VHF X9000 Frequency Range

[Tim]

Hi folks,

Just did a re-program on my truck's radio for a new repeater... 146.16 / 146.76.

When on talkaround, it transmits fine, but at the lower frequency it doesn't key up
the repeater.

Before I get all wierd, pull the rig out of the truck, check the PLL lock LED & go
from there, should I be seeing any issues with this frequency?

It is the lowest frequency that I have in the radio,,, the next one up is 146.58,
so just wondering if I'm on the edge & need to do some VCO tweaking. ugh!

Maybe I'll just pull a backkup drawer off the shelf here & try it out, rather than
messing with it!!

Thanks,

Tim

[n7maq]

Hi folks,

Just did a re-program on my truck's radio for a new repeater... 146.16 / 146.76.

When on talkaround, it transmits fine, but at the lower frequency it doesn't key up
the repeater.

Before I get all wierd, pull the rig out of the truck, check the PLL lock LED & go
from there, should I be seeing any issues with this frequency?

It is the lowest frequency that I have in the radio,,, the next one up is 146.58,
so just wondering if I'm on the edge & need to do some VCO tweaking. ugh!

Maybe I'll just pull a backkup drawer off the shelf here & try it out, rather than
messing with it!!

Thanks,

Tim

Tim,

What range is the radio? What software did you use?

If it is a range 2 radio, you will want to use the ham RSS that sets it up as a range 1.5 and all should be good as far as the VCO. Check on Mike's page ( http://www.onfreq.com/syntorx/ )for more detailed info, I am very rusty on 9000's so I don't want to say more and be wrong.

[Tim]

Hi jim,

It looks like the T73 versions only came in the 150-174 mHz
splits, whereas the lower power did come in a 136-154 split.

I might be incorrect on that tho... anyway they came from the
state highway patrol or the border patrol, and they are well
within the higher split.

Now thinking about it... I think I did tweak the front end to come
down in freqs, as the border patrol folks are above 160, and the
radio was lacking in sensitivity at the low end. The tweak made a world of difference,
and brought it into spec (sensitivity wise). I didn't mess with the VCO
... yet! :0 been there & it's not fun!

however, I have several different versions of the RSS... the one
that I used was the one that lets me select 136-181 MHz.(I think those
were the numbers).

That one is the 128 mode version.

I also have a different version called HAMRD, but when I tried it, I
didn't see a wide band version like the 128 version. However, I
intend on trying it tomorrow, and just picking one of the ranges.

I'll check Mike's page & see if I missed something... I'm planning on
retiring the old girl pretty soon & replacing with an Astro Spectra
(needing narrowband and P25, so the trusty X9k will go on the shelf
for ... just in case kind of things). However that deal doesn't seem to
be coming together & I really need the repeater pair to work.

Thanks!!

Tim W5FN

[n7maq]

The ham RSS that I used did not require any VCO tweaks to work in two meters (on the R2 radios) and it would give 255 channels. RXFE did need a re-tune (it is best to sweep it), and with a preamp they were great. The units I had had firmware that would allow 64 channels in the scan list.


Jim

[maxkelley_kc2spy]

I have a high-power one that originally had high 150's and low 160Mhz channels in it, and I retuned for 145.51 simplex... works great!

[Tim]

Hmm, thought I posted a reply, but don't see it!

Anyhow, used the HAMRD version, and found a wide range option (musta missed it before). Took that & made a 1.5, so I guess it now hits the steering diodes just right for the low freqs.

On to the site tomorrow!

Thanks all,

Tim

[SlimBob]

I forget exactly which RSS I used, but I didn't have any problems with tuning below 146MHz. I suspect it's probably a common one that many of us have used, from a Russian website or some such.

I think I programmed with R6 or R8 or the 255 mode one? I remember building a codeplug once and using one version or another to program the radio. The 255-mode programmer has some interesting issues with memory usage.

As far as the radio goes, it should be a simple VCO job, if that.

When I had access to a spectrum analyzer with a tracking gen, I re-aligned the filters in the radio so I could get better receive performance. The best stretch was somewhere around 28 MHz or 30MHz, if that. I didn't worry about listening to anything above 162MHz.