Currently, I am considering buying a Saber III VHF H.T. to give me coverage on the 2 Meter Ham Band. However, the frequency coverage that most of the advertised radios I am seeing, have coverage starting at 146 mHz and going up. Can you have coverage on the lower end of the 2 meter band(144-146 mHz)and still retain coverage above 146 up to 148 mHz simultaneously? The Saber sellers that I am dealing with cannot answer my Question and I did't see an exact answer to my question looking around Bat-Labs. Thanks in advance for any info. and I am supporting this Forum with a donation. This is one great technical resource for the Motorola user !
Eddie N4UMJ
SABER III - VHF Full 144-148 mHz Coverage?
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The saber sellers cannot answer the question? strange? If it is a Saber III VHF let them or you, hook it up & read the radio...after it reads the radio..you will get the info on the radio by pressing the F2 key...I have one that covers the whole 2 meter band, (and then some) see if you or the "sellers" can program in a 145Mhz & a 147Mhz freq..(pick two freqs, in your area) A high freq, & a low, & see if they will let you try it out? I cannot recall what it should say? it will work in (maybe 138Mhz to 174Mhz) I'm working on a UHF right now...that covers 440Mhz-470Mhz ..well in the 70cm ham band..good luck..Ed
So, if one can read the coverage with the software that would be the preferred method.
In the BatLabs Saber Model # breakdown it says sub-bandsplits cannot be determined until read with the RSS. Looking at the Model #'s it shows the H43SAK7139CN as covering 136-174mHz. However, in the Output column breakdown it shows two ranges for the VHF as 136-174 mHz and 146-174 mHz. Are there two different configurations of HT's(Different VCO's,Rcvr,TX modules)for the VHF Saber? I realize there is an oddball 66-88 mHz out there.
Thanks again in advance for any help to clarify my questions,
Eddie N4UMJ
In the BatLabs Saber Model # breakdown it says sub-bandsplits cannot be determined until read with the RSS. Looking at the Model #'s it shows the H43SAK7139CN as covering 136-174mHz. However, in the Output column breakdown it shows two ranges for the VHF as 136-174 mHz and 146-174 mHz. Are there two different configurations of HT's(Different VCO's,Rcvr,TX modules)for the VHF Saber? I realize there is an oddball 66-88 mHz out there.
Thanks again in advance for any help to clarify my questions,
Eddie N4UMJ
Eddie to be honest with ya! I drew a blank! I've seen it once before. Too bad I don't have the radio in my hands. I work mostly UHF. Two things you can do is wait for a post from someone who has a better memory than me! or work with the 136M-174M side. "When you hit 51 yrs old, some of us have brainfades" At least you read the radio! I'd wait for someones post. Ed
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Elroy Jetson
- Posts: 1158
- Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2001 4:00 pm
OK, here's the accurate truthful info you're looking for.
There are several bandsplits for VHF Sabers in the factory configurations.
Low split: 136 to 150.8, low or high power.
Mid split: 146 to 162, high power
High split: 157 to 174, high power
(There might be one I'm missing here...)
High split, LOW power: 146 to 174
The low split will be of interest to you,
and so will the LOW power high split.
Note that it's got wider coverage.
Here's the trick: If the radio is NOT a low split radio, you can program it as a low power (H33series) radio and automatically get the 146 to 174 MHz bandsplit, but the actual power output of the high power chassis WILL NOT CHANGE. It's still a high power chassis if that's what it was when you started out.
What you do is you take note of the exact model number of the radio in question, and create a new personality for that radio but change H43 to H33, and keep the rest the same.
ALL of the bandsplits actually will program up to ONE MHz out of the rated bandsplits with the standard releases of the RSS. The 146 to 174 split is actually usable from 145 to 175, and all others are the same way.
If you can live without the freqencies below 145.000, then this will work fine for you.
If you still need to get below 145.000, there are detailed instructions on how to edit the radio's files on disk to change the frequencies with an editor. That info is in the Saber portion of the model specific information section here at batlabs.
There are also two known special version releases of the Saber RSS that allow out of band programming. One is called "D04+/-10M"
which allows programming of any frequency up to ten MHz out of the normal bandsplit limits. This version can ONLY be used to modify radio files on disk and can't communicate with the radio directly.
The other special version is a mod of version 6 software (6.01, actually, if I remember correctly. It looks totally ordinary but for the extended ranges) and it also allows 10 MHz extensions, but it DOES read from and write to the radio correctly.
With either of these special packages, performance of the radio on out of band channels will vary from radio to radio. The VCOs will vary in their ability to lock up out of their normal operating range. Some will go the full 10 MHz above or below, some may not make it 2 MHz out of band.
Those packages are hard to find. It's been years since I saw either one but SOMEBODY has them somewhere. I am NOT advocating that you try to arrange a swap of RSS. This is for informational purposes only, do not break the law, please.
It's probably easier to hack the radio's file on disk anyway. That, at least, is SURE to be legal.
Elroy
There are several bandsplits for VHF Sabers in the factory configurations.
Low split: 136 to 150.8, low or high power.
Mid split: 146 to 162, high power
High split: 157 to 174, high power
(There might be one I'm missing here...)
High split, LOW power: 146 to 174
The low split will be of interest to you,
and so will the LOW power high split.
Note that it's got wider coverage.
Here's the trick: If the radio is NOT a low split radio, you can program it as a low power (H33series) radio and automatically get the 146 to 174 MHz bandsplit, but the actual power output of the high power chassis WILL NOT CHANGE. It's still a high power chassis if that's what it was when you started out.
What you do is you take note of the exact model number of the radio in question, and create a new personality for that radio but change H43 to H33, and keep the rest the same.
ALL of the bandsplits actually will program up to ONE MHz out of the rated bandsplits with the standard releases of the RSS. The 146 to 174 split is actually usable from 145 to 175, and all others are the same way.
If you can live without the freqencies below 145.000, then this will work fine for you.
If you still need to get below 145.000, there are detailed instructions on how to edit the radio's files on disk to change the frequencies with an editor. That info is in the Saber portion of the model specific information section here at batlabs.
There are also two known special version releases of the Saber RSS that allow out of band programming. One is called "D04+/-10M"
which allows programming of any frequency up to ten MHz out of the normal bandsplit limits. This version can ONLY be used to modify radio files on disk and can't communicate with the radio directly.
The other special version is a mod of version 6 software (6.01, actually, if I remember correctly. It looks totally ordinary but for the extended ranges) and it also allows 10 MHz extensions, but it DOES read from and write to the radio correctly.
With either of these special packages, performance of the radio on out of band channels will vary from radio to radio. The VCOs will vary in their ability to lock up out of their normal operating range. Some will go the full 10 MHz above or below, some may not make it 2 MHz out of band.
Those packages are hard to find. It's been years since I saw either one but SOMEBODY has them somewhere. I am NOT advocating that you try to arrange a swap of RSS. This is for informational purposes only, do not break the law, please.
It's probably easier to hack the radio's file on disk anyway. That, at least, is SURE to be legal.
Elroy
Ok...now I have a much better understanding of the different VHF Saber versions (splits)and what to look for. Been eyeing a few on e-bay but did not know exactly what would meet my needs.
Getting the right coverage (or fooling the radio with the low power RPF or hacking the stored codeplug)and then hoping the VCO will cooperate ,is the trick, I see.
I currently have a Saber III UHF (440-470)and I am very happy with it so far. I was contemplating getting the Saber III VHF version to complement it since I already have batteries, mics, charger etc. for this series already.
I did not realize getting the complete 2 Meter Ham coverage out of one of these radios is such an ordeal(or challenge!)
Thanks RadioEd and Elroy Jetson for the
very helpful guidance,
Eddie N4UMJ
Matthews, NC
Getting the right coverage (or fooling the radio with the low power RPF or hacking the stored codeplug)and then hoping the VCO will cooperate ,is the trick, I see.
I currently have a Saber III UHF (440-470)and I am very happy with it so far. I was contemplating getting the Saber III VHF version to complement it since I already have batteries, mics, charger etc. for this series already.
I did not realize getting the complete 2 Meter Ham coverage out of one of these radios is such an ordeal(or challenge!)
Thanks RadioEd and Elroy Jetson for the
very helpful guidance,
Eddie N4UMJ
Matthews, NC
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Tom in D.C.
- Posts: 3859
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2001 4:00 pm
- What radios do you own?: Progreso soup can with CRT
Eddie: I have a Saber III VHF with a 5D core which does the 145 mHz repeaters with no problem, which of course means that it's transmitting below 145 mHz. On the upper end it does 173 mHz with no problem as well. It's a 6-watt-output radio which reads as an H33 rather than an H43 which by its performance it actually is. Please note that there are SO many hacked/modified/special Saber radios around these days that it really pays to spend more to be sure that what you buy is what you actually want.
Regards,
Tom, W2NJS
...in D.C.
Regards,
Tom, W2NJS
...in D.C.