X9000 VHF Programming Woes for Ham

[Jonathan KC8RYW]

I'm using SP Ham Version 5.02.00 of RSS.

I'm using a commercial split radio. I started making the codeplug as 148 MHz - 174 MHz.

I want to use it for ham band.

Whenever I put in a freq under 145.000 MHz, it blinks "Out of Range" at me at the bottom of the screen, and won't let me enter it.

Any ideas?

[kf4sqb]

Jonathan, that's a strange one. I've played around with that RSS a little, and never seen that. IIRC, it should let you put in frequencies all the way down to 144.000. As best as I recall, it should give you an error message, but take the frequency anyway.

[kc7gr]

I'm using SP Ham Version 5.02.00 of RSS.

I'm using a commercial split radio. I started making the codeplug as 148 MHz - 174 MHz.

I want to use it for ham band.

Whenever I put in a freq under 145.000 MHz, it blinks "Out of Range" at me at the bottom of the screen, and won't let me enter it.

Any ideas?

You entered the wrong range. Try creating a fresh codeplug, and this time select 'Range 1.5' (for 144-15whatever) for the bandsplit.

I should make you aware of one other thing. Changing the radio's programming is only half the battle. In order to maintain receiver sensitivity in the 2m band, the RF deck will need to be sweep-tuned with a spectrum analyzer and tracking generator. The object is to sacrifice part of the top end of the band in favor of opening up part of the bottom end.

If this is not done, your receiver will roll off very sharply below about 147.900MHz, and you will end up with receiver sensitivity of around 15-20 microvolts (in other words, really bad!)

If you lack the tools and/or skill to do this realignment, I can do it for you at my normal rates. Drop me a PM if you feel the need.

If you are equipped to do it, I can offer some tips.

Happy tweaking.