Dan Langhout

Dan Langhout

Well Known Member
Me and a buddy of mine both just bought A210's from Spruce East this week. Icom tech support told me that radios that had the firmware update to make the DualWatch feature be priority channel based would have an additional "Priority" menu item in them right after the "DW Interval" menu item. We both checked our radios and were initially disappointed that the menu item was not there and the DualWatch DID NOT function priority based. :(

HOWEVER - I discovered (by accident) that after I did a "MEM CLEAR" - "ALL" to initialize my radio back to "factory defaults", that now the priority based DualWatch function was there! The new menu item showed up and the priority channel works just great (tried it with approach control on the primary and a weather channel on the secondary). :D

After this discovery, we did the same thing to my buddy's radio and it showed up on his as well - so it was not just some oddity with my unit.

It would appear that at least some of the radios shipped out to distributors may have an issue where they have the new firmware but the radio isn't using it until a reset is done. It turned out that our two radios are sequential serial numbers (we must have punched the "order" button at the same time) so maybe it was just a certain batch than ended up this way.

ANYWAY - I just wanted to pass this little tidbit along in case anyone else ran into it.
 
Hi Dan,
Thanks for your interesting post.I have the A210 so will be checking for "PRIORITY" in the setup.I was wondering if you could post your A210's firmware version number so I can check mine.

Cheers
Nelson
 
Smika said:
Hi Dan,
Thanks for your interesting post.I have the A210 so will be checking for "PRIORITY" in the setup.I was wondering if you could post your A210's firmware version number so I can check mine.
Click to expand...
FWIW, I got mine from Aircraft Spruce about a month ago, and it had a yellow slip of paper regarding the update included in the box. I didn't have to do anything for the Priority channel to work correctly.

L.Adamson --- RV6A
 
A210 Firmware Version

Hi Dan,
Thanks for your interesting post.I have the A210 so will be checking for "PRIORITY" in the setup.I was wondering if you could post your A210's firmware version number so I can check mine.

Cheers
Nelson
Click to expand...

Nelson,
Maybe I just missed it, but I didn't see anything that mentioned a firmware level. That's why I called Icom tech support to find out how we might tell. If you know how to read out the firmware level, I'm all ears!

FWIW, I got mine from Aircraft Spruce about a month ago, and it had a yellow slip of paper regarding the update included in the box. I didn't have to do anything for the Priority channel to work correctly.

L.Adamson --- RV6A
Click to expand...

L.Adamson,
I kind of expected some sort of paper like that in ours, but there wasn't one - another reason why I called tech support. I kind of figured that our two radios probably didn't have the update so I was surprised (pleasantly) when it turned out that they did. Given your location, I suspect that your radio came from Spruce West so maybe that's the difference (different batch). Who knows?
 
Dan Langhout said:
Nelson,
L.Adamson,
I kind of expected some sort of paper like that in ours, but there wasn't one - another reason why I called tech support. I kind of figured that our two radios probably didn't have the update so I was surprised (pleasantly) when it turned out that they did. Given your location, I suspect that your radio came from Spruce West so maybe that's the difference (different batch). Who knows?
Click to expand...

And now, the big dilema.... :)

I also have a new Garmin SL-40 and audio panel. I haven't figured which radio will go on top of the stack, when I re-do it. I prefer the 210's frequency display over the smaller Garmin display, but it (the 210) gets washed out, if sunlight is coming from the back of the canopy. I also think the 210 just looks kind of neat! :D

L.Adamson --- RV6A
 
It's the Display! . . . . .

. . . . . . that really sealed the deal for me. Well, the price didn't hurt either:rolleyes:. My buddy currently has an SL-40 in his RV-9A and he says he sometimes has problems with it getting washed out in the sun. Plus, the SL-40 display is itty-bitty by comparison. The larger display has just got to be better for these older eyes.
 
Hi Dan,
Firstly to display the firmware ver. Turn on the radio while holding the frequency transfer button in. The ver. number will be displayed fairly quickly.

Sandra (Pilot ) and I went over to our aeroplane this morning and checked the dual watch priority thingo.We had thought that the dual watch was working,but if the awis was on standby then the active freq.would not work.If two aerodrome frequencies were in standby and active then the dual watch worked perfectly.After clearing the memory,and swithing the radio off, then when switched back on there was a new "Prioty Watch" component added to the Menu list just like you said under DW Interval.The AWIS then gave way to the active frequency. What a ripper.

Our ver. is 1.33.001.Just for other readers of this post/forum the A210 is a great radio.We upgraded to the A210 from the A200 and with the added features of the A210 it is by far the superior radio.The vox intercom is superb,the display is awsome and the setup is easy.

I will post on this forum shortly, our setup settings so others may have a starting point.

Thanks again Dan

Nelson
 
Hi Dan,
Here are the promised settings for what they are worth.HP LEVEL 58 DISP MODE AUTO
INCOM LV1 58 DISP LOW 13
INCOM LV2 63 DISP HIGH 100
MIC 1 SQL OFF DISP MAN 100
MIC 2 SQL 9 DISP RESP STAND
ANL ON FREQ DISP ZERO SUPP
SQL LEVEL 3 U-I ID SET U-1
FM SQL LEVEL 0 U-2 ID SET U-2
LOCK MODE DIAL AUX IN OFF
DW INTERVAL FAST AUX LEVEL 70
PRIORITY WATCH MID BEEP 50
MEM PROTECT OFF INCOME MODE ON
GRP MEMORY LABEL TIME OUT 120
MIC 1 GAIN 10 MEM CLEAR MEM
MIC 2 GAIN 10
SIDETONE 55
TX MIC ! & 2
]Didn,t copy across as well as I would have liked but sh-- happens

Nelson
 
Great!

Smika said:
Hi Dan,
<snip>
Sandra (Pilot ) and I went over to our aeroplane this morning and checked the dual watch priority thingo.We had thought that the dual watch was working,but if the awis was on standby then the active freq.would not work.If two aerodrome frequencies were in standby and active then the dual watch worked perfectly.After clearing the memory,and swithing the radio off, then when switched back on there was a new "Prioty Watch" component added to the Menu list just like you said under DW Interval.The AWIS then gave way to the active frequency. What a ripper.
</snip>
Click to expand...


I'm glad that my "little discovery" was able to help someone.

Thanks for the info on finding the firmware version - I'll try that the next time I fire the radio up.
 
A210 Firmware Version

Smika said:
Hi Dan,
Firstly to display the firmware ver. Turn on the radio while holding the frequency transfer button in. The ver. number will be displayed fairly quickly.

<snip>
Our ver. is 1.33.001.Just for other readers of this post/forum the A210 is a great radio.We upgraded to the A210 from the A200 and with the added features of the A210 it is by far the superior radio.The vox intercom is superb,the display is awsome and the setup is easy.
</snip>
Click to expand...

My firmware version is 1.23.001 so I guess there is a newer one out (or do you have the "European Version" radio i.e. A210E without weather)?
 
Icom told me 1.23.001 is latest

Dan Langhout said:
My firmware version is 1.23.001 so I guess there is a newer one out (or do you have the "European Version" radio i.e. A210E without weather)?
Click to expand...


First, I have to thank you, too, Dan, for bringing this to light. I also just installed a new A210, and it didn't appear to have the DW firmware update. I then did the Mem Clear with the All set, and after initialization, the new feature showed up in the Menu, just like you said.

I then the firmware number display, by turning on while holding down the frequency change button, and sure enough, I also have 1.23.001. So I called Icom to ask just what is the latest version is, and they came back to say that 1.23.001 is indeed the latest.

Thanks again, for helping to get mine working properly.

I still have another question with them (Icom) outstanding to tell me which GPS models are supported. I have an older Garmin 295, and so far don't know if this one will work or not.

Walter
 
ICOM Tech Service Closed this week

Can anyone be so kind as to tell me where I need to send my A210 for the new firmware update? ICOM Tech service is closed this week for training. My Dual watch doesn't work correctly so I assume my radio has the old firmware...it was purchased in December 2007. Other than this problem, it has been a good radio.
 
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