Brantel

Brantel

Well Known Member
Prior to moving to firmware version 1.53 I normally ran my radio squelch on setting 3 of a -10 to 10 range and that worked fine. After the update I had to increase this to 10 just to keep the squelch closed most of the time but it still opens often at that setting.

Has anyone else that went to 1.53 noticed any radio squelch issues????

Please do not confuse radio squelch with built in intercom squelch....
 
Brantel,

Same problem here. I had to move mine to max, 10 , to keep the squelch from breaking.
Works fine now.
 
Bummer

I sent my A210 in this past week and tracking said it was signed for Friday. Their web site did say the squelch was one of the areas updated. I am really looking forward to being able to push selected frequencies from my Garmin 696 directly to the standby frequency. A fixed dual watch will also be nice.

FROM THE ICOM WEB SITE:

New firmware enhances the functionality of the A210 in the following ways:

When operating in Dual Watch mode, a PTT of the radio used to result in a termination of dual watch. New firmware allows the radio to resume the dual watch action after the transmission.

Old fireware allowed a GPS device (non-Icom) to load GPS-referenced frequencies into the GPS Channel bank. It was up to the radio operator to access this list and choose the proper frequency for the standy frequency. New firmware allows the GPS device (Non-Icom) to load the current GPS referenced frequency (as determined by the GPS device) directly into the standby frequency.

New firmware improves audio when using headphones.
 
The firmware update was suppose to help out the internal intercom squelch. I did some google investigating today and found the service and repair manual for the A210. It seems that the A210 is mostly tuned by the use of a special software program and the AM squelch is one of those things that must be tuned.

Good news is it should be able to be tweaked quite easily, the bad news is that it will need to go back to Icom.....
 
Brantel said:
The firmware update was suppose to help out the internal intercom squelch. I did some google investigating today and found the service and repair manual for the A210. It seems that the A210 is mostly tuned by the use of a special software program and the AM squelch is one of those things that must be tuned.

Good news is it should be able to be tweaked quite easily, the bad news is that it will need to go back to Icom.....
Click to expand...

There is already an RS-232 port on the radio. It sure would be nice to have the next update include the ability to upload new firmware. Twenty bucks one way for postage plus another twenty for insurance is starting to add up. The first time they paid for the return postage; I don't know about this time.

I would think the RV community is one of Icom's larger markets for the A210. Maybe they could benefit from a Beta Test program like Garmin uses. Just a thought.
 
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I upgraded to 1.53 but haven't noticed this. I'm not using the internal intercom though.

Brantel, if you found that service manual for free can you PM me a URL?
 
All is right with the universe

Bruce said:
Brantel,

Same problem here. I had to move mine to max, 10 , to keep the squelch from breaking.
Works fine now.
Click to expand...
Just reinstalled my A210 after getting the 1.53 firmware update. The update and return FedEx postage was FREE. The radio has a completely new personality; every thing works like it is supposed to. The A210 receives one of the RS-232 outputs from my Garmin GpsMap 696 and now loads the pushed frequency directly into the standby flip/flop frequency display.

The squelch was a non problem on my radio. Upon first powering up, the squelch was broken and didn't quiet until the squelch value was increased to 10 and then backed down. It appears that the set value was cleared during the upgrade and had to be reestablished. Mine is now adjusted to 6 and the adjustment set point has a hysteresis of 4; meaning when increasing the value until the squelch quiets (6) it will stay quieted while decreasing the value to (2) when the radio breaks squelch. With the value set to 6 it seems to perform very nicely.

All in all, Icom has a winner on their hands; it is now time for everyone that has criticized Icom about missing the mark on this radio to upgrade, for only the shipping costs, and make a positive post about how nicely it now behaves. As far as I can tell the only thing wrong is the localizer and glide slope don't seem to be working:D

Just my .02 you mileage may vary.
 
Steve,

I set mine to about 6 BUT, that was the local area.
Found out flying to another area it broke squelch and
then I turned it to 10 and have NOT had a problem
since and I have about a 60ish mile range with no
problems.
I do have an independent intercom system.
 
Same here.. I just keep mine at 10. Seems to still pick up distant transmissions so I just live with it. Would be nice to have some more overhead in the setting. They obviously goofed something up in regard to the squelch....it worked fine before.
 
I had a chance to actually burn some 100LL today. I am not sure why some are having issues with the squelch operation after upgrading to 1.53. The squelch operation is just fine on my A210. The squelch quiets between 1 and 2.

Those that are still having problems might try re-seating the connector or look for grounding problems. I don't think there is a problem with the new firmware; or at least mine operates the way I would expect.
 
It is easy for me to see why there might be a problem after looking at the repair manual for the A210. If whoever did the firmware upgrade did not properly recalibrate the "internal software squelch" setting, the bias on the user adjustable setting could be off.

If yours was calibrated properly, it would not have this problem.

Nothing wrong with the install. Worked fine before, should work fine now. Xmits and RX's fine. It would just be nice to have more overhead in the user adjustable squelch for days when there is more noise in the air or for really congested freq's. Even with a a setting of 10 I get transmitions that are 60-75+ miles away. In our area there are a ton of airports on 122.8 within that range and on a busy day, it is almost constant chatter on the radio. Before I could crank up the squelch and kill the most distant ones. Now I can't because the squelch is maxed out just for normal use.
 
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A follow up to close this case!

I finally got Icom to agree that there was an issue with my radio after the update so they sent me an Air Freight call tag to send the radio back to Washington.

Upon inspection of my radio, they agreed that the squelch threshold parameter was incorrectly adjusted since they were instantly able to recreate the issue in the test lab.

They reset everything to their standards and sent it back to me.

I have verified that the radio works normally again. User squelch setting is dead on with a setting of "0" not "+10". I am glad this issue is resolved! I can now say that the A210 is just what I need in my VFR machine!
 
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Brantel said:
A follow up to close this case!

I finally got Icom to agree that there was an issue with my radio after the update so they sent me an Air Freight call tag to send the radio back to Washington.
[snip]
I have verified that the radio works normally again. User squelch setting is dead on with a setting of "0" not "+10". I am glad this issue is resolved! I can now say that the A210 is just what I need in my VFR machine!
Click to expand...
I am glad Icom got yours working. I am really coming to love mine. Flying back to EVV, from breakfast at Rough River, it was a pleasure monitoring EVV approach while talking to my wingman/hangar mate on .85; and easily switching back and forth depending on who I needed to be talking to.

Now all we need is to find a Linus Torvalds to tackle getting a GPS certified for approach.
 
Interesting

I have noticed that I have to keep my squelch up around 8-10 Maybe I have an issue, I have not had an up date since the fix for dual watch. I will have to explore this, at least ICOM is only 1.5 hours drive from me.



Brantel said:
A follow up to close this case!

I finally got Icom to agree that there was an issue with my radio after the update so they sent me an Air Freight call tag to send the radio back to Washington.

Upon inspection of my radio, they agreed that the squelch threshold parameter was incorrectly adjusted since they were instantly able to recreate the issue in the test lab.

They reset everything to their standards and sent it back to me.

I have verified that the radio works normally again. User squelch setting is dead on with a setting of "0" not "+10". I am glad this issue is resolved! I can now say that the A210 is just what I need in my VFR machine!
Click to expand...
 
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