding signal.

The Theft Alarm on the ALINCO DR-03T uses a beep sound to alert you if the unit is being removed improperly. This feature is useful for vehicle installations and may require an optional cable (ADALM135 for some models).

Setting up the Alarm:

1. Connect the provided alarm cable to the DATA jack on the front panel. Secure the other end of the cable to a fixed object in the vehicle.

2. Enter the Parameter Setting mode by pressing FUNC for more than 2 seconds.

3. Use the SQL or UP/DOWN keys to select the “SCR-OFF” menu, and rotate the dial to set it to “SCR-ON” or “SCR-DLY” (for a delayed alarm).

4. Exit the setting mode. When the alarm is activated, decimal points on the 100 MHz and 100 kHz order will flash on the display.

5. Turn off the unit with the main power switch. The TX LED will light up, indicating the alarm is armed.

Function:

• If the alarm cable is removed from the DATA jack or cut, the alarm will sound for 10 minutes. During the alarm, the unit will receive on memory channel 99.

• The alarm stops if a signal is received on channel 99 (according to its pre-programmed TSQ/DCS setting).

• Turning the unit on while pressing the SQL key also cancels the alarm.

To turn off the alarm function:

Turn on the unit, enter the Parameter Setting mode again, and select “SCR-OF”.

You can replace the frequency display with a custom name (up to 7 characters) for your stored memory channels.

1. First, make sure you have programmed the memory channel you wish to name.

2. Switch to memory mode and select the channel you want to tag.

3. Enter the set mode by pressing FUNC for more than 2 seconds.

4. Rotate the main dial to find the alphanumeric tag setting. The display will show a flashing character (e.g., [A]).

5. Rotate the main dial to select the first character for your tag. Available characters include A-Z and 0-9.

6. Press the V/M key to enter the character. The character will stop flashing, and the cursor will move to the next position.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 for up to seven characters.

8. To delete all characters during programming, press the [CALL] key.

9. To exit after setting the tag, press one of the following keys: PTT, FUNC, or TS/DCS.

After programming, the alphanumeric tag will be displayed instead of the frequency when in memory mode. To see the frequency temporarily, press FUNC. It will be displayed for 5 seconds.

The ALINCO DR-03T offers several types of scanning to automatically search for signals.

[VFO Scan]

This scan searches through all frequencies based on the preset tuning step.

1. Enter VFO mode.

2. Press and hold the microphone UP or DOWN key, or the front panel MHz key, for more than 1 second but less than 2 seconds to start the scan.

3. The scan stops on a frequency where a signal is detected and resumes according to the scan resume condition set in the Parameter Setting Mode (Timer or Busy).

4. To change scan direction, rotate the main dial. To exit, press any key (other than UP/DOWN).

[Memory Scan]

This scan searches through programmed memory channels.

1. Enter Memory mode.

2. The sequence to start, stop, and change direction is the same as in VFO scan.

[Tone Scan]

This searches for the CTCSS tone on an incoming signal.

1. Press the TS/DCS key to enter CTCSS decode (TSQ) setting mode.

2. Press and hold the UP/DOWN key for more than 1 second but less than 2 seconds to start scanning. It will scan through all 39 tones.

3. The scan stops when the matching tone is detected. The scan will not resume automatically.

[DCS Scan]

This is the same as Tone Scan, but for DCS codes. It searches through all 104 DCS codes.

The key-lock function prevents accidental changes to the transceiver’s settings.

1. Press the FUNC key. The “F” icon will appear on the display.

2. While the “F” icon is displayed, press the TS/DCS key.

3. A key icon will appear on the display, indicating that the lock is active.

With the key-lock function activated, only the following commands can be accessed:

• PTT

• FUNC + TS/DCS (to cancel the key-lock)

• Monitor function (press and hold SQL key)

• Squelch setting (press SQL key)

• UP/DOWN keys on the microphone

The Auto-Dialer can transmit a pre-programmed sequence of DTMF tones, often used for autopatch systems or remote control.

To program tones in the Auto-Dialer memory:

1. Press the FUNC key and the TS/DCS key at the same time to enter the setting mode. The display will show the memory channel (0-9).

2. Use the UP/DOWN keys on the microphone to select one of the ten auto-dial memories.

3. Rotate the main dial to select the first digit (0-9, *, #, or pause [-]), then press the TS/DCS key to enter it. The cursor moves to the right.

4. Repeat the sequence to enter up to 16 digits.

5. To check the entered digits, press FUNC and then rotate the main dial.

6. To delete the sequence, press the CALL key. To exit, press PTT, V/M, MHz, or SQL.

To transmit tones from the Auto-Dialer memory:

1. Press and hold the PTT key to transmit.

2. While transmitting, press the “UP” key on the microphone. The last programmed code will be transmitted.

3. To change which auto-dial memory is transmitted, press FUNC and TS/DCS, then select the desired channel with the UP/DOWN keys before transmitting.

The cable clone feature copies all programmed data and parameters from a master unit to one or more slave units.

Connection:

You will need a cable with 3.5 mm stereo-mini plugs on both ends. Connect the cable between the DATA jacks on both the master and slave units while they are turned off.

Setting the Master unit:

1. Press and hold the FUNC key, then press the CALL key. “CLONE” will be displayed, and the radio enters clone mode.

2. Turn on the slave unit.

3. On the master unit, press the PTT key. “SD***” will be displayed as it sends data to the slave unit.

4. “[PASS]” will appear on the master’s display when the data is successfully transmitted.

5. The master radio can stay on for the next clone. Turn it off to exit clone mode.

Setting the Slave unit:

1. Turn on the slave unit. It should be in a receive mode (VFO or Memory).

2. When it receives the clone data, “LD***” will show on its display.

3. When the transmission is successfully finished, the display will show “[PASS]”.

4. Turn off the slave unit, disconnect the cable, and repeat the sequence for the next slave unit.

If the data is not successfully transmitted (no [PASS] message), turn off both units, check the cable connection, and repeat the entire operation.

Resetting the ALINCO DR-03T will return all programmed contents to their factory default settings. This can sometimes resolve operational problems.

Reset Procedure:

While holding the FUNC key down, turn the power on.

All segments of the LCD will be displayed briefly, and then the default settings will be displayed.

NOTE: Take special care when resetting because all of your programmed settings will be initialized (erased).

Factory Default Settings for DR-03T/DR-M03R:

If you experience problems with your ALINCO DR-03T, please check this list before concluding that the transceiver is faulty. If a problem persists, try resetting the transceiver.

Here are the specifications for the ALINCO DR-03T (DR-M03R model):

General

Transmitter

Receiver

Note: All specifications are subject to change without notice or obligation.