IN THIS ISSUE:

Icom Radios Summit Mt. Everest

The F14: A Perfect Climbing
Companion
Meet Your Icom TeamShawn Suttles, Creative Specialist
Advertising Department
TECH CORNER- How Do I Use
the Squelch Tight Feature?
Icom Installs First P25 System
in Puerto Rico

2006 Icom America Inc.

The Icom logo is a registered trademark
of Icom Inc. All other trademarks remain
the property of their respective owners. All
information and specications subject to
change without notice or obligation. 8530

October 2006

Icom Radios Summit Mt. Everest

Icom radios have sailed the ocean, own the sky, and
now theyve climbed the highest peak on earth.
In May, a climbing team led by
Mountain Link, a Bend, Ore.-based
mountaineering guide service, summited
Mt. Everest with Icom radios in hand. At
29,035 feet in elevation, Mt. Everest is
the tallest mountain peak in the world.
Equipped with Icom F14 portables,
the 13 members of Mountain Links team
spent nearly four weeks moving from
base camp up the mountain, acclimatizing to the altitude and waiting for a
window of good weather, before their
nal push to the summit.
Nearly 450 international climbers
reached Everests summit this year.
Eleven climbers died on the attempt, and
another uncounted number were forced

Mountain Link

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to turn back before reaching the summit.

Extremely harsh and quickly changing
weather conditions, as well as icefalls
and avalanches, pose a signicant risk
to climbers. A lack of oxygen and illness
also prevent many climbers from ever
reaching the summit.
Continued on page 2

The F14: A Perfect Climbing Companion

On Mountain Links recent Mt. Everest
expedition, each team member carried
an F14 portable radio.
The radios were worn inside each
climbers coat and a clip-on microphone
hooked on to the collar. This allowed
climbers to use their radio without having to remove their glove or expose skin
to the frigid air.
Icoms F14 is the perfect model for
his mountaineering guide service, says
Mountain Link owner Robert Link. It is
lightweight, durable, and easy to use.
The radios construction is resistant to
shock and vibration, which prevents
damage if the portable is dropped.
The wide range frequency coverage
allows climbers to communicate on
one channel for intra-team communications while also tuning to the central,

shared channel to communicate with the

different expeditions on the mountain.
Radio batteries could be recharged
at base camp, and climbers also
carried back-up AA batteries. The base
station, which ran off a solar-powered
generator, was located in the base
camp communications tent.
When purchasing his companys radio
communications solution, Link chose Icom
radios due to his previous positive experiences with the brand. And the new F14
portable didnt let him down. The radio has
performed well and held up under the harsh
operating conditions, he says.
Jeff Justman, a Mountain Link guide who
helped lead the companys Everest expedition, concurs. Clear communications are
essential, he says. Icom denitely makes
a superior product.

F14/F24 Radio Series Product Review http://www.icomamerica.com/reviews/f14series/

Visit the above link for a product review on the F14/F24 radio series by wireless industry writer, Jeff Elliott.

For People Who Make Smart Choices

Shawn Suttles
Creative Specialist
Advertising Department

Shawn came on board Icoms advertising

department in September, 2006. He is
new to the two-way radio industry. I
was so excited to accept this position
and expand my opportunities within
a great organization, he says. I look
forward to being a subject matter expert
in the land mobile division and being an
asset to the ad team. Shawns duties
as Creative Specialist include, and he
stressed not limited to, coordinating
special advertising projects, land mobile
trade shows, and the publishing of the
land mobile newsletter. Stemming from
a combined background in feature lm
production and digital media publishing,
Shawn possesses a humble knack when
working interpersonally with creative
talent and stakeholders while targeting
production deadlines.

Continued from page 1

Icom Radios Summit Mt. Everest

Because of these hazards, safety

always comes rst, says Robert Link,
the owner of Mountain Link. A seasoned
guide whos trekked up Mt. Everest four
times, Link says radio communications
play a critical role in promoting safety.
Up-to-the-minute weather and news
reports help prevent accidents from occurring. And in the case something goes
wrong, guides can use their radio to
call for help.
On every expedition we do, we rely
on our radios, says Jeff Justman, a
Mountain Link guide on the recent Everest expedition. Radio communications
are crucial to the safety of the team.
Using their Icom portable radios, the
climbers kept in close contact with the
other Mountain Link team members,
an important component in maintaining
team morale.
On a mountain like Everest, you
have different team members at different
camps. People are progressing at different speeds and you rely on radio communications to keep the team together,
Justman says. Youve got to be a team
and look out for each other. Radio communications lets you know how everyone
is doing. Its the comfort factor.
Two-way radio communications also
lets climbers stay in touch with base
camp and contact the other expeditions climbing Mt. Everest. The separate
expeditions reserve a central channel
where the various groups can share
information on weather conditions and
route changes, or call for rescue.
I cant tell you how many times Ive
relied on two-way radio, Link says. He
vividly remembers the time he used his
Icom radio to talk a helicopter into a
remote mountain rescue. Only six inches
of thin air buffered the rotors from the
mountains rock and ice. Carefully, he
directed the copter down as it settled its
front tires on a remote ledge. Without

Mountain Link

Meet Your Icom Team

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good communications, a mountain rescue can be very dangerous, Link says.

Although the majority of climbers still
do not use two-way radio, it is gaining
traction in the mountaineering and expeditions market. VHF is powerful enough
to allow climbers to communicate from
the summit to base camp. VHF is also
less sensitive to geographical obstructions that might cause line-of-sightproblems for CB radios.
Using Mountain Links Icom radio system, Justman was able to communicate
from base camp to two team members
on the summit of Everest. Communications was clear, and I was 12,000 feet
below them, Justman says. It sounded
like they were right next to me.
VHF is commonly used by guide services in South America, the Himalayas,
and sometimes in Mexico.
For Mt. Everest, CB doesnt cut it,
Link says. In the Himalayas it would be
nearly impossible to reach from base
camp to the summit, he says. It simply
doesnt have the power.
Go to www.mountain-link.com to
learn more about Mountain Link
mountaineering guide service.

For People Who Make Smart Choices

ianews

October 2006

Page 2

ianews

TECH CORNER

How Do I Use the Squelch Tight Feature?

This feature allows you to tighten up the squelch for selected channels in the F3061/F4061 radios. For a
selected channel, this setting adds to the general radio squelch setting. For example, if your radio squelch is set
to 80, but you have a channel that is still too noisy, you can tighten up the squelch for that channel by adding
20 to that channel only for a total squelch value of 100. The other channels would remain at a squelch value of
80. To use this setting, lets walk through the procedure.
1. Open your cloning software and navigate to Common -> Common.
2. In the SQL Tight Offset eld, enter an appropriate squelch setting for channels that need the squelch tightened.
3. Navigate to Memory CH and double-click in the SQL Tight eld for the applicable channel.
4. Select ON to enable the additional squelch value for the channel.

Thats it, just read the new settings into the radio.

2006 Icom America Inc.

Icom Installs First P25 System in Puerto Rico

Icom America Inc.

2380 116th Ave NE
Bellevue, WA 98004
Phone: (425) 454-8155
Fax: (425) 454-1509
Customer Service: (425) 454-7619

Icom America Systems (IAS)

Phone: (425) 586-6363
Fax: (425) 586-6321
ias@icomamerica.com

Icom America Systems (IAS) installed

Puerto Ricos rst P25 radio system in
July. The system covers several hundred
square miles, including San Juan, the
commonwealths capital.
It replaces an older single-channel
analog system that operated on disparate frequencies. The previous system
did not allow for interoperability among
different responding agencies. If a large
incident arose, it was unable to support
a large number of users.
The new P25 system operates on
a common frequency, allowing for
interoperable communications among
local and regional public safety organizations. System users include the police,
sheriff, public works department, and
other municipal groups.
IAS partnered with San Juan-based
A&G Communications for the design
and installation of the system.
The installation of the new P25 system aroused considerable excitement
among Puerto Rican government agencies. Even the governor came to view
the new system.
There was a lot on the line for
Icom, says IAS Scott Bigger, who
traveled to San Juan to assist A&G
technicians in the installation and nal
optimization of the system.
During the planning stages several

additional top-level agencies expressed

interest in joining the P25 system. But
they delayed making a decision until
after the initial rollout so that they could
rst evaluate the systems performance.
So far, all feedback has been positive,
says Dick Varbero, Icom America Systems Coordinator. And now the local
re department is seriously considering
switching to the P25 system.
The stand-alone, single-site system
employs two of Icoms new DRB-25
digital-analog repeaters and one FR 3000
analog repeater. Nearly 100 Icom portable
and mobile radios are currently in use.
Two of the three channels are P25.
The police and emergency management
agencies use the two P25 channels.
Public works uses the third, conventional
analog channel.
The system also offers backward
compatibility and interoperability with
other compliant systems. This exibility means that agencies can continue
to add additional P25 equipment as
funding allows.
The above story is taken from the
published case study, Icom Installs
First P25 System in Puerto Rico. For a copy
of this case study, please dial 425-450-6088.

For People Who Make Smart Choices

ianews

October 2006

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