COMRADE R8 User manual

Please read the following safety information in order to offer you security and high efficiency
during operation.
*Please turn off the radio before entering an inflammable and explosive area.
*Do not replace the battery or charging when you are in an inflammable and explosive
area.
*Please turn off the radio when you are close to the blast area or detonator zone.
*Do not use any radio which has a damaged antenna. It may cause a minor burn when
the damaged antenna touches your skins.
*Do not attempt to dismantle the radio unless professional technical person.
*To avoid the problems which caused by EMI and EMC, turn off your radios in any places
where posted notices *Please turn off your - radios*. For example, the hospital or other
health care places.
*Turn off your radio before boarding an aircraft.Any use of the radio must be in accordance
with airline regulations or flight crew*s instructions.
*If the vehicles have carried with an air bag, do not put your radios within the air bag
expand coverage.
*Do not expose the radio to direct sunlight over a long time, nor place it close to the heating
equipment.
*Do not place the radio in any excessively dusty, humid or wet place, nor an unstable
surface.
*When the portable radio is transmitting, please hold the radio in a vertical position and
speak to the Microphone.
1.-SAFETY INFORMATION:
WARNING: If you wear a radio on your body, ensure the radio and its antenna is
at least 2.5 centimeters away from your body when transmitting.
*Commercial FM radio receiver (65 MHz ~ 108 MHz)
*Incorporates 105 codes "DQT" and 50 privacy codes "QT" programmable
*Function "VOX" (voice operated transmission)
*Alarm function
*Up to 16 memory channels
*Broadband (Wide) / Narrowband (Narrow) selectable
*High power / low selectable
*Battery saving function "SAVE"
*Timer transmission "TOT" programmable
*Selecting the Scan Mode
*Inspection, stun, kill and decoding
*Distant urgency alarm, SOS function
*Function Busy Channel Lock "BCL"
*Programmable by PC
*Level Threshold "Squelch" adjustable from 0 to 9
*Cross band reception/transmission
*Transmit 1750 Tone
*Channel frequency-report
2.-FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS:
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We suggest you to check the packing box first before using it. Please carefully unpack
the box and check if all the items which listed in following table are received. If you find
any loss or damage, please contact your dealer immediately.
3.-UNPACKING AND CHECKING EQUIPMENTS: 5.1.- INSTALLING THE ANTENNA: 5.- INSTALLATION OF ACCESSORIES:
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Note:
*Items included in the package, may differ from those listed in the table above depending
on the country of purchase. For more information, consult your dealer or vendor.
4.- OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES:
Note:
*Consult the dealer or retailer for information about options available.
Install the antenna as shown in the figure below and turn it clockwise until it stops.
Note:
*When installing the antenna, don*t rotate it
by its top, holding it by its base and turn.
*If you use an external antenna, make sure
the *SWR* is about 1.5:1 or less, to avoid
damage to the transceiver's final transistors.
*Do not hold the antenna with your hand or
wrap the outside of it to avoid bad operation
of the transceiver.
*Never transmit without an antenna.
5.2. - INSTALLING THE BELT CLIP:
If necessary, install the belt clip at the rear of
the battery compartment cover as shown in
the figure below.
Note:
*Do not use any kind of glue to fix the screw
on the belt clip.
*The solvents Glue may damage the battery
casing.

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5.3. - MICRO-HEADSET INSTALLATION OF EXTERNAL:
Plug the external micro-headset
connector into the jack of "SP. & MIC"
of the transceiver as shown in the figure
below.
5.4. - BATTERY INSTALLATION:
-When attaching the battery, make sure the battery is in parallel and in good contact with
the aluminum chassis. The battery bottom is about 1 to 2 centimeters below the bottom
of the radio's body.
-Align the battery with the guide rails on the aluminum chassis and slide it upwards until
a "click" is heard.
-The battery latch at the bottom locks the battery.
-Turn off the radio before removing the battery.
-Slide the battery latch, at the bottom of the radio's body, in the direction indicated by the
arrow.
-Slide down the battery for about 1 to 2 centimeters, and then remove the battery from
the radio's body.
6.-BATTERY CHARGING:
Use only the charger specified by the manufacturer. The charger's LED indicates the
charging progress.
Please use the supplied charger to charge up the battery pack. And refer to the operation
way as below:
1) Put the adapter*s DC plug into charger*s DC jack which located at rear of charger.
2) Put the adapter into AC power*s socket. The charger*s LED will illuminate green light.
It means that the power has been connected.
3) Put the battery pack or transceiver with battery pack in charger cup. The LED will
illumination red light. It means that the battery pack is been charging.
4) When the red light goes out, and the green light illumination. It means that battery pack
is charged fully.
5) Pull out the adapter from AC power*s socket and take out battery pack.
Note:
1) Make sure the radio is switched off during charging.
2) Overcharging may affect the battery performance.

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7.2. -APPLICABLE BATTERY PACK
Please only use the battery which specified by the manufacturer. Unauthorized batteries
may cause the failure of Ex-protection or bodily injury and property damages.
7.-BATTERY INFORMATION:
7.1.-INITIAL USE
New batteries are not charged fully in the factory. Please charge it before using. In general,
the battery should charge 12 hours at initial use. The maximum battery capacity and
performance is achieved after three times fully battery charge-discharge cycle. When the
battery power runs out, please recharge the battery or replace one.
7.3.-SAFETY INFORMATION
1) Do not throw the battery into fire!
2) Do not abandon the battery as the household garbage, it should be recycled and disposed
correctly.
3) Never attempt to disassemble the battery pack.
Notices:
1)When charging your battery, please keep the ambient temperature among 5*- 40*.
2)Please turn off the radio when the battery is charging. Using the radio during charging
will affect the battery pack to be charged normally.
3)During charging, do not plug in/pull out the power supply or the battery frequently, it
would affect battery charging.
4)Do not charge when the battery or radio is wet. Please dry it with a soft cloth before
charging.
5)The battery life is over when the operating time is obviously shorter than normal even if
it's fully and correctly charged. Please replace a new battery.
7.4.-PROLONG BATTERY LIFE
1)Battery performance will degrade when the current temperature is below 0*. A spare
battery is necessary in cold weather. Please keep the cold batteries, these batteries may
work under room temperature.
2)If the battery contact is dusty, it may influence its normal use or normal charge.
1)Fully charge a battery before you store it for a long time, to avoid battery damage caused
by over-discharge.
2)Recharge the battery after several months'storage (Li-Ion/Li-polymer battery: 6months,
NiMH battery: 3 months), to avoid battery capacity reducing caused by over-discharge.
3)When storing your battery, keep it in a cool and dry place under room temperature.
7.5.-BATTERY STORAGE:

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8.-RADIO OVERVIEW: 8.2. - COMMAND/KEY DEFINITION:
Power On:
Rotate PWR/VOL Switch clockwise, you will hear a sound *Beep*, report the present
channel, the transceiver is ready for working; meanwhile rotate PWR/VOL Switch to adjust
the volume
[SOS]Emergency Alarm:
Long press to open the alarm function, at this moment, the green light, red light, and hand
lamp flashes shin at the same time. Press this button again to release the alarm.
[PTT]:
-Press and hold [PTT] button, then talk to the microphone. Release [PTT] to receive.
SK-SIDE KEY1/ [F]:
-Press the [F] button, to activate the FM Radio on; Press it again to deactivate the FM
Radio.
SK-SIDE KEY2/ [MONI]:
-Press the [MONI] button, to turn on the flashlight; Press it again to turn off. Press and
hold on the [MONI] button, to monitor the signal.

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9.-BASIC OPERATION
9.1.- RADIO ON-OFF
-Make sure the antenna and battery are installed correctly and the battery charged.
-Rotate the knob clockwise to turn the radio on, and rotate the knob fully counter-clockwise
until a "click" is heard to turn the radio off.
9.2.-VOLUME CONTROL
Rotate the knob clockwise or counter-clockwise, to adjust the volume.
9.3.-TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE
Choose the correct channel No. or enter the frequency which you need, then press and
hold [PTT] button, the radio is transmitting now, and then talk to the microphone, your
sound will be transmitted. Release [PTT] to receive.
9.4.-High/ Low Power Switchover
With the state of FM radio inactivated, press [MONI]to make noise, then press [PTT] can
temporarily switch High/Low power of selected channel(selected by selector). Meanwhile
report the state of Dual Band Dual Watch Mode (TDR mode). If it is on, report "TDR ON",
it is off, report "TDR OFF" .Voice prompt "Transmitting Power 1" is low power transmitting
, "Transmitting Power 5" is high power transmitting.
9.5.-MONI CHANNEL
With dual band state, keep holding [MONI] button to take turns to monitor the signal of
designed channel and selected channel. If the green LED keeps lighting, the signal is from
designated channel, if the green LED twinkles, the signal is from selected channel.
9.6. -SELECT A CHANNEL
Turn the Channel Selector Knob to select your desired channel. If the Voice announcement
function is enable, your radio will automatically report the channel No. where the knob
locates.

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10.-ADVANCED OPERATION
10.1. -Voice Prompt
*To turn on or turn off the voice prompt, please switch the channel knob to Channel 10,
then press [PTT] and [F] to turn on the radio.
*To change the Chinese and English setting, please switch the channel knob to channel
15, then press [PTT] and [F] to turn on the radio.
10.2. -STUN, KILL FUNCTION
You can program the working status to control the radios in the group.
*Remote Stun
Remote Stun function allows the control center to temporarily turn off the radios which
are illegal occupying the channels.
When the radio receive a DTMF signal with the matched Stun code, the radio will enter
Stun mode after it decoding succeed, which means the radio can't transmit but can still
receive from other radios.
Under Stun mode, the radio will exit Stun mode when it receiving a revive code from the
control center with decoding succeed or re-programmed via software.
*Remote Kill
Remote Kill function allows the control center to disable the radios which are lost or stolen.
It prevents from information leakage.
When the radio receive a DTMF signal with the matched Remote Kill code, the radio will
enter Kill mode after it decoding succeed, then the radio cannot transmit or receive.
Under Kill mode, the radio will exit Kill mode when it receiving a revive code from the control
center with decoding succeed or re-programmed via software.
10.3. -1750Hz TONE
This function is used to awake the sleeping repeater station. Press the programmed "1750Hz
Tone" key to activate the 1750Hz Tone, press this key again to exit it.
When 1750Hz Tone is activated, press [PTT] key to transmit 1750Hz Tone first then transmit
normal signals. The receiver whom receives the 1750Hz Tone will sound Beep alert until
the 1750Hz signal disappears.
10.4. -DIGITAL FM RADIO FUNCTION
In the single reception state, press [F] switch on FM radio. After FM Radio starts, press
[F] to search FM radio. Press [MONI] for FM band switch. If press [MONI], a sound "Beep"
is heard, then FM works in 65-75.9 FM band range, at this time press [F] radio frequency
search in the range of 65-75.9MHz. If press [MONI] ,a sound "Beep, Beep" is heard, FM
works in 76-108 FM band range, at this time press [F] radio frequency search in the range
of 76-108 MHz Shutdown and restart or rotate the selector can permanently turn off the
radio.
10.5. -VOX Function
VOX means voice-operated-transmission. When VOX function is activated, the radio can
transmit without pressing [PTT] key.
On channel 1-5, press and hold the MONI and [PTT], then switch on the transceiver, thus
to activate the VOX functions ON/OFF.
*When you turn on the VOX function on Channel 1, the VOX level will be 1 (most sensitive)
*When you turn on the VOX function on Channel 5, the VOX level will be 5 (lest sensitive)
*When you operate the VOX function, you must use an optional headset with microphone.

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The transceiver automatically switches to Transmission Mode when the VOX circuitry
senses that you have begun speaking into the microphone.
1. When operating the VOX function, be sure to set the VOX Gain level which allows the
transceiver to recognize the sound levels.
2. If the microphone is too sensitive, the transceiver will begin transmitting when there is
noise in the background.
3. If it is not sensitive enough, it will not pick up your voice when you begin speaking. Be
sure to adjust the VOX Gain level to an appropriate sensitivity to allow smooth transmission
10.6. -SCAN/FAST SWITCHING CHANNEL
*Channel scan
Press [MONI] key to start scanning from the current channel and the radio will scan the
channel numbers one by one on the list which we programmed before. Once a valid signal
is detected, it will switch to this channel directly. You can press [PTT] key to transmit. Press
Scan key again to exit radio scanning.
Note: The Scan status will not be memorized once the radio is powered off.
*Resume scanning Mode
To configure the scanning mode as following:
Carrier: Scanning stops on an active channel until there is no activity, it resumes scanning
after 5 seconds without activity on this channel.
Timer: Scanning stops on an active channel only for 5 seconds before it resumes scanning.
Seek: Scanning stops on an active channel and exit scanning mode at the same time.
*Priority Channel Scan
Sometimes you may need to keep an eye on a prefer channel while you are scanning other
channels. You can set up any channels as the priority channel, which means the radio
will scan this priority channel and other normal channels alternately. Press the programmed
*Priority Channel Scan key to activate this function and press this key again to exit. For
example, there are 3 channels CH1, CH2, CH3 and 1 priority channel on the scan list.
Then the priority scan will become:
CH1*Pri*CH2*Pri*CH3*Pri*CH1*Pri**
10.7. -CHANNEL FREQUENCY-REPORT
If you want to know the frequencies of selected transmit and receive, also the QT we setter
on transmitting and receiving, press [MONI] key and until has noise, then press the [F]
key. Broadcast order: "transmit Storage ", transmit frequency, and transmit QT. "Receiving
Storage", receiving frequency, receiving QT. After reported frequency, If it did not report
the DQT and QT that indicating that the channel is not set QT, or continue to broadcast
DQT and QT , when broadcast frequency and QT, I "beep" sound that appears to indicate
"point. "After reporting the DQT "beep" sound occurs, expressed as a positive DQT, a
"beep, beep" twice, indicating that the reverse digital tone.
10.8. -EMERGENCY ALARM
The radio can be loud, penetrating strong alarm sound; it can make somebody draw
attention to the roll call.
*Alarm function: Press the [SOS] button to start alarm function, when the green lights, red
lights, hand lamps blink at the same time.
*Cancel alarm: In the alarm status, press [F] or [PTT] button or turn off the power to cancel
the alarm.

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11.-ADDITIONAL FUNCTION
11.1. -LOW BATTERY ALERT
When the battery capacity is very low, the radio will flash red light and sound "Please
charge the battery" every 5 seconds to alert the user to recharge the battery. If you press
the [PTT] key, the radio will not transmit and always sound "Please charge the battery".
So please release the [PTT] key and charge the battery.
Note: if the battery voltage is too low, the radio may power off automatically.
11.2. -BATTERY SAVING FUNCTION (Set by PC Programming Software)
If battery save function is on, it will be automatically activated once there is no activity on
the channel and no operation to the radio (no key press and no knob select) which last
for 5 seconds. Pressing any key or receiving a signal will cause the radio to exit Battery
Save mode.
11.3. -BUSY CHANNEL LOCKOUT (BCL)
When BCL function is on, it prevents the radio from transmitting on a channel which is in
use.
Carrier: Press [PTT] key to transmit on a channel which is in use, the radio will sound alert
tone and stop transmitting. Please release [PTT] key to stop the alert tone and turn back
to receiving mode.
QT/DQT: If QT/DQT and BCLare set on the current channel, press the [PTT] key to transmit
on a channel which is in use, once the radio decodes failed, it will sound alert tone and
stop transmitting. Please release [PTT] key to stop the alert tone and turn back to receiving
mode.
OFF: You still can transmit on a channel which is in use.
11.4. -SELECT WIDE/NARROW BANDWIDTH
Bandwidth refers to the channel transmission capacity at a fixed time. Wide Bandwidth
(25 KHz) can simultaneously transmit more signals at a channel, so it's easier to receive
some weak signals, but meanwhile it's easier to be affected by noise signals. Narrow
Bandwidth (12.5 KHz) makes the voice clearer and occupies less channel resource, but
it's easier to miss some weak signals which may be useful to you. You can choose the
channel space according to your communication requirements via the software.
11.5. -QT/DQT
QT/DQT signal can be pre-programmed by programming software in the transceiver's
channels. If a channel is set up with QT/DQT signal, squelch can only be opened when
receiving the same QT or DQT signals from the other transceiver. If you make a call with
different QT/DQT signals in the same channel, the squelch is bare, the light is green.

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12.-TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION:
12.1-RECEIVER
12.2-GENERAL