ICOM IC-F11

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I have a pair of ICOM IC-F11 handheld radios. These are commercial grade 16 channel LMR radios.

I got them used from Bartronics via eBay. They arrived pre-programmed per my specs. They were originally purchased for a volunteer fire department in 2002 and traded in. They work fine and are in good shape. They came with worn out NiCad batteries (as expected) and I immediately ordered new 2200 mAh LiIon batteries and a charger from Batteries America. Now they are better than new - lighter and longer standby time. They also came with speaker mics.

"Commercial grade" means I was able to set them up for MURS, you can't usually do that with a ham radio. They are not as flexible as a ham radio in that there is no LCD display and you can't change frequencies from the front panel. You have to choose from 16 presets.

Programming

I had Bartronics program them to operate as MURS band on the first 5 channels. After using them a few months I bought a copy of the programming software ($15) and set them up with 2m and NOAA stations.

MURS band requires no license to operate, so we can use the pair of radios for any field work. They are handy when I am pulling wires or up on a roof. MURS band channels are set to 2W TX power.

Power settings

LOW1 2W
LOW2 1W
HIGH 5W

Organizational notes

The CS-11 programming software is installed on the Atmel Parallels machine on Plover. It's licensed and there is a copy of the license code in the password database.

I have a copy on Murre (the desktop) too.

Channel line up

name Rx Tx Tone
1 MURS1 151.82 LOW1 2W
2 MURS2 151.88 LOW1 2W
3 ARCHCAPE 146.74 146.14 118.8
4 GEARHEART 146.80 146.20 118.8
5 MEGLER (Clatsop) 145.45 144.85 118.8
6 NICOLAI (W7BU Astoria) 146.76 146.16 118.8
7 WIKIUP (W7FBM Astoria) 146.66 146.06 118.8
8 ARES N 147.58
9 ARES S 146.58
10 REDCROSS 147.42
11 CALL VHF 146.52
12 SIMPLEX 640 146.40
13 SIMPLEX 642 146.42
14 SIMPLEX 644 146.44
15 NOAA NWS 162.400 Astoria
16 NOAA NWS 162.425 Neahkanie