Nope can't. Originally config as F1 and I have tried the available A1 B1 D1 F1 and also the ***

The *** can tx at 139.000 but unable to set tone. Have you tried putting another radio at TSQ and see if your 139.000 can open the squelch?

If can I would buy you a big big lunch if you can tell me how you config your vx8.

how much would those cost?

If you want a dual band handy, then I'll suggest to start with Yaesu FT-60R, price will be around RM700++ .. if you've extra dough to spend, those Yaesu VX* seem pretty tempting especially if you're going for trekking etc. For strictly town use, take a look at Kenwood THF7E and some ICOM dualbander ..

ic, thx for the guide,

what would u recomend for first timer to choose? go for handie or go for rig?

price seems ok n within range for me.. just wanna survey n ask opinions before i do any purchase..

I mod it my self, but now kinda regret.

I did this mod:


I notice something after I tested with another FT-60R and VX-170. I notice the tx volume is VERY VERY VERY soft when the VX-8R tx at out of frequency mod. If not mistaken the original tx was between 140.000 and 170.000. If you tx anythign less than 140.000. the volume is VERY soft.

As you had try to config as A1 B1 D1 F1 *** or HAM, these are mainly use for calibration purposes. So far I can't find any VX-8R techical supplement from the internet. Let me know if you can find this.

The worst thing is, this mod is not reversible. I tried all sort of resetting as shown in the operation manual, but yet still can't revert back to the original setting.

When I free, I will disassemble my VX-8R to do the RESISTOR MOD and fix the speaker problem. I also found that sometime it can switch off and on again automatically, it is rarely happen just sometime..LOL...

As for those who wanted to get VX-8R, I would not recommend this handy the reason is:
1. Overpriced for a handy.
2. We pay for the function that we not going to use or not available locally eg. APRS etc.
3. The battery is not lasting as FT-60R or VX-170. The battery indication on the LCD also inaccurate.
4. How often do you tx at 50Mhz band? 5W at 50Mhz band can't DX far enough...

What do you mean not available locally? APRS community in KL is expanding .. there are two digipeaters at Genting, one for VHF and the other for UHF .. there are quite a number of fill-in digipeaters mostly at the north of KL. Our Sabahan friends also are into APRS now ..

check it out .. http://aprs.fi

---

Added on September 2, 2009, 10:10 amDepends on the location where you want to transmit .. HT could receive most transmission from the repeaters but you might have difficulties in hitting them with standard rubber ducky antenna. You could however extend this by using external antenna. My first rig when I got my AA is the FT60R, choose it because it has dual band feature. Mate it with Diamond MR77 quarter wave antenna while driving and I could hit most of the repeaters within reach in KL. At home, I have the cheapo SlimJim antenna .. and it works great.

Surely, a mobile unit could go further .. with more power to transmit, most mobile unit could transmit at up to 50W (some goes up to 75W).. hitting repeaters around you should not be a problem and you could do simplex communication to further stations from your location.

Read up previous messages, I do believe we've talked about this topic before.

This post has been edited by wiraone: Sep 2 2009, 10:12 AM

Ok cheewooi, you are suffering the same problem as me. You are also into the *** mode and although there are no TX Error on your out of band transmission, the VX8 is txing at less than 0.1watt out of band.

And worse it will not carry any tone too, same boat as me. The mod is reversible, just do the same procedure and instead on *** put it back to F1 and you will be back to OEM.

The resistor for F1 version have already been removed. The config as stated is not the calibration or as yaesu calls it the alignment menu. This A1 B1 bla bla is just the country code for which the handy would be exported to and its restrictions. The resistor chopping is called MARS/CAPS mode, its mainly to allow the set to tx in Military and Marine freq. 140-174mHz, but in Malaysian context, we want something below 140.

Oh well, back to googling and waiting for someone to come up with a firmware to replace the VX8's Ver 1.40 hehehe... the hunt continues.

To further share info with fellow loayatian, VX3 you do the same thing and shift it from B3 to *** and you will get very wide TX on full power with all tones/dcs bla bla perfectly but you loses the FM/AM broadcast aka no more mix fm to listen to hahhaah.

Thats why my previous statement, newer yaesu is moving towards firmware instead of soldering. Pro and Cons.


This post has been edited by kaikon: Sep 2 2009, 11:17 AM

cheewooi, the soft volume rite check to see if ure transmitting on FM instead WFM or AM the volume for those is rather soft wan do check see my 2 sents for tis.
as for wat to begin, i'd say handy la handy more flexible as in sometimes can tx at home or anywhere or whatnot rather thn the mobile is fixed kinda thing? u knw wat i mean?

Sabah's digipeater would be online very very soon as wiraone have stated. Awaiting certain parts to be jacked into the unit from Japan.

thx for the advise wiraone, will scrol back n study first..

[quote=wiraone,Sep 2 2009, 10:01 AM]
What do you mean not available locally? APRS community in KL is expanding .. there are two digipeaters at Genting, one for VHF and the other for UHF .. there are quite a number of fill-in digipeaters mostly at the north of KL. Our Sabahan friends also are into APRS now ..

check it out .. http://aprs.fi

---

Added on September 2, 2009, 10:10 am

Oops, now I see this sorry for my lack of information. BTW wiraone, what device you need beside a handdie with gps in order to use the APRS function? Setup procedure?
I tried gooogle around and there's so much information to consume..

Kaikon,
Thanks for the headup, will try it tonight.

BTW, anyone know where can I get a cheap repeater controller locally or Singapore?

I am thinking of building a repeater for my private network.

Thanks

On APRS, few options you can have for your setup:

1. If you're interested on getting to let ppl know where you are and not interested of knowing where the rests are .. then, a tracker (TinyTrak or clones), serial gps + radio should be enough. This is one way communication, you're feeding your position to the rest.

2. If you're interested to know where ppl are too, then you need a better tracker which could decode the packet sent, a rig with APRS support could work (e.g. Kenwood TMD710/701 or VX8) but to have extra feature .. you need something like what I've ..

Nuvi 350 + OpenTracker2 + Kenwood TMV71A

3. To run a fill-in digipeater, you need to have a TNC (expensive!!) or cheaper alternatives .. trackers that can act as digipeater too .. TinyTrack4 & OpenTracker2 could do this .. or purpose built digipeater, FoxDigi.. another option is running a software TNC ..

Software TNC (AGPWE) + radio interface - homebrewed
TinyTrack4 + LCD Display = Fill-in Digipeater

4. To have your packet to be available at APRS-IS (e.g. http://aprs.fi or http://findu.com), you need to have an igate (or someone need to forward your RF packet to APRS-IS servers)..

Standalone fill-in digipeater + igate .. all in one


BTW, APRS also mistakenly known as Automatic Position Reporting System which is wrong .. it is Automatic Packet Reporting System instead.. you could do lot of things with it.. not only for tracking etc.

This post has been edited by wiraone: Sep 2 2009, 06:45 PM

cheewooi cheap repeater controller ive seen around some of our local suppliers try looking around at some of the websites i think itz <200 but u can homebrew it and mosty itz for gm300 wan.
myself also going aprs d bt only using the computer to broadcast my qth nia yet to homebrew a tinytrack and yes the tnc is unbelievably expensive but i once spoken to a ham friend tatz going around setting digipeater he said can homebrew a tnc for abt 30bux ni! but hmm to no avail la my quest for the scheme, perhaps someone can shed some light?

200? I think maybe not hehehe

The repeater my buddies and I setup
2 x mobile units
1 x COR
1 x duplexer
1 x 60 ft tower
1 x 120VA battery
1 x Solar panel
1 x trickle charger
1 x F23H antenna
30m x 213 cable

Thanks wireone, will look into it.

I prefer homebrew cause I loves hands on. Is there any website have full information on homebrew repeater controller.

Another thing, I am also planning to get a base antenna. F23H kinda long to transport. I am looking into BC-100 cause it can tx at 134 to 174 band. The rest seems like only tx at between 144 to 174 band. Do you guys have any other recommendation? What are the things that we need to look into when buying base antenna?

Diamond BC-100
134 to 174MHz / Gain: 4.5dB / Max. power rating: 200W / Impedance: 50ohms / VSWR: Less than 1.5 : 1
Length: 1.7m / Weight : 0.9kg / Rated wind velocity: 60m/sec. / Mast diameter accepted: 30-62φ
Connector: MJ / Type: omnidirectional 5/8λ,FRP outershell

My plan is to mount the antenna on 2 piece of 2 inch galvanize plumbing steel pipe.

hmm external antenna useful in a terrace lor i stay in flat canot use

kaikon, wat abt juz the controller leh? i mean if u add the units and towers and everything surely nt enuff wan but i tot controller rather cheap wan? hmm info info bro hmm i think got but try googling bro or mayb someone has it my desktop got the link bt nt here sorry~

This post has been edited by someone_stupid: Sep 3 2009, 01:05 AM

Yeah the controller is the COR ( Carrier Operated Relay ) . I got the schematic and all the component can be sourced locally. Cost would be less than 100 with or without the adjustable tail or beep.

Duplexer cannot be homebrew I believe as it is a very complicated filter. You can however do without the duplexer but you will need 2 antenna and 30ft of seperation. Not easy unless your house is wide enough.

salam contact perdana

this is 9w2pfs from melaka

the lowest will cost u at 100?

@cheewooi

If it is too complicated, to get started if you're in KL .. just need a serial GPS, a tracker and radio. The digipeater & igate parts already covered by some of our friends here in KL. Freq for APRS on VHF is 144.390, have not tried the UHF part..