Brick O'Lore

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Grapevine DMR Radios

Ripped from a Grapevine e-mail that was forwarded to me:

"Wow, brand new from BFDX, this is a very nice radio. Right out of the package, you can tell this is a well-made piece of equipment. Heavy-duty, durable and stylish. The large TFT color screen looks great and is easy to read. A voice prompt, which you can turn off or on, talks to you and tells you which channel you are on. All channels and zones are customizable with names and many characters that you can set to read whatever you like.

This unit comes with built-in GPS, so your transmit location is viewable by others with a GPS receiver in their radios. This feature can be turned off or on. The "On" mode of the GPS has 2 settings, one for higher performance, and one for battery saver."

"We're carrying the Connect Systems radios for the purposes of promoting DMR. At $199, you'll pay exactly the same price from us that you'd pay from Connect Systems. Drop by the store and take yours home today! We'll even program it for you with the DFW-area codeplug at no additional charge. Of course you can order from the website also."

"TYT's MD-280 DMR HT holds just 16 channels with no display, but offers a lower cost solution for DMR. Perfect for businesses or for a young ham who just needs a few talkgroups.

Comes with programming cable and free software."

Friday, January 30, 2015

Queen of Code: Grace Hopper

I've posted about Grace Hopper before, but here is a new video. I'd like to get one of those clocks that runs backwards.

QYT KT-UV980: Hans Review

Full details here, but his bottom line:

"$151 (409shop) isn’t much for a full featured dual-band mobile, but don’t expect much either. The tested QYT KT-UV980 has quite a few flaws and quirks, and factory specs prove to be a bit optimistic."

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Baofeng Squelch Fix

You may have seen it elsewhere, but CHIRP now has ability to modify the squelch levels for some Baofeng radios. I'm really excited to test this with the BF-F8HP that BaofengTech has provided.

Here is the overview from Miklor of the squelch settings:

UV5R / UV82 / F8HP series

CHIRP Daily Build
20150111 or newer

Modifying settings will change the way your
radio performs. Change them at your own risk.

This is not compatible with UVB5/B6 or BF888S models
due to differences in firmware.

The factory squelch settings on these models has long been known to have little or no impact on the actual squelch level. The smallest noise burst would easily pop open the squelch. Until now, it was one of those little 'quirks' you just needed to tolerate.

But no longer... Through the efforts of Jim KC9HI and the CHIRP development team, this has become a thing of the past. A new 'Service Settings' tab has been added to CHIRP which allows you to alter the factory level settings, so a weak signal can open level 1, and only a monster signal can open level 9.

At this time we are not aware of any measurements made with actual test equipment that is designed to measure actual squelch sensitivity, but on the air testing confirms that it definitely works.

Compatibility

There are too many Baofeng/Pofung models, variants, and firmware versions to be certain which radios are compatible and which ones aren't.

Testing that has been done indicates the following:

The CHIRP Service Settings will adjust the levels on:
- UV82 series radios (82C / 82X)
- F8HP series radios
- UV5R series radios with firmware BFB291 and later.
PowerOn while holding '3' button displays firmware on UV5R.

The Fix

The lowest factory levels were 14 > 22, and the highest were 40 > 48.

Using the settings below spreads the range from 24 > 64 in increments of 5. This is a good starting point, but can fine tune these to any value or increment desired from 1 to 64. You also have the ability to change the VHF and UHF values independently.

After changing the level values, test the different levels to determine which is the best for your type use.

You can see the defaults I just pulled from the BF-F8HP.

Troubleshooting

Anyone need any help freeing up some conventional memory?

TDXOne TD-Q7

Via Nate...

A sorta big brother to the TDXOne TD-Q3... the TD-Q7 even has an external antenna! While a "FUN" button is always nice, I'm still looking for the tiny VHF radio.

TDXONE TD-Q7 Black 400-480MHz 3W Radio

Is Customized : Yes

Talk Range : 3.0Km

Type : Two Way Radio

Radio Type : Portable

Storage Channel:99

Maximum Range : 1.5km-3 km

Is Display : Yes

Dimensions : 10 x 5 x 2 cm

Frequency Range : 400-480MHz

Model Number: TDX-Q7

Instructions:

1. Delicate and ultrathin appearance, Small and exquisite, Convenient to carry

2. Various function,prolonged standby time,loud and clear sound.

All of our item are brand News
Model	TD-Q7
Frequency Range	UHF
Channel capacity	16/99
Output power	<=3W
Operating Voltage	3.7V
Antenna	undetachable
Working Temperature	-20°C+50C
Frequency Spacing	12.5/25kHz
Battery capacity	1800mAh
Color	yellow,blue,red,white,green,black
size	14x5x2cm
Weight(Include Battery)	102g
Feature
FM radio	Yes
Emergency alarm	Yes
Flashlight function	Yes
Scan function	Yes
Monitor function	Yes
Key lock function	Yes
Volume adjustment	Yes
Low battery indication	Yes
Voice purification function	Yes
TOT(timer-out time)	Yes
CTCSS/DCS	38CTCSS/83DCS

"BaofengTech.com is running a Friends of Miklor promotion as a way of saying thank you for the assistance that the Miklor website and everyone has given helping new owners of the Baofeng BF-F8HP, UV82, etc.

Starting at 10PM EST (7PM CST) this evening, Jan 26, by entering entering promo code Starting at 10PM EST (7PM CST) this evening, Jan 26, by entering entering promo code miklor10 the price of the Baofeng F8HP will be reduced by $10.

This is the 1, 4, 8W handheld with High Capacity battery. (30% larger than the standard battery) They will be running this promo for 1 week. They will be limiting the promo to One per Customer."

Link to BF-F8HP on Amazon.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Just Say No

A PSA...

Via Facebook