maxlog M8900

[mechanic]

Mine just arrived! Already I am impressed, the receiver is very quiet but 'hears' well, NB knocks my local one second 'tick' down to almost nothing.... Cable TV RFI! Band is dead more or less but I still hear stations on the faint....
Where's the cheer icon?

73 mechanic

 

[mechanic]

Have you tried CW mode yet?

I have not transmitted on CW but will tonight, the postal driver just handed me the Maxlog about an hour ago. Faint CW beacons on ten meters and the tone is great on receive! Next is to have a go at transmitting with CW.... Da Dit Dah!

I can hear WWV, time standard out of Fort Collins, Colorado on 25.000 mHz .... Faint but readable!

73 mechanic

 

[mechanic]

Had a chance to go over the CW mode with the Maxlog..... But first! As it comes the clarifier, is on transmit only, at least on my copy. One has to hold the menu button in for four seconds and then go to menu number 2, set this to TR so that the receive and transmit are locked. With this setting you can use the clarifier as a sub-VFO and it will be right on. I did not do this and was getting a shift when transmitting!
Had to do a full reset because of all the shifts I made!!
With that out of the way I could tune anywhere with CW but there is a bit of tone difference that who ever answers your CW call will have to adjust with their RIT (clarifier) so it will have a 700 to 800 Hz shift for the CW tone. Need to find out if there is a CW offset for transmit.
Overall the rig works well on CW and really well on SSB and AM! Contacted a few HAMs in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Last note is that it needs a bigger heat sink and maybe a fan....!!!

73 mechanic

 

[vkrules]

Yes we all agree about the heatsink . I turned mine down , don't require 40watts + drive.Try adjusting the bpt on cw. Do you have the seperate tx rx adjust for the bpt?That would be real handy

 

[mechanic]

Yes we all agree about the heatsink . I turned mine down , don't require 40watts + drive.Try adjusting the bpt on cw. Do you have the seperate tx rx adjust for the bpt?That would be real handy

I have the separate BPT , band pass but need to fine out if there is a way to adjust for CW offset. I was thinking I could set some of the frequencies (channels) with a offset with the clarifier, some settings stay with each channel. G band is the 1st voice portion of ten meters, I set each of the channels ending in zero and they stay put, I use the clarifier as a sub-VFO from there. Had a chat with some HAMs in North Carolina a while age and they said the rig sounded fine.
Next I'll have to write a comparison of the Maxlog M-8900 to the Anytone At-6666. But for now the rigs are similar, the Q6 lacks CW and does not do 12 meters, it has a bit more power but the receive on the 8900 is much nicer!

73 mechanic

 

[222DBFL]

Hey mechanic when you say tv RFI, is it bleeding onto the tv or is it clean on output at least on ssb that is? This one has been on the list, just waiting for a bit before getting one as I have enough radios that are near to like this one. It's between it or go full on HF radio and get an ic-7200. But for the money this doesn't look like a bad but as it's size makes it appealing. Hopefully they work out to be a good overall radio. I am mostly curious about ssb though. How is the rx and tx on ssb? And you say you can lock the clarifier? That would be nice in the mobile where I tend to bump the clarifier all the time. Thanks for any responses and god bless.

 

[vkrules]

The clarifier is idented so I don't think bumping it will be an issue, You can set it for Tx adjust or RX or lock it to both.You can also set lock function, which will lock keys the Clarifier and ch selector .Tx BPT will change the cw off set. From the factory mine was set a little high. I think mechanic is talking about Interference from cable TV not to it. Nice enough radio but come on you can't compare it to a 7200 (apples and oranges) If your in the market for a HF radio why would you consider this or any other export.

 

[222DBFL]

Vk rules, I like it because of the size, have plenty of other radios I can use. And yes you are correct, they apples to oranges. And yes I have been saving for the icom but it's hard to justify that much to the significant other lol. I will have one one of these days. Thanks for the reply and god bless.

 

[mechanic]

Yes, I am receiving cable TV RFI, It is from the local cable grid and is there even when the power goes out. So it runs off battery in those times. Not over powering but I can hear it on most of my gear....
Thanks vkrules for the heads up on the CW offset! I'll give that a try.... This is a neat radio and I did not need it, I simply had to have it! I have the Anytone AT-5555 and the AT-6666 and looking at others.
I have a nice Kenwood TS-430 that is taking up space!

73 mechanic

 

[vkrules]

0 1 frequency step size
02 clarifiier function setting
03 push function setting
04 asc control
05 time out timer
06 scanning type
07 ct swr warning cw
08 at swr warning am
09 ft swr warning fm
10 ut swr warning usb
11 lt swr warning lsb
12 dc overvolt protection
13 tld tx display tot ,swr, volts or tx frequency
14 roger beep frequency setting
15 rb holding time
16 cf side tone frequency
17 tf single tone tx frequency
18 te talk back with echo on
19 tn talk back
20 mic gain am
21 mic gain fm
22 mic gain usb
23 mic gain lsb
24 bu beep volume . on mine to set cw sidetone volume I had to place radio in any other mode that cw to set.
25 of bp filter .
Here is another feature hold bp and turn on and radio goes into test mode ENTER AT OWN RISK hold function and you get b 510 0 which appears to be a frequency fine tune.

 

[mechanic]

Thanks vkrules! I owe you a beer for that one! A true spin doctor!!

73 mechanic

 

[vkrules]

I'm the same didn't need it ,just wanted to try one. I like the radio, small and cheap enough to throw in the car without incurring the wrath of SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED. 222dbfl reading back ,my last post to you sounded a little harsh, was unintended just curious . Like I said, I like the little radio.Mine at the moment is still sitting on the bench with a 590, 100d and a 746pro so it is a little bit outgunned, but I just worked Alfred the international barbecue station in Hawaii with it .

 

[magnuman]

The size, 12m and the sweet receive make this radio a keeper and it can only get better. I think the output should be reduced to 20-25w Pep or fit a fan to the heatsink. The anytone radios sound great on TX but the receive can be a little unpleasant due to the hash that they drag in. A very expensive DSP audio filter does clean them up, but it should not be neccessary.

 

[vkrules]

I can see one of these going in your suitcase on your next dxpedition Dave.

 

[222DBFL]

Thanks vk. Not taken in any bad way, I am like you, got the radio bug and this one looks like a nice one for the mobile, although my optima mk3 has done well for me I am Always looking. The ic-7200 will come in the near future, this one I can justify a bit easier if you know what I mean lol. I could get the ic-7200 but would have to hear about it!! Anyway again thanks for all the responses, this is exactly what I like to see a good honest review! God bless.