Modifications for the IC-3220 VHF/UHF FM Transceiver
I bought it used at the Dayton Hamfest in 2007,
and its manual was printed in 1990.
Definitely not the state of the art,
although that sort of thing intrigues me...
There were three variants of the IC-3220.
I believe that these are the distinctions:
-
IC-3220A — US & Asia (Japan) model —
includes CTCSS/PL subaudible tone encoder and
DTMF tones with the HM-56 microphone
-
IC-3220E — European model —
includes 1750 Hz tone call,
has slightly different default receive
coverage
-
IC-3220H — Seems to be like the
IC-3220A with higher transmit power:
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IC-3220A/E
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IC-3220H
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Power
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Current
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Power
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Current
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VHF
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High
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25 W
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7.0 A
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45 W
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10.0 A
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Low-2
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10 W
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4.5 A
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10 W
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5.0 A
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Low-1
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1 W
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2.5 A
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5 W
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4.0 A
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UHF
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High
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25 W
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8.0 A
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35 W
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10.0 A
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Low-2
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10 W
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5.0 A
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10 W
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6.0 A
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Low-1
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1 W
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3.0 A
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5 W
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4.5 A
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Extended Receive Coverage
Unfortunately, this requires hardware modification
rather than a firmware power-on reset as on some
other Icom gear.
[1] Get a service manual
Ask Google
something like the following:
[2] Expanding VHF receive coverage
Expanded VHF receive coverage:
118.000 - 135.995 MHz AM
136.000 - 174.000 MHz FM
The AM demodulation seems to be done by slope detection,
and it is not very sensitive.
The IC2-SAT handheld (of similar vintage) seems to
be more sensitive in the aviation band than either
the IC-3220 or the IC-229 mobiles.
To extend VHF receive coverage:
Cut D6 on the Logic board
(located at the front of the radio).
[3] Expanding UHF receive coverage
Expanded UHF receive coverage:
400.000 - 479.000 MHz FM
Sensitivity outside the ham FM band of 430-450 MHz
is noticeably worse, see the tables below.
To extend UHF receive coverage:
Cut D4 on the Logic board
(located at the front of the radio).
Receive Sensitivity
As measured with an
HP 8656B signal generator.
Signal levels were set in integer dBm.
That means that the microvolt levels are quantized
the way you see here.
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Frequency
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Signal level
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Decent SNR on AM
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FM full-quieting
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Solid copy but noisy
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Breaks squelch
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S9 on meter
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S5 on meter
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S1 on meter
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118-123 MHz
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5.0 μV
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125 MHz
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2.5 μV
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130 MHz
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1.5 μV
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132-135 MHz
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1.25 μV
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135.995 MHz
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0.5 μV
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136-162 MHz
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0.5 μV
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0.25 μV
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0.1 μV
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162-174 MHz
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0.25 μV
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400 MHz
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5.0 μV
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2.0 μV
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0.4 μV
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15.8 μV
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10.0 μV
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5.62 μV
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410 MHz
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5.0 μV
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2.0 μV
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0.4 μV
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22.4 μV
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14.1 μV
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7.94 μV
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420 MHz
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5.0 μV
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2.0 μV
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0.4 μV
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31.6 μV
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20.0 μV
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12.6 μV
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430 MHz
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5.0 μV
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2.0 μV
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0.4 μV
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56.2 μV
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35.5 μV
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20.0 μV
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440 MHz
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0.8 μV
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0.3 μV
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0.1 μV
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6.31 μV
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3.98 μV
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2.24 μV
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450 MHz
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0.8 μV
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0.3 μV
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0.1 μV
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3.98 μV
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2.82 μV
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1.58 μV
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460 MHz
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5.0 μV
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2.0 μV
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0.4 μV
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70.8 μV
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50.1 μV
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28.2 μV
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470 MHz
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5.0 μV
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2.0 μV
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0.4 μV
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70.8 μV
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44.7 μV
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25.1 μV
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479 MHz
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5.0 μV
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2.0 μV
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0.4 μV
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56.2 μV
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39.8 μV
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22.4 μV
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