Icom Ic-r3 Communications Reciever Instruction Manual

							INSTRUCTION MANUAL
This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC rules. Operation is sub-
ject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause
harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference
received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.
iR3
COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVER  
						

							i
FOREWORD
READ ALL INSTRUCTIONScarefully and completely
before using the receiver.
SAVE THIS INSTRUCTION MANUAL—This in-
struction manual contains important operating instructions for
the IC-R3.
EXPLICIT DEFINITIONS
The explicit definitions below apply to this instruction manual.
CAUTIONS
RWARNING! NEVERoperate the receiver with a head-
set or other audio accessories at high volume levels. Hearing
experts advise against continuous high volume operation. If
you experience a ringing in your ears, reduce the volume
level or discontinue use.
AVOID using or placing the receiver in direct sunlight or in
areas with temperatures below –10°C (+14°F) or above
+60°C (+140°F).
Even when the receiver power is OFF, a slight current still
flows in the circuits. Remove batteries from the receiver when
not using it for a long time, otherwise, the installed batteries
will become exhausted.
REMOVEany cables from the [DC 6V] jack after operation or
charging a battery pack.
LCDs are produced using high-density manufacturing tech-
nology resulting in 99.98% active dots, however, up to 0.02%
of the dots may be non-active and/or continuously active. This
is normal and does not indicate LCD malfunction.
For U.S.A. only
CAUTION:Changes or modifications to this device, not ex-
pressly approved by Icom Inc., could void your authority to
operate this device under FCC regulations.
WORD
R WARNING
CAUTION
NOTE
DEFINITION
Personal injury, fire hazard or electric 
shock may occur.
If disregarded, inconvenience only. No risk 
of personal injury, fire or electric shock. Equipment damage may occur.
Versions of the IC-R3 which display the “CE” symbol on the serial
number seal, comply with the essential requirements of the Euro-
pean Radio and Telecommunication Terminal Directive 1999/5/EC. 
						

							ii
SUPPLIED ACCESSORIES
Accessories included with the receiver: Qty.
qAntenna (FA-B03RE) ...................................................... 1
wBelt clip  ........................................................................... 1
eBattery spacer  ................................................................ 1
rBattery pack* (BP-206) ................................................... 1
tWall charger* (BC-136A/D)  ............................................ 1
* Not supplied with some versions.
OPERATING THEORY
Electromagnetic radiation which has frequencies of 20,000
Hz (20 kHz*) and above is called radio frequency (RF) energy
because it is useful in radio transmissions. The IC-R3 re-
ceives RF energy from 0.495 MHz* to 2450.00 MHz and con-
verts it into audio frequency (AF) energy which in turn
actuates a loudspeaker to create sound waves. AF energy is
in the range of 20 to 20,000 Hz.
* kHz is an abbreviation of kilohertz or 1000 hertz, MHz is abbrevia-
tion of megahertz or 1,000,000 hertz, where hertz is a unit of fre-
quency.
OPERATING NOTES
The IC-R3 may receive its own oscillated frequency, resulting
in no reception or only noise reception, on some frequencies.
The IC-R3 may receive interference from extremely strong
signals on different frequencies or when using an external
high-gain antenna.
qw e
t r 
						

							1 ACCESSORY ATTACHMENT ............ 1
2 PANEL DESCRIPTION .................. 2 – 6
Panel description  ............................. 2
Function display  ............................... 4
Dual LCD  ......................................... 6
3 FREQUENCY AND CHANNEL
SETTING ....................................... 7 – 9
VFO and memory channels  ............. 7
Operating band selection  ................. 7
Setting a frequency  .......................... 8
Setting a tuning step  ........................ 8
Selecting a memory channel  ........... 9
Lock function .................................... 9
Attenuator function ........................... 9
4 BASIC OPERATION .................. 10 – 13
Receiving ....................................... 10
Setting volume level  ....................... 11
Setting squelch level  ...................... 11
Monitor function  ............................. 12
Receive mode selection ................. 12
Display backlighting  ....................... 13
5 MEMORY CHANNELS ............... 14 – 17
General .......................................... 14
Programming during selection  ....... 14
Programming after selection  .......... 15
Transferring memory contents to
another memory ............................. 15Memory bank selection  .................. 16
Memory clear  ................................. 16
Memory names  .............................. 17
6 SCAN OPERATION  ................... 18 – 24
Scan types  ..................................... 18
Full/band/programmed scan  .......... 19
Memory (bank) scan  ...................... 20
Selecting scan edges ..................... 21
Skip channel setting ....................... 22
Scan resume condition  .................. 22
Frequency skip function  ................. 24
7 PRIORITY WATCH .................... 25 – 27
Priority watch types ........................ 25
Priority watch operation  ................. 26
8 SUBAUDIBLE TONE 
OPERATION .............................. 28 – 30
Tone squelch operation .................. 28
Pocket beep operation  ................... 29
Tone scan  ...................................... 30
9 DUPLEX OPERATION  .............. 31 – 32
10 BAND SCOPE  .................................. 33
11 TV OPERATION  ........................ 34 – 36
TV operation  .................................. 34
ATV operation  ................................ 36
12 DIRECTION FINDING  ...................... 3713 OTHER FUNCTIONS  ................ 38 – 45
Set mode  ....................................... 38
Dial select step  .............................. 39
Beep tones ..................................... 40
Auto power-off function  .................. 40
Power saver  ................................... 41
Monitor switch action  ..................... 41
Dial speed acceleration  ................. 42
Lock function effect  ........................ 42
Display mode selection  .................. 43
Display contrast  ............................. 43
Display brightness  ......................... 44
Display background color  .............. 44
Cloning function  ............................. 45
Partial reset .................................... 45
Total reset  ...................................... 45
14 BATTERY CHARGING .............. 46 – 47
Battery cautions  ............................. 46
Battery charging ............................. 46
15 OPERATION FLOW CHART ...... 48 – 49
16 TV FREQUENCY TABLE  ........... 50 – 53
17 SPECIFICATIONS AND 
OPTIONS ................................... 54 – 55
18 TROUBLESHOOTING ..................... 56
19 QUICK REFERENCE  ................. 57 – 58
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
						

							1
1ACCESSORY ATTACHMENT
◊Antenna
Insert the supplied antenna into the an-
tenna connector and screw down the an-
tenna as shown at right.
Keepthe jack cover attached when jack
is not in use to avoid bad contacts from
dust and moisture.
Commercially available antennas (BNC)
may increase receiver performance.
◊Battery installation
qRemove the battery
cover from the receiver.
wFor alkaline battery use,
attach the supplied bat-
tery spacer.
eInstall 3 R6 (AA) size al-
kaline batteries or Li-Ion
battery pack (BP-206; p.
46).
•Be sure to observe the cor-
rect polarity.
•Charge Li-Ion battery pack
before use.
Keep battery contacts clean. It’s a good idea to clean bat-
tery terminals once a week.
◊Belt clip
Conveniently attaches to
your belt.
Slide the belt clip into the
plastic loop on the back
of the receiver.
◊Handstrap (not supplied from Icom)
Slide a commercially available handstrap through the loop on
the side of the receiver or belt clip as illustrated below. Facil-
itates carrying.
qw
e 
						

							Panel description
qANTENNA CONNECTOR(p. 1)
Connects the supplied antenna.wFUNCTION SWITCH [FUNC]
While pushing this switch, other switches and tuning dial
perform secondary functions.
•“Push [FUNC] + a switch” means “while pushing the [FUNC]
switch, push the switch” as indicated by the mark e.g. [↕] etc.
eMULTI FUNCTION SWITCH [MULTI]
➥Push [↕] to adjust the audio level. (p. 11)
➥Push [FUNC] + [↕] to toggle between AM TV (frequency
selection), amateur TV (ATV-type) and WFM/FM/AM
modes when the color LCD is OFF. (p. 34)
➥Push [FUNC] + [↕] for 2 sec. to toggle the color LCD ON
and OFF (p. 6, 30 MHz and above only).
➥Push [FUNC] + [↕] to select color LCD function when the
color LCD is ON. (p. 6)
➥Push [↔] to select the operating band (VHF, UHF, etc.)
in VFO mode. (p. 7)
•Broadcast, HF, 50 MHz, FM broadcast, VHF avionics, 144
MHz, 300 MHz, 400 MHz, 800 MHz, 1200 MHz, 2400 MHz
and TV bands (channel selection) can be selected.
➥Push [FUNC] + [↔] to select the dial select step. (p. 39)
➥Push [↔] for 2 sec. to start a scan. (pgs. 19, 20)
➥Push [FUNC] + [↔] for 2 sec. to start a tone scan. (p.
30)
Push [↕] means push óup or down; and 
push [↔] means
push óleft or right
.
rPOWER SWITCH [POWER]
Push for 2 sec. to toggle the receiver power ON and OFF.
2
2PANEL DESCRIPTION
q
w
e
r
t
y u i o Color LCD 
(p. 6)
Sub LCD 
(p. 4)
SPEAKER!0 !1 
						

							3
2PANEL DESCRIPTION
tVFO/MEMORY SWITCH [V/M (SKIP)]
➥Push [V/M] to toggle between VFO and memory modes.
(p. 7)
➥Push [V/M] for 1 sec. to enter memory write mode.
➥Push [V/M] for 2 sec. to write the operating frequency
into the selected memory channel in VFO mode. Keep
pushing for 2 sec. or more to automatically select the
next memory channel, if desired. (p. 14)
➥Push [FUNC] + [(V/M) SKIP] to toggle the frequency skip
function ON or OFF in VFO mode. (p. 24)
➥Push [FUNC] + [(V/M) SKIP] to toggle the channel as
skip, program skip or non-skip channel in memory
mode. (p. 22)
➥Push [FUNC] + [(V/M) SKIP] for 2 sec. to program the
memory name while displaying the memory channel in
the color LCD. (p. 17)
yMODE SWITCH [MODE (SET)]
➥Push [MODE] to select the receive mode. (p. 12)
➥Push and hold [MODE] to enter tuning step setting con-
dition and rotate the tuning dial to select the tuning step.
(p. 8)
➥Push [FUNC] + [(MODE) SET] to enter set mode. (p. 38)
➥Push [FUNC] + [(MODE) SET] for 2 sec. to toggle the
lock function ON and OFF. (pgs. 9, 24)
uMONITOR SWITCH [SQL (ATT)]
➥Push and hold to temporarily open the squelch and
monitor the operating frequency. (pgs. 12, 41)➥While pushing [SQL], rotate the tuning dial to set the
squelch threshold level. (p. 11)
➥Push [FUNC] + [(SQL) ATT] to enter the attenuator set-
ting condition and rotate the tuning dial to set the atten-
uation level. (p. 9)
iEXTERNAL DC POWER JACK [DC 6V]
Allows charging of the BP-206 using the BC-136A/D wall
charger, or using an optional CP-18A/E cigarette lighter cable.
oAUDIO AND VIDEO OUTPUT JACK [A/V OUT]
Outputs a composite video and audio signals. (p. 5)
!0TUNING DIAL [DIAL]
➥Rotate [DIAL] to set operating frequencies, memory
channels, set mode contents, etc. (pgs. 7, 38)
➥While scanning, changes the scanning direction. (p. 19)
➥While pushing [SQL], sets the squelch level. (p. 11)
➥
While pushing [FUNC], sets the operating frequency in 100
kHz, 1 MHz or 10 MHz steps in VFO mode. (pgs. 8, 39)
➥While pushing [FUNC], sets the memory bank in mem-
ory mode. (p. 16)
➥While pushing [↔], selects programmed scan bank or
memory bank in VFO or memory mode, respectively.
Release [↔] to start the scan. (pgs. 19, 20)
!1EXTERNAL SPEAKER JACK [SP]
Connects an optional earphone or headphone. The inter-
nal speaker will not function when any external equipment
is connected. (See p. 55 for a list of available options.) 
						

							4
2PANEL DESCRIPTION
Function display
qRECEIVE MODE INDICATORS(p. 12)
Show the receive mode.
•AM, FM and WFM are available.
wDUPLEX INDICATORS(p. 31)
Appear when semi-duplex operation (repeater operation)
is in use.
•“–DUP” appears when minus duplex is selected; “DUP” only, ap-
pears when plus duplex is selected.
eTONE INDICATORS(p. 28)
➥“TSQL” appears when the tone squelch function is acti-
vated and “TSQLë” appears during pocket beep oper-
ation.
➥“ë” flashes when the correct tone is received during
pocket beep operation.
rPRIORITY WATCH INDICATOR(p. 25)
Appears when priority watch is in use.
tFREQUENCY READOUT
Shows the operating frequency, set mode contents, etc.
•The smaller “75,” “50” and “25” to the right of the readout indi-
cate 7.5, 5.0 and 2.5 kHz, respectively.
•The decimal point of the frequency flashes during scan.
yMEMORY CHANNEL READOUT(p. 7)
Shows the memory channel number, 8 memory banks
(A–H), etc.
•The 1st digit (A–H) of regular memory indicates memory bank.
•‘tV0’to ‘tV9’indicate AM TV memory channels. (p. 35)
•‘t00’to ‘t49’indicate FM TV memory channels. (p. 36)
•Suffix ‘A’and ‘b’indicate scan edge memory channels.
uMEMORY MODE INDICATOR(p. 7)
Appears when a memory channel is selected.
AM FM DUPW
P
ATT RXPRIO75
50
25TSQL
qwe
ur
y t
!0 o !1 !2
i 
						

							5
2PANEL DESCRIPTION
iSKIP SCAN INDICATOR(pgs. 22, 24)
➥“” appears when the selected memory channel is set
as a skip channel in memory mode.
➥“P” shows that the skip frequency function is turned
ON or OFF in VFO mode.
➥“P” appears when the selected memory channel is set
to be skipped during VFO scan (full, band and pro-
grammed scan) in memory mode.
oBATTERY INDICATORS
➥Both segments appear when the batteries have enough
capacity.
➥Only the right segment appears when the batteries are
nearing exhaustion.
•“Low V” appears when battery replacement is necessary and
the color LCD is ON.
•The U.S.A. version automatically turns itself OFF when the re-
ceiver detects that battery replacement is necessary.
!0S (SIGNAL) INDICATORS
Show the relative signal strength while receiving.
!1BUSY INDICATOR
“RX” appears when receiving a signal or when the squelch
is open.!2ATTENUATOR INDICATOR(p. 9)
Appears when the attenuator function is in use.
•Audio and video output jack information
•Video output impedance : 75 Ω, 1 V p-p typical
•Audio output impedance : 1 kΩ, 300 mV rms typical
AudioAudio
[A/V OUT]3-conductor 
3.5 (d) mm (
1⁄8˝)
connector
VideoVideoTelevision
GroundGround
To [A/V OUT] 
						

							6
2PANEL DESCRIPTION
Dual LCD
The receiver has dual LCDs for versatile display selection.
The color LCD has 5 screens and 1 optional screen as fol-
lows: 
simple, multi-function, band scope, direction finding, TV (fre-
quency selection) and amateur TV* screen.
* Amateur TV screen can be selected for the ATV-type and
1200/2400 MHz bands only.
The color LCD can be used when the operating frequency
is 30 MHz and above.
qPush [FUNC] + [↕] for 2 sec. to turn the color LCD ON, if
desired.
wPush [FUNC] + [↕] momentarily one or more times to tog-
gle the screen of the color LCD.
While the color LCD is in use, the sub LCD displays the
voltage of the power source.
RX
Appears when simple screen is selected.
VOLRX
FM PSKIP
146.100.000
TS15.0  
S1 3 5 7 9
FM PSKIP
146.100.000
15.0   TS
FMPSKIP
146.100.000
15.0  
TS
FMPSKIP146.100.000TS= 15.0  SWEEP- 10K S1 3 5 7 9 
RXVOL
FUNC+
momentarily
Direction finding
screen (p. 37) Simple screen 
ATV screen (p. 36; ATV type, 1200/2400 MHz bands only)
TV screen (p. 34;
frequency selection)Multi-function
screen
Band scope
screen (p. 33)