Some of these are on close out for $230 on eBay. Even with some of the issues, it should be live able at that price.
I've not had a chance to get it on a power meter yet, but when I do I'll post it.How's your power output with this unit? I've read that it is really low on UHF.
Moving on with the review, I've been experimenting with the cross band repeat modes on this rig. Yes, I said modes, plural. Most rigs that offer cross band repeat have one mode V/U or U/V, this one has four modes, and I'll be darned if I can see why or how they'd be useful.
The first mode is what they call X-DIRPT, which is a one-way type of repeating. This takes anything coming in on the master VFO and sends it back out on the secondary VFO, but that's all. It does not go from the secondary to the master. The next mode is X-TWRPT, which is the same type of V/U or U/V cross banding we're all familiar with. Whatever comes in on either frequency gets sent back out on the other frequency.
The next two modes, CRPT-TX and CRPT-RX, require two of these radios working together, connected by a data cable between them. In this type of setup one radio acts as the receiver and the other acts as the transmitter. How this is more useful than X-TWRPT mode escapes me unless, and I really don't see how they could do it without cans, it allows for in-band repeating, or possibly relaying. Since I only have one of these for now (though that $230 eBay price with free shipping is tempting me sorely) I can't experiment with these last two modes, so I can only guess at how they are supposed to work. The instruction manual merely calls this setup a relay station, which to me seems to imply that the same frequency is used on both the receive and the transmit, and I can't imagine how they could accomplish that without feedback.
Great review, hopefully you can answer a question for me.
When you scan on one vfo, will the radio receive on the second vfo?
I have a wouxoun HT and it can either scan or dual receive, not both.
Just wondering if this mobile operates in a similiar fashion to their HTs.
Thanks.
Power on UHF was just measured as 35 watts.How's your power output with this unit? I've read that it is really low on UHF.