Blackbox Bantam Series User Manual
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Summary of Contents for Blackbox Bantam Series

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Contents Safety Matters ........3 Auxiliary Functions ......15 Unpack and Check ....... 4 PC Programming ........15 Programmable Key Settings ....16-18 Getting Aquainted ......5-6 Other Function Settings ....... 19-22 Battery Information ......7 Antenna Information ......8 Specification .........
  • Page 4: Safety Matters

    Safety Please read the warnings below. Failure to obey these warnings may cause danger or violation of the law. • Use this radio in compliance with local government regulations. • Please turn off the radio before entering a potentially explosive or flammable environment. • Do not replace or charge battery pack in a potentially explosive or flammable environment. • Turn off the radio before approaching a blast area or detonator area. • Do not use if the antenna is damaged. Damaged antennas may cause burns. • Only qualified technicians are permitted to do maintenance on this two way radio. Do not disassemble the radio. • To avoid problems caused by electromagnetic interference or electromagnetic compatibility, please turn off the radio in places with a Wireless Communication Transmit Equipment Prohibited sign posted, such as hospitals or health care facilities. When in a plane, turn off the radio if required. • Do not put the radio within the possible range of an airbag in a vehicle. • Do not expose the radio to direct sunlight or near heating devices for a long period of time. • Keep the radio vertical and speak near the microphone during transmission. • If you carry the radio on your body, please keep the antenna 1 inch (2.5cm) away from your body when transmitting. www.blackboxradios.com...
  • Page 5: Unpack And Check

    Unpack and Check Before use, we recommend that you check the packing and identify the items listed below. If any damage has occurred during shipment, please contact your local dealer. Items Radio Antenna Battery Charger w/adaptor Adaptor Belt Clip Strap Warranty Card Quantity 1 Note: For frequency band of antenna, please refer to the label on the bottom of the antenna. Optional accessories are available to meet your requirements. Use genuine Blackbox™ Bantam® accessories to ensure clear communication and outstanding performance. www.blackboxradios.com...
  • Page 6: Getting Aquainted

    Get Acquainted Battery Information Applicable Battery Model: Please charge with Blackbox™ Bantam® branded battery charger; Charging with other types of battery chargers may cause explosion, personal injury or damage to the radio. Note: 1. Do not short-circuit the battery terminals or dispose of the battery in a fire. Do not disassemble the battery casing. 2. Charging should be done between 0°C ~45°C. If temperature is outside this range, the battery may not charge fully. 3. Please turn off the radio before charging. 4. Do not unplug the adapter or remove the battery during charging. This will interfere with the charging process. 5. When the battery power is consumed quickly, even after a full charge, please replace with a new battery. 6. Do not charge when the battery or radio are wet. Dry it with a cloth to avoid possible electrical shock. Warning: Please prevent any metal conductors such as jewelry or keys from contacting the battery electrodes. Use precaution when placing the battery into a pocket, wallet or any metal container.
  • Page 7 Charging Steps: Please charge as follows: 1. Connect the adapter with the charger. 2. Plug the adapter into an A/C outlet. 3. The charger is ready for charging if the indicator LED lights red for one second and turns off. If the indicator LED is flashing, the charger is not ready. 4. Place the battery into the charger aligning the battery slots with the charger guide rails. 5. The indicator LED lights red when charging. If the battery capacity is too low, the indicator LED flashes red. The battery first trickle charges and turns to normal charging automatically.
  • Page 8: Attaching And Removing The Battery Pack

    Attaching and Removing the Battery Pack Removing of Battery: Attaching the Battery Before removing, make sure the radio is turned off. Match the two grooves of the battery with the Then push downwards on the battery latch. corresponding guides on the back of the radio. Make sure the battery is flat against and parallel to the aluminum chassis. Slide the battery towards the bottom of the radio.
  • Page 9: Antenna Information

    Attaching/Removing the Antenna Attaching/Removing Belt Clip Attaching the Antenna (Figure 1) Attaching Belt Clip (Figure 3) Screw the antenna into the connector at the top of the Align the screw eyelets of the belt clip with those on radio by holding the bottom of the antenna, and turning the rear of radio and fasten the belp clip with enclosed it clockwise until secure.
  • Page 10: Earphone/Microphone Information

    Attaching External Earphone/Microphone Attaching the Strap Thread the strap into the hole at the back of the radio 1. Open the Earphone/Microphone jack cover. There is and fasten it. no need to remove it. (Figure 5) 2. Insert the Earphone/Microphone into the Earphone/ Microphone jack. (Figure 6) BANTAM BANTAM Figure 5 Figure 6 www.blackboxradios.com...
  • Page 11: Radio Overview

    Radio Overview BANTAM www.blackboxradios.com...
  • Page 12 Antenna Antenna with helical plug is used to transmit and receive signals. Top Key: Programmable Key The default setting is off. Channel Selector Choose channel and the channel annunciation is available if the voice prompt is on. Power Switch/Volume Control This knob is to turn on/off the radio and adjust volume.
  • Page 13 Over View (continued) Side Key 1: Programmable Key The default setting is off. MIC-SP Jack/ Data Port To connect the earphone/microphone or programming cable Speaker Output voice. Microphone Input voice. Belt Clip The radio is easy to carry for you can clip it on your belt. Li-ion Battery www.blackboxradios.com...
  • Page 14: Basic Operation

    Basic Operation Volume Adjustment After the radio is turned on, rotate the Power Switch/ Turning the Radio ON/OFF Volume Control knob to adjust volume. Rotate the Power Switch/Volume Control knob clockwise until a click sounds to turn on the radio. At the same time, a voice indication of the current channel is heard. Rotate the Power Switch/Volume Control knob counter clockwise until a click sounds to turn off the radio.
  • Page 15: Select Channel

    Channel Selecting Make a Call Rotate the channel to choose your desired channel from To make a call, hold down the PTT key and speak into 1~16 channels. the microphone with normal voice. Please keep the microphone 2 inches away from your mouth. You can select the channel according to the number or symbol mark at the bottom of the knob. Also, you can Tip: operate according to channel annunciation.
  • Page 16: Auxiliary Functions

    Auxiliary Functions Auxiliary Functions need to be set through PC software or contact your Programming dealer for programming. Cable (optional) PC Programming 1. Visit blackboxradios.com to download the Bantam® programming software (you can also contact your dealer for programming). 2. Turn off the radio and connect it to the PC with the programming cable (see figure on the right). 3. Run the programming software, then turn on the radio. Press “Read”...
  • Page 17: Programmable Key Settings

    Programmable Key Settings Key Setting menu. The default setting is as follows: • The default long press duration is 2 seconds. • Top Key (orange key) long press: off • Top Key (orange key) short press: off • Side Key 2 long press: off • Side Key 2 short press: monitor • Side Key 1 long press: off • Side Key 1 short press: off You can change the function settings to a function key’s long and short presses using the programming software on the “Key Settings” Menu. The keys can be set as: off, monitor, monitor momentarily, sound of encrypt, alarm, electricity demand, whisper, VOX or power.
  • Page 18 Monitor This function can be set as (Top Key) / (Side Key 2) / (Side Key 1) using the programming software on the “Key Settings” Menu. For operation, press the programmed key to hear a weak signal and to help you adjust the volume when no signal is received. Press the key again to cancel monitor. Sound Encrypt (Voice Encryption) When this function is programmed, the transmit sound is encrypted. The other side needs to decrypt the transmission. Otherwise, the sound received is noise or unintelligible audio. 1. This function can be set as (Top Key) / (Side Key 2) / (Side Key 1) using the programming software on the “Key Settings” Menu. 2. Press the programmed key and the radio will announce “Voice Encrypt On”. Press again to disable and the radio will announce “Voice Encrypt Off”. 3. You can turn this function on / off on the “Optional Feature” menu at the “Sound of Encryption”. Check the box to turn on the function and uncheck the box to turn off the function. Whisper With this function, you can be clearly heard even if you speak into the radio with a very low voice.
  • Page 19 Alarm With this function programmed, the radio alarm sounds and the LED glows red. At the same time it sends an emergency signal to other Bantam radios on the same channel and the receiving radio will sound an alarm tone. 1. This function can be set as (Top Key) / (Side Key 2) / (Side Key 1) using the programming software on the “Key Settings” Menu. 2. To stop the local alarm, press the (PTT) key to return to normal operating status. The receiving Bantam radio resumes normal operation after pressing the (PTT) key. 3. After sending the emergency signal, the radio will not receive transmissions until the (PTT) key is pressed. The radio will re-send the emergency signal every 5 seconds until the (PTT) key is pressed. 4. You can turn this function on / off on the “Optional Feature” menu at the “Alarm Function”. Check the box to turn on the function and uncheck the box to turn off the function. With VOX, you can directly speak into the microphone without holding down the (PTT) key. The LED glows red and your voice will be transmitted. When operating in Whisper VOX mode using earphones, the radio beeps when VOX is enabled.
  • Page 20: Other Function Settings

    Other Function Settings Voice Prompts The default setting for this function is voice prompts in English. You can know the current channel through voice prompts. 1. In the “Voice/Beep Tone” in “Optional Feature” menu, you can set the prompts as OFF/English/Tone. 2. Channel Annunciation: The radio will report the current channel number when you switch to a channel. 3.
  • Page 21 DTMF (PTT ID/ANI) You can enter a DTMF code (up to 8 digits, consisting of 1234567890ABCD*#) in the “PTT ID” item in the “Optional Feature” menu. You can also set the code to be sent at the “Begin of TX”, “End of TX” and/or as “Side Tone”. Check the box to enable the function and uncheck the box to disable the function. You can edit the DTMF code setting in the “DTMF” item in the “Optional Feature” menu. DTMF Speed (digit/s): Setting Range is 4-15. Default is 6. First Digit Time (ms): Setting Range is 0~100ms. Default is 0ms. First Digit Delay (ms): Setting Range is 100~1000ms. Default is 100ms. Lock Check When this Function is set as “Check”, the radio will sound a continuous “Beep” when the PLL overclocks or is unable to work normally. When this item is set as “Off”, the radio will not make lock check of PLL. Busy Channel Lock This function prevents the radios from transmitting while another radio is transmitting on the same frequency or on the same frequency with the same CTCSS/CDCSS tone. Pressing (PTT) key while the channel is in use, the radio will generate alert tone and transmission is prohibited. Release (PTT) key to stop the alert tone. When channel is not in use, press (PTT) key again and transmission is enabled. 1. Using the programming software in the “Channel Information” menu you can set this function in the “Busy Lock” column of each channel separately. “OFF”: the function is disabled. “Carrier”: the radio will not transmit if signal on the current frequency is being received. “QT/DQT the radio will not transmit if signal on the current frequency with the same CTCSS/CDCSS tone is being received. www.blackboxradios.com...
  • Page 22 Scan The default setting of this function is off. When this function is enabled, rotate channel selector knob to 16th channel. The LED flashes green and the radio will check all channels that have the Scan set to YES. The radio automatically stops at the channel on which a signal is received. You can enable through “Scan Information” item on the “Optional Feature” menu: 1. Scan Type: Selecting “off”, CH16 is a normal operating channel. Selecting “Carrier Operate” when rotate the channel selector to 16th channel, the radio will start scanning. 2. Dropout Delay Time: The Dropout Delay Time is the time from the end of a received call to the time scanning automatically resumes. Setting range is 0.5~64.5s. The default setting of this item is 3.5s. 3. TX Dwell Time: TX Dwell Time is the time from the end of transmission to the time scanning automatically resumes. Setting range is 0.5~64.5s. The default setting of this item is 3.5s. Squelch Set squelch level to decide how strong a received signal needs to be to unmute the speaker. The lower the squelch level the weaker the received transition needs to be to unmute the speaker.
  • Page 23 25KHz/12.5KHz (Wide band/Narrow bad) The default setting is 25KHz. You can decide whether the channel works as 25KHz or 12.5KHz through “W/N” item in “Channel Information” menu. CTSS/CDCSS CTSS/CDCSS is a sub-audio signal, mainly used to avoid unwanted conversations on the same channel. With CTSS/CDCSS set, you can only hear conversations with matched CTSS/CDCSS within effective signal range. Without CTSS/CDCSS, you will receive all conversations on the same channel within effective signal range. You can preset CTSS/CDCSS signaling through “CTC/DCS ENC” item in “Channel Information” menu or by your local dealer. Invalid Channel Indication If current operating channel is an invalid channel, the radio will send continuous “Dududu” as an alert tone, which means the current channel is unable to transmit or receive. Battery Power Indication This function enables you know the residual battery power at any time and place. Turn on the radio and LED will indicate the residual battery power L1, L2, L3 and L4 by flash times: 1, 2, 3 and 4.
  • Page 24: Specification

    Specification General Frequency Range UHF: 400-470MHz VHF: 136-174MHz Channel Capacity 16 (15+S) Channel Spacing 25.0kHz / 12.5kHz Frequency Stability ±2.5PPM Operating Temperature -25~+55°C Antenna Impendence 50Ω Li-ion Battery 1500mAh Operating Voltage 7.5V Dimension (W×H×D) 2.3” × 3.75” × 1.34” or 59mm x 96mm x 34mm Weight (with antenna & battery) 6.98 oz. or 198g Transmitter RF Power (H/L) UHF: 4W/2W VHF: 5W/2W Receiver Audio Distortion ≤5% Reference Sensitivity 0.15uV/ 0.18uV Adjacent Channel Selectivity 65dB / 55dB Intermediation Reject Ratio 55dB...
  • Page 25: Technical Terms

    Appendix: Technical Terms Name Description CTCSS / CDCSS is a kind of signaling attached to audio signal. If the CTCSS / CDCSS CTCSS / CDCSS of the transmitter is the same as that of the Receiver, the speaker is unmuted and sound comes out. Otherwise sound can not come out. Monitor This function enables you to hear all calls even with unmatched CTCSS / CDCSS. Scan A way to hear conversations on all channels. BCL Busy Channel Lockout. When this channel is in use by others, your radio is prohibited from transmitting on the channel to avoid interference. Wired Clone This is a way to clone parameters from one radio to another one.
  • Page 26: Warranty

    Shipment errors must be reported within 3 days of receipt of goods in order to get replacements. Blackbox Radios does not accept returns on custom orders. All custom orders are final. Items may only be returned for credit if they are unused, in original packaging and purchased within the last thirty (30) days. There will be a 20% restocking fee to ALL items returned for credit that meet the above stipulations. Blackbox Radios does not issue refunds and we reserve the right to not issue credits. Non-Warranty Repairs Blackbox Radios standard labor rate is $60.00 an hour with a minimum requirement of thirty minutes. This does not apply to excessive damage (i.e. water-damaged units). If an excessively damaged unit is deemed repairable, the fee may be up to $85.00 per unit. The cost of parts...
  • Page 27: Fcc Notice

    FCC NOTICE: This device complies with Part 15 and Part 90 of the FCC Rules and is listed. Operational is subject to the following two conditions: 1. This device may not cause harmful interference, and 2. this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. This equipment generates RF energy and if not installed or used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications and other devices. There is no guarantee that interference will not occur. If this equipment does cause harmful interference, which can be determined by turning the equipment on or off or transmitting momentarily, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following methods:...
  • Page 28 ©2013 Blackbox Radios ® Names and logos used are the property of their respective owners...

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