The WCS-91 Programmer is designed to give you the ease and convenience of programming the memories and set menu options of your radio from your PC including settings for D-Star operations. The D-Star calculator built into the program gives you D-Star information from all around the world to use. You can easily set up your D-Star channels with just a few mouse clicks. Memory Channels Include:
Other Menu Item Categories Include:
The Radio Programmer Is for so Much More than Just Memory Management. | The programming process begins by first installing the program then installing (and allowing) the drivers for the cable. Be sure to complete both of these steps. | |
Save your file as you work. This is a computer, after all, and you would hate to lose your work should the system fail. Actually, create and save as many files as you want or need. You could have one file for home, a different one for the vacation house, another for the trip to your son’s house, another for the yearly 3K run and picnic where you help direct traffic and want the radio to be programmed with only the frequencies for that event. Remember, radio programming is an overwrite process. Everything in the radio is replaced by everything in the file. |
Band A Limit Memories Limit Memories are used by the radio for Program Scan. Program the same details for Limit Memories as for regular memory channels. Many of the Limit Memories are preprogrammed in the radio and while the frequency can be changed to another within the band, they cannot be left blank. |
Band B Limit Memories Limit Memories are used by the radio for Program Scan. Program the same details for Limit Memories as for regular memory channels. Many of the Limit Memories are preprogrammed in the radio and while the frequency can be changed to another within the band, they cannot be left blank. These channels are regular memory channels unless you engage program scan. They can be accessed in addition to those in the Band B Memories for D-Star repeaters. |
VFO Band A The program makes available the same VFOs as in the radio (usually one per band). Remember these are not real memory channels since the details are lost as soon as you tune the radio manually. There is no one button recall for these. You do not need to program into VFO before programming details into a memory channel. These channels are preprogrammed in the radio and while the frequency can be changed to another within the band, they cannot be left blank. |
VFO Band B The program makes available the same VFOs as in the radio (usually one per band). Remember these are not real memory channels since the details are lost as soon as you tune the radio manually. There is no one button recall for these. You do not need to program into VFO before programming details into a memory channel. These channels are preprogrammed in the radio and while the frequency can be changed to another within the band, they cannot be left blank. |
Call Band A Home/Call channels are special memories accessed through one button recall on the radio. These channels are preprogrammed in the radio and while the frequency can be changed to another within the band, they cannot be left blank. |
Call Band B Home/Call channels are special memories accessed through one button recall on the radio. These channels are preprogrammed in the radio and while the frequency can be changed to another within the band, they cannot be left blank. |
TV Channel Available TV channel frequencies depend on the radio's version. This screen in the Programmer will be populated with those frequencies specific to your radio model once you complete Communications | Get data from radio. Make changes to these channels to suit your area and activities. The Channels can be deleted from the list to remove them from the radio. The Instruction Manual for the radio details these frequencies for all the different models should you need to recreate the list for your radio. |
Band B Memories and D-Star Columns The IC-91 handles D-Star and FM memories on Band B. It is here in the Programmer that the D-Star specifics for each channel are found. The D-Star columns become active once Operating Mode is set to DV. |
Set "My Callsign" to your FCC issued callsign. The lists of Your Callsigns and Rpt Callsigns are just storage. The callsigns used during a transmission are programmed in the memory channel. These lists are available to make a selection from; however, the callsign does not need to be entered here first. Tx messages, name/location/equipment details, etc., scroll on the radio receiving your call. Options for Display, GPS and Digital Settings are easily customized on this screen. | ||
Source and Destination: The D-STAR Calculator automatically sets up the Talk, Echo, Info and Unlink channels for your "Source" repeater. The "Source" is the repeater you access to begin your adventures. Just like with analog repeaters, you must be able to hit the "Source" repeater.Talk - the CQ channel for talking with others. Echo - a test function that repeats your transmission back to you. Good for letting you know that you are, or are not, hitting the repeater. Info - The function that triggers a status response from the repeater (i.e. linked to "where"... not linked). Unlink - Disconnects the current link of the repeater (where allowed). More widely used to disconnect a link you establish. Remember... if you link, its always polite to unlink (hang up the phone) when you're done unless someone has joined you locally. Then you might leave it to them to unlink. The calculator sets up the same channels for a DVAP hotspot. You enter your frequency only once. | |
Route/Link to Repeaters: Now that you identified your "Source", let's set up your Destination. In D-STAR you can Link to Repeaters or Route to Repeaters. To set up channels that link or route, use the drop down at the top of the first tree to select your function, then select your repeaters by checking a country, region, state, city or individual repeater. A counter below the list keeps track of how many you have selected. | |
Link to Reflectors: For even more fun, and a great way for a beginner to get started, Link to Reflectors. D-STAR reflectors are a special type of Internet connected gateway that rebroadcasts each signal to all the other linked nodes or repeaters. Remember... EVERYBODY is listening... but that's what makes it fun. You have a whole world to talk to through your local repeater, "Source", linked to a reflector. To set up a channel that links your repeater to a reflector, check the box for that reflector in the Link to Reflector tree.Click Apply once to set up all these channels for the radio. | |
The Resulting File: | |
The resulting channels are set up and ready to go. Your callsign, Rpt 1 Callsign and Rpt 2 Callsign are set automatically... No wondering which suffix goes where, or if it is positioned correctly. That is all done for you. Name can be edited here to better identify the station. Name is what you see on the radio. It is not part of the D-STAR commands for use of the system. It may be all you have to identify the function of a channel. (Notice the frequency is the same for ALL these channels although they each do something different on the D-STAR network.) Make the Name something you understand. Note: Be sure to turn ON the name display for the radio to use what you enter in the name field. To Use these Settings for D-STAR Fun:
HAVE FUN! | |
Common Use these screens to customize other set menu features of the radio. Check boxes toggle features on or off, drop down menus list all selections and blank boxes for personalized entry add to the ease of setting up your radio exactly like you want it. The entries on the Settings screens are made for you to "Set and Forget". Once settings are customized, you are prompted to save before exiting. The saved settings will be there every time you create a new frequency file. | ||
DTMF Enter DTMF memory details and customize options for this function of the radio. | ||
External Data
RT Systems Programmers interface with four sources of data to make it easy for you to find repeater information. Some of these sources even include information for repeaters outside the US. Your existing subscription to a service (where required) works in the programmer.
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Radio Reference Search An internet connection and subscription to the service are required for this search. | ||
Repeater Book Search An Internet connection is required for this search. | ||
RFinder Search An internet connection and subscription to the service are required for this search. | ||
The information is returned on a screen that is not yet ready for radio programming, this screen lets you examine the data to see if the results are about what you expected. You might find that you spelled the city name wrong which resulted in nothing being returned; or that you want to pull repeaters from further away; or you want to get repeaters for different bands. |
Sorting Return Data The screen that opens after you click OK for one of the external data searches gives you the ability to remove repeater information that your radio cannot use. You might have a radio that does not do DMR, DStar or Yaesu Fusion. Simply uncheck these in the list. The channels are removed from the list automatically. |
Resulting File After clicking Create File for (Your radio) the programmer creates the file that you use to program your radio. Notice that all the Tones are set up with the tone frequencies. All done automatically. |
Grid Display
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Memory Defaults
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Other
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Click here to learn more about using Preferences to customize your radio programming experience. |