All band commercial/amateurHTs.

[kidphc]

All band commercial/lmr/amateur HTs. Not looking to mars/cap mod it, want it built so it is capable. Trying to keep it below $2500

All legal discussions aside. Do you know what old commercial/amatuer ht gear falls into this terriotory?

-all Band ( capable of 2m,70cm, gmrs, so has to have analog built in.

-front panel programming

 

I have come up with three so far that fit the bill.

- Anytone 878 uvii plus

-Motorola Xps7550 all band

-Harris Unity Xg100p

[tweiss3]

Moto XPR7550 does not come in dual band, but you can get both VHF and UHF.

Kenwood NX-5700/5800 is similar, one deck for each band, but you can stack the decks into a single head. A dad mount (not remote mount, single deck) is about $900 new. Remote kit is about $350/450. Should be right at your $2500 for UHF + VHF with analog and NXDN. FPP is $130/deck. Caveat on the IHF is any FPP reverts to narrow band, but the VHF supposedly doesn't. I'm on the waiting list for a 5800K2 that should be coming soon. You can do OST (operator selectable tone) and setup a table of 40 options. You could add DMD or P25 to each deck as well, P25 is the most expensive entitlement though.

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, kidphc said:

All band commercial/lmr/amateur HTs. Not looking to mars/cap mod it, want it built so it is capable. Trying to keep it below $2500

All legal discussions aside. Do you know what old commercial/amatuer ht gear falls into this terriotory?

-all Band ( capable of 2m,70cm, gmrs, so has to have analog built in.

-front panel programming

 

I have come up with three so far that fit the bill.

- Anytone 878 uvii plus

-Motorola Xps7550 all band

-Harris Unity Xg100p

I think almost any of the dual band handhelds by Yaesu can be opened up to do GMRS.  I have an FT65R that can be using a numerical sequence after a multiple key press on power up.

 

[wayoverthere]

It's not full dual band transmit, but apparently the Vertex Standard vx920 (and p920) series have the ability drop in an add-on board to receive the other band (vhf receive on a uhf radio, or vice versa.  Afaik, limited FPP can be unlocked on the 929's (mainly changing tones, not full frequency freedom...I haven't dug through that too much yet).

[kidphc]

1 hour ago, Sshannon said:

I think almost any of the dual band handhelds by Yaesu can be opened up to do GMRS.  I have an FT65R that can be using a numerical sequence after a multiple key press on power up.

 

I had looked at buying a FT5DR. Which would require mucking with SMD. Kinda why I added the cavet of not doing a mars/cap mod.

[kidphc]

2 hours ago, tweiss3 said:

Moto XPR7550 does not come in dual band, but you can get both VHF and UHF.

Kenwood NX-5700/5800 is similar, one deck for each band, but you can stack the decks into a single head. A dad mount (not remote mount, single deck) is about $900 new. Remote kit is about $350/450. Should be right at your $2500 for UHF + VHF with analog and NXDN. FPP is $130/deck. Caveat on the IHF is any FPP reverts to narrow band, but the VHF supposedly doesn't. I'm on the waiting list for a 5800K2 that should be coming soon. You can do OST (operator selectable tone) and setup a table of 40 options. You could add DMD or P25 to each deck as well, P25 is the most expensive entitlement though.

I thought i was looking at an all band XPR7550 all band this past weekend. I will have to double check with a friend. I also thought it was a rarer vhf/uhf 2 model.

[SteveShannon]

4 minutes ago, kidphc said:

I had looked at buying a FT5DR. Which would require mucking with SMD. Kinda why I added the cavet of not doing a mars/cap mod.

Even the software configuration changes are commonly referred to as MARS/CAP modifications.   What you’re wanting to do can probably even be done with a Baofeng UV5R. The older ones just were sold opened up but the FCC made that change. I don’t know exactly the sequence there, but I doubt it is too difficult. 
My Alinco DJ-MD5 only requires a software change similar to a reset. 

[kidphc]

4 minutes ago, kidphc said:

I thought i was looking at an all band XPR7550 all band this past weekend. I will have to double check with a friend. I also thought it was a rarer vhf/uhf 2 model.

Fug, my bad..... Turns out it was an APX7000 UHF R1 

still learning

[kidphc]

45 minutes ago, wayoverthere said:

It's not full dual band transmit, but apparently the Vertex Standard vx920 (and p920) series have the ability drop in an add-on board to receive the other band (vhf receive on a uhf radio, or vice versa.  Afaik, limited FPP can be unlocked on the 929's (mainly changing tones, not full frequency freedom...I haven't dug through that too much yet).

Love the tone agility. Lack of frequency agility kinda sucks especially for ham use. Its doable but not on the top of the list.

[SteveShannon]

Here’s how to mod the Yaesu FT-65.

 

 

[kidphc]

3 minutes ago, Sshannon said:

Even the software configuration changes are commonly referred to as MARS/CAP modifications.   What you’re wanting to do can probably even be done with a Baofeng UV5R. The older ones just were sold opened up but the FCC made that change. I don’t know exactly the sequence there, but I doubt it is too difficult. 
My Alinco DJ-MD5 only requires a software change similar to a reset. 

I do have a radio that I am currently using that is similar to what your are suggesting. I am using the BF-F8HP. It does have FPP although at times makes me want to cry. If you have FPP programmed you understand the pain, mostly for me is "is why did I program that again?".

[tweiss3]

16 minutes ago, kidphc said:

Fug, my bad..... Turns out it was an APX7000 UHF R1 

still learning

That makes sense. Yes, on the APX line they do have multibands. You will likely spend your entire $2500 budget. Fortunately, the APX CPS is free now, and you are able to get wideband entitlements from Motorola.

[SteveShannon]

9 minutes ago, kidphc said:

I do have a radio that I am currently using that is similar to what your are suggesting. I am using the BF-F8HP. It does have FPP although at times makes me want to cry. If you have FPP programmed you understand the pain, mostly for me is "is why did I program that again?".

Yes I do!  I love everything about the FT-65 except the front panel usage.  That’s probably my fault for having multiple radios and not becoming as proficient in each of them, but the Baofeng UV5R is one of the few that I can do from the front panel without having to consult the manual. 

I do have the FT5DR, since you mentioned the SMT chip removal on it.  I haven’t done it, even though I have quite a bit of SMT experience.  I just don’t feel the need yet.

You did stimulate my interest in doing the software configuration for the FT-65 though.  It worked exactly like the video showed and I was able to transmit to it using my Garmin GMRS radio.

[kidphc]

Just now, tweiss3 said:

That makes sense. Yes, on the APX line they do have multibands. You will likely spend your entire $2500 budget. Fortunately, the APX CPS is free now, and you are able to get wideband entitlements from Motorola.

yup... I can see why there are reports of the radio saving officers lives from bullets.

It is starting to look like the Harris for me might be the ticket.

[kidphc]

Yes I do!  I love everything about the FT-65 except the front panel usage.  That’s probably my fault for having multiple radios and not becoming as proficient in each of them, but the Baofeng UV5R is one of the few that I can do from the front panel without having to consult the manual. 
I do have the FT5DR, since you mentioned the SMT chip removal on it.  I haven’t done it, even though I have quite a bit of SMT experience.  I just don’t feel the need yet.
You did stimulate my interest in doing the software configuration for the FT-65 though.  It worked exactly like the video showed and I was able to transmit to it using my Garmin GMRS radio.

Just saw the ft"x"dr series that. Take off the battery and there is a rubber plug. Remove and the resistor below it is removed. Thank you yaesu for pointing it out. It reformat the memory card and restarts...

But I also read that the 5dr will only transmit 1.3 watts in gmrs.

Which begs the question, what antenna to use.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[SteveShannon]

3 minutes ago, kidphc said:

Just saw the ft"x"dr series that. Take off the battery and there is a rubber plug. Remove and the resistor below it is removed. Thank you yaesu for pointing it out. It reformat the memory card and restarts...

But I also read that the 5dr will only transmit 1.3 watts in gmrs.

Which begs the question, what antenna to use.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk
 

The antenna for the FT-65 lists a range of 400-470 MHz. 
The antenna for the FT5D has no range markings that I have seen. 
 

[kidphc]

4 minutes ago, Sshannon said:

The antenna for the FT-65 lists a range of 400-470 MHz. 
The antenna for the FT5D has no range markings that I have seen. 
 

IF you feel the need https://imgur.com/account/favorites/QVHfAiw

 

[SteveShannon]

5 minutes ago, kidphc said:

IF you feel the need https://imgur.com/account/favorites/QVHfAiw

 

Thanks. I did look at it. Since I already did the change to the 65 I don’t feel like I need to. I did look though:

 

[wayoverthere]

11 minutes ago, Sshannon said:

The antenna for the FT-65 lists a range of 400-470 MHz. 
The antenna for the FT5D has no range markings that I have seen. 
 

Unsurprisingly, that looks like the same antenna as came with my ft4x. Mine is opened up as well, but I haven't tested power output out of band...I think I've seen the same info as @kidphcon the ft5dr's lower output on gmrs.

Have done FPP on the ft4x, and it's not the top of the list of things I want to do. Not much ahead of a baofeng...again, unsurprisingly. Both are doable with some practice, for that occasional new repeater you might want to add, but not something I'd want to do from scratch with a massive list.

[SteveShannon]

7 minutes ago, wayoverthere said:

Unsurprisingly, that looks like the same antenna as came with my ft4x. Mine is opened up as well, but I haven't tested power output out of band...I think I've seen the same info as @kidphcon the ft5dr's lower output on gmrs.

Have done FPP on the ft4x, and it's not the top of the list of things I want to do. Not much ahead of a baofeng...again, unsurprisingly. Both are doable with some practice, for that occasional new repeater you might want to add, but not something I'd want to do from scratch with a massive list.

I bought Yaesu’s cable for the FT-65. I haven’t tried it yet though. 

[kidphc]

20 minutes ago, wayoverthere said:

Unsurprisingly, that looks like the same antenna as came with my ft4x. Mine is opened up as well, but I haven't tested power output out of band...I think I've seen the same info as @kidphcon the ft5dr's lower output on gmrs.

Have done FPP on the ft4x, and it's not the top of the list of things I want to do. Not much ahead of a baofeng...again, unsurprisingly. Both are doable with some practice, for that occasional new repeater you might want to add, but not something I'd want to do from scratch with a massive list.

Definitely, easier on the FT"X"dr series then on something like the FT-65/uv5r style radio. Only because of the menu system vs touching different things.

I have manually programmed repeaters on my FTM400 and will say I think the UI designer was drunk when they designed it. 

So yes mass programming repeaters RT systems all the way. I would of killed myself on any of the radios if I had to program 400 repeaters using FPP.

 

[wayoverthere]

23 minutes ago, Sshannon said:

I bought Yaesu’s cable for the FT-65. I haven’t tried it yet though. 

At least for the FT4X, Yaesu's software isn't bad..there's a couple things that could be improved, but miles ahead of any of the wouxun, radioddity, or anytone software I've used.

 

7 minutes ago, kidphc said:

I have manually programmed repeaters on my FTM400 and will say I think the UI designer was drunk when they designed it. 

So yes mass programming repeaters RT systems all the way. I would of killed myself on any of the radios if I had to program 400 repeaters using FPP.

 

I wondered the same about the menu layout on my Icom 2730...To some extent things are at least grouped well, but I can't discern any particular order, or why some things are hidden in an extended menu.  That one, i bought the RT Systems software for, so I haven't used Icom's software for that one. 

It also ended up coming in handy later when I picked up a  vx7r from ebay, which came with an old version of RT for that radio, along with a serial cable and adapter to the particular headphone port the vx7 uses.  Had no luck getting the serial cable working on my win10 stick pc and usb port replicator, but the RT systems usb cable from the Icom, paired with the yaesu adapter, worked great, and works with the VX7 Commander software as well (which allows MARS mod via software instead of messing with physical components on the board.)

[wrci350]

Alinco DJ-500TB  Analog $140

Alinco DJ-MD5XTG DMR/Analog $196

Both are Part 90 radios, so no diode clipping, resister removing, or magic power-on sequence needed.  They ship with a 136-174/400-470 antenna, which certainly must be better at *some* of those frequencies, but usable at all of them.

[SteveShannon]

18 minutes ago, kidphc said:

Definitely, easier on the FT"X"dr series then on something like the FT-65/uv5r style radio. Only because of the menu system vs touching different things.

I have manually programmed repeaters on my FTM400 and will say I think the UI designer was drunk when they designed it. 

So yes mass programming repeaters RT systems all the way. I would of killed myself on any of the radios if I had to program 400 repeaters using FPP.

 

Yaesu’s good about publishing free CPS for their radios. The FT5DR is really nice in that you can put the programming on a micro sd card and pop the card into the radio. 

[kidphc]

2 minutes ago, wrci350 said:

Alinco DJ-500TB  Analog $140

Alinco DJ-MD5XTG DMR/Analog $196

Both are Part 90 radios, so no diode clipping, resister removing, or magic power-on sequence needed.  They ship with a 136-174/400-470 antenna, which certainly must be better at *some* of those frequencies, but usable at all of them.

Hmm.... interesting. Just to need to find out it if has near repeater functionality. I REALLY would like that in my next radio. Sigh a Kenwood THD74a would of worked, but it would be nearly the cost of some commercial radios used. Hence the start of the thread, for an all around radio that could do it all, but not perfect, just close. 

For most part i will try and carry a dedicated radio for that service. But would be nice say at the beach to work the ham radio and still listen to the little ones on their gmrs radios.

 

Just now, Sshannon said:

Yaesu’s good about publishing free CPS for their radios. The FT5DR is really nice in that you can put the programming on a micro sd card and pop the card into the radio. 

I currently have multiple SDR cards for my FTM400XDR so I could travel and load up repeaters on the route. Thought about doing that with a FT5DR. But that 1.3 watts kinda destroys so of the flexibility of the radio for me.