New gadget
The last 12 months in Jersey has seen something of a reduction in my annual mileage from, at the peak over 36k a year in the old E clas to less than 10k a year here in the new A class. Seems not the best timing to have replaced the VHF rig with a hands free unit but it is undoubtedly better than negotiating some of Jerseys back doubles with a microphone in your hand!
So the upshot has been some shopping around, initially looking at small Yaesu 2m rig and hands free microphone and ultimately has resulted in getting a really good deal on a new FTM-10e with full hands free bluetooth adaptor and headset. As a radio it is absolutely superb, 2m and 70cms FM and broadband VHF/UHF receive in a unit where you can mount the rig under the seat and the faceplate (which is not much bigger than a cigarette packet) on the dashboard, in this case using the supplied powerful magnet to a screw fixed metal plate.
The unit was relatively easy to fix, not so easy to understand from the mildly 'pigeon English' instructions but with judicious fiddling and playing with the multitiude of menus and functions we got there in the end. I've been told the transmitted audio with the headset is BBC quality though there is a funny background 'beep beep' noise like a heart monitor sound when using the built in faceplate microphone but it seems to be a peculiarity of the rig. Yaesu UK themselves said they were mystified by that one!!!
Anyway it should be entertaining to not be worrying about fiddling with a microphone and with up to 50w output power should be fun next time there's a lift. Record so far in flat conditions is 57+ approx 50 miles into France but you can just tell it'll be capable of so much more! The good old FT480r is now in service indoors in the shack hooked up to the 30w linear and a switch to the crossed 7element ZL-special so that should find some use still.
- Posted by Rob Luscombe on 17/03/2008.
- Rob Luscombe's site
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