HOW To make the Icom 2720H work on Memory channel scan.
(IT DOES work if you jump thru these hoops)

Note, to make mine work, I reset the main CPU to clear out all the junk info that I had been trying to get it to work properly. I suggest no 807's until after the programming is done!

In my humble opinion icom could have/should have made all of the directions for the 2720 a little easier to understand.  I had to go over the bank stuff several times before it sunk in.   But then again icom is certainly not alone when it comes to hard-to-follow documentation.  Writing good documentation is a true art.  

I think what ICOM means by memory management is frequency segregation (like frequencies in the same bank).  In my caseI have put vhf air freqs into one bank, statewide public safety freqs into another, local public safety in another.  When we're on vacation I can put local public safety freqs into a bank and the local 2m/440 freqs along with 146.52/446.00 into another bank.  I can scan any single bank and monitor my local 2m or 440 freq or just scan 2 banks.  If i want to scan everything then i put the radio into MEMORY mode and scan.  

After you re-set your radio I would do this (this is what I did).  Make a list of the freqs you want to memorize and then organize them by channel number.  For me this means that 2m freqs are memories 1 thru 19, 440 freqs are 20 thru 39, VHF air in 40-69, etc.  That gives me a band plan of sorts for the radio.  This is handy for me if I need to find a freq in a hurry.  Once that is done I then organized my banks.  bank "A" with the most active 2m freqs in my local area, bank "B" with the most active 440, etc.  you get the idea.  

Remember, banks can be programmed and used on either side of the radio.  To keep it simple I always use the left side of the radio for the transmit side and use the right side for monitoring.  But that's me. I also have the right side setup to sample the local NWS frequency for weather warnings.  

Yes, you can scan vhf freqs on one side, uhf on the other or separate groups of vhf or uhf freqs on both sides if you want.  The trick is you have to use the memory banks. 
You must first program a frequency into a memory channel.   We'll pretend that we're gonna program 4 memories (memory 1, 2,3 and 4).  mem 1 is 147.12, mem 2 is 147.27, mem 3 is 443.975 and mem 4 is 444.775.  

Start by memorizing each into a memory position with the correct split, tone, etc.  To keep it simple we'll pretend that these are the only memory channels you have entered.  Now, once those frequencies have been memorized AND if both sides of the radio are in MEMORY mode (as opposed to VFO), if you press the SCAN button on either side of the radio you will scan these 4 freqs.  seems useless, right?  it did to me too, but bear with me.

Now, again to keep it simple, lets say you want to scan just the VHF freqs on the left side and just the UHF freqs on the right.  You now have to assign the VHF freqs to bank A and the UHF freqs to bank B (there are 10 banks, A thru J...and you can use them in any order.  I just picked A and B to keep it simple).  Lets work with the left side (VHF) first.  (page 36 of the manual)
Put the left side of the radio into MEMORY mode. 
select the first frequency you want to place into a bank (147.12) 
Push the left MAIN-BAND button for 1 second.  You should see -- (double dashes) start blinking in the lower right hand corner of the display. 
Push the left MAIN-BAND button again but don't hold it for a second...just press it.  The -- will stop blinking. 
Push the left M/CALL-MW button for 1 second.  Then rotate the left DIAL until you see the letter A.  The letter should be blinking. 
Push the left M/CALL-MW button again..again do not hold it down for 1 second...just push it.  147.12 is now programmed into memory bank A. 
Push the left MAIN-BAND button for 1 second and then push the left MAIN-BAND button again.  This returns the radio to MEMORY mode. 
Repeat steps 1-7 to add frequencies to banks.  Its a little cumbersome but once you get the hang of it its not too bad.  also...you can add memory frequencies to any memory bank from either side of the radio. 

Ok...now we have the two VHF freqs in bank A and the two UHF freqs in bank B.  To scan just those freqs you have to put the radio into MEMORY BANK mode (page 35 of the manual).  For our purpose lets say we want to scan bank A on the left side.
1. Put the left side of the radio into MEMORY mode. 

2. Push the left MAIN-BAND button for 1 second.  You should see something blinking in the lower right hand side of the display.  It could be the -- characters or it could be a bank letter...it seems to depend on where you left off the last time you were in MEMORY BANK mode.  In any case something will be blinking. 

3. Rotate the left DIAL and select bank A. 

4. Push the left MAIN-BAND button again.  That sets the bank and the blinking in the lower right hand side of the display will stop. 

5. When you rotate the left DIAL all you will see (in our example) will be 147.12 and 147.27.  If you push the left SCAN button then those frequencies will be scanned. 

6. To return to regular MEMORY mode, push the left MAIN-BAND button for 1 second and then push it again.

Repeat steps 1-5 to simultaneously scan a different bank of freqs on the right side.  Its not elegant but it does work.  This can also be done from the mic, but I prefer to use the control head.  

As to why ICOM chose this setup over the way memories are handled in the 2410, who knows?  I bet it has everything to do with being able to set the radio for VHF/UHF, UHF/VHF, VHF/VHF or UHF/UHF.  You cant do that with the 2410.  vhf was left and uhf was right.  As I said, its not elegant but it does work.      

Enjoy and I hope this helps some of my fellow Hams.

Good hamming and best 73's

Doc, kb9gfx