Using Split, Quick Split and Dual Watch in the IC-756Pro Series

by Art Burke, N4PJ

Let's say you're tuning 20m and Good Grief Reef comes on the air. You find the freq the DX station is transmitting on (you tuned it with the MAIN VFO). You hear the station say "...listening up 5".

Refer to User Manual, p. 71.

Press and hold the SPLIT button to enter Quick Split. The MAIN and SUB VFO's will now be, equalized/synchronized and the f-INP annunciator will be illuminated near the upper right corner of the display. Push the "5" button on the number pad, then press SPLIT once again. Now you will discover that two additional things have happened simultaneously.

  1. The SUB VFO will now be offset +5 kHz from the MAIN VFO.

  2. The SUB VFO will be highlighted (i.e., when you turn the tuning knob, you will be tuning the SUB VFO; the MAIN VFO has effectively  been locked in place.)

Now press DUAL WATCH. You will constantly hear the DX station on the MAIN VFO, and you will hear the station(s) calling him on their transmit frequency (i.e., the DX station's listening frequency, which you have now tuned on the SUB VFO.)

Now, when you rotate the main tuning knob (thanks to the MAIN/SUB function), there will be no danger of accidentally moving the DX station's frequency.

If listening to both sides of the pileup gets confusing (hopefully the DX station is on one side all by himself!), you can turn off the DUAL WATCH and use the Spectrum Scope to identify where the pack seems to be calling.

Without MAIN/SUB and DUALWATCH, you need moderate dexterity to keep hitting the CHANGE button and tuning the SUB VFO when trying to identify where the DX station is currently listening. I would bet that 75% of the time (maybe more?) when you hear someone transmitting right on top of the DX, it's because they pressed CHANGE (or its equivalent on their radio) and forgot to go back to the other VFO. The Quick Split function leaves you consistently on the SUB VFO, but you can return to the MAIN VFO at any time by pressing MAIN/SUB.

This procedure is very easy to perform. It is described in the user manual (p. 71), but is apparently often overlooked.

Art, N4PJ


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Copyright © 2006 A. Burke N4PJ. All rights reserved. Last updated: 15/11/2012.
Original text edited and page created on Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2007 by A. Farson VA7OJ/AB4OJ.