maxlog m-8900

[Mudfoot]

Oh my!

That is one noisy receive section. That radio needs a high high high cut function.
Me ears hurt.

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

Might just be the audio on Simon's vid.
Italians love echo too!

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

Oh my!

That is one noisy receive section. That radio needs a high high high cut function.
Me ears hurt.

I saw a 10K hi cut button on it

 

[vkrules]

Simon's not using the hicut in the video. I will buy one if they have fixed the agc and talkback issue.Don't care for echo, might be ok 30 over 9 on the superbowl, but if your talking long path S1 to Italy the last thing you want is echo.

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

Oh my!

That is one noisy receive section. That radio needs a high high high cut function.
Me ears hurt.

Simon briefly kicked in the hicut on one video. It didn't help much. I think he was trying different things for the audience

 

[dd18]

Hope the 8900 has not blown up Simon !!! Hi Hi
How is it going?
Made any contacts on it?
Does it get very hot?
Noisy rx? How is the AGC? FM?
Easy to use?
Do tell us some more!!!
Ours are still a few weeks away as getting some other mods done on it first.
Cheers,
Dave

 

[simonradioman]

Hope the 8900 has not blown up Simon !!! Hi Hi
How is it going?
Made any contacts on it?
Does it get very hot?
Noisy rx? How is the AGC? FM?
Easy to use?
Do tell us some more!!!
Ours are still a few weeks away as getting some other mods done on it first.
Cheers,
Dave

Hi Dave, Thanks for the message

The radio is working well at the moment. Still muddling around with the settings and stuff at the moment to be fair, also work so not so much time. Internet playing up at home as had it turned up the speed and they messed it up. No software and no cables are available so all done with messing with the buttons and menus

HI-CUT Does work well it is my video that does not show it well. So for me to say it is noisy isn't exactly true as I prefer without the HICUT so have not used it much.

Spoke to around 20 people now on FM, AM, SSB and all have commented how good the audio was and have made videos to show they were and are not prompted to say it. Brazil, Poland, Italy, Russia, Finland to name a few.

Gets warm but not hot. This one does 25w SSB but have kept it around 20w and when connect to the amp leave it at 10w and works well. SWR was a little strange to start with but now seems steady, I see it reads around 1% higher with this radio than with another but there is not so much difference between them

Bands 1 to 4 with 3 being the 24500 Start freq, but ends at 25615 so needs be altered as not worth it.

AGC FM Yes that needs some work, SSB also needs some work with adjacent channel rejection but have emailed and skyped that news to Maxlog and they will look into it this week ( so am told ) The RJ45 socket on the back works the mike well, have asked for 1m long and not 50cm as will sit better in the car with a longer cable.

Seems lots like it according to the comments but like with all Dave, Optimas and others there is ALWAYS something to be changed. But from the white box it worked well. There was a jumper off so the power, rf gain did not work but I resolved that. Now wait to see how the programming can be done

Simon

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

Hey Simon
I should've said that the Hi-Cut didn't sound like it worked too well when your contact on one of your vid's signal dropped down to 1 S-Unit and you briefly kicked in the Hi-Cut. Plus I think that you were getting interference from others operators.
I didn't see any chrome on the 8900. Did like the mike jack in back. That would help in a mobile in dash install. That way the mic cord wouldn't be sticking out the front of the radio getting in the way when not being used.
I deal with the noise on my CRE-8900 by using a remote speaker,facing it away from me and let the car's acoustics absorb some of the staticky portion of the sound.
By the way,the Italian contact,he must of had his talkback on as he was enjoying his slow echo. I could hear him better with his echo kicked in. op:

 

[simonradioman]

Hey Simon
I should've said that the Hi-Cut didn't sound like it worked too well when your contact on one of your vid's signal dropped down to 1 S-Unit and you briefly kicked in the Hi-Cut. Plus I think that you were getting interference from others operators.
I didn't see any chrome on the 8900. Did like the mike jack in back. That would help in a mobile in dash install. That way the mic cord wouldn't be sticking out the front of the radio getting in the way when not being used.
I deal with the noise on my CRE-8900 by using a remote speaker,facing it away from me and let the car's acoustics absorb some of the staticky portion of the sound.
By the way,the Italian contact,he must of had his talkback on as he was enjoying his slow echo. I could hear him better with his echo kicked in. op:

I live next door to a shopping centre and always with noises, coughs and farts from there. I will be taking the radio mobile and away from the house and see if that makes any difference but my location is rubbish for noises from the surrounding area, includes the airport also

 

[magnuman]

Thanks Simon, All good. Is there an internal plug for the programming. If so use an AT-5555 cable into that..should work.
I think you can open band 4 to 24.5 to 30mhz with the soft ware....the clarifier would hit them all but the selector will only find what has been programmed into it. I think the clarifier and ch selector should be swapped!!!
Ours are off on thursday with a new mic insert and slightly different programming and hopefully the SWR bug all these radios suffer from has been squealched once and for all! If it were possible to dissable it physically I would..It is a handy feature but it does get in the way even when turned off in software.
cheers,
Dave

 

[vkrules]

Dave, wonder if they have fixed the swr meter or just recalibrated for higher power. On the earlier radio I ,like most, turn the warning off.I noticed the meter isn't auto calibrated .Only works fine on am or about 10 watts it's when you go to a higher power mode( ie ssb 30 watts)it gives you the high readings.The work around would be to recalibrate to max power ie 30 watts. and put a note in the manual.Or turn the bloody thing off completely.
Mark

 

[dd18]

Not sure but did request they desensitize it in SSB.
Hopefully hardware change but maybe software..don't care as long as it gets fixed!
I think it is an SSB issue...

 

[simonradioman]

Thanks Simon, All good. Is there an internal plug for the programming. If so use an AT-5555 cable into that..should work.
I think you can open band 4 to 24.5 to 30mhz with the soft ware....the clarifier would hit them all but the selector will only find what has been programmed into it. I think the clarifier and ch selector should be swapped!!!
Ours are off on thursday with a new mic insert and slightly different programming and hopefully the SWR bug all these radios suffer from has been squealched once and for all! If it were possible to dissable it physically I would..It is a handy feature but it does get in the way even when turned off in software.
cheers,
Dave

Hi Dave,

I cannot see the same hole for programming as the 5555. Just the RJ45 that is fitted on the back. There is a small set of holes there but think for the optional CTCSS and not programming like 5555. The mike on this one people like it so not sure if it is like yours or simply a standard one. It is not electret for sure.

Band 3: 24500-25615 Which is not normal, I asked for unlock 24.5-30.105 and I think they maybe do that but at the moment yes it works 24500-30105 but you need change bands to realise it.

SWR works ok'ish on AM/FM but SSB it is nothing. In my perfect world id disable the SWR, add a modulation meter and have SWR in the menu and make it just tell you what it is when access that menu

Regards
Simon

 

[dd18]

M-8900

I believe the new insert will be dynamic but a little better quality than the earlier ones. It is more of an issue for the 8800 than the 8900 but we won't know till they arrive. Looking for an additional 5khz step on the clarifier so the extra programming takes a little time.
Not sure when will ship but promised for this week.
Rgds,
Dave

 

[radiosw]

Dave, wonder if they have fixed the swr meter or just recalibrated for higher power. On the earlier radio I ,like most, turn the warning off.I noticed the meter isn't auto calibrated .Only works fine on am or about 10 watts it's when you go to a higher power mode( ie ssb 30 watts)it gives you the high readings.The work around would be to recalibrate to max power ie 30 watts. and put a note in the manual.Or turn the bloody thing off completely.
Mark

The earlier 8800 swr meter can be fixed like this , its accurate now and no false peaks ...