PAGE 8 AR5000 OPERATING MANUAL
In search mode only a bank number and the legend “
SR
SR
SR
SR
SR
”
is displayed - but no channel number.
17 The one or two digit number indicates which scan or
search banks have been selected. In scan mode the range
is 0 to 9 (ten banks) and in search mode 00 to 19 (twenty
banks).
18 Attenuator setting. The display is always proceeded
by “ATT” (for attenuator) and followed with dB for level
(decibel). “ATT
00
00
00
00
00
dB” indicates attenuator OFF, “ATT
10
10
10
10
10
dB” indicates that 10dB of attenuation has been
applied and “ATT
20
20
20
20
20
dB” indicates that 20dB of
attenuation has been applied. The attenuator menu is
activated by the
key.
Note: Above 230 MHz only 0dB & 10dB are available
and the RF preamplifier is always in circuit (“AMP” legend
displayed). Below 230 MHz the “AMP” is displayed in the
“
00
00
00
00
00
” position.
19 Frequency, text and various status messages are
displayed in this area. There are a maximum of ten digits
providing frequency read-out down to 1Hz resolution. In
text mode a maximum of eight characters may be
displayed for search bank and memory channel
recognition. The frequency red-out is always followed by
the legends kHz or MHz.
Note: frequencies below 3.0 MHz (3000 kHz) are always
shown as kHz.
20 “AMP” is displayed when the RF preamplifier is
switched on. The amplifier is selected in the
ATTENUATOR sub menu accessed by pressing
Note: Above 230 MHz the RF preamplifier “AMP” legend
is always displayed. Below 230 MHz the “AMP” is
displayed in the “
00
00
00
00
00
” attenuator position.
21 “STEP” is displayed during entry of STEP SIZE (tuning
increment) for manual tuning or search operations.
“STEP-ADJ” is displayed when the STEP-ADJUST facility
is in use so that unusual bandplans may be correctly
tracked.
22 “AUTO” is displayed when the receive mode selection
is set to AUTO. In this condition the AR5000 will select
the appropriate receive mode, channel step (and many
other parameters) for the frequency entered in VFO mode
and during search programming. This simplifies operation
and speeds up manual changes in frequency.
23 “FR-OFS” is displayed when the FREQUENCY
OFFSET facility is selected. This enables a fixed offset
frequency to be stored in a special bank allowing quick
frequency change and monitoring of duplex pairs such as
inputs to amateur band repeaters or VHF marine traffic.
24 “=” AGC OFF indication. When the AGC (Automatic
Gain Control) is switched off, strong signals may sound
distorted... however AGC off may be useful for DX’ing
when the optional 500 Hz Collins mechanical CW filter is
fitted. To ensure that the AGC is not switched off
unintentionally, two parallel bars are displayed between
the MHz / kHz LCD legends. The available selection of
AGC is: OFF, FAST, MIDDLE & SLOW.
25 I.F. filter bandwidth is displayed on the LCD in kHz.
The options are:
“
220
220
220
220
220
”, “
110
110
110
110
110
”, “
30
30
30
30
30
”, “
15
15
15
15
15
”, “
6
6
6
6
6
”, “
3
3
3
3
3
”, (“
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.5
” optional),
i.e. “
3
3
3
3
3
K” for 3.0 kHz.
26 “PASS” is displayed to indicate that a memory channel
has been LOCKED OUT so that it will not be scanned,
similarly with a frequency in search mode, it will be skipped.
27 “AS-M” indicates that active frequencies found while
in search mode will be automatically added to memory
bank “
0
0
0
0
0
” (Auto Store to Memory). Auto-store is switched
on.
28 The two digit number ranging from 00 to 99 indicates
that the AR5000 is in MEMORY RECALL or SCAN mode
(if the scan legend is also displayed). The two digit number
represents the memory channel number. The
keys or
SUB DIAL
select bank, the
MAIN DIAL
selects
memory channel number and the keypad allows direct
access to the three digit bank/channel number i.e.
for bank 1 channel 23, there is no need to press
enter.
In SEARCH mode the letters “
SR
SR
SR
SR
SR
” are displayed in this
lower right corner of the LCD with the bank number
displayed above.
5-4 Main rotary tuning control -
MAIN DIAL
The large rotary tuning control is prominently located on
the front of the cabinet. This control changes the received
frequency up and down in whatever step increment has
been selected between 1 Hz ~ 999.999 kHz. This control
is often referred to as the VFO (Variable Frequency
Oscillator), a rather historic name for a tuning mechanism.
In this operating manual it is referred to as the
MAIN DIAL
.
5-5 Sub rotary tuning control -
SUB DIAL
This smaller control may be programmed in a number of
different ways. It too is largely used to tune the receiver
and is intended to make channel tuning easier where
channelised bandplans are in force (such as 2m amateur
band FM allocations etc). The control is extensively used
during the input and changing of operational parameters
such as attenuator, IFBW etc. In this operating manual
the control is referred to as the
SUB DIAL
.
5-6 Torque adjustment (
MAIN DIAL
brake)
This small slide control affects the free movement of the
large rotary tuning control (
MAIN DIAL
), this is useful to help
prevent unintentional frequency change due to accidental
movement of the
MAIN DIAL
. When the lever is in the
UPWARD position, the
MAIN DIAL
is FREE RUNNING,
moving the lever downward adds friction to dampen the
control.
