AOR AR8600m Receiver Manual

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(5)  Memory channels & banks
It is convenient to store commonly used frequencies into a memory channel along with mode etc, this
saves having to key the data in over and over again.  Memory read is very straightforward and quick
when compared to retyping all data.
5-1  Memory channel overview
Think of memory channels as pages in a notebook each of which is numbered to identify it.  Data may
be written to each new page (memory channel) and each page may be overwritten with new data, they
can be used over and over again.  The AR8600 has 1,000 memory channels in addition to 10 ‘quick
memory’ channels and a priority channel.
Each memory channel may hold:
l
  one frequency
l  receive mode
l  tuning step
l  step-adjust
l  frequency offset
l  attenuator setting
l  noise limiter status
l  AFC status
l  pass status
l  write protect
l  text comment of up to 12 characters
The alphanumeric comment may be used to ease identification at a later date and to provide text search
facilities.
The 1,000 memory channels are divided into 20 banks, each initially having 50 channels.  The memory
banks are identified by letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J  (upper case letters) and a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j
(lower case letters) and initially numbered from 00 to 49.
Examples are “A00” for the first channel location in memory bank “A” and “A49” for the last memory
channel in memory bank “A”.  “e15” is the location of memory bank “e” (lower case) channel “15”.
During the manufacture and testing of the receiver, various test frequencies may be entered into the
receiver’s memory banks so the memory locations may not be completely blank.
&Note: Where memory channels and banks are empty the indication “- - -” is often displayed.
The stored data may be quickly and easily recalled, changed or deleted using the memory recall, edit
and delete facilities.
&Note:  It is suggested that one or two frequencies be held in each memory bank
to make the recalling and scrolling of memory banks fluent, if no data is stored, the
AR8600 may take up to 5 or 6 seconds to respond when attempting to change memory
bank while the CPU checks for data.
Section 5, 5-1 
						

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Auto-store
When shipped from the factory, memory bank “J” is reserved for auto-store of memory channels
from search mode.  This is a useful facility to quickly build a list of active frequencies.  Please refer
to 
section 8-7-5 of this manual for further information regarding AUTO-STORE.
Dynamic memory bank resizing
The lettered memory banks are regarded as a ‘pair’ making a total of 100 memory channels per bank,
initially equally divided between the upper and lower case letters.  It is however possible to reallocate
the 100 channels in blocks of 10 channels between the same letters A/a, B/b, C,c etc  This means that
the initial 50/50 may be reallocated as 60/40, 70/30, 80/20, 90/10, or 10/90, 20/80, 30/70, 40/60.  This
‘dynamic’ memory reallocation can be useful to optimise the memory layout where a large or small
collection of frequencies need to be monitored without unnecessarily wasting memory banks with just a
few channels occupied.
Write protect
It is possible to write protect individual memory channels to prevent accidental deletion, whole memory
banks and a ‘global’ write protect facility are also available.
Memory backup
The data contents of memory and search banks are held in an flash-ROM so that no backup battery or
capacitor is required for memory retention.
&Note: When the AR8600 is switched OFF, all VFO data will be automatically stored.
Should the NiCads (or dry batteries if in use) become completely exhausted, the last stored
memory channel or last VFO data ‘may’ be lost if the AR8600 is not powered-down using the
 key and insufficient power is available to save the data.
5-2  Storing VFO frequencies & data into memoryIt is possible to save frequencies to the ten quick memories for simple recalling but for longer-term
storage, the 1,000 main memory channels offer a better and more flexible system.
The process to save a displayed VFO frequency to memory is as follows:
a) In VFO mode, select the required frequency, mode, attenuator etc
b) 
  to initiate memory write
c) Use the keypad, main dial or ïðñò keys to select the desired memory location
   (BANK and CHANNEL)
d) Add a text comment (optional) or delete an existing comment
e) Add memory channel write protect (optional)
f) Exit the menu to save the data to the specified memory location
Lets assume that you wish to store the frequency of 123.500 MHz
(with the attenuator off, noise limiter off, AFC off) into memory bank
“E” location “25” (E25) while in VFO mode with the text comment of
“AIRBAND”.  If a mistake is made during programming, 
the  key to abort entry and return to 2VFO mode.
a) Start by selecting VFO mode then key in the frequency of
123.500 MHz, “mode and step size” are set to the default auto
“AUT” - if not use the key sequence 
 
 
Section 5-1, 5-2 
						

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  to place the AR8600 into VFO mode.
         
  to select the desired frequency, the mode and step size will be automatically set by
the AR8600 microprocessor.
b)  the  key for more than one second to enter ‘memory input’ mode.
One line up from the bottom of the LCD will be the legend
“M-WRITE” with the highlight cursor positioned to the left of the
bank identification letter such as “j”.  The microprocessor will
automatically select the youngest free memory location.
c) You may change the bank identifier at this time by pushing the
ï ð keys or by typing in a three digit memory location using the
numeric keypad.
You will notice that to the right of the keypad numbers, there are
small orange letters which are bank identifiers, available memory
locations are A - J and a - j.  Key 1 is “A”, key 2 is “B” etc, ignore
the letters K - T as these are used in search mode only.  The lower
case bank identifiers may be accessed pushing the CASE SHIFT
key 
Remember, if you take too long entering data (90 seconds)
 the display will revert to it’s original condition of 2VFO mode,
if you are selecting the memory location via a three digit
key sequence, you only have 2 seconds before the keypad
times-out!
Assuming that you wish to store 123.500 MHz into “E25” 
 to select bank “E” then select the channel, 
   for “25”.  If any data is already stored
in location “E25”, the bottom line of the LCD will flash with the
stored frequency.  You may accept & store the data (by pushing
 or add a text comment at this point (see below).
d) To add the text comment “AIRBAND”,  ò then use the
main dial to select the text and the ï ð keys to move position of
text input.
A maximum of 12 characters may be added to each memory
channel, it is recommended that a minimum of three be used for
efficient use of the text search feature (a minimum of 2 characters
are required for text search).  Refer to 
section 12 of this manual for
details of text search and section 13-2 for short cut text input).
Section 5-2 
						

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If the memory location has been used previously and a text comment is displayed,   to
delete the existing comment.
&Note: It is possible to use keypad short cuts to select text characters, please refer to
section 13-2 of this manual for further details.
You may accept the new frequency and text comment “AIRBAND” by pushing 
 or you may add
memory channel write protect (see below).
e) To add the memory channel write protect,  ò to access the “PROTECT” menu, the default is
off.  
  to toggle the status to “ON”.
To accept the input and store the data to the specified location, 
 .  The display will
revert to 2VFO mode.
&Important note: It is suggested that you do not use the write protect facility until you are
familiar with the operation of the AR8600 as it will prevent certain functions being carried out
at a future time.
5-2-1  Another example of memory write
Let’s assume that you wish to store the frequency of 433.000 MHz auto-mode into memory location
“d10” with the text comment of “70cm”.
a)   to place the AR8600 into VFO mode
        to select the desired
frequency.
b)   to initiate ‘memory input’ mode.
c) Select the bank by pushing the ï ð keys and using the main dial for channel number, or by typing
in a three character memory address using the numeric keypad.
Assuming that you wish to store 433.000 MHz into “d10” 
  which acts as the CASE
SHIFT key to select the lower case banks then 
  to select bank lower case “d”.  Next
select the channel 
    for “10”.  If any data is already stored in
location “d10”, the bottom line of the LCD will flash with the stored frequency.
You need to carry out this key sequence fluently within 2 seconds or the bank location will time out.
The 2 second time out does not apply when the bank and channel are selected using the main dial
and ï ð keys.
Section 5-2, 5-2-1 
						

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To recap:
       
Once the three digit memory location has been selected, the 2 second keypad time-out does not apply
to the rest of the sequence.
d) To add the text comment “70cm”,  ò then use the main dial to select the text and the
ï ð keys to move position of text input.  To accept the new frequency and text comment “70cm”,
 , if you wish to add write protect  ò to access the PROTECT menu.
&Note: If the memory location has been previously used and a text comment is displayed,
   to delete the existing comment.
e) In the write protect menu,   to toggle the status
to “ON”, the default is off.
To accept the input and store the data to the specified location,
 .  The display will revert to 2VFO mode.
5-2-2  Automatic memory allocation
When you   to start the memory write sequence, the AR8600 will initially offer the first
available empty memory location which has no data stored in it.  
  to accept the
channel offered or choose another location as described in the previous sections.  Alternatively you may
 the ò key to add a text comment then complete memory write by pushing .  If the
AR8600 has to look through many full memory channels before an empty channel is located, the
message “MEM WRITE SEARCH BLANK CH” may be briefly displayed.
5-3  Memory write protect
As indicated in section 5-2, it is possible to write protect memory contents to ensure that important
memory channels are not accidentally overwritten.  It is important to remember that by write protecting a
memory channel, it may prevent certain facilities from being used (such as over-writing the memory
channel or copying / swapping memory data to it).
The memory protect status may be assigned as the last stage of memory write (as per 
section 5-2 of
this manual) or toggled on/off using the memory channel EDIT facility, refer to section 9-6 of this manual
regarding memory channel EDIT facilities, in particular MEMORY PROTECT.
It is also possible to write protect a whole memory bank, this prevents accidental deletion of data when
resizing memory banks.
Section 5-2-1, 5-2-2, 5-3 
						

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The memory bank write protect may be toggled on/off using the SCAN environment menu accessed by
the key sequence 
    followed by four pushes of the ò key.
 the  to toggle bank select on/off and   to accept the changes and
exit the menu.  Please refer to 
section 7-8-6 of this manual for details on MEMORY BANK write
PROTECT.
&Note: Memory channel write protect prevents accidental over-writing and deletion of specific
memory channels but does not prevent loss of data due to memory resizing or when using the
optional external memory slot card.
5-4  Memory read “M.RD”
Once frequency and mode data has been stored into a memory location, its retrieval is quick and simple.
Let’s assume that you wish to retrieve the frequency of 123.500 MHz which has been programmed into
to memory “E25” during an earlier example in the preceding 
section 5-2 of this manual.
  to place the receiver into memory read mode, the legend “M.RD” appears toward
the top left of the LCD to confirm operation. The AR8600 will monitor whatever memory channel first
appears when you enter memory read.
The AR8600 will display memory channel, mode, frequency, tuning step, text comment (if one was
used), attenuator status, noise limiter status and  AFC status.  The memory channel last used (for
memory write or recall) will initially be displayed, If the desired memory channel is not immediately
displayed it may be recalled by keying in the required three digit location.
To recall memory channel “E25” 
     
(there is no need to push enter).
The “BANK/CH SEL” legend automatically appears
when the first key is pushed to remind you that you
are recalling memory channels in memory read
mode.  Keypad memory recall requires a three digit
location, one letter for the bank and two numbers for
the channel.  If you hesitate for more that 2 seconds
while recalling memory channels via the keypad the
sequence will time out, for more leisurely memory
recall use the ï ð ñ ò keys.
To recall memory “b06” the CASE SHIFT key needs to be used to access the lower case bank,
        (there is no need to push
enter).  If you attempt to recall a memory which has no valid data (because it is blank) the next valid
memory channel will be displayed instead.  Blank memory channels are ignored.
Section 5-3, 5-4 
						

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5-4-1  Memory channel review / hunt
From VFO mode   to enter memory read “M.RD” mode.
The main dial may be rotated or the ñ ò keys pushed to review, hunt for and select memory channels
one by one, channels with no data stored will be skipped.  
 the ï ð keys to move between
memory banks one by one.
&Important note: It is suggested that each memory bank be
programmed with at least one memory channel otherwise the
AR8600 may appear 
slow or sluggish when recalling banks
as the CPU has to check all memory channels for valid data, this is
particularly noticeable if jumping between bank “A” and “j”
(opposite ends of the AR8600 memory map).
Memory read using the main dial and ï ð ñ ò keys is useful for reviewing
memory contents and hunting for a specific channel if you forget where you
stored it!  Should you know the number of the required memory channel, the
keypad method of memory recall will be much faster.  The AR8600 will
monitor whichever memory channel is displayed in memory read “M.RD”
mode.
It is also possible to hunt for memory channels using the TEXT SEARCH
facility, please refer to section 12-2 of this manual for further details.
5-5  Deleting memory channels
It is possible to over-write a memory channel with new data, edit the contents of a memory channel or
delete the channel entirely.  When in memory read mode, use the key sequence 
 
  to access the “MEM DELETE” menu.  The LCD menu invites you to “PUSH ENTER”
to delete the current memory channel, 
  to delete it or   to abort.
When deleted, the AR8600 increments to the next memory channel which contains data.  It is also
possible to delete whole memory banks in one go using the DELETE menu.  Please refer to the
section 10-3 of this manual relating to memory bank DELETE options.
5-5-1  Memory channel editing
It is possible to copy, move, swap and edit memory channels to assist the management of data.
Please refer to section 9 of this manual regarding the EDIT menu.
Section 5-4-1, 5-5, 5-5-1 
						

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5-5-2  Adding text names to memory banks
To assist with memory management and identification, memory banks can be named.  The SCAN BANK
menu is used to add or edit memory bank names.
To access the SCAN BANK menu 
   .  The LCD will initially display
the legend “M-BANK”, the currently selected memory bank ‘pair’ (i.e. D/d or A/a or C/c etc) and the
current size allocation for the bank displayed i.e. B:50  b:50 for memory bank “B/b” with the allocation
of 50 channels for “B” and 50 channels for “b”, this split of 50/50 being the default.
Use the main dial, ï ð keys or numeric keypad to select the required bank you
wish to add a name to.  
 the ò key to move to the “BANK TEXT” menu.
Use the ñ ò keys to move between upper and lower bank identifiers, add text
using the main dial and ï ð keys or use the keypad.  To save the data and exit the
menu 
 .
5-6  Transfer of memory channel to VFO
While in memory read, should you wish to tune away from the memory channel and benefit from not
having to re-enter the frequency, mode etc, the data may be quickly transferred from memory to ‘VFO’
mode.
To transfer memory channel data to VFO simply 
 .  The LCD will display the legend
“VFO” along with receive frequency, receive mode, tuning step size and other relevant information such
as attenuator, noise limiter and AFC status.  You may monitor the frequency or tune away from it using
the main dial or ï ð ñ ò keys.
5-7  Dynamic memory bank resizing
The lettered memory banks are regarded as a ‘pair’ making a total of 100 memory channels per bank,
initially equally divided between the upper and lower case letters.  For example memory bank “A” will
have 50 channels numbered from 00 to 49 (A00 - A49) and memory bank “a” will also have 50 channels
numbered from 00 to 49 (a00 - a49) making a total of 100 channels.
It is possible to reallocate the 100 channels in blocks of 10 channels between the same letters A/a, B/b,
C,c etc  This means that the initial 50/50 may be reallocated as 60/40, 70/30, 80/20, 90/10, or 10/90,
20/80, 30/70, 40/60.  This ‘dynamic’ memory reallocation can be useful to optimise the memory layout
where a large or small collection of frequencies need to be monitored without unnecessarily wasting
memory banks with just a few channels occupied.
The SCAN BANK menu is used to customise many features including memory bank resizing.
To access the SCAN BANK menu 
   .
Section 5-5-2, 5-6, 5-7 
						

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The LCD will initially display the legend “M-BANK” , the currently
selected memory bank ‘pair’ (i.e. D/d or A/a or C/c etc) and the
current size allocation for the bank displayed i.e. A:50  a:50 for
memory bank “A/a” with the allocation of 50 channels for “A” and
50 channels for “a”, this split of 50/50 being the default.  Use the
main dial, ï ð keys or numeric keypad to select the required
bank for resizing.  
 the ò key to move to the
“BANK TEXT” menu where a text comment may be added
(optionally) to ease identification of each bank (use the ñ ò keys
to move between upper and lower bank identifiers).
 the ò key to move on to the resizing menu.  The LCD will display the upper and lower case
identifiers on the same line with the current default allocation of 50/50 channels per bank.  Use the main
dial or ï ð keys to reallocate the channels in increments of 10 channels (60/40, 70/30, 80/20, 90/10, or
10/90, 20/80, 30/70, 40/60).
&Note:  If you resize a memory which currently contains 50 channels to a new size of 10
channels, the last 40 channels will be deleted and data will be lost!  Potentially when you resize
memory banks, programmed data may be lost so it is suggested that you 
carefully organise
your memory data before resizing memory channels.  Individual memory channel protect will be
ignored but if a whole memory bank is protected, resizing will be inhibited.
After selecting the resizing value 
 ò to display the memory sorting menu, the legend
“MEM SORTING” will be displayed, the following lines confirm the current and 
proposed memory bank
sizes.  
  to initiate the resizing process.  The LCD will clear except for the words
“MEM SORTING !!” with the exclamation marks flashing to indicate that the sorting process is in
operation…  
this can take several minutes depending upon the amount of data held in memory.
After sorting, the display returns to its previous condition (before the SCAN BANK menu was accessed).
&Important note:  Memory sorting can take several minutes, do not switch the AR8600 off,
disconnect power, remove batteries or allow the batteries to fail during memory sorting or data
corruption may occur.
(6)  Priority operation
The PRIORITY feature enables you to carry on scanning, searching or monitoring while the AR8600
checks a frequency taken from one of the 1,000 memory channels (A00 default) every 5 seconds
(default) for activity.
The priority checking is accomplished by momentarily moving to the priority frequency to see if it is
‘active’.  If activity is found, the receiver remains on the frequency until the signal disappears.  If no
activity is detected, the receiver returns to the VFO frequency, scan channel or search bank from where
it originated.  The priority facility has a large number of applications and is particularly useful for keeping
an eye on a distress frequency while scanning or searching another frequency band.
&Note: Depending upon the frequency and mode stored as priority, an audible
‘click’ may be heard when the priority facility is in operation.  This is quite normal and
is caused by the internal switching of circuitry necessary to accomplish the frequency
change as two frequencies cannot simultaneously be monitored by the receiver.
Section 5-7, 6 
						

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&Note: The priority mode is automatically suspended during entry of frequencies via the
keypad, this prevents the receiver from changing frequency while you are busy programming.
Priority operation is disabled when the band scope is in operation.
6-1  Engaging PRIORITY channel
Once engaged, the default channel used for PRIORITY is “A00” and the frequency contained is checked
for activity every 5 seconds.
First ensure that there is data stored in memory channel “A00”.
To engage the priority facility 
   , this may be carried out while in
SCAN, SEARCH or VFO modes.  The legend “PRI” is displayed in the top left hand corner of the LCD to
indicate that PRIORITY IS ENGAGED (switched on).
If activity is encountered on the priority channel, the AR8600 will stay on the priority frequency until the
transmission ends (and the squelch closes) after which time the priority frequency will be checked for
activity every few seconds.
&Note:  Once priority has been activated, the data contents of the memory channel used
(default A00) may be altered without affecting the data used for PRIORITY operation which is
stored separately and assumes an identity of its own irrespective of the data contents of
memory A00.
Should you subsequently wish to alter the priority data, you
will have to use the “PRIO SET” menu detailed in 
section 6-2-1of this manual.
To cancel priority operation 
   
(which acts as a toggle), the legend “PRI” will be removed from
the LCD.
6-2  Changing PRIORITY channel data
The default channel used for PRIORITY is “A00” and the frequency copied from this channel is checked
for activity every 5 seconds.  You may select a different memory channel from which the data will be
copied or may vary the sampling time for priority activity checking.
Section 6, 6-1, 6-2