ALINCO DR-06T (01) PDF Document

To ensure safe operation of your ALINCO DR-06T, please adhere to the following precautions:

Environment and condition of use:

• Do not drive while handling the radio. Check local traffic regulations regarding the use of radio equipment while driving.

• Do not use this product in close proximity to other electronic devices, especially medical ones, as it may cause interference.

• Keep the radio out of the reach of children.

• In case of a liquid leak from the product, do not touch it. Rinse with plenty of cold water if the liquid contacts your skin.

• Never operate this product in facilities where radio products are prohibited, such as aboard aircraft, in airports, or in ports.

• Do not use multiple radios in very close proximity to avoid interference and/or damage.

Handling this product:

• Reduce the audio output level to a minimum before using an earphone or headset to prevent hearing damage.

• Do not open the unit without permission from the manufacturer. Unauthorized modification may result in electric shock, fire, or malfunction.

• Do not operate this product in a wet place such as a shower room.

• Do not place the product in a container with conductive materials like water or metal.

• Do not touch the heatsink during or after operation, as it may become very hot.

About the power supply:

• Use only an appropriate, reliable power supply with the correct voltage and capacity.

• Do not connect cables in reverse polarity.

• Do not plug multiple devices into a single wall outlet.

• Do not handle a power supply with wet hands.

• Securely plug the power supply into the wall outlet.

• Do not modify or remove the fuse assembly from the DC cable.

In case of the following situations, please turn off the product, switch off the power source, and then remove or unplug the power cord. Contact your local dealer for service and assistance. Do not use the product until the trouble is resolved.

• When a strange sound, smoke, or strange odor comes from the product.

• When the product is dropped or the case is broken or cracked.

• When a liquid has penetrated inside.

• When a power cord (including DC cables, AC cables, and adapters) is damaged.

For your safety, turn off and remove all related AC lines from the wall outlet if a thunderstorm is likely. For mobile use, turn off the unit, remove the mobile antenna from its base, and keep it in the vehicle if a thunderstorm is likely.

The ALINCO DR-06T transceiver has no protection against lightning. The user is responsible for providing adequate protection.

• If you use the device at home with an outdoor antenna, be aware that it creates a direct path for lightning current (more than 10kA) to the transceiver, whether the device is on or off.

• A vehicle does not present a safe environment during lightning, especially if an outdoor antenna is installed. At the first sight of a forthcoming thunderstorm, move the antenna and its cable into the car.

The manual covers several models. Here is a comparison of their features:

Follow these steps to set up your ALINCO DR-06T as a base station:

1. Connect the supplied microphone to the microphone connector on 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. Connect the transceiver to a 12-13.8VDC negative grounded, regulated power supply capable of providing a continuous current of 12A or more. Connect the red lead of the DC power cable to the positive terminal and the black lead to the negative terminal of the power supply.

4. If desired, connect an external speaker to the external speaker jack on the rear panel.

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

1. Location:

Install the transceiver in a location 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.

2. Installing a Mobile Antenna:

Use a 50 ohm coaxial cable to connect the antenna. Mobile antennas require an appropriate mounting base for proper installation. After installing, ensure you have the best possible SWR reading. Avoid operating in a high RF environment.

3. Installing the Transceiver:

Use the supplied mounting bracket to secure the transceiver in your chosen location. The figure in the manual shows how to attach the bracket using tapping screws and washers.

4. Power Connection:

Ensure your vehicle has a negative-ground, 12VDC electrical system. Connect the provided DC cable directly to the vehicle’s battery terminals (red to positive, black to negative) to minimize ignition noise.

This is an optional feature for the ALINCO DR-06T that requires an optional EDC-36/43 cable. This allows the radio to be controlled by the vehicle’s ignition key.

1. Connect one end of the optional cable to the EXT POWER jack on the rear of the radio.

2. Connect the other end to the vehicle’s ACC terminal or a Cigar-Plug that operates with the ignition switch.

Operation:

• With the radio turned off: When the ignition key is turned to the ACC or ON position, the radio’s power switch will illuminate. You can then press the power switch manually to turn the radio on.

• With the radio turned on: When the ignition key is turned to the ACC or ON position, the radio turns on automatically. Turning the ignition key to OFF will shut down the radio.

After connecting the ALINCO DR-06T to a power supply, you can check the voltage by pressing the SQL key together with the FUNC key. The supply voltage will be shown on the display. The display also shows the voltage during transmission. The transceiver will return to normal operation when it is powered off. The range of the displayed voltage is 7V – 16VDC, and the value is approximate.

These functions are activated after pressing the FUNC key, which causes the ‘F’ icon to appear on the display.

To turn the transceiver on, press the PWR switch. To turn it off, press the PWR switch again. If you are using the optional ignition key feature, you can also turn the unit on and off by turning the vehicle’s ignition key to the ACC/ON or OFF position, respectively.

Audio Volume Level Setting:

Rotate the VOL knob clockwise to increase the audio level and counterclockwise to decrease it. Set it to your desired level.

Squelch Level Setting:

The squelch eliminates background noise when no signal is being received.

1. Press the SQL key. The ‘SQL’ icon will appear on the display, and the current squelch level (0-20) will be shown.

2. Rotate the main dial or use the UP/DOWN keys on the microphone to adjust the squelch to the desired level. A higher setting requires a stronger signal to open the squelch.

3. To exit, press any key on the front panel (or PTT), or wait 5 seconds. The new setting will be stored.

VFO (Variable Frequency Oscillator) mode allows you to change the frequency freely. To enter VFO mode, press the V/M key until the ‘M’ (Memory) and ‘C’ (Call) icons disappear from the display.

Change Frequency by Channel Step:

Rotate the main dial or press the UP/DOWN keys on the microphone to change the frequency according to the pre-selected channel step.

Change Frequency by 1 MHz Step:

For a quick frequency change, press the MHz key. The digits after 100 kHz will disappear. You can then use the main dial or UP/DOWN keys to change the frequency in 1 MHz increments.

1. Ensure the unit is in VFO mode.

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

3. Use the SQL or UP/DOWN keys to navigate to the Channel Step setting menu item (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 setting and exit.

Repeater operation requires setting a shift direction and an offset frequency.

1. Press the F key. The ‘F’ icon will appear on the display.

2. While the ‘F’ icon is displayed, press the MHz key repeatedly to cycle through the shift direction options:

• ‘-‘ icon: Negative shift (transmit frequency is lower than receive).

• ‘+’ icon: Positive shift (transmit frequency is higher than receive).

• No icon: Simplex (transmit and receive on the same frequency).

3. After selecting the shift direction, you can change the offset frequency. With the shift direction and offset frequency displayed, rotate the main dial or use the UP/DOWN keys on the microphone to set the desired offset value (from 0 to 99.995 MHz).

4. To make large changes to the offset frequency, you can press the F key again while in this mode to change the offset in 1 MHz steps.

5. Press PTT or any key except F or MHz to save the settings and return to normal operation.

CTCSS (Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System) and DCS (Digital-Coded Squelch) are used for selective calling.

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

• T (Encode): Transmits a CTCSS tone. A frequency like “88.5” will be displayed.

• TSQ (Encode/Decode): Transmits and receives with CTCSS tone squelch. A frequency and the “TSQ” icon will be displayed.

• DCS (Encode/Decode): Uses a 3-digit DCS code. A code like “023” and the “DCS” icon will be displayed.

• Off: No tone or code is used (the icons disappear).

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) to enter the setting and return to normal operation. The corresponding icon (T, TSQ, or DCS) will remain on the display to indicate the feature is active.

The ALINCO DR-06T has 100 memory channels (0-99), a CALL channel, and a pair of program-scan edge channels (PL/PH).

To program a memory channel:

1. In VFO mode, set the desired frequency, repeater offset, CTCSS/DCS tones, and any other settings you wish to store.

2. Press the FUNC key. The ‘F’ icon will appear.

3. A memory channel number and a flashing ‘M’ icon will appear on the display. Rotate the main dial or use the UP/DOWN keys to select the memory channel you want to program. An empty channel will show a flashing ‘M’ icon; a previously programmed channel will show a stable ‘M’ icon.

4. While the ‘F’ icon is still displayed, press the MW (V/M/MW) key. A beep will sound, and the settings will be copied to the selected memory channel.

To use Memory Mode:

Press the V/M key to switch between VFO and Memory mode. In Memory mode, the ‘M’ icon and the channel number will be displayed. Rotate the main dial or use the UP/DOWN keys to select your pre-programmed channels.

To delete a memory channel:

1. In Memory mode, select the channel you wish to delete.

2. Press the FUNC key, then press the MW key while the ‘F’ icon is displayed. The memory will be deleted, and the ‘M’ icon will start flashing.

Memory channels (0-99 and CALL channel) on the ALINCO DR-06T can store the following data:

• Frequency

• Shift frequency (offset)

• Shift direction (+/-)

• CTCSS tone (both encode and decode)

• Tone Squelch (TSQ) setting

• DCS code (both encode and decode)

• Scan skip channel setting

• Busy Channel Lock Out setting

• Normal/Narrow FM width (DR-06T only)

• Priority monitoring frequency (PC programming required)

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

1. To program the CALL channel, follow the memory programming steps and select channel ‘C’.

2. To access the CALL channel from any other mode, simply press the CALL key. The ‘C’ icon will appear on the display.

3. In CALL mode, you cannot change the frequency or memory channel. Scan functions are also unavailable.

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

1. Select the desired frequency. Ensure you are authorized to operate on this frequency and that it is not currently in use.

2. Select the output power level. Press the FUNC key, then press the CALL/H/L key while the ‘F’ icon is displayed. This will cycle the power through 3 levels:

• LOW: ‘Lo’ icon appears.

• MEDIUM: ‘Mi’ icon appears.

• HIGH: No icon appears.

3. Press and hold the PTT (Push-To-Talk) key on the microphone to transmit. The TX light indicator will light up, and the S-meter will show relative power output. Speak into the microphone.

4. Release the PTT key to receive.

Note: If operating from a vehicle, avoid transmitting for extended periods without the engine running to prevent battery drainage.

The Parameter Setting Mode allows you to change various operational settings of the radio.

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

2. Use the SQL key or the microphone UP/DOWN keys to select the menu item you wish to change (e.g., BEEP-ON, TOT-OFF, etc.).

3. Rotate the main dial to select the desired setting for that menu item.

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 or UP/DOWN to exit the Parameter mode. (Note: For the Alphanumeric Tag setting, only PTT, FUNC, MHz, and TS/DCS keys will exit).

The following parameters can be adjusted in the setting mode:

• STP (Channel Step): Sets the tuning step for VFO mode.

• TIMER (Scan Type): Sets the scan resume condition to either Time scan (resumes after 5 seconds) or Busy scan (resumes when signal drops).

• BEEP: Turns the keypress beep sound ON or OFF.

• TOT (Time-Out-Timer): Prohibits transmission after a set time (up to 450 seconds) to prevent accidental long transmissions.

• TP (TOT Penalty): Prohibits another transmission for a set period (up to 15 seconds) after a TOT shutdown.

• APO (Auto-Power-Off): Automatically shuts off the transceiver after 30 minutes of inactivity.

• TB (Tone-Burst Frequency): Selects the tone-burst frequency (1750, 2100, 1000, 1450 Hz) for accessing certain repeaters.

• BCLO (Busy-Channel-Lock-Out): Prohibits transmission when a signal is being received on the frequency.

• SCR (Theft Alarm): Activates the theft alarm function (ON, OFF, or DLY-Delay).

• Alphanumeric Channel Tag: Allows you to set a name for memory channels.

• LAMP (Dimmer): Adjusts the LCD illumination between High (H) and Low (L) (DR-06T only).

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

1. Enter Memory mode and select the channel you want to name.

2. Enter the set mode by pressing and holding the FUNC key.

3. Navigate to the alphanumeric tag setting menu item. The display will show a flashing character (e.g., [A]).

4. Rotate the main dial to select the first character for your tag.

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

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 to enter up to seven characters.

7. To delete all characters during programming, press the CALL key.

8. When finished, press one of the following keys to exit: PTT, FUNC, or TS/DCS.

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

The ALINCO DR-06T has several types of scanning. To start any scan, 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. The direction of the scan can be changed by rotating the main dial or using the UP/DOWN keys.

• VFO Scan: Scans all VFO channels according to the preset tuning step. Start the scan while in VFO mode.

• Memory Scan: Scans all programmed memory channels. Start the scan while in Memory mode. Channels can be skipped by setting the “Memory Skip” feature (In Memory mode, select channel, press FUNC then V/M. A decimal point will appear).

• Program Scan: A type of VFO scan that only scans between frequencies programmed into the special PH (high) and PL (low) memory channels. Set the VFO to a frequency within this range and then start the scan. “P” will flash on the display.

• Tone Scan: Automatically searches for the CTCSS tone on an incoming signal. Enter CTCSS decode (TSQ) setting mode, then start the scan. The radio will scan through the 39 available tones.

• DCS Scan: Automatically searches for the DCS code on an incoming signal. Enter DCS setting mode, then start the scan. The radio will scan through the 104 available codes.

To stop any scan, press any key (other than UP/DOWN keys).

The Key-Lock function prevents accidental changes to your settings.

1. Press the FUNC key. The ‘F’ icon will appear.

2. While the ‘F’ icon is displayed, press the TS/DCS key.

3. The key-lock icon will appear on the display, and most keys will be locked.

While key-lock is active, you can still use the PTT key, monitor function (holding SQL), adjust squelch, and use the UP/DOWN keys.

To cancel the key-lock function, repeat the same sequence: Press FUNC, then press TS/DCS.

This function is available on the DR-06T model only.

1. Press and hold the FUNC key.

2. While holding the FUNC key, press the MHz key.

3. The “Nar” icon will appear on the LCD display, indicating the transceiver is in NARROW mode. In this mode, microphone gain and modulation are reduced.

4. To return to WIDE mode (normal operation), repeat the same sequence. The “Nar” icon will disappear.

The auto-dialer can store and transmit sequences of DTMF tones, useful 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.

2. Use the microphone UP/DOWN keys to select one of the ten auto-dial memories (0-9).

3. Rotate the main dial to select the first digit, then press the TS/DCS key to enter it. The cursor will move to the right.

4. Repeat step 3 to program up to 16 digits. You can use numbers 0-9, *, #, and [-] for a pause.

5. To delete, press the CALL key. Press PTT, V/M, MHz, or SQL keys to exit and return to the original status.

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 DTMF code will be transmitted.

3. To select a different auto-dial memory for transmission, press FUNC and TS/DCS, then select the desired channel with the UP/DOWN keys.

This 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.

Setting the Master unit:

1. With the radio on, press the CALL key while holding the FUNC key. “CLONE” will be displayed.

2. Press the PTT key. “SD***” will be displayed as the data is sent to the slave unit.

3. “[PASS]” will appear on the display when the data is successfully transmitted.

Setting the Slave unit:

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

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

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

4. Turn off the power on the slave unit, disconnect the cable, and repeat the process for the next slave unit.

If cloning fails, turn off both units, check the cable, and restart the process. A failed clone may require the slave unit to be reset.

Resetting the transceiver will return all programmed contents to their original factory default settings. Take special care, as all your settings will be initialized.

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.

Factory Default Settings:

Please check the following list before concluding that the transceiver is faulty. If a problem persists, resetting the transceiver can sometimes correct erroneous operation.