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Land Mobile communications for Public Safety and Business

Icom: Our competitor likes to call them "Just Old Farmer Junk"

We understand a competitor has been whining that Icom products are sub-standard "farm junk" . Many of his products don't meet the most recent Military Standard 810F for shock and vibration- ours exceed them. They bid against us at a loss just to buy the bid. We bid our every-day GSA price and win. We stay up to the minute on the latest grant information, interoperability standards and communications procedures. They publicly argue with the experts that interoperability is a bad idea- possibly because their "high quality" products simply won't communicate on many regional channels. We are personally invited to be a guest of their engineering department at the factory in Osaka, Japan. They send a tech to an occasional 2 day school.

Hmmm...

We're proud to be selling the finest "farm junk" in the world. We all know that the atmosphere around explosive grain dust is not as hazardous as a smoke filled bar, or that climbing around a wet, muddy combine is mush easier on a radio than cruising in a patrol car, or that working around a hog confinement "waste pit" is less corrosive than spilled coffee, or that its easier to hear a radio in a dusty 300 hp diesel tractor running full bore than it is in the back of an ambulance. Or is it?

Icom's F50 portable and the new F70 APCO P25 digital radio are not just water-resistant 5-watt portables, they're submersible three feet+ to JIS-7.  The F50 is only slightly bigger than a pager. The F70 is smaller and almost 5 ounces lighter than the competitor's digital radios. Nobody else in land mobile radio has products like them. Try keying your brand "M", "K" or "V" under water and see how long it lives.  Submersible also means it doesn't mind dust, dirt or mud. If you drop it in the ditch, just hose it off. Come and test one out in our aquarium.

Icom Land Mobile radios also meet or exceed Mil Spec 810 "C" "D" "E" and the new "F" shock and vibration standard.  Compare our "farm junk" to the other guy's lower specs for more money. All our 'cheap' radios come standard with 2-tone, DTMF and 5-tone signaling built in. This makes paging, ANI, remote operation, and other features standard, not an expensive add-on.

 Key LMR Dealer

Call 1-800-USA-ICOM

Ask us about the new APCO P25 solutions starting at less than $600!


IC-4008M in Iraq

Some "no-name low profile" organizations that have chosen Icom products include:
bulletThe U.S. Army twice selected an Icom portable over all others during grueling tests for tactical communications equipment. There are now over 35,000 Icom tactical F43-series radios on duty in the Middle East.
bulletThe U.S. Marine Corps has selected a version of Icom America's IC-4008M FRS radio for use as their Intrasquad radio. 
bulletThe U. S. Forest Service
bulletThe Missouri Department of Conservation
bulletThe State of Arkansas
bulletThe 2002 Winter Olympics
bulletAny many others.
In the past 3 years, almost every new Fire or EMS radio purchased in our region has been an Icom.
bulletPike County Sheriff
bulletPike Co EMS
bulletNorth Pike FPD
bulletSpring Creek FPD
bulletGriggsville FD
bulletHull/Kinderhook FPD
bulletCity of LaPlata, MO
bulletEdina PD
bulletAnd many first responders!

B-K Electric, Inc. is now the factory trained dealer authorized by Icom-America to sell and service the APCO P25 digital products in our region.  Our factory trained staff is willing to spend whatever time it takes to help you chart out a common sense, economical course through the new waters of the latest Federal mandates for digital interoperability.

In addition, our consulting and technical manager was personally requested by Icom-America president Hiro Nakaoka to be a guest of Icom at their Osaka, Japan engineering facility to discuss product features and improvements. This request was not based on sales volume, but rather B-K Electric's continuing commitment to economical first responder communications and interoperable procedures.

We specialize in regional paging and communication systems for public safety. Our staff can handle anything from replacing a single radio to full-blown propagation and radio study services.

Contact jim@b-kelectric.com for a consultation or quote.

 

Not an a real Icom dealer?   Bull.  Dial 1-800-USA-ICOM and ask for Alicia Scott. 
Or,  check http://www.icomamerica.com/dealers/ and you'll see this:

Authorized Icom America Dealers
B-K Electric
500 N Chandler
Griggsville, IL 62340
Phone: (217) 833-2488
Fax: (217) 833-2098
E-Mail: jim@b-kelectric.com
Division: Land Mobile

Before you invest in a radio system, look at the company behind the product.

Icom? Never heard of them.
 Icom now commands the top third position in world-wide land mobile radio sales.
They stand world-wide with Motorola, Kenwood, M/A-Comm, Thales, and, E.F. Johnson.

They just make ham radios, don't they?
Arguably, the best in the world. But most of the company's product sales are in the Marine, Avionics and Land Mobile industries.
Land Mobile (our specialty) now accounts for over half of Icom's sales. Icom doesn't build cell phones, pagers, stereos, wrist watches or toasters, onlt the finest communications equipment possible.

Who builds their radios for them?
Nobody!  All Icom products are manufactured from the ground up (not just assembled) by Icom employees in wholly owned Icom facilities located in Osaka, Japan. Icom equipment is manufactured to strict standards in the latest state of the art ISO-certified "white room" environments. If its not an Icom, there's a good chance it was build in Mexico, Korea or China where labor is cheap and quality control exists only on paper. Specialty Icom accessories come from manufacturing partners such as Otto Engineering, Telex, Klein, Trident Microsystems and Daniels Electronics- all Industry leaders with the highest quality possible.

But we need a complete system...
Icom is one of the very few radio manufacturers with an extensive specialized in-house Systems Division.
In-house engineers, and engineering partners such as Westek Electronics and Daniels Electronics (www.danelec.com - prime supplier of APCO P25 equipment to the U. S. Government) design and build state of the art, complex multi-site radio systems world-wide.
The other guys:  "System" salesmen? Probably. Complete, experienced factory system engineering with local 24/7 support? Yea, right.

They're just a little company...
Icom Incorporated is a publicly held corporation; its stock is traded on the Tokyo and Osaka Stock Exchanges with over $375 million in assets.

Are they solvent?
In 2004, Icom Incorporated sales were just short of $250 million  with a 12% operating profit ($31 million) .Corporate debt? Everything, including short-term trade payables, totaled under 12% of their assets. We should all be doing so well...
 http://www.icom.co.jp/company/ir/h16/anyu.pdf

 

5-tone signaling:

B-K Electric is a Icom trained specialist in 5-tone signaling. All Icom radios come equipped with international EIA open-standard signaling built in.  Vertex and the other guys only include it in high end (high dollar) radios, or as an expensive add-on board.

Never heard of 5-tone? That's probably because the Major U.S. manufacturer supports it, but would rather sell their own proprietary system so you have to use their equipment.  EIA 5-tone is the international standard signaling protocol for European and Asian users.

Why do I care?

What's 5-tone? Simply, it is a fast data burst added to selected radio transmissions, or used as signaling from radios (base, portable or mobile). If you watch "C.O.P.S.", you'll frequently hear a bleep at the end of many radio transmissions. That data burst uniquely identifies the transmitter and sends other information. The dispatcher and other users know who just said something, even if the voice is un-intelligible.

Many vendors have proprietary signaling protocols. They work just fine, but do you really need to be married to a specific radio manufacturer because nothing else is compatible?  Icom uses ONLY open protocols as specified by international EIA standards.  No funny quirks. If your existing radios adhere to the international EIA standard, they will work on any 5-tone system. 

Think that you need an expensive trunked repeater system to have fancy features?  Wrong. The smallest 5-tone system consists of two portables.  That's it.  And 5-tone can flow flawlessly through any existing repeater system, with no changes to the "big radio".

5-tone is perfect for paging.  The familiar 2-tone "beep" is 4 seconds long, and MUST be heard in its entirely and with accurate timing to set off a pager. North America is the last place still routinely using the lengthy 2-tone format.  The rest of the world has graduated to 5-tone because of its durability and efficiency. A complete EIA 5-tone burst lasts about a second, and can be repeated many times in the same period as a single 2-tone page. Because of the precise timing required for a 2-tone page, no 2-tone pager manufacturer will guarantee page reception while scanning.   Missing pages?  Need to scan more than one channel to get them? Think about it

5-tone can also be used for other functions, such as emergency or man-down signals, selective pages (BILL CALL HOME), Mutual Aid and wide-area pages, and radio function checks (Your radio is on but you're ignoring us again!)  Loose a radio, or have someone playing games? Nuke it by remote control.  EIA 5-tone and its companion BIIS data format allows for vehicle position information to be send through any existing conventional or repeater system- no special data channel required.

For the dispatch center, 5-tone "bleeps" at the end of a transmission positively identify the source.  This means that positive ID can be recalled from recordings, as well as cause a screen pop to provide any desired information about the source for reference or logging, such as user name, department, function, or apparatus capabilities. Vehicle position from onboard GPS units can be queried on demand. 5-tone can also be used in situations where vehicles (such as school busses, township dump trucks, etc.)  may need to call the Public Safety Dispatch Center to inform them of an incident, but should be excluded from hearing routine traffic, or denied the ability to transmit on the dispatch channel without case-by-case permission.

Want to see what 5-tone can do for your company or agency? Contact us for more information, or to set up a demonstration.

 

Icom General Specifications:

All of Icom's specs are immediately available from their website.

Applicable U.S. Military Specifications
Icom makes rugged products that meet MIL-STD requirements and strict environmental standards as follows.
 

Standard

MIL 810C MIL 810D MIL 810E MIL 810F
Method Proc. Method Proc. Method Proc. Method Proc
Low Pressure 500.1 I 500.2 I, II 500.3 I, II 500.4 I, II
High Temp. 501.1 I 501.2 I, II 501.3 I, II 501.4 I, II
Low Temp. 502.1 I 502.2 I, II 502.3 I, II 502.4 I, II
Temp. Shock 503.1 I 503.2 I 503.3 I 503.4 I
Solar Radiation 505.1 I 505.2 I 505.3 I 505.4 I
Rain 506.1 I, II 506.2 I, II 506.3 I, II 506.4 I, II
Humidity 507.1 I, II 507.2 II, III 507.3 I, III 507.4 -
Salt Fog 509.1 I 509.2 I 509.3 I 509.4 -
Dust 510.1 I 510.2 I 510.3 I 510.4 I
Vibration 514.2 VIII, X 514.3 I 514.4 I 514.5 I
Shock 516.2 I, II, V 516.3 I, IV 516.4 I, IV 516.5 I, IV

 

JIS-7 Submersible Standards for the Icom F50/60

I don't need a submersible radio! You probably don't, as long as you're a fire fighter who never gets wet, a public works employee who never works in muddy ditches, an ER technician who never gets a blast of "stuff",  or someone who never falls down or has an accident around water.

The JIS waterproof rating scale is an internationally recognized standard for measuring a radio’s water resistance capability. On a scale of 1 to 8, with 8 meaning designed for use while submerged in water, the F50’s JIS-7 rating means the radio is fully operational after having been submersed in one meter of water for 30 minutes.

 If it gets covered in muck, the F50 may be cleaned by simply spraying it down, running it under a faucet, or submersing it in water – all with no ill effect.

From the Japan Industrial Standards Committee standards and procedures manual:


           
      

 

U.S. Marines Choose Icom For New Communications Equipment

IC-4008The U.S. Marine Corps has selected a special, modified version of Icom America's IC-4008A FRS radio for use as their intrasquad radio (ISR). This new model will be known as the IC-4008M.

The IC-4008M is used at the infantry squad level to supplement hand and arm signals. This small, lightweight transceiver is easy to operate and is held in a custom case that is worn on the uniform. All 13,000 units are scheduled to be delivered by October 2000.

"These are not off-the-shelf IC-4008A's, but they're close", says Bob Carey, Vice President of Icom America. "This special version of our FRS radio has undergone frequency changes to operate on select U.S. Marine Corps' UHF frequencies." The ISR will not be made available for public purchase.

The Icom radio was heavily tested against and selected over a field of other competing models. "This is one tough little radio," says Bob Carey. "We're very pleased and honored that the U.S. Marine Corps has chosen Icom for this project."

Icom's IC-4008A is built to meet JIS-4 water resistant standards. Already built to meet tough military specifications and sporting impressive features such as an automatic transponder system, a "smart ring" to confirm that a call has been received, and a foldaway antenna, the IC-4008A was named earlier this year as a "Best Buy" by Consumer's Digest Magazine (1/00).

 

January, 2004, and AGAIN in January 2005! Icom Sweeps NMEA Marine Radio Awards

2004: Icom marine radios have taken top honors in all three radio categories at the 2003 National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) awards event. The prestigious event is held each fall at the NMEA convention in Sanibel, Florida.

Icom’s rugged M88  took top awards for best portable VHF radiotelephone, the advanced M602 was named best fixed VHF radiotelephone, and the digital M802 won for a second straight year as the best single side band (SSB) radiotelephone.

“The smile has not left my face since last week”, said an excited Rick Waedekin, National Marine Sales Manager for Icom America. “These wins reaffirm Icom’s superior radio design, construction, support and technological savvy in a competitive market.”

“Icom continues to provide the highest level of service to our dealers and customers. It gives us an even greater advantage. It’s an edge everyone at Icom is proud to have and will continue to own.”

This is not the first time Icom has won the coveted NMEA awards. Over the years, Icom has won many of the awards – a dozen within the past decade alone.

“We won’t become complacent with these latest awards,” claims Bob Carey, Vice President of Icom America. “The competition is stiff, and the technology is always on the rise. It is an ever-present challenge to remain on top, where today’s boater expects to find Icom. It’s where we’ll stay.”

About the radios:

The M88 (based on the Land Mobile Division's F50/60 Submersible portable series) won the best VHF handheld award. The M88 is super compact, military rugged, offers a 20+ hour Li-Ion rechargeable battery (the longest lasting in the industry), offers 5 full watts of output power, and is submersible performance to JIS-7 specifications. The radio is ideally suited for the discriminating recreational boater and for the professional marine trades.

The submersible M602 is Icom’s ultimate marine VHF, winning the best fixed mount award. A front-facing speaker offers an impressively loud and clear 5 watts of audio output. A 22 watt built-in hailer is the most powerful in the industry. A built-in foghorn with 4 selectable patterns is also selectable. NMEA in/out jacks provide for easy plug and play connection of most third party GPS units, and the readout is viewable on the M602’s large dot-matrix screen. Seven levels of backlighting keep the display and keypad easy to see, day or night. Class D DSC is built-in, and a second fully independent receiver continually monitors channel 70, even if the first receiver is in use on another channel. The 10 key pad offers quick access to all the M602’s functions, plus the user may direct-enter channel numbers. The M602 accepts up to 2 optional plug and play COMMANDMIC™s – Icom’s remote control microphones. Each COMMANDMIC operates up to 70 feet away from the M602, is submersible, offers control of most every radio feature (DSC excluded), and doubles as an intercom. It’s like having 3 radio stations or intercom points on board. The M602 truly sets a new standard in marine VHF radios.

For the second year in a row, the NMEA named Icom’s M802 the best SSB radio. The M802 offers pindrop-clear DSP (digital) reception and 150 watts of worldwide talk power in a compact, feature-rich package. The remote control head offers installation ease, allowing the radio body to be installed out of the way. The M802 is the first consumer SSB to offer DSC (ITU Class E). One-touch e-mail access is available, the full 10 key pad allows direct frequency entry, and there’s even a headset plug on the front panel, so listeners don’t have to wake up everyone on board to enjoy their favorite shortwave broadcasts. The M802 offers NMEA input for plug and play third party GPS operation. A super-wide band receive capability includes all HF amateur bands. Ham transmit capability is built-in, the M802’s digital RX eliminates the need for an optional filter to take advantage of SITOR, FSK and other operating modes, and the radio is 100% duty cycle. The M802 is the next generation of SSB technology here today.

And again in January, 2005: the second year straight Icom has swept the category
 

NMEA2004Icom marine radios have taken top honors in all three radio categories at the 2004 National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) awards event. This is the second year straight Icom has swept the category. The prestigious event was held this year at the NMEA convention in Naples, Florida.

Icom's rugged IC-M88 (the first cousin to the Land Mobile F50) once again ran away with the top award for best portable VHF radiotelephone, the advanced IC-M602 again claimed the best fixed VHF radiotelephone category, and the digital IC-M802 won for a third straight year as the best single side band (SSB) radiotelephone.

"We made NMEA history last year by sweeping all three radio categories. We're very pleased to repeat the event this year", says Rick Waedekin, National Marine Sales Manager for Icom America. "Icom strives to put out the best, promote the best, support the best, and back the best. We appreciate the marine electronics industry's recognition of our efforts and accomplishments.

"Over the past decade, Icom has won 18 NMEA awards. "Well need to get a bigger wall to fit all these plaques", says Bob Carey, Icom Vice President.

About the radios:

The M88 won the best VHF handheld award. The M88 is super compact, military rugged, offers a 20+ hour Li-Ion rechargeable battery (the longest lasting in the industry), offers 5 full watts of output power, and is submersible performance to JIS-7 specifications. The radio is ideally suited for the discriminating recreational boater and for the professional marine trades. A new stubby antenna option is new for 2004.

The submersible M602 is Icom's ultimate marine VHF, winning the best fixed mount award. A front-facing speaker offers an impressively loud and clear 5 watts of audio output. A 22 watt built-in hailer is the most powerful in the industry. A built-in foghorn with 4 selectable patterns is also selectable. NMEA in/out jacks provide for easy plug and play connection of most third party GPS units, and the readout is viewable on the M602's large dot-matrix screen. Seven levels of backlighting keep the display and keypad easy to see, day or night. Class D DSC is built-in, and a second fully independent receiver continually monitors channel 70, even if the first receiver is in use on another channel. The 10 key pad offers quick access to all the M602's functions, plus the user may direct enter channel numbers. The M602 accepts up to 2 optional plug and play COMMANDMICTMs – Icom's remote control microphones. Each COMMANDMIC operates up to 70 feet away from the M602, is submersible, offers control of most every radio feature (DSC excluded), and doubles as an intercom. It's like having 3 radio stations or intercom points on board. The M602 truly sets a new standard in marine VHF radios.

For the third year in a row, the NMEA named Icom's M802 the best SSB radio. The M802 offers pindrop-clear DSP (digital) reception and 150 watts of worldwide talk power in a compact, feature-rich package. The remote control head offers installation ease, allowing the radio body to be installed out of the way. The M802 is the first consumer SSB to offer DSC (ITU Class E). One-touch e-mail access is available, the full 10 key pad allows direct frequency entry, and there's even a headset plug on the front panel, so listeners don't have to wake up everyone on board to enjoy their favorite shortwave broadcasts. The M802 offers NMEA input for plug and play third party GPS operation. A super-wide band receive capability includes all HF amateur bands. Ham transmit capability is built-in, the M802's digital RX eliminates the need for an optional filter to take advantage of SITOR, FSK and other operating modes, and the radio is 100% duty cycle. The M802 is the next generation of SSB technology here today.
 

 

Not bad for a company who builds "cheap 'ole farm junk"


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501 N. Federal
Griggsville, IL  62340

Griggsville Number
217-833-2488

866-933-2488

Pittsfield Number
217-285-6317

Fax Number
217-833-2098

866-933-2488

Updated 11/27/2007  Copyright 2003-06, B-K Electric, Inc.  All rights reserved.
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