YAECOM TM1 TRUE MULTI-MODE

Why can't manufacturers give you what you want? In the shack I have an ICOM IC-7610 for HF and for 2M/70cm/Fusion I have Yaesu's flagship C4FM 'shack-in-a-box' the FT-991A. That should be everything I need surely??  Well apparently not, because the FT-991A is not really equipped to be considered as Yaesu's 'flagship' C4FM radio despite its £1300 price tag!

If you want to connect your radio to a PC and use the Wires-X software (which I often do), then you'd better look elsewhere, because the firmware architecture of the FT-991A doesn't really permit this. 

The only way that I can use the Wires-X software on my PC is by connecting my Yaesu FT3D to the PC in PDN Access Point mode and then using the 991A to  transmit and receive.

So in that configuration, my expensive handheld Fusion radio is tied up in the shack (literally, by cables connecting it to the computer). And it's not just one cable, it's the SCU-19 and a twin audio cable (collectively called the SCU-39 at the princely sum of £70)!!

It's obvious (now) that it's not possible to simply update the firmware in the 991A to allow it to be used in PDN Mode, so what do I do? Well I could buy an FTM-100 or similar and use that as a node in the shack which would free up the FT3D for what it was intended for.

But the FTM-100's are still around £300 which make no sense at all when you can get the all-singing, all-dancing FTM-300D for 30% more. Okay, so if I buy one of those, not only would it free up my FT3D, it would also give me DUAL BAND reception on 2M and 70cm, C4FM via RF or PDN, plus AirBand and general RX from 108MHz-1GHz and a BandScope!

So now we have a situation where a £399 radio is outshining the £1300 flagship's capabilities in all areas except, of course, it has no HF. Well the truth is, I don't use the 991A for HF - it's not even got an HF antenna connected. So why not sell it??

Well this is where we reach the awkward bit. SSB! If the FTM300D included 2M SSB it would be the perfect solution (for me at least). And does it really cost that much to implement sideband? My little 30yr old FT-290 does 2M SSB and so do plenty other radios. I'd have happily have paid another £100 for it. 

Oh dammit, I've just thought of another reason not to sell the 991A - 6M. I do use that - not a lot- but I'd miss it if it wasn't there. It works through my triband Diamond V2000 and it works well. This is a real PIA!!

Is it just me or does anyone else think the radio manufacturing world needs a right good shake up??

Looking around at products on the market, you can buy everything you need - as long as you're willing to go to different manufacturers and multiple radios. Having invested in a superb HF radio which satisfies all my HF needs (IC-7610), it would seem natural to match it with an equally superb VHF/UHF/DIGITAL radio such as the IC-9700, but oh my god that thing is £1800 and still leaves me with no C4FM although it provides DSTAR (which I use regularly).

So, to provide me with everything I need, I hereby announce the launch of the Yaecom TM1 VHF/UHF true multi-mode radio with touch-screen (23cm module available as an optional extra)...

IN THE END, I bought an IC-7300 and an FTM300.  For good measure I threw in an IC-9700 too 😂😂😂

Thanks for popping by. Leave a comment below, 73, Tom, M7MCQ.

SWL STATION

Having returned the AOR AR-DV10 to the supplier (because it was dire), I was back to using the AR3000A again and as much as I love the old girl, she's a little bit awkward to use with those tiny buttons and screen. And then it dawned on me that tucked away in an aluminium travel-case is my field-day radio, the ICOM IC-7100.

Seems such a shame to have this radio hidden away for most of the year, when she could be setup in the corner of my lounge as the new SWL Station. It covers HF, 6M, 4M, 2M, 70cm, AirBand, Marine Band and DSTAR. It's connected to the discone for VHF/UHF and to the SA-7000 for HF. 

The beauty of the 7100 is that fabulous head-unit with its stable base, perfectly angled touch-screen and large tuning dial. 

I detached the microphone and turned the power down to zero. All I need to do now is spend some time programming in some useful Scan frequencies (mainly calling channels and repeaters) and some Search ranges to sniff out anything new. Once that's done, I reckon I'm going to enjoy this. 

Being in the corner of the lounge means I can sit in absolute comfort and if I hear a conversation I want to join in on, I can easily move to the Shack. Thanks to the generous separation lead, I can bring the head-unit closer to me and even use it on my lap.

It's also nice to have the Record feature which will save received audio to the SD Card. I can also use the OpenSpot-2 to connect to all the available worldwide rooms, gateways and repeaters.

The audio from the head-unit's built-in speaker is fantastic and I've adjusted the tone controls to tweak it further. It also has the convenience of a headphone socket.

Pretty neat!

Thanks for visiting - please take a minute to leave a comment below 

73, Tom, M7MCQ.

HONDA VFR (Not Radio)

CLASSY HONDA V4

I've had a thing about Honda's V4 for many years. Well actually, since the early 90's when they brought out the the 4th gen model - I didn't really care much for the appearance of the previous models.

The 4th generation VFR was something altogether different to the past models and (for me) really stood out as something special. Needless to say, the red one was the best and the fastest and mine was one of the last to be built - 1996. It had more than a passing resemblance to the staggeringly advanced and experimental NR750.

My little red VFR750 will always hold a special place in my heart and it's the one bike which I truly wish I'd kept hold of.

I also had a VFR800 which was a great all-round sports-tourer but I have to admit, it was quite  heavy for such a low capacity bike. Having said that, it still had that fabulous V4 masterpiece behind the fairings and the newly introduced VTEC system which gave it quite a bark when it kicked in.

The look of the bike changed dramatically, with sharp angles and underseat exhausts. The single-sided swingarm sported what I think was the best looking wheel of the VFR range.

Then came the ugly duckling - the 2010 VFR1200. This was 
definitely a Marmite bike! Although I didn't think it was particularly attractive, neither did I think it was that bad. 

The real beauty of the the VFR1200 was that stunning V4 engine. It was simply amazing - 170bhp and massive amounts of torque! With two people onboard and a load of luggage, it still rocketed forward at an amazing pace.

Comfort too was fabulous and despite the huge size of the bike, it had a fantastically low seat height and felt like a 600 when on the move.

So here we are in 2020 and I'm at Honda North West collecting my CB1100RS after a service. As soon as I enter the showroom, a bright red VFR800 RC93 comes into vision. "Wow, that's beautiful", I thought out aloud. The salesman responded by suggesting I take it home.

Minutes later, I've ordered a £10,000 bike and I'm wondering how I'm going to explain this to the wife 😂

Before signing up, I asked the salesman if he'd got any decent registration numbers and the best they had was "OMG" so I took it.

The only addition I made to the purchase was the addition of a luggage-rack on the back of the bike to accommodate our Givi V56 topbox. I absolutely hate having them on but my wife really doesn't feel safe without it 😂

It's worth pointing out that this bike, like the VFR1200, has a very neat mounting system for panniers. There's no need to add on ugly pannier mounting bars and it's very quick and easy to mount or dismount the panniers.

The new bike (pictured above) is the 8th generation VFR and features totally new appearance, with slimmer profile and a loss of weight. The costly twin side-radiators have been swapped for a single larger rad mounted centrally behind the forks. The new 8-spoke wheels are lighter too and reflect the bronze colours used around the handlebar area and the engine covers.

There's a new swing-arm (single-sided) and a single-exhaust which is actually different to all the images shown on Honda's website and literature.

Admittedly, the exhaust covers a lot of that rear wheel which is a real shame - not much point having single-sided swing-arm if you can't see the wheel (IMHO). The only option would be to buy a stubby exhaust from a third party, but I like the look and sound of the existing one.

This 2020 VFR is fitted with twin LED headlights which BOTH light up at the same time, thankfully. It drives me nuts when I see twin headlight bikes with only one side lit. WHY???

The rear light cluster look pretty damned good too. As does the instrument cluster. It all looks very classy and just slightly understated - nothing brash here!

There's not much of the modern world's high-tech computer wizardry to be found at the dashboard, but it does offer a nicely presented array of rider information with a big central dial to show revs and a white LCD speedo display. The speed (and other units) can very quickly be altered from imperial to metric which is handy when travelling abroad.

The latest model also comes with a 5-level set of heated grips, self-canceling indicators and for the first time - Traction Control. Gone is the famous Honda Linked Brakes system.

The suspension has adequate adjustment front and rear. Up front is a pair of 46mm upside-down forks and a pair of 4-pot radial brakes. ABS is, of course, standard.

The seat height is adjustable so that's good for short-arses like me. The back seat is perched up reasonably high to afford the pillion passenger a good view ahead. There's some storage space below the pillion seat for bits and bats.

We had our first rideout yesterday and covered 210 miles around beautiful North Yorkshire. Liana was very happy with the riding position and the level of comfort. The topbox is a necessary evil - she isn't happy without the reassurance of it stopping her being thrown off the bike backwards, LOL.

In all fairness, the Givi V56 is a very handy thing to have when you're going out exploring new places - it will accommodate two helmets which means you're not lugging them around when you reach your destination.

So, first impressions are very positive! There's some slow-speed throttle-snatch which is a little annoying and the lack of bottom-end grunt has led me to stall the bike twice, LOL. I think it's just a case of getting used to a different bike.

Liana commented on how much more "aggressive" I was on this bike and I think she's right. It's quite a sporty riding position and the engine loves to be pushed hard - when those 4 valves kick in at 7000rpm, the noise just makes you want to go faster for some reason 😂😂😂

Despite the clip-ons being low and the footpegs being high, I wasn't tired or aching after the day out. It was all good. So I'm a very happy chappy once more. The VFR800 is a fabulous bike for UK roads. You can rag the arse off it and not get into trouble and that makes it great fun (for me at least).

VIDEO REVIEW

VIDEO REVIEW

JAMIE WHITHAM

UPDATE : HERE SHE IS...

____________________

JUST A WORD about magazine reviewers: there's so many Honda-Haters out there. Young, spotty-faced keyboard warriors who don't know their arse from their elbow and yet they feel knowledgeable enough to slag off anything that doesn't ride like a Kawasaki H2.

Makes me laugh when they fail to review bikes with the target audience in mind. It's always been the same for some strange reason and although I appreciate that we all have our own preferences, likes and dislikes, professional reviewers should remain objective and on-point.

Instead of comparing this bike to its natural competitors (like the BMW F800), writers speak of the Z1000 and other bikes which have an extra 200cc and therefore more power and torque. I've noticed this is much more prevalent in the UK.  American reviewers seem to be much better in this respect.

Most people who buy a VFR do so because of its history in the world of motorcyling. The link to the early use of a V4 engine in Honda's famous NR500, the link to MotoGP V4, the RC30, the RC45. History!

The buying decision is much more cerebral and nothing to do with whazzing up and down a highway at prison speeds. VFR owners lust after that beautifully crafted V4 engine which sounds like no other. They want build quality and reliability and the dependency of a superb engine which has been developed, sequentially updated and in production for over 20 years instead of yet another inline-four.

Motor journalists cry "They should have made a VFR1000". Well maybe there is a market for a VFR1000, but that's not what this is - this is an update of one of the most popular sports-tourers of all time - the VFR800!

For all those VFR lovers whose bikes are approaching replacement time, this represents a nice update without getting rid of all the things that owners have come to love. They've removed the heavy twin-exhaust system, slimmed the old girl down by removing the side-radiators, fitted an all new set of fairings and nose cone, new hollow-spoke alloys, traction control, ABS brakes, self-cancelling indicators, heated grips, fully adjustable suspension, built-in pannier mounts, fabulous modern dashboard, LED lights and a strengthened ProArm. What's not to like?

No matter what you think of Honda as a manufacturer, you simply must acknowledge and admire what they've done in the last 8 decades. The fact is, since 1949, Honda have built over 400 million motorcycles!! What a staggering achievement!

Honda Dream

Honda CB750

Throughout that period, they have regularly led the way in design and engineering, dominated racing at all levels including Formula-1, IOM TT, MotoGP and World Superbikes. They have built motorbikes, superbikes, cars, supercars, marine engines, and even JETS!

Am I a Honda fanboy? Well I guess I am. I do appreciate the amazing achievements of Soichiro Honda and I've always loved the bikes he'd designed. I don't follow Honda blindly though, like some buffoon. When other bikes have been more appropriate, I've bought those instead. I've had 4 Yamahas, 2 Triumphs, 2 Kawasakis, 1 Moto Guzzi and 1 Suzuki (and about 36 Hondas) 😂

AOR AR-DV10 RECEIVER

TO BE OR NOT TO BE

That most definitely is the question as far as this radio goes! The DV10 has many enemies it seems and I need to find out which side I'm on, before the 14 days returns period expires.

I've fancied the AOR AR-DV10 for a couple of years - it seemed like an SWL dream machine in a compact, take anywhere package. Not only does it cover 100kHz to 1300MHz with CW, LSB, USB AM and FM modes, but it also included all the popular digital modes including C4FM, DSTAR, DMR, TETRA and more!

It all sounds fabulous, but the radio came in for harsh criticism just after launch due to the fact that it went slightly off frequency as it warmed up 😮 Not what you want when you've just laid out a grand, is it?

Before we move onto the performance of the radio, let's take a look at the kit itself. I was surprised to discover that AOR have teamed up with Yaesu to make this "state of the art" receiver and  I can't believe how I'd not noticed before that the AOR AR-DV10 shares the same case as my Yaesu FT-550!

YAESU FT-550L         AOR AR-DV10

Side by side, they're almost indistinguishable. That's not a bad thing - I've previously boasted about the Yaesu's FT-550's superb build and finish. The AR-DV10 feels equally lush. It also means that I get to share the Yaesu's accessories (such as battery and chargers) with the AOR. They're perfectly interchangeable. 👍

Having applauded the benefits of the matching radios, I should also admit to being ever so slightly miffed by the fact that these two radios, stood side by side look identical but one costs £155 and the other costs £995 👎

That's a serious difference! And bear in mind that the FT-550 is also a transmitter! So considering the two radios share the same case and the same screen, I'm hoping that what's inside the AR-DV10 is mighty special.

The AOR AR-DV10 is a full Software Defined Radio radio with an IF of 47.25MHz. The radio features revolutionary features such as automatic recognition and decoding of multi-digital modes including the ever popular DSTAR, DMR and Yaesu's System Fusion, thanks to the use of an Altera Cyclone IV FPGA and Analog Devices Blackfin DSP for demodulation. A new firmware update enables traffic channel decoding of TETRA trunking networks - the first handheld radio in the world to offer this!

The unit has a good sized screen (2.4") but it is rather low resolution (160x160 dot matrix LCD)  and it's monochrome. Again, this is quite surprising considering the cost of this AOR flagship handheld. My Kenwood D74 on the other hand, has a small but lovely, full colour, high resolution screen and my Yaesu FT3D also has a nice colour, touch screen. So there's a bit of a negative straight away.

I'm beginning to think that maybe AOR and Yaesu have tried to make some cost-cuts by giving the design-engineers a case, a screen and a PCB and telling them to work to those dimensions and not a mm more. The savings in tooling costs alone would be very significant.

Another bit of a puzzler, is the fact that this wideband, all mode communications receiver doesn't have an internal ferrite antenna (the Kenwood D74 does). In fact, the supplied rubber duck antenna only covers the airband! You do get a separate telescopic whip, but I'm surprised by the omission of the ferrite rod and suspect that it's something to do with the self-imposed restrictions of using an existing case instead if giving the designers free reign.

Like the FT-550, the AOR AR-DV10 feels substantial in the hand - it's bigger than most handhelds you've probably come across. The screen looks big and the controls are well spaced and functional. The buttons on the front are easy to press even with gloves on and they are backlit for ease of operation in dark conditions.

One of those buttons is the RECORD button which allows you to record sessions to a built-in SD Card and listen back at a later date. You can listen to your recordings from the AR-DV10 itself or from a PC and even play I/Q recordings back through some SDR software and examine the full bandwidth of the recording.

The radio is waterproof and is rated to IPX5 as long as the battery is fitted, so no need to worry about using it when the rains starts. Because of the incredible expense of the unit, I would strongly recommend a leather case for it. I recently 'tipped over' my FT3D and it marked it quite badly - gutted!!

Like the FT-550, the receiver comes with lots of stuff in the box, meaning that you don't have to spend extra on things like a desktop charger or a cigar-lighter psu lead. They even include an AA Battery tray to sit as a backup to the 7.4V 2000mAh Lithium-Ion Battery. It's kinda what you'd expect with a £1k radio.

While writing this, I received a telephone call from a UK supplier (who shall remain nameless) who gave me a very different take on the DV10 that Waters & Stanton gave me. In the email from W&S, they said the following....

Hi Tom, the DV-10 attracted bad press at it launch because of a few issues with drift and decoding.  Since then there have been several firmware update and hardware changes.  As a result the issues reported at the launch have now gone.

AOR are constantly looking at ways to update the radio which is done through firmware update.  The most recent to the performance of Tetra. Be very wary of internet and social media reports are many are the original issues recycled due to the ignorance of the current state of play.

Now that's a very bold and confident statement to make in writing when you are responding to a customer request for assurance that these issues have been resolved. It's a statement which is the absolute opposite to the other supplier's opinion on the radio.

The trouble is, there is no other handheld radio in the world which boasts all the features of the AR-DV10, so it's not like I can opt for a different make/model instead. I'm going to have to test this one carefully and see if it does what I want it to do. 

The main area of interest apart from the multi-mode wideband receive, is the ability to listen to DMR, DSTAR and C4FM. Give me all that in one small package and I'm happy. Having paid a small fortune, I'd also like the TETRA to work and (obviously) I want there to be no frequency stability issues.

Back soon after testing!

M7MCQ

UPDATE : Well, that didn't last long - it's been returned for a refund. Absolutely dreadful performance! Not only was it poor at decoding anything but a very strong local digital signal, but it was also incredibly insensitive on other bands too. A C4FM gateway just around the corner worked well but the digital repeaters in the area could not be decoded no matter which antenna I used.

I pitched it mainly against my  30yr old AOR AR3000A. In all tests, the DV10 came out worst. I tried it with the supplied antennas (swapping them between the DV10 and the 3000) and then with a colinear. My final tests were with the AOR SA-7000 wideband antenna.

No matter what I tried, the DV10 was outshone by the old AR3000A. I really wanted this to work, because there's no other receiver below £1200 can do everything the DV10 can (supposedly) do.

Such  a shame :-( 

FROM www.aoruk.co.uk website....

AOR AR-DV10 Review

Posted on June 19, 2018 by admin

I was intending to write a full review of the AOR DV10 receiver but its performance is so bad I would class it not fit for purpose. Here’s why….

When Yaesu say they have been working together with AOR to produce a receiver, you at least expect it to work as per the specification and advertisements, alas it does not. Yaesu claim:-

“YAESU is proud to announce that AOR, a leading radio manufacturer in the professional / government sector, and YAESU has been working together to develop a new SDR handheld receiver, AR-DV10, and AOR has decided to distribute the new SDR handheld receiver in the North America through YAESU distribution channels.”

Lets get one thing straight, the DV10 is not fit for consumer / hobby use, let alone professional or goverment use!

Although VHF performance seems ok, but not great, UHF DMR performance is dismal, the Uniden BCD436HP way out performs it as shown in my video and I was struggling to understand how the AOR DV10 was so bad, then I found it, at UHF the DV10 is 3kHz off frequency, now bearing in mind some channels, in particular NXDN are offset by 3.125kHz that brings into perspective how bad the AR-DV10 is, 3kHz off frequency makes it useless!

The latest firmware is a broken mess, some of the remote commands cause the radio to lock so solid the battery has to be pulled, the AR-DV10 sometimes hangs when a recording to the SD card finishes, it feels like some DIY prototype that never quite got finished.

The DMR bandwidth is set wrong, its too wide, it should be FM6 not FM15, maybe it was left deliberately wide to try and cater for ridiculous frequency error.

Conclusion, its not finished, not fit for purpose and should be removed from sale until things are fixed.

Since publishing my findings on the DV10 performance many others have found the exact same problems, whilst reviewing the HF performance of the DV10 we have found the unit drifts 300Hz on the Shannon Volmet frequency of 5505kHz, the DV10 has to be tuned to 5504.7kHz, this drift equates to 54.5ppm which is more than 10 times the specification value of 5ppm.

We have asked both AOR and Yaesu for a proper technical statement regarding the issues.

End

GROUND ZERO

SO MANY OPINIONS!

I've just been reading a loooong debate on an online Amateur Radio Group and was amazed by the huge variance in opinions on not only what represents a good RF Grounding, but also on whether they're really necessary!  That last bit left me quite surprised because we're not talking about a bunch of newbies here - these are mostly from hams who have been operating for decades.

So what's going on?? Well first of all, I am amazed by how many people quickly turn the conversation to electrical grounding - they're seemingly confused over the difference between that and RF grounding. Quite shocking (if you'll excuse the pun). And then there are those people with bizarre beliefs!

From my own personal viewpoint, an RF Ground is essential and desirable. I appreciate of course, that everyone's circumstances are different and some hams have a real job on their hands to install a good station ground. I'm quite fortunate that on the other side of my shack wall is a garden, so I have an extremely short path to the ground-rod. Some people have no such luck.

A friend of mine lives on the top floor of an apartment block and struggles like crazy to get a decent ground. As a result, his transmissions can cause havoc with the block's Door-Entry Intercom system. Not a good situation to be in and he's managed to partially resolve his problems with a virtual ground of some description.

Anyway, my question (to myself) was who's right?? I'm a big believer in empirical evidence and when someone shows me something that works, I'm pretty much sold! But then there's the theorists who can be equally persuasive. Rather than listen to a bunch of guys battling it out in a forum, I think I'll stick to the advice of the manufacturers and the big organisations like the RSGB & ARRL. 

Here's a link to what I consider to be a good read. I'd LOVE to hear about how YOU achieved a good Station Ground in your shack - or why you don't even bother with one.

Click on the image below....

Thanks for visiting 👍
Tom McQ - M7MCQ

SURFACE PRO PENS

MICROSOFT or RENAISSER?

I recently lost my Surface Pro Pen and despite a thorough search around the house, it was nowhere to be found, so I had no choice but to buy another. And I was quite happy with it, but then I saw a video about the Wacom Pro 2 pen which was supposed to be the dog's dangly bits.

But when I looked into the Wacom's compatibility with the Surface Pro 7 (my tablet), I discovered a few negative comments about the pen, so I looked elsewhere for an alternative and decided to give the cheap Renaisser Rapheal 520 a go.

Well I'm glad I did, because it's an excellent pen and is the perfect alternative to the standard (and expensive) Microsoft pen. The first thing you notice about the 520 is that it is very light! Now that's normally a negative to me, but in this case, it's very much a positive when you're doodling or painting for ages.

The pen performs every bit as well as the Microsoft pen and in some respects seems to perform better, although I suspect that this is a 'handling' thing because of the lighter weight.

The only negative I can find is that it doesn't have the button/eraser at the top of the pen like the Microsoft does, but other than that, I love it. And you can buy it for about a third of the price!!

The Microsoft pen is powered by a battery which lasts a long time, whereas the Renaisser has a rechargable battery (via micro-usb). I don't know how long a charge lasts yet, but if it's a decent length of time, then I'd probably prefer the rechargeable pen, since you can always guarantee to be able to get it powered up, whereas the unusual battery of the Microsoft might not always be readily available.

Finally, both pens have magnets inside to allow you to clip them to the side of the Surface Pro.