VETCOMMS

OK thx for the help/ video. What are normal readings? How do I know if the hardline has a problem?

I recently acquired some hardline. How do I test it to see if it's still good? What equipment is needed? Similarly, how do I test hardline at a tower site to see if it's good?

In an effort to save on cost I've been asking the local public safety radio company if they have any used db404-b antennas. They do not. Is there anywhere else that people find these used or is it luck to get one used?

With the db-404b antenna, is there a stamped model number anywhere on the antenna? If a guy collects these and they're laying in a pile with other antennas how do I know if it's the one I want? What equipment is used to test the antenna to see if it's good? I'm ooking for a "deal" in a pile instead of paying full price.

Sweet. So it's time to tune the duplexer. Anyone have a reliable, well trained business that can tune it? Buytwowayradios?

So i figured out why the Surecom SWR meter wasn't reading anything. The internal duplexer was hooked up to the RX connector on the back of the repeater. So next time I'll open the case. So now the repeater works, a bit off freq and surprised by the lower TX power. Is that typical after the duplexer for a 40 watt Vertex?

Soooo, I have a ctcss tone on the repeater receive and a dcs tone on the receiver transmit. I recall in another of my posts about using inverted tones. Do these tones have an I in the tone? The reason I ask is the window that opens in the Vertex software only has numbers, no I designation.

I plan to have someone with the right equipment tune the duplexer. What I was wondering was if I could connect my cheap Chinese Surecom SWR meter to read the TX power and SWR. What I did notice is I get transit and receive with the courtesy beep but could not make out any voice on either radio. It was just static and the courtesy beep. Could this be due to the duplexer being out of tune?

I made the frequency corrections, so thx for the guidance. I have the nifty Surecom SWR meter and thought I'd run the antenna to the antenna side of the meter and the jumper to the TX side of the repeater. I then key an HT to activate the repeater but the swr meter does not read. So NOW what is this grade school level repeater owner doing wrong?

I tend to do things bass awkward. Will get it corrected. Now which column turns on the cool squelch tail beep and how many seconds do "most people" set it to? And thx for helping walk this vertex newbie through repeater school.

Thx for that, I will look tonight. So am I not operating on a gmrs frequency pair?

Gracias. I have it set to TX on 467.625 and RX on 462.625. If I'm not confuculated that's repeater ch 18. There is much rejoicing now. Next is fingering out all the various settings that are on the CPS and what they do. Any videos on that for the Vertex?

OK, so I read the repeater and am wondering where in the CPS it will say what model of Vertex this is. Also, is download and upload the opposite of what I'm thinking? With the Vertex is it upload TO the repeater and download FROM the repeater or the other way around?

Okay, several simpleton questions but I want to make sure I don't do any damage to this beloved Vertex. I do not own a dummy load so my plan was to attach a mobile antenna to the TX connector on the back of the repeater BEFORE I try to read the radio with the software. Do I need to have an antenna attached to do that? I'm thinking no, not unless I plan to transmit with the repeater, correct? The reason I ask is the connector on the back of the repeater appears to be a PL-259 which is what is on the end of my mag mount mobile antenna as well. I can possibly take pics if it may be helpful? Appreciate the help, I want my discontinued out of date repeater to last for many years so thought I'd ask you kind folks before proceeding.

When looking at the info on the back of the Vxr-7000u repeater, how do I determine if I have the A (400-430 MHz, D (450-480 MHz) or F (480-512 MHz) model? I didn't think I saw the letter designation on the labels on the rear of the unit but will look again.

OK, I was able to download the CPS but when running the setup wizard it said something about narrowband only in the US. I had changed the laptop date to pretend it was 2003 as I recall something about needing to do that to get around the narrowband thing. What am I doing wrong with the narrowband/ date thing? Or should I be using the non-US wideband CPS?

Me thinks I'm dead in the water at this point?

I have not. Yet. When I download the cps should there be a Vertex icon that should show up on the home screen?

I got my programming cable over the weekend. I have both CE27 and CE59 CPS but when I try to open them with Windows 10 Home it says it's not compatible with 64 bit Windows. It's strange how some people can get it to work on 64 bit Windows 10 but I am unable. Anyone else had this happen? I then installed the CPS on a Windows 8 machine and had the same "can't run on 64 bit" message. Any suggestions on what else I can try before I go looking for a Windows 7 32 bit laptop? Maybe I need to have the programming cable hooked up to the repeater BEFORE I try opening the CPS? Or should I be able to open it without being attached to the repeater? Thanks for the help thus far.

Are there services that tune repeaters? Can one mail them in to used-radios or take the repeater to a Motorola dealer to have it tuned? Can the internal duplexer be removed and mailed to a technician to have it tuned or is removing it from the repeater a bad idea?

I did it, I went and got an old Vertex VXR 7000 repeater. So now I have an old repeater AND I'm confused. So I read I need ce27 software. Where do I get it? Some people on the interwebs say motorola. Some say a vertex group. Some say from the guy that makes the programing cable (I need one of those too). Is there a certain version that's recommended? One that works with windows? Speaking of that, does Windows 10 run it? Gotta go back in time to Windows 7? 32 bit or 64 bit laptop? How do I tune the duplexer once I decide on my frequency pairs? Oh I'm in it now!

Thank you for your help.

Yeah.... can't get the com port to recognize the radio using the c port and USB port on the radio. I'm pretty sure they say you can program it using usb-c which makes the radio attractive. I'm hoping someone has successfully used Chirp via the USB to type c cable included with the radio but maybe I'm mistaken and need to buy a separate programming cable. Someone with this radio please straighten me out on the programming cable. Technology is not liking me today.

I'm not sure this cable can be used for programming but it's the only one that came in the box. I've used it to charge the radio so wonder if the cable can do both programming AND charging.

Thanks. It looks like I get the driver from the Tidradio website but need to log in to their website. Is it possible to get the driver without logging in?