924 QSOs on my 897D

It's been just over a year and I decided to inquire as to how many QSOs I've had on it.

In exactly 365 days since I first used it I've had 924 QSOs.

Running total so far is 956 QSOs, mostly digital and more specifically JT65HF. 

Still missing 4 states and like 60 some-odd countries confirmed for WAS and DXCC.

Some day I'll pop the log in excel and work up some stats.

73

Mo' Power Mo' Power!

When it comes to JT65A and many other digital modes, more power is not always the answer!

Do you need to know how little power is really needed to make that QSO in JT65A?

http://dwestbrook.net/projects/ham/dBCalc

Many times I've seen -1dB signals on my waterfall, and that's just too much power.

Many times I've seen over-driven signals killing the entire pass-band. You just ruined an entire 60 second over for everyone.

If you're getting -10dB or stronger signal reports you are using too much power.

So you guys out there that brag about using "...40W 3EL..." (and more!) to make a continental QSO you can do it on 5watts or less.  I DX on an OCF wire up at 24 feet on 20 watts.

Anyone listening?

*crickets*

Great Morse Code Tutorial

I've been learning Morse Code using the Koch method, and while it's the best method that works for me, I was getting board just repeating combinations of letters and would forgo my training sessions.

I decided to search the internet and see if there were any other methods to learn Morse Code and I stumbled across the CW Operators Club and their CW Academy. The next academy is not until Jan/Feb of 2015 (it's that popular and all booked up for this year!) and I couldn't wait that long to continue my training.

On their CW Academy Student Resources page I came across a link to a CW tutorial by Ron Brownstein of CWOps.  It talks about using some program called Morse Code Trainer.

The Morse Code Trainer software is web/java based and is written by Stephen C Phillips.  It follows the Koch principle but unlike other Koch software I have used before, they start introducing words using the letters you have just learned.  In the first session alone you learn the words 'tea', 'tee', 'eat', 'ate', 'at', 'tat', 'teen', 'neat', 'ten', net, and 'tan'.  How's that compared to boring repetitive strings of e, a, t, and n's?

So why is learning words important?  Well for one, speed.  If you only learn to recognize letters you limit your speed to how fast you can recognize individual letters.  Once the speed gets up to where the dits and dahs run together you lose the ability to distinguish between the letters.  If you learn to recognize the pattern or rhythm of the word instead of the letters you have just gained a lot of speed.  The other important thing about learning words is proper Morse character spacing. If you only send letters equally spaced then that is what you get at the other end, a string of letters that you have to play a puzzle game with to form a sentence.  But if you send words with spaces between the words you now have a proper sentence at the receiving end. The software starts you at 20wpm character and word spacing and I didn't find it hard follow along at that speed.  So you can see already in session 1 you can copy and send words at 20wpm, a respectable speed for a beginner!

So what equipment have I been using to struggle through this learning process in place of CW Academy?

I am using my Yaesu 897D in CW mode but with BK turned off so I'm not transmitting and an old Vibroplex Original Standard bug (circa 1955) that belonged to my Grandfather.  I have the sound from the radio headphone jack going in to the computer and have DM780 (Ham Radio Deluxe V5) listening to the audio so it translates the code into letters or more importantly words on the screen.  I now know when my spacing is correct as sentences with words show up on the screen instead of a string of letters.

Using the bug to send along with Morse Code Trainer to learn the letters and words (that's how CW Academy does it) makes the process a lot more interesting for me and keeps me coming back for the training sessions.  I may be too distracted by the bug as I find myself sending more than listening and my listening skills (at least to the live radio) seem to be lacking.

Session 1 as sent by the Morse Code Trainer software

Having said that however, I am only on session 2 in the learning, so my vocabulary is still very small and I think that has a lot to do with it.

So I'll keep plugging away with this Morse Code Trainer software and see where it goes.

73, and who knows maybe we'll CW on the air sometime soon!

Elmer Series - PROGRAMMING THE BAOFENG UV-B5 - 2

PROGRAMMING THE BAOFENG UV-B5 - 2

In the previous post we discussed how a duplex repeater system works and the parameters that need to be programmed into the radio in order to access the repeater system, repeater output frequency, repeater offset, offset direction, and CTCSS tone.  Now let’s program these into the radio.

I recommend you read through the steps first so you have an idea what the procedure entails.  I’ll write up an abbreviated step guide further down to use once you get familiar with the process so you don’t have to find the actual step amongst all the text.

The first thing you need to do is to gather the required information for the repeater you are trying to access.   

The following parameters are for the EAARS repeater located on MULE Mountain in Bisbee, AZ.

Output: 147.080

Offset: 00600

Offset Direction: +

CTCSS: 141.3

To make things easier right now I recommend we turn Voice Prompts on and set it to ENGLISH.  Once you get familiar with the radio you will want to turn voice prompts off as it get annoying after a while.  Voice prompts have their uses so turn them on when you want to use them.

Press the Menu button.

Rotate the VFO knob to Menu 09 (VOICE).

Press the AB button.

Rotate the VFO knob until ENGLIS is displayed on the screen and a voice says “ON”. 

Now we are going to set the radio to VFO mode so we can type the output frequency into the radio.  

1.       Press the VM/Scan button to switch between memory and VFO modes.  VFO mode is indicated when no channel number is displayed on the screen.

Now were going to type the frequency into the radio using the keypad.  You will only press number keys, there is no need to enter any decimal point in the procedure.

2.       Press the 1, 4, 7, 0, 8, 0 keys in that order.  147.080 should be displayed to the right of the arrow symbol on the LCD display.

Now were going to set the repeater offset amount.

3.       Press the menu button and rotate the VFO knob to menu 22 (OFFSET) is displayed.

4.       Press the AB button to edit that menu setting. The arrow should drop to the second line on the LCD display.

5.       Now press the 0, 0, 6, 0, 0 buttons in that order. 00.600 should be displayed to the right of the arrow on the LCD display indicating the value is ready to be changed.

6.       Press the Menu button to accept the value.  600kHz is now stored as the repeater offset.

Now were going to set the offset shift direction to +.

7.       Press the menu button and rotate the VFO knob to menu 21 (SFTD).

8.       Press the AB button to edit the menu setting.  The arrow should drop to the second line on the LCD display indicating the value is ready to be changed.

9.       Rotate the VFO knob until a + is displayed on the LCD display.

10.   Press the menu button to store the value.

Now were going to set the CTCSS tone.

11.   Press the menu button and rotate the VFO knob to menu 12 (T-CODE).

12.   Press the AB button to edit the menu setting.  The arrow should drop to the second line on the LCD display indicating the value is ready to be changed.

13.   Press the menu key again to switch between CTCSS, DCSN, and DCSI.  If you have voice prompts on turn the VFO knob slowly until the voice says “CTCSS”.  A number should be displayed that does not have an N nor an I after it.

14.   Rotate the VFO knob until 141.3 is displayed on the screen.  If you are too slow in getting to 141.3 the radio may timeout and exit the menu system.  If that happens, just repeat steps 11-14 again until you get to 141.3.

15.   Press the Menu button to store the value.

One other setting we’ll need to ensure is set correctly is the FM bandwidth.  It needs to be set to Wideband (WIDE).

16.   Press the menu button.

17.   Rotate the VFO knob to menu item 28 and the voice prompt says “Channel Bandwidth”.

18.   Press the AB button to edit the menu setting.

19.   Rotate the VFO knob until the display shows WIDE.

We now have all the parameters entered into the radio, however we now need to store them in a memory channel so they are stored permanently.  If this is the first time storing information to a memory channel I recommend you use channel 1, but you can store in any channel you desire.  If you have stored other frequencies into memory make sure you know what the next empty channel number is or the channel number of a channel you want to write over.

20.   We first need to check that the frequency we entered earlier (147.080) is still displayed in the screen to the right of the arrow.  If not, just press 1, 4, 7, 0, 8, 0 on the keypad again.

21.   Press and hold the VM/Scan button until the voice prompts says “Memory Channel” or a channel number flashes on the LCD display above the arrow.

22.   Rotate the VFO knob to the desired channel you want to store the repeater parameters too.

23.   Press the VM/Scan button again and the voice prompt will respond with “Confirm” indicating the information was written to the memory channel.

Now were going to check that the parameters were stored correctly in memory.

24.   Press the VM/Scan button until the voice says “Channel Mode” and a channel number displays above the arrow in the LCD display.

25.   Rotate the VFO knob until the channel you just stored the information in is displayed on the screen.  The voice prompt will say the channel number.

26.   Ensure the LCD display indicates 147.080

27.   The W symbol should be displayed indicating the radio is in FM Wideband.

28.   The + symbol should be displayed indicating a positive offset shift.

To check the CTCSS, offset amount and shift direction we’ll need to enter the menu system to see them.

29.   Press the Menu button.

30.   Rotate the VFO knob to menu 22 (OFFSET) and the voice prompt says “Offset Frequency”.

31.   Ensure it displays 00.600.

32.   Rotate the VFO knob to menu to menu 21 (SFTD) and the voice prompt says “Frequency Direction”.

33.   Ensure it displays the + symbol.

34.   Rotate the VFO knob to menu 12 and the voice prompt says “CTCSS”.

35.   Ensure it displays 141.3.

If any of the values are incorrect you will have to exit the menu, change to VFO mode, and enter menu mode again and rotate the VFO knob to the menu number that contains the incorrect value and change it.  Once it is changed you will have to follow steps 20 through 23 to save it again and overwrite the incorrect value.

That’s all there is to programming a repeater frequency into the UV-B5 radio and checking it’s accuracy.

Here are the steps in sequence without all the explanation included to make it easier to follow once you understand the steps above. If at any time the radio times out and exits the menu mode, just hit the menu button again and rotate the VFO knob to the desired menu number.

Entering the Repeater Information

1.       Press the VM/Scan button to switch to VFO modes

2.       Press the number keys to enter the repeaters output frequency

3.       Press the menu button and rotate the VFO knob to menu 22 (OFFSET) is displayed

4.       Press the AB button to edit that menu setting

5.       Now press the number keys to enter the desired offset

6.       Press the Menu button to accept the value

7.       Rotate the VFO knob to menu 21 (SFTD)

8.       Press the AB button to edit the menu setting

9.       Rotate the VFO knob until a the desired shift is displayed on the LCD display

10.    Press the menu button to store the value

11.    Rotate the VFO knob to menu 12 (T-CODE)

12.    Press the AB button to edit the menu setting

13.    Press the menu key again to switch between CTCSS, DCSN, and DCSI

14.    Rotate the VFO knob until the desired tone is displayed on the screen

15.    Press the Menu button to store the value

16.    Rotate the VFO knob to menu item 28 and the voice prompt says “Channel Bandwidth”

17.    Press the AB button to edit the menu setting

18.    Rotate the VFO knob until the display shows WIDE

Storing the Repeater Information in Memory

19.    Check that the desired frequency is still displayed in the screen to the right of the arrow.  If not, just enter it again.

20.    Press and hold the VM/Scan button until the voice prompts says “Memory Channel” or a channel number flashes on the LCD display above the arrow.

21.    Rotate the VFO knob to the desired channel you want to store the repeater parameters too.

22.    Press the VM/Scan button again and the voice prompt will respond with “Confirm” indicating the information was written to the memory channel.

Checking the Stored Information

23.    Press the VM/Scan button until the voice says “Channel Mode” and a channel number displays above the arrow in the LCD display.

24.    Rotate the VFO knob until the channel you just stored the information in is displayed on the screen.

25.    Ensure the LCD display indicates the repeater output frequency

26.    The W symbol should be displayed indicating the radio is in FM Wideband

27.    The + or - symbol should be displayed indicating the desired offset shift

28.    Press the Menu button

29.    Rotate the VFO knob to menu 22 (OFFSET) and the voice prompt says “Offset Frequency”

30.    Ensure it displays the desired offset frequency

31.    Rotate the VFO knob to menu to menu 21 (SFTD) and the voice prompt says “Frequency Direction”

32.    Ensure it displays either the + or – symbol as desired

33.    Rotate the VFO knob to menu 12 and the voice prompt says “CTCSS”

34.    Ensure it displays the desired CTCSS tone
 

Elmer Series - PROGRAMMING THE BAOFENG UV-B5 - 1

PROGRAMMING THE BAOFENG UV-B5 - 1

Programming the Baofeng UV-B5 from the keypad and radio menu system is relatively easy and can be accomplished without using PC software [edit]like unlike[/edit] some of the other Chinese radios.

To understand why we are programming the radio with the settings we need to understand how a repeater operates.

A repeater is a radio system that retransmits signals that it hears.  There are two distinctively different repeater types, simplex and duplex.

We’re not going to discuss simplex repeaters in this post other than to say they listen and transmit on the same frequency and therefore have to record the received signal and then retransmit the signal when the received signal stops. The simplex system takes twice as long to send a message than a duplex system.

The duplex repeater is more complex to setup and requires special equipment which increases the cost.  However, it is the more popular system because it retransmits the received signal as it’s being received.

In order for a duplex repeater to work it needs to operate using two frequencies, one to listen to the received signal (repeater input frequency) and one to re-transmit the received signal (repeater output frequency). 

In the US the difference ( repeater offset) between the repeaters input and output frequencies of the most common repeater bands are as follows:

• 6 meter (50MHz):  500kHz (negative offset)
• 2 meter (144MHz): 600kHz (positive or negative offset depending on repeater output)
• 70cm (440MHz): 5MHz (positive or negative offset depending on local conditions)

 The repeater offset can either be shifted higher (positive offset) or lower (negative offset) from the repeater output frequency.  For the 6 meter (50MHz) band the offset is usually negative.  For the 2 meter (144MHz) band the offset shift is based on what the output frequency is.  For the 70cm (440MHz) band the offset shift is determined by local conditions.

Because local interference or even a distant signal under the right conditions can interfere with the repeater causing it to transmit when it shouldn’t, most repeaters are set up to not transmit unless they also receive a special signal.  The most common special signal used for this purpose is called Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System (CTCSS).   

CTCSS is a sub-audible (can’t be heard) tone that is transmitted along with the voice signal and when the repeater hears the correct tone it will retransmit the voice.

So now that we know the basics of how a duplex repeater works and some of the settings (output frequency, repeater offset, offset shift, CTCSS tone) that enable us to use a repeater system, let’s move on and discuss how to program these settings into the Baofeng UV-B5.

Elmer Series - PROGRAMMING THE BAOFENG UV-B5 - 2

Elmer Series - BAOFENG UV-B5 FM Hand Held Transceiver (HT)

BAOFENG UV-B5 FM Hand Held Transceiver (HT)

NOTED ISSUES

1.  (MAJOR) RF Burns on high power TX from battery contacts.  It is worse when holding in left hand when thumb is used to PPT.  Holding it in right hand and keying with fingers the battery contacts do not come in contact with my hand.  Depending on hand size RF burns may be an issue using the right hand as well.  Cover the battery contacts with some electrical tape, remembering to remove the tape before putting the radio in the charging cradle.

2.  (MINOR) The UV-B5 is NOT a true dual band transceiver.  It only has one VFO that is capable of RX/TX on two bands (136MHz-174MHz and 400MHz-470MHz).  It has a feature called dual watch that switches between the two frequencies displayed on the screen, however it can not receive both frequencies simultaneously like a true dual band radio.  

3.  (MINOR) Is not legally part 90 certified (in the USA - no label) so it can not legally (in the USA) be used for commercial purposes.

4.  (MINOR) It is not part 95 certified so it can not legally (in the USA) be used for FRS/GMRS/MURS.

5.  (ANNOYANCE) When changing from one channel that has a ‘+’ repeater offset to a channel that has a ‘–‘ repeater offset the repeater offset symbol on the screen does not change to show a ‘–‘ symbol.

OTHER SITES 

1. http://www.miklor.com/UVB5/

MENU OPTIONS

1.      STEP (Frequency Step): Used to set the step interval of the frequency increment when changing the VFO by either the VFO knob (channel knob) or the up/down buttons.  5kHz is the lowest step available but since most amateur repeaters end in 5 or 10 this is not an issue.  Even if a station you are talking to is using a 2.5kHz step frequency you will still be able to talk to them.  (5.00k, 6.25k, 10k, 12.50k 20.00k, 25.00k)

2.      SQUELCH:  Squelch is used to silence the receiver when no signal is present.  Use a higher setting if the squelch keeps opening and only static is heard.  If you are listening to a very weak signal you may want to turn squelch off.  (0 (open/off) through 9)

3.      SAVE (Save Mode):  This is a battery saving mode.  When on the receiver goes into standby mode and only checks to see if a signal is present every few seconds.  When in Save Mode, because of how the feature works, you may not hear the first part of the transmission, usually the call sign (AJ7UU monitoring).  (ON, OFF)

4.      TXPR (Power):  Transmit power can be adjusted from low (1 watt) to high (5 watts).  Use the low setting unless you are not being heard by your party.  (LOW, HIGH)

5.      ROGE (Roger Beep):  A roger beep is a tone that sounds on the radio and over the air every time you unkey the microphone.  While it has its purposes (like using the HT as a repeater) it is annoying to most ham radio operators, so keep it off.  (ON, OFF)

6.      TOT (Transmit Over Time):  This setting is used to set how long you can transmit for without unkeying the microphone.  This can be useful when working a repeater and you lose track of how long you have been transmitting for and do not want to transmit longer than the repeater timeout.  Use it as needed.  (OFF, 1M through 7M)

7.      VOX (Voice Operated Transmit):  VOX can be used to transmit without pushing the PTT (push to talk) button.  In VOX mode the radio will transmit when it senses a signal on the microphone input that is strong enough to trip the VOX circuit.  The sensitivity of the VOX circuit is adjusted so that background noise does not trip the VOX circuit but your voice does.  9 seems to be the most sensitive and 1 the least.  VOX can also be used when you want to use your radio (you will need two radios) as a repeater.  (OFF, 1 through 9)

8.      BEEP (Beep Prompt):  When this setting is on the radio will beep every time a button is pushed.  Useful for visually impaired operation.  (ON, OFF)

9.      VOICE (Voice Prompt):  Used to select whether you want an English, Chinese, or no voice prompt when certain features of the radio are used.  Not all features use the voice prompt.  Very useful to confirm the memory channel you are selecting or when punching in the VFO frequency but can be turned off when silent operation is required.  Also very useful for visually impaired operation. While the voice prompt is being played on the radio no received audio can be heard until the voice prompt is complete.  (OFF, ENGLISH, CHINESE)

10.  TDR (Dual Standby):  This is the Dual Watch feature.  While this radio is not a true dual-bander (does not have two separate VFOs), it has the capability to display two channels/frequencies on the screen and when dual watch is turned on it quickly switches between the two and stops on one when it is busy.  When the channel has been clear for a few seconds it resumes switching between the channels.  Dual watch is temporarily suspended when the radio in in scan mode and will resume dual watch when scan mode is stopped.  Dual mode is useful when monitoring a repeater frequency and the FM call frequency (146.520).  (ON, OFF)

11.  R-CODE (Receive CTCSS Tone):  Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System or CTCSS and Digital Coded Squelch (DCS) are features to help filter radio traffic in a shared spectrum environment.  See Wikipedia for more information on how CTCSS works.  When the R-CODE is turned on and set to a specific tone, the receiver will emit audio only if the transmitted signal is sending the same CTCSS tone as set in the receiver.  If the tones are different or no tone is being transmitted the receiver will ignore the signal and keep the radio squelched.  Useful if you are using the radio as a repeater or want to limit what signals are heard.  The people with whom you want to communicate or allow using the repeater must know what tone you are using.  Most amateur radio repeaters use CTCSS and not DCS. While CTCSS is an analog tone, DCS is a digitally encoded stream.  There are two modes of DCS operation, Normal (DCS-N) and Inverted (DCS-I). To set the tone from menu 11, use the A/B button then the menu button to select between OFF, CTCSS, DCS-N and DCS-I then use the rotary knob to select the tone you want to use.  Recommended setting is OFF unless you have a requirement to filter traffic on the receiver.  CTCSS tones and other settings can be stored along with a frequency in a memory channel. (OFF, CTCSS, DCS-N, DCS-I)

12.  T-CODE (Transmit CTCSS Tone): When the T-CODE is set the specified tone will be sent when the radio is transmitting.  The T-CODE will need to be set if you are trying to use an amateur repeater that has a receive CTCSS code set otherwise the repeater will ignore your signal.  CTCSS tones and other settings can be stored along with a frequency in a memory channel. (OFF, CTCSS, DCS-N, DCS-I)

13.  ABR (Backlight Select): When this setting is turned on the backlight will light up when any of the controls or buttons are pressed.  Turn this feature off along with BEEP and VOICE if you do not want your radio lighting up or making noise when you operate it. Turning these features off will also conserve battery power.  (ON, OFF)

14.  PTTID (ANI Code):  Used to identify a radio that is transmitting.  When this setting is turned on and used on conjunction with menu items 15 and 16, a DTMF tone will be sent out when transmitting.  A unique code should be programmed into each radio that you want to use this feature on to identify what radio is transmitting.  This feature is only useful if you have a system that can decode and record the ANI code (along with a time stamp) or a live system that monitors/decode/displays the ANI code.  Not a useful feature for amateur radio in general, but may have some use for SAR or EMCOMMS if there is a need to identify radio transmissions.  This setting can be stored along with other settings in a memory channel while the ANI Code and the PTTID Mode are not. (ON, OFF)

15.  ANI (ANI Code): This setting is where you enter the actual code for the radio.  You can enter up to a 6 digit code using the numbers 0-9 and letters A-F.  I think the E and F codes are the * and # symbols and may have special functions so I wouldn’t use them without testing if it works or not with whatever system you are using the radios on. Menu item 14 must be ON for this to work.  (0-9, A-F)

16.  PPTIDM (PPT ID Mode): Used to set whether the ANI code is sent at the beginning, end, or both beginning and end of each transmission.  If set to beginning of transmission (BOT) the tone will be sent along with the voice and will stop as soon as the PTT is released. So if the PTT is briefly pressed then the complete code may not be sent. If set to end of transmission (EOT) the ANI code will be sent after the PTT button is released.  The radio will extend the transmission time after the PTT is released and transmit the ANI code at that time so it does not interfere with the voice.  This setting must be set to either BOT, EOT or BOTH along with menu item 14 being set to ON for this feature to work.  (OFF, BOT, EOT, BOTH)

17.  DT-ST: Used to hear the DTMF tone being transmitted when the PTT is pressed.  Seems to only work when menu item 16 is set to EOT for PTTID.  If you want to hear DTMF tones turn this setting ON, if not turn it OFF.  (ON, OFF)

18.  MDF-1 (LCD Display Line 1 Mode): Will either display the frequency you are operating on, the name of the channel (see menu item 27) you are on, or the memory channel number you are on in the top line of the LCD display.  (FREQ, NAME, CHAN)

19.  MDF-2 (LCD Display Line 2 Mode): Will either display the frequency you are operating on, the name of the channel (see menu item 27) you are on, or the memory channel number you are on in the bottom line of the LCD display.  (FREQ, NAME, CHAN)

20.  BCL (Busy Channel Lockout): This setting when set to ON will not allow the radio to transmit when the receiver squelch is open.  The display will show BCL LOCKOUT error.  (ON, OFF)

21.  SFTD (Repeater Offset Direction):  Used to set the repeater offset direction to `+’, `-‘, or OFF. Repeater offsets set whether the repeater input frequency is above or below the repeater output frequency.  Depending on how the repeater you want to use is set up you will need to adjust this.  Used in conjunction with menu item 22.  (0, +, -)

22.  OFFSET (Repeater Offset Amount):  This setting adjusts the frequency offset by this amount in the direction set by menu item 21 above.  (0-9)

23.  SCANM (Scan Mode):  When in scan mode this setting determines when, if at all, the scan will resume after stopping on a busy frequency/channel.  The available options are TO, CO, and SE.  In TO mode the scan stops on a busy frequency/channel and resumes scanning after a few seconds.  In CO mode the scanner will resume once the carrier goes away. In SE mode the scanner will stop and will require a manual start. (TO, CO, SE)

24.  TXAB (Transmit Priority): When used with dual watch, this setting is used to set which channel to transmit on when the PTT is pressed.  If set to F1 the radio will transmit on the channel/frequency displayed on line 1.  If set to F2 it will transmit on the channel/frequency displayed on line 2. If set to OFF it will transmit on the frequency/channel that the radio was displaying at the time the PTT was pressed.  This can be useful if you are monitoring two channels but only want to transmit on one.  (OFF, F1, F2)

25.  REV (Reverse Duplex Mode):  When the reverse duplex mode is turned on it swaps the repeater input frequency and settings with the repeater output frequency and settings that are stored in the selected memory channel.  With REV turned on the radio is monitoring the repeater input frequency and will transmit on the repeater output frequency. At this time I do not know of a good reason to use REV.  (ON, OFF)

26.  STE (Squelch Tail Elimination):  Used to curb the static crash heard after a transmission ends.  Used between radios that have the capability.  Not useful for repeater use and may cause problems. Best to leave it off unless you know for sure it’s safe to turn it on.  (ON, OFF)

27.  NAME (Name of Channel): Used to add a name to a memory channel.  Used in conjunction with menu items 18 and 19.  Can be stored in a memory channel.  (A-Z, 0-9, /, _, +, -)

28.  W/N (Wideband/Narrow Band): Selects between narrow band FM (2.5kHz) or wide band FM (5kHz). Use wide band FM for amateur use as it has better signal to noise ratio for weak signal work.  Narrow band is used for FRS /GMRS/MURS but legally you can’t use part 90 certified radios for FRS/GMRS/MURS which are part 95 services.  In an emergency situation use the radio on whatever frequencies you need to.

29.  COMP (Audio Companding): Supposed to help with audio quality and back ground noise.  When turned on it affects both transmitted and received audio.  I noticed it does clean up the background hiss but also reduces the overall audio level.  On a good full quieting signal it is probably not needed.  When I tuned into a distant repeater with a lot of background noise the audio was reduced as much as the background static so I’m not sure how well this feature works.

SPECIAL BUTTON SEQUENCES

1.      RESET (VFO/ALL):  With the UV-B5 turned off, hold the Menu button and turn on the radio.  Once the radio powers up you will see the reset options.  Either rotate the VFO knob or use the up/down arrows to switch between VFO/ALL.  VFO will just reset the VFO but ALL will erase all the memory channels.

2.      SCAN: From either VFO/Memory/FM modes, press the menu button then the VM/Scan button. The scan will stop on a busy channel/frequency and resume scanning depending on what menu 23 is set to.

3.      LOCK/UNLOCK: Press and hold the Menu button to lock and unlock the radio.

4.      DTMF Tones:  DTMF tones are used for many purposes in Ham Radio.  Basically DTMF tones are used to send commands to a system in order to accomplish some function.  Some common functions in a repeater system that may use DTMF tones are, enable/disable the repeater, enable the phone patch and dial a phone number, and enable the internet link and dial up a remote system.  To send DTMF tones on the UV-B5 radio, press the PPT button and press the buttons on the radio. The following buttons are assigned the DTMF tones as follows:

·        Menu: A

·        ^: B

·        v: C

·        AB: D

·        0-9: 0-9

·        VM/Scan: *

·        FM: #