HTX-200 Mini Handheld 2-Meter FM Amateur Transceiver
(190-1102) Operation Faxback Doc. # 52050
A Quick Look at The Controls:
VOL/OFF - turns the radio on/off; adjusts the volume.
SQ. - sets the squelch level to block weak signals.
/\ or \/ - sets the frequency or change other values.
FUNC + /\ - directly sets the frequency.
PTT (Push-to-talk) button - press to transmit and to store settings in
memory.
FUNC + \/ - Accesses the subaudible tone squelch
frequencies.
FUNC + REV - reverses the offset frequency.
FUNC + PTT - reverses the send and receive frequencies.
FUNC + LOCK - locks/unlocks all front panel buttons.
* - turns on the backlighted display for 4
seconds.
SC - starts/stops scanning and changes the
frequency range.
FUNC + BEEP - enables/disables the key tone.
FUNC + MR - accesses a memory location for programming.
FUNC + T. SET - accesses/sets the melody settings.
FUNC + MO - resets all settings on power up.
MO - overrides the squelch setting.
C - displays the current calling frequency.
C, then /\ or \/ - changes the calling frequency.
Understanding Repeaters
Operation through a repeater, where you transmit on one frequency and
receive on another, is called duplex operation. Operation direct to
another station, where you transmit and receive on the same frequency, is
called simplex operation.
A repeater is a station that receives a signal on one frequency (the input
frequency) and then retransmits that signal on a different frequency (the
output frequency). Repeater antennas are typically located at the tops of
tall buildings or on antenna towers, so a relatively low-power signal can
reach the repeater. The repeater retransmits the signal at a higher
power. This gives your transceiver the ability to communicate over a much
greater range.
To use a repeater, you must know the repeater's input and output
frequencies. Repeaters are usually identified by their output frequency.
Thus, a repeater that has an output frequency of 146.94 is referred to as
the "146.94 repeater." To determine the input frequency, you must know
the frequency offset (typically 600 kHz for the 2-meter band) and the
offset direction (+ if you add 600 kHz to the output, or - if you subtract
600 kHz from the output).
To determine the offset and the direction, obtain a copy of The ARRL
Repeater Handbook (available directly from the ARRL) which lists the
locations of repeaters as well as their frequency and offset information.
Receiving, Transmitting and Setting Squelch
1. To turn on the radio, rotate VOL/OFF clockwise until it clicks. The
transceiver sounds a tone.
2. Rotate SQ counterclockwise until you hear a hissing sound. Then
slowly rotate SQ clockwise just until the noise stops.
3. Set VOL/OFF to a comfortable listening level.
Notes: If the transceiver picks up unwanted weak transmissions, rotate
SQ slightly clockwise to decrease the transceiver's sensitivity
to signals. The weak transmissions are blocked.
Your transceiver normally tunes the range of 144.000-148.000
MHz. (To change to the extended range, see "Changing the
Frequency Range" below.)
BUSY appears when the transceiver finds a standard transmission
If you turn on the squelch and receive a transmission that uses
the matching CTCSS (subaudible tone), CALL also appears.
4. You can use either manual tuning or direct frequency entry to select a
specific frequency. To manually select a frequency, repeatedly press
or hold down \/ or /\ until the display shows the desired frequency.
To directly enter a frequency, press FUNC + /\ (the second digit from
the left flashes), then press \/ or /\ to change the number. Press
FUNC + /\ again to select the next digit. Repeat this to select each
number of the frequency, then press the PTT button to set the
selection.
Note: Do not attempt to transmit unless you possess a valid amateur
radio license.
5. To transmit, hold down the push-to-talk button, then speak into the
microphone. Release the button to stop transmitting.
6. To turn off the radio rotate VOL/OFF counter-clockwise until it clicks
Scanning for Active Frequencies
1. Search for activity on a frequency, press SC. The transceiver begins
to scan up or down the full frequency range, and stops on active
frequencies for 5 seconds.
2. To change the scan direction, press /\ or \/.
3. To stop on a frequency or to stop scanning completely, press SC again.
Monitoring a Frequency
While the radio is receiving a transmission, press MO (monitor) to suspend
the squelch setting and hear everything on that frequency. This lets you
hear the signal even if the incoming CTCSS (subaudible tone) does not
match your setting.
If you hold down MO for longer than 1 second, the set values for receive
tone, transmit tone, scan skip condition (if any), repeater offset, and
frequency step appear.
Release MO to turn on the squelch again.
Changing the Frequency Range
You can change the standard transmit frequency range from 144-148 MHz to
an extended range of 142-149.885 MHz.
Important: Do not expand the transmit frequency coverage unless you are
licensed to operate on MARS or CAP frequencies.
To set the transceiver to its extended range, turn off the transceiver.
Then hold down SC and turn on the transceiver again.
To return to the standard frequency range, turn the transceiver off then
hold down SC and turn it on again.
Locking the Keypad
To lock the transceiver's keypad so you do not accidentally change a
setting, press FUNC + LOCK. (key symbol) appears. This locks all buttons
except push-to-talk, *, VOL, and SQ. Press FUNC + LOCK again to unlock
the keypad.
Lighting the Display
Press * to turn on the display backlight for about 4 seconds. If you
press any key while the light is on, the light remains on for about 4
seconds more. Press down * for more than 1 second to have the light
remain on until you press * again.
Turning the Key Tone on and off
The transceiver is preset to sound a beep each time you press a key. To
turn of the beep, press FUNC + BEEP. (music symbol) disappears. To
restore the key tone, press FUNC + BEEP again.
Using Memory Locations
You can store one special calling-frequency, and up to 30 of your most
often used frequencies and their associated settings, in the transceiver's
memory.
Using the Calling-Frequency Memory Location
The calling-frequency memory location lets you quickly jump to a specific
frequency at any time. The default calling frequency is 146.52 MHz. You
can record your own frequency into memory as well as other settings
associated with that frequency, such as the repeater offset and CTCSS
tone.
1. Press C to display the current calling frequency.
2. To change the frequency, hold down C until [MR] and C flash.
3. Directly enter or press \/ or /\ to select the desired frequency. If
you want to enter a repeater frequency, see "Understanding Repeaters,"
above.
4. Press C to store the selected frequency in memory.
5. To program the repeater offset for the selected frequency, press FUNC
+ SC. To change the value, press /\ or \/. Select 0 Hz if you want
to remove the offset. To store the setting, press C or PTT.
While [MR] and C appear, you can program other settings such as CTCSS
tones (see "Using Subaudible Tone Squelch," below.)
To enable the calling frequency, press C at any time. The transceiver
immediately goes to that frequency with the settings you programmed. To
exit the calling frequency mode, press C again.
Using Standard Memories
Your transceiver has 30 standard memories that you can use to store
frequencies for quick access. You can also store other settings such as
repeater offset, CTCSS tones, and frequencies to pass or lock out during
scanning.
Storing a Transmit/Receive Frequency
1. Press MR to enter the memory setting mode. [MR] and the last used
memory location appear.
2. Repeatedly press /\ or \/ to select the desired memory location.
---- appears if the memory location is empty.
3. Press FUNC + MR. The selected memory location and [MR] flash.
4. To select a different frequency than that displayed, repeatedly press
/\ or \/ or use direct frequency entry.
5. To store the setting, press PTT. [MR] and the memory location stop
flashing and your entry is stored.
6. Press MR to exit the memory mode.
Storing a Repeater Offset Frequency
To store a repeater offset frequency for the stored transmit/receive
frequency, follow these steps.
1. Press MR. [MR] and the last used memory location number appear.
2. Repeatedly press /\ or \/ to select the desired memory location.
3. Press FUNC + MR. The selected memory location and [MR] flash.
4. Press FUNC + SC. rPt appears. To change the offset value, press /\
or \/. Select 0 Hz for no offset.
5. To store the setting, press PTT.
Storing a Scanning Skip Setting
The transceiver is preset to include all memory locations during memory
scanning. But you can set the transceiver to have it skip a location
during scanning.
1. Press MR. [MR] and the last used memory location appear.
2. Repeatedly press /\ or \/ to select the desired memory location.
3. Press FUNC + MR. The selected memory location and [MR] flash.
4. If you want to set scanning to skip the memory location, press SC,
then press \/ or /\ so SCSP ON (scan skip) appears.
To include the displayed location in a scan press \/ or /\ so SCSP oF
appears.
5. When you finish, press SC again, then press PTT to store the setting.
Scanning Standard Memory Locations
1. Press MR (so [MR] appears), then press SC. The transceiver scans all
locations except the ones you programmed to pass during scanning.
2. To change the scanning direction, press /\ or \/.
3. To stop scanning, press SC again.
Locking Out (Skipping) Locations During Memory Location Scanning
When you scan the 30 standard memory locations, you can set the
transceiver to lock out a location while scanning.
When the transceiver stops at a memory location you want to skip, press
FUNC. PASS briefly appears and the transceiver continues to scan, locking
out (skipping) that location from then on. Repeat this for each location
you want to skip.
To return all skip settings to their stored settings, simply turn the
radio off then on again.
Note: You cannot lock out all memory locations. One location is always
active. If you lock out all but two active locations and then lock
out one more, EMPTY briefly appears and scanning stops.
Using Subaudible Tone Squelch
Your HTX-200 can transmit and receive a low-level, selectable subaudible
tone at the same time as it transmits (TX) or receives (RX) a regular
signal. This special tone lets you listen only to other units set to the
same tone frequency when you use the radio in a line-of-sight transmit and
receive situation. It also lets you match your radio to the subaudible
tone frequency used by a local repeater.
To enable TX and RX tones for your radio, follow these steps.
1. Press FUNC + \/. tONE oF appears. (The tone is preset to off.)
2. Press \/ or /\ to turn the option on. tONE on appears.
3. To set a receive (RX) tone press FUNC +\/. rC appears. Then press \/
or /\ to select a tone frequency from the list below.
4. To set a transmit (TX) tone press FUNC + \/. tC appears. Then, press
\/ or /\ to select a tone frequency from the list below.
5. Press PTT to store all the settings.
To select and store a CTCSS subaudible tone in a memory location press MR.
[MR]d the last used memory location appear. Then follow Steps 1-5 above.
Subaudible Tone Frequencies (MHz)
67.0 114.8 186.2
69.3 118.8 189.9
71.9 123.0 192.8
74.4 127.3 196.6
77.0 131.8 199.5
79.7 136.5 203.5
82.5 141.3 206.5
85.4 146.2 210.7
88.5 151.4 218.1
91.5 156.7 225.7
94.8 159.8 229.1
97.4 162.2 233.6
100.0 167.9 241.8
103.5 173.8 250.3
107.2 179.9 254.1
110.9 183.5
Reversing The Offset
When you turn on the repeater offset, the HTX-200 uses the last offset
direction you set. To change the offset direction, press FUNC + REV. +
appears in the display for a positive offset (the transmit frequency is
above the receive frequency) and - appears for a negative offset (the
transmit frequency is below the receive frequency).
Reversing the Transmit and Receive Frequencies
To swap the input and output frequencies, press FUNC + PTT. For example,
if you have set the radio to repeater operation on 146.940 with a negative
offset, the radio would normally receive on 146.94 and transmit on 146.340
MHz. After you press FUNC + PTT the radio will receive on 146.340 and the
transmit on 146.940. This feature is useful if you want to determine
whether you are close enough to another station to communicate on a
simplex frequency. While the other station is transmitting, reverse the
frequencies. If you can still hear the other station, you are hearing
them directly and do not need to use the repeater.
Melody Options
Your radio can alert the receiver you are transmitting to by starting that
transmission with one of five selectable melodies. You can also set your
radio to play that same melody to announce that you are receiving a
transmission from a radio with the same settings as yours. This lets you
use the CTCSS to keep the radio silent until the radio receives the CTCSS
tone you have set. Then, receiving the tone triggers the audio and
activates the receive alert melody.
Using the Transmit Melody Alert
Follow these steps to select a transmit melody.
1. Turn on the radio. Make sure you are not in memory mode.
2. Hold down FUNC and press T. SET four times. MEL and a number from 1
to 5 appear.
3. Press \/ or /\ to display the number of the melody you want to use.
Each time you change the setting, the transceiver sounds the selected
melody.
4. Press PTT to lock your setting and exit the menu.
Your selection is stored even after you turn off the radio.
To transmit the selected melody alert, press * while pressing PTT.
Using the Receive Melody Alert
To have the transceiver play the selected transmit alert melody when it
receives a call rotate SQ counterclockwise until you hear a hissing sound.
Then slowly rotate SQ clockwise just until the noise stops. Turn off the
radio then press * while you turn on the radio. (bell symbol) appears.
The first time the radio receives a call, it plays the selected melody and
turns off the feature. To turn on the melody again, hold down * then turn
off the radio and then on again.
(EB/glw 05/27/99)