• You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.

Why is 155.9475 an invalid rx freq on VX-8DR?

N3KDJ

W9WDX Amateur Radio Club Member
May 9, 2010
89
2
18
63
PA
I guess I am hitting all the weird use cases and glitches this week with my new Yaesu VX-8DR. It seems the VX-8DR can't handle the STEP needed to accept my local Fire Department's frequency of 155.9475. I guess I just have to go with 155.95?
I just got the ADMS-VX8 SW from Yaesu from my local dealer. I gave some thought to what I'd like to have in which bank, and I thought I'd enter a few freqs beyond the 4 or 5 local repeaters I had entered manually. I was surprised when I went to enter the first frequency I'd like to have which is Dispatch for our local Fire Department. It's 155.9475..."Enter A Valid Receive Frequency" says the ADMS/RT Systems SW...? The VX-8DR spec sheet says 137-174 is OK...hhmmmm. The other 20 I entered went in fine....155.175, 154.13, 153.95- all with either DCS/DPL or CTCSS Tone Squelch and alpha labels.
I did try inputting the frequency directly to the radio and it doesn't like it so much either, but rounds it off. It seems I can get closer to the freq by varying the STEP but no way to get right on freq huh?
 

Just leave off the last '5' at the end. You'll still hear it fine... I think.
- 'Doc

ain't nothing like being just a little bit too late, huh?
 
155.9475

Since when did the VHF band go to odd channel spacing? 155.9475 is not a standard spacing assignment. Are you 100% sure of the freq.?

It's straight from RadioReference:
155.94750 WPVC929 RM 343 DPL NCFD DISP Fire Dispatch FM Fire Dispatch
 
155.9475

You can't just leave off the last digit actually. When you type it in you get 1>5>5>9 and BOOM it goes to 155.950.
I did just hear the fire company tone out and mobile units just fine that way.

Just leave off the last '5' at the end. You'll still hear it fine... I think.
- 'Doc

ain't nothing like being just a little bit too late, huh?
 
You can get to the frequency precision you need on the VX8 radios by changing the step to 6.25. When you do that, the radio will display the extra digits in a smaller font to the far right of the main digits. I also think that's a typo in RadioReference because that frequency just doesn't sound right. I bet it's supposed to be 155.94375, which you will be able to punch into the VX8
 

Attachments

  • 2010-05-14 15.15.47.jpg
    2010-05-14 15.15.47.jpg
    1.4 MB · Views: 228
Step

Thanks, I will give that step a try and see if I can get that entered. Yours is MARS mod'd right?
 
Step Closer

Moleculo- thanks for the suggestion to go to 6.25khz steps. That did let me put the freq in as you did at 155.94375

I've started learning the various scan modes- lot to learn even for a guy that has had 5 Yaesus before this one and a bunch of scanners of all types over the years.
 
It's straight from RadioReference:
155.94750 WPVC929 RM 343 DPL NCFD DISP Fire Dispatch FM Fire Dispatch

Mistakes have been made in MANY freq source publications before.


You can't just leave off the last digit actually. When you type it in you get 1>5>5>9 and BOOM it goes to 155.950.
I did just hear the fire company tone out and mobile units just fine that way.


That sounds like the step size is set to 50KHz. Like Mole said you will have to change the step size. Even then unless they changed the freq channel spacing and required EVERYTHING to switch to very narrow band FM that freq is completely out of line with currrent/former allocations for the VHF service.
 
Why don't they come with MARS from the factory?

The FCC doesn't approve of manufacturer's submissions for model acceptance for radios capable of operating outside of the ham bands without modification. They do allow manufacturers to make the radios so that people that are authorized to transmit on the MARS frequencies can do so. That's why all radios don't come out of the box ready to transmit on non-ham frequencies.
 
The FCC doesn't approve of manufacturer's submissions for model acceptance for radios capable of operating outside of the ham bands without modification. They do allow manufacturers to make the radios so that people that are authorized to transmit on the MARS frequencies can do so. That's why all radios don't come out of the box ready to transmit on non-ham frequencies.
So not everyone with a license is authorized to use these frequencies thus making it a felony for those to modify these units.

Isn't this the same delema that export radios meets? even though a licensed person is trusted to and a non-licensed person not trusted to not to modify the unit and use these frequencies aren't there probably many of these guys who do this anyway?

Maybe these units should only be allowed to work on these frequencies shipped from the factory and the person who buys it should have to register this unit with the federal government and if it is ever sold that it have to go through a transfer process under penalty of law?
 
So not everyone with a license is authorized to use these frequencies thus making it a felony for those to modify these units.

Isn't this the same delema that export radios meets? even though a licensed person is trusted to and a non-licensed person not trusted to not to modify the unit and use these frequencies aren't there probably many of these guys who do this anyway?

Maybe these units should only be allowed to work on these frequencies shipped from the factory and the person who buys it should have to register this unit with the federal government and if it is ever sold that it have to go through a transfer process under penalty of law?

it has nothing to do with "a licensed person is trusted to and a non-licensed person not trusted"... the fact is that a "mars" modded ht is not legal to use (transmit) on fire dept freqs by ANYONE.:whistle::whistle: be that anyone an amateur or the fire dept chief.

the operational phrase is CERTIFICATED.
 

dxChat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • dxBot:
    Tucker442 has left the room.
  • @ BJ radionut:
    LIVE 10:00 AM EST :cool:
  • @ Charles Edwards:
    I'm looking for factory settings 1 through 59 for a AT 5555 n2 or AT500 M2 I only wrote down half the values feel like a idiot I need help will be appreciated