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axorlov

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Posts posted by axorlov

  6. Motorola DTR and DLR series 900MHz FHSS digital radios

    in 900 MHz License-Free Radios (ISM)

    Posted

    I actually bought a pair of DLR1060 on ebay today. Going to compare performance with GMRS handhelds and mobiles. The usage mode is outdoors: camping, hikes, mountains, woods. It is not very clear to me how 900MHz at 1W with spread-spectrum and error correction would perform against ole wide-band FM at 4W (and at 40W). Of course, the moment I bought DLRs, the cheap chargers disappeared from ebay. But I'm not in rush, will wait for something below $30.

     

    So, what you, David, are saying, is that the older DTRs do not have this 4-digit ID, mentioned in DLR manual. And to make the old DTR work with new DLR is to program talk groups into DLR. The programming the 4-digit ID into old DTR will not work because there is no 4-digit ID. Right? Wrong? I order to introduce the older DTR into the network of DLRs I will need to delete the 4-digit ID in DLRs and program the talkgroups, is this correct?

    At this moment of time my interest is purely academical because I do not have old DTR, and DLRs are not here with me yet.

  8. What can I expect from hand-held? Will it work for Net system?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    Today, I was practicing calling out to see if I could connect with someone. Still nothing. So, I'm wondering...are there just so few people using GMRS? Or, is my reach still so poor I cannot connect with those who do?  :huh:  Thoughts? Do I need to step up my antenna to like a Harvest BC200 mounted outside? Or, would it help to get a 50 watt mobile for my home shack? Would I get more activity with that?

     

    It might be that people do not want to talk to you. Ok, I'm saying it in a jesting way, but the matter is serious. GMRS is where people talk inside their established group. Not always, but mostly. Depending on your locality and the crowd on the local repeaters, if they are welcoming to others.

     

    So, let's start at the beginning. Your 805G is repeater-capable. Do you have correctly programmed it for the repeater access? I.e. your transmission frequency is 5MGz higher than your receiving frequency (Ch 15) and the tone is programmed correctly?

     

    If you programmed repeater correctly, you should be able to "kerchunk" it. It is frowned upon practice, and for a good reason (it is illegal to transmit without ID, and it's annoying as hell), but if you do it once/twice nobody will notice. Hopefully...

    It goes like this: press PTT for one second, and listen for a "repeater tail" - bit of static or roger beep. If you hear it - good, you are in.

     

  10. Advice on setting up comms for multiple locations

    in Guest Forum

    Posted

    300' high hills could be a problem. However, with the help of diffraction and reflection of radiowaves might be doable. And if you can put 50' mast, that would be better. Only practical experiment will tell for sure.

    The TK-8102 with it's wide-band capability is much better than anything from Midland. In a situation like yours every tiny bit helps, like better receiver on Kenwood and wide-band. It is also much cheaper to experiment with: below $100 vs $250

  13. Retevis 900MHz

    in 900 MHz License-Free Radios (ISM)

    Posted

    Thanks! That helps. So, the frequency hopset and talkgroup ID is similar to the tone squelch on analog FM, do I understand that correctly? And any DTR and DLR radio that programmed to the same hopset and talkgroup can talk to each other? And when I see something like "DLR1060 6-channel" it means that it is possible to program 6 talkgroups and chose between them?

     

    If the communications need is very simple: two or three radios that can talk to each other, without the need to talk to strangers on default talkgroups, then 2-channel should suffice. Do I read everything correctly?

  15. Which commercial HT's are popular for use on GMRS?

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    He picked up a good used TK-3170 which included the antenna, battery pack, speaker microphone and charger package on eBay for $65.

    Must be before January. I'm now looking for a Kenwood handheld in decent condition on Ebay, and it's dry. The TK-3170 in working condition with a good battery now commands $125 and more. I blame recent events. The good inexpensive mobiles like 860, 880, 8180 are also disappeared.

  18. Decent Cheap SWR Meter?

    in Equipment Reviews

    Posted

    NanoVNA is nothing less than miraculous piece of equipment, but it has drawbacks. The biggest: it is extremely unfriendly for newbies. The second: it can't measure power. And the third: screen sucks, or you must use PC, that is also may not be convenient. True, you can't find better tool for $50. But you must know how to use it.

  21. Linux Users Programming Kenwood 880s

    in Technical Discussion

    Posted

    Ok, I attempted to go Wine route with KPG-101D (I know, it's not the -49D, but they are from the same manufacturer and from the same time frame), spent some time with the dlls, copying from windows partition and other dances with the tambourine. Life is too short for shit like this. Just get Windows PC (secondhand for $100) or go VirtualBox or VMWare direction.

     

    apt-get --purge remove wine

    apt-get --purge autoremove

     

    I need a drink

  22. KPG-22 FTDI (Kenwood) Help

    in Technical Discussion

    Posted

    I use FTDI cable from bluemax49s. We know him and we love him.

     

    1. Go to Devce Manager, Expand "Ports (COM & LPT)". You should see "USB Serial Port (COM3)". COM3 is on my laptop, yours could be different. Remember the port number.

    2. The setting of the port do not seem to matter, apparently KPG-101D changes them as it sees fit, however: Right click -> Properties -> Port Settings. I have the following: BPS: 115200, Data bits: 8, Parity: None, Stop bits: 1, Flow control: None.

    3. Start KPG-101D, go to Menu -> Setup -> COM Port. Make sure that the correct COM port is selected from #1. In my case it's COM3.

    4. Plug cable into TK-3170, turn the radio on normally.

    5. Menu -> Model -> Product Information. Choose the correct model. That step seems to be optional. I do not see any difference between my TK-3170 and TK-3173. If you have 16-key model, you may need that.

    6. Menu -> Program -> Read Data From Transceiver, hit "Read".

     

    Tada!! Or not.

  23. Linux Users Programming Kenwood 880s

    in Technical Discussion

    Posted

    Thanks for the tips guys! I know I can take the easy way and just use VMware or my Win7 machine, but I like learning on linux. I'll try to sit down here in a few days and tinker with it again. I'm kinda betting I need to figure out the USB connection and somehow show it as a com port on the WINE end. I wonder if instead of running WINE on top of DOSBOX, if I just use DOSBOX by itself?

     

    (shrugs) gives me something to play with until I order antenna mounts :)

    Let's clarify some things. Wine does not run on top of DOSBox. Are we talking about this DOSBox: www.dosbox.com? Wine has nothing to do with it. Wine provides you (tries hard and mostly fails, but A+ for the effort) Win32 API and environment (registry, user32.dll and the the whole kitchen sink) to fool Windows applications into thinking they are running under Windows. They are still x86 (or x64) applications that need Intel (or compatible) CPU. DOSBox is an emulator of DOS on x86 PC, that can run on different hardware, like ARM, or PowerPC Mac or whatever. They are similar as much as elephant and elephant slug are similar. So, sure, you can run DOSBox, but you will need DOS application. Windows application will not work in DOSBox. Of course, people here will quickly point to Windows 95 (remember that?) running under DOSBox on the ARM-based phone, but KPG-49D is not going to run on Windows 95.

     

    Wine and serial ports: https://wiki.winehq.org/index.php?title=Wine_User%27s_Guide&oldid=2519#Serial_and_Parallel_Ports

    To have permissions is a key. The user account must have read/write permissions to /dev/ttyUSB#. On some systems you can add your account to dialout group, as was pointed in this thread.

     

    So, the plan of attack should be like this:

    1. Find out the name of your USB-to-serial adapter. It's very likely going to be /dev/ttyUSB0. You can check dmesg or you can watch what /dev/ttyXXX appears anew when you plug in the cable.

    2. Find out what group your account needs to belong to have read/write permissions to said /dev/ttyUSB0. Add account to that group. Good chance it's going to be dialout group.

    3. Identify what COM port number Wine uses to access this /dev/ttyUSB0. See the link to documentation above.

    4. Run KPG-49D, set up the port, rate. See if you have communication with radio.

    5. Most important! Post results here.

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