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- PRODUCT REVIEW
-
- The Yupiteru MVT-7100
- Continuous-coverage handheld scanning receiver with SSB
-
- by
- Howard Bornstein
- Copyright 4/11/93
-
- Overview
- The MVT-7100 is the latest offering in continuous-coverage
- handheld scanners by Yupiteru, coming on the heels of its
- very successful and well-received MVT-5000 and MVT-7000
- scanning receivers. The 7100 adds substantial increase in
- capability over the 7000, primarily by dramatically
- increasing the number of scan channels, expanding the
- overall frequency coverage, and including sideband
- reception.
-
- The MVT-7100 is a small, lightweight scanning receiver,
- offering continuous coverage from 100 KHz to 1.65 GHz! It
- will receive AM, FM, WFM (wide-FM), USB (upper sideband),
- LSB (lower sideband), and CW (continuous wave; i.e. Morse
- code) transmissions.
-
- The 7100 has 1,000 scan channels organized in ten banks of
- 100 channels each and one additional dedicated channel for
- priority. It offers ten individual search banks with the
- ability to lock out up to 500 frequencies during a search.
- It can search in the following steps:
-
- FM:
- 1 KHz, 5 KHz, 6.25 KHz, 9 KHz, 10 KHz, 12.5 KHz, 20 KHz, 25
- KHz, 50 KHz and 100 KHz.
-
- Wide FM:
- 50 KHz, 100 KHz
-
- AM:
- 1 KHz, 5 KHz, 6.25 KHz, 9 KHz, 10 KHz, 12.5 KHz, 20 KHz, 25
- KHz, 50 KHz and 100 KHz.
-
- USB/LSB:
- 50 Hz, 100 Hz, 1 KHz, 5 KHz, 6.25 KHz, 9 KHz, 10 KHz, 12.5
- KHz, 20 KHz, 25 KHz, 50 KHz and 100 KHz.
-
- The MVT-7100 is approximately 6.5 inches high, 2.5 inches
- wide, and 1.5 inches deep, minus the antenna and belt clip.
- It is just slightly taller than the Radio Shack PRO-43,
- otherwise it is about the same size. The 7100 is a real
- lightweight, weighing in at only 11.5 ounces, without the
- antenna, but with the batteries and belt clip.
-
- Accessories
- The MVT-7100 comes with an AC adaptor, a set of four nicad
- batteries (Hitachi 600 mAh), a car cigarette lighter
- adaptor, a belt clip, a wrist strap, an earphone, and a
- telescoping antenna with a pivot BNC mount.
-
- Controls
- The MVT-7100 is very cleanly laid-out. The top of the unit
- contains a BNC connector for the antenna, a knob for On/Off
- and volume, a knob for squelch control, and a tuning knob,
- which is used for a variety of functions.
-
- On the left side of the unit are three recessed buttons: a
- momentary light button, a monitor button, and a keylock
- switch. There is also a small hole which contains a reset
- switch.
-
- The Light button illuminates both the display and the
- keyboard with a very nice greenish light. Alas, it only
- stays on while you hold down the button. When will scanner
- manufacturers design their products with a method of letting
- the user keep the light on, especially when plugged into a
- power source?
-
- The Monitor button immediately opens the squelch fully,
- allowing you to stop on a weak signal, without worrying
- about the scanner resuming its search or scan.
-
- The Keylock performs the usual keyboard lockout of
- functions. It locks everything except the volume and squelch
- controls and the light and monitor buttons.
-
- On the right side of the unit, you'll find a small hook
- which is where you attach the wrist strap. Both the earphone
- jack and the power plug are also on the right side of the
- unit.
-
- The belt clip attaches on the back and the battery
- compartment opens from the back.
-
- The MVT-7100 has a 15db attenuator feature built-in, but you
- select it with a keyboard combination, rather than with a
- separate button.
-
- The Keyboard
- The keyboard is arranged in a 5 X 5 matrix. The keys are as
- follows:
-
-
- 1 2 3 SRCH
- ATT DELAY SKIP PRI
-
- 4 5 6 SCAN
- SAVE BEEP PGM MW
-
- 7 8 9 STEP
- M>VFO M-SCAN P-SCAN MODE
-
- ^ 0 . MR
- MHz SPR BW
-
- v C/AC ENT FUNC
- PASS
-
- The top label of each row is on the key itself and the
- bottom label is below the key. You get the top function by
- pressing the key and the bottom function by first pressing
- the FUNC button and then they key. The ^ and v symbols
- represent up and down arrows. The arrow buttons, along with
- the tuning knob, are used for stepping through memory and
- selecting mode and step increments.
-
- The keys are relatively large size for a scanner this small
- and are very easy to press. When the beep feature is turned
- on, the scanner gives a variety of audio feedback when you
- press a key. This sound can be turned off, if desired.
-
- The Display
- The MVT-7100 uses a large LCD display to show the channel
- number, the frequency, and various annunciators. The
- channel and frequency digits are very large and easy to see.
- There is a second level of annunciator, like the mode types
- (AM, FM, etc.) which are smaller but still easy to discern.
- The third level of annunciators, however, are down-right
- microscopic and are just about impossible to make out,
- except in strong sunlight. You will primarily learn to
- identify these annunciators by their positions, rather than
- by the actual text.
-
- The display also shows a 9-segment signal strength meter
- across the bottom, which is a very useful addition.
-
- The MVT-7100 was obviously designed to be held in the hand,
- nearly parallel with the floor, so that the display is
- viewed from below. The contrast is best when viewed from
- this angle. When viewed straight on, the display is marginal
- and when viewed from even slightly above eye-level, the
- display is virtually unreadable. Apparently the designers
- didn't think many people would sit the scanner on end and
- look at the display directly. In addition, the plastic
- covering over the display is highly reflective and picks up
- glare easily.
-
- In general, the display won't give you too many problems,
- but it could have been better. There is no contrast control
- for the display like there is on the MVT-7000.
-
- Operations
- In terms of operations the MVT-7100 is much easier to learn
- and use than the AOR AR1000/AR1500 but not nearly as easy as
- the PRO-43. This is probably because Yupiteru hasn't
- licensed the Uniden patents for scanner operation.
-
- The scanner contains ten banks of 100 channels each,
- addressed by channel number. It uses a fairly wacky
- numbering scheme, however. Bank 1 contains channels 000
- through 099, bank 2 contains 100 to 199, etc. bank 0
- contains 900 to 999. In other words, in bank 2, for example,
- you will never find a channel that starts with a 2! This may
- be a bit confusing, especially if you've used other scanners
- that number their channels a bit more normally.
-
- The Yupiteru uses a VFO (variable frequency oscillator) mode
- to hold "temporary" frequency information. You enter a
- frequency into the VFO, select its mode, and step increment,
- and then store it into a scan channel. You can't operate on
- a value in a scan channel directly. You must first move it
- into the VFO, modify it there, and then write it back into
- the scan channel. The keys to perform these operations are:
-
- nnn MR (nnn is the channel number. MR reads the frequency
- into the VFO).
-
- FUNC MODE (to change the mode).
- Choose a mode with the arrows or tuning knob.
-
- STEP (to change the step value).
- Chosse a step value with the arrows or tuning knob.
-
- FUNC MW (to write the value back into the same channel).
-
- Once you write a value to a scan channel, the scanner
- automatically steps to the next channel which makes
- sequential entry of frequencies extremely convenient.
-
- It might seem unusual to have to indicate a step value when
- simply storing a frequency into a scan channel. This is due
- to the interaction of the tuning knob/arrow keys with the
- VFO. They let you change the current frequency up or down,
- based on the step value. An unfortunate side effect of the
- step value is that it rounds off a frequency so that it
- conforms to the current step value.
-
- For example, if you enter 488.3375 MHz into the VFO, but the
- step value is 10 KHz, the frequency will automatically be
- converted to 488.3300. In order to enter in 488.3375, you
- need to use a step of either 12.5 or 6.25 KHz. This isn't as
- bad as it may seem, however, because, once you do enter in
- the proper step, you can simply dial in the frequency you
- want. The display jumps by the step value when you use the
- tuning knob or the arrow keys.
-
- It turns out that for most frequency entry, this capability,
- along with the automatic advance to the next sequential scan
- bank, makes the MVT-7100 one of the easiest scanners around
- for entering frequencies--something you will appreciate when
- you try to fill up all 1,000 scan channels.
-
- Scanning
- Scanning on the MVT-7100 is a little unusual. If you just
- hit the SCAN button, the unit starts scanning the entire
- 1,000 channels sequentially. In order to scan a specific
- bank, you must first press the bank number and then the scan
- button. For example, to scan bank 5, you would press 5 SCAN.
- This is not so strange, except that the unit doesn't
- remember which bank or banks you were scanning if you do
- anything to stop the scan. You have to press the bank
- number(s) each time or the scanner will try to scan the
- entire 1,000 channels, which is basically useless.
-
- You may specify up to four banks to be scanned this way by
- entering in their numbers before pressing the SCAN button.
- For example, to scan banks 3, 5, and 9, you would press 359
- SCAN. While it seems strange to limit the number of banks to
- four, in practice this is not much of a problem, since you
- will rarely want to scan more than 400 channels at one time.
-
- The arrangement of the memory as a 10 by 100 channel matrix
- is awkward because your smallest "chuck" of memory is 100
- channels. However, the MVT-7100 has some additional features
- that allow you to better divide how you use these 1,000
- channels.
-
- First, you may lock out (it's called "Pass" in the MVT-7100)
- any channel in the scanner so that it isn't included in a
- bank scan. This works the way it does in most scanners,
- although there isn't a separate display indicator for
- lockout. Instead, the CH (channel) annunciator blinks on a
- channel that has been locked out.
-
- The MVT-7100 has three different scan methods. The first is
- normal scan, which is as described above. You specify a bank
- and it scans all unlocked channels in that bank. You may
- also set up a programmed scan. You may specify up to ten
- channels per bank as "programmed" channels. When you do a
- programmed scan of a bank, only the programmed channels are
- scanned. This means that you can have a separate sub-group
- of ten channels per bank that are scanned independently.
-
- You perform a program scan like this:
-
- nnnn FUNC P-SCAN (nnnn represents 1 to 4 bank numbers).
-
- If you designate a channel as a programmed channel, it will
- be scanned in a program scan, even if the channel is locked
- out.
-
- You may also specify a mode scan for up to four banks (or
- all ten banks if you don't specify any bank number). This
- will scan only the channels that are in the same mode as the
- VFO. You perform a mode scan like this:
-
- nnnn FUNC M-SCAN (nnnn represents 1 to 4 bank numbers).
-
- These various scan options let you break the 100 channel
- bank into more useful sub-groups. For example, let's say
- that you put all 40 CB channels into the first 40 channels
- in bank 5 (401-440). CB is in AM mode. You then program your
- local PD into channels 450-470. They are in FM mode.
- Finally, you put in some railroad frequencies into channels
- 480-490. They are also in FM mode, but you mark them as
- "programmed" channels and also lock them out.
-
- With this arrangement you can scan three independent groups,
- all in bank 5.
-
- To scan the CB channel, set the VFO to AM mode and perform a
- mode scan:
- 5 FUNC M-SCAN
-
- To scan the PD channels, set the VFO to FM mode and perform
- a mode scan:
- 5 FUNC M-SCAN
- (the railroad FM frequencies won't be included because they
- are locked out).
-
- To scan the railroad frequencies, perform a programmed scan:
- 5 FUNC P-SCAN
-
- While you probably wouldn't organize a bank like this, you
- get the picture.
-
- One of the unusual aspects of the MVT-7100 is that you can't
- lock out scan banks. All the banks are always included in a
- scan unless you indicate the specific banks (up to 4) you
- want to scan. This is the way you will almost always perform
- a scan.
-
- Searching
- The MVT-7100 has ten separate search banks. Each search bank
- holds an upper and lower limit, a step increment, and a
- reception mode. You can change the step and the mode any
- time after setting up the search bank, but you can't change
- the upper or lower limit without reprogramming the whole
- bank. You may also turn the attenuator on for the entire
- search bank.
-
- Unlike scan banks, you may not link together several search
- banks.
-
- A very useful feature in the MVT-7100 is the ability to lock
- out specific frequencies during a search. If you constantly
- stop on a open carrier, a data control channel, or just a
- noisy frequency, being able to lock out that frequency makes
- using the search features dramatically more useful, not to
- mention more enjoyable. You may also review the locked out
- frequencies and unlock them, if you wish.
-
- Other Features
- Skip
- The MVT-7100 has a skip feature which is very much like the
- Seek feature found on some modern car radios. It can be used
- during either a search or a scan and will stop on an active
- frequency for 5 seconds and then continue on, even if there
- is still activity on the frequency.
-
- Priority
- The MVT-7100 dedicates a special channel (channel 1000) as
- the priority channel. This channel is checked every 5
- seconds when the priority feature is turned on and switches
- to it if there is activity on it. Five seconds is really too
- long a wait for a priority check and you may miss short
- replies or the beginnings of communications due to this
- excessive wait. More typical priority delays are about 2
- seconds.
-
- Delay
- The MVT-7100 has a delay feature but it is a bit confusing.
- The purpose of the delay is to wait a fixed time after a
- transmission ends before resuming the scan or search,
- because there may be a response and you will probably want
- to hear it. On the 7100, when the delay is off, the unit
- waits two seconds before resuming. When the delay is on, it
- waits four seconds! Again, this is probably due to the fact
- that Uniden holds the patents for variable timed delays on
- scanners and Yupiteru hasn't licensed them.
-
- What this means is that you can never remove the delay
- entirely, which may make it a bit difficult to scan certain
- "trunked" systems. In these cases, the response may be on a
- different frequency than the original transmission, and if
- you wait around with the delay, you may miss it.
-
- Save mode
- The MVT-7100 has three special battery-saving modes that put
- the scanner to sleep for brief moments and then wake it up
- to check for channel activity. This save mode only works
- when you are in memory or VFO mode. It doesn't work when you
- are scanning or searching.
-
- This mode can conserve your batteries if you are sitting on
- one station. You have to explicitly put the unit into save
- mode each time, and the mode is canceled when you search or
- scan. It also makes a quiet, but noticeable, popping sound
- during its save mode.
-
- Attenuation
- You may specify a 15db attenuation of the signal on a
- channel by channel basis. Using the key sequence FUNC ATT,
- you specify whether a channel has attenuation or not. You
- may also turn on the attenuator during a search. In this
- case, the attenuation will apply to all frequencies
- encountered in the search.
-
- Sound quality
- The MVT-7100 has a 100 mW amp that gives good quality sound
- through the internal speaker. The speaker can be driven at
- full volume without distortion. The sound quality is a
- little on the bassy side. While adequate in volume for
- normal applications, you may need additional amplification
- when using the 7100 in the car.
-
- Performance
- The MVT-7100 is a real champ when it comes to performance.
- It is fast, sensitive, and relatively easy to operate. More
- detailed descriptions of its performance characteristics
- follow.
-
- Speed
- The 7100 scans and searches at approximately 30 channels per
- second. However, the "relative" speed during a search may be
- reduced considerably if you can't use the proper search
- increment. For example, if you want to search through the CB
- channels, you will find that they are spaced 10 KHz apart.
- However, they are on 5 KHz boundries; e.g. 26.965 MHz,
- 26.975 MHz, etc. This means that you have to set the step
- value at 5 KHz or you won't be able to actually enter in the
- frequency. You search twice as many frequencies as you have
- to at 5 KHz, effectively halving the search speed. Some
- increments useful in the U.S. (15 KHz and 30 KHz) are
- missing.
-
- Sensitivity
- The MVT-7100 is an extremely sensitive scanner, comparable
- to, if not better than, the very sensitive PRO-43. The
- user's manual gives these sensitivity figures (levels in uV
- at SINAD 12 db -- lower is better):
-
- Frequency Range AM FM WFM USB/LSB
- 0.53 MHz - 2 MHz 10.0
- 2.0 MHz - 30 MHz 1.0 1.5 1.0
- 30.0 MHz - 1000 MHz .5 .5 .75 .5
- 1000.0 MHz - 1300 MHz 1.0
-
- These are fairly conservative figures and don't accurately
- reflect the real sensitivity of the unit. A review,
- performed by Scanners International in April 1993, gave
- these laboratory test results (levels in uV at SINAD 12 db):
-
- Frequency AM FM WFM SSB
- 500 KHz 3.94 2.33 - 5.13
- 1 MHz 1.27 .76 - 1.45
- 2 MHz .58 .35 - .75
- 4 MHz .40 .23 - .38
- 6 MHz .32 .17 - .27
- 10 MHz .26 .16 - .23
- 20 MHz .22 .13 - .16
- 30 MHz .22 .12 .36 .14
- 60 MHz .22 .13 .39 .14
- 100 MHz .21 .12 .38 .13
- 145 MHz .25 .16 .48 .18
- 250 MHz .29 .17 .73 .21
- 435 MHz .35 .22 .67 .26
- 700 MHz .46 .21 .77 .38
- 935 MHz .37 .21 .55 .33
- 1300 MHz - .47 1.73 -
- 1500 MHz - .52 2.08 -
- 1650 MHz - 1.31 4.71 -
-
- Intermod
- The 7100, like any sensitive, wide-range receiver, is
- subject to intermod at various places across the radio
- spectrum. Users have reported interference from pager
- signals and FM broadcast stations at various frequencies.
- Depending on where you live, you may find this more or less
- of a problem, especially if certain highly used bands are
- wiped out.
-
- Images
- The MVT-7100 is triple converted and has very few problems
- with images.
-
- RFI sensitivity
- The unit could be better shielded than it is. It definitely
- picks up radio frequency interference from computers and
- will lock up at a variety of different frequencies. You may
- need to be as far away as 20 feet from a computer to avoid
- this problem. You may also notice sensitivity to RFI while
- operating the computer in a car.
-
- SSB operations
- One of the special capabilities of the MVT-7100 is the
- ability to decode single sideband transmissions. Rather than
- requiring the use of a beat frequency oscillator (BFO), the
- 7100 uses true carrier injection to provide SSB reception.
- However, there are still a couple of things to consider. SSB
- signals are designed to be tuned 1.4 KHz above and below the
- carrier in the MVT-7100. So, instead of just dialing in a
- frequency, setting the mode to USB, and getting the station,
- you need to tune above the desired frequency by some amount.
- While 1.4 KHz is the factory spec, each unit tends to be off
- by a certain amount. In addition, the accuracy may change as
- the unit warms up. However, once you "zero-in" your own
- receiver by watching how far off it appears, you will be
- able to accurately dial in the sideband frequencies you are
- interested in.
-
- When you are in sideband mode, you get two additional tuning
- increments: 50 Hz and 100 Hz. These very fine tuning steps
- make it extremely easy to tune in a station accurately.
-
- As an extra benefit, some users have reported that by
- listening to speech inversion voice encryption in a sideband
- mode, they have been able to understand the transmissions!
-
- Power
- The MVT-7100 operates on 4.8 VDC via 4 AA batteries. It
- comes with nicads, however, you may also operate it with
- alkaline cells. Battery life is between 5 and 6 hours of
- operation on a full nicad charge. The unit also comes with
- an external 12 VDC adaptor. The adaptor is a 200 mA, 100VAC
- adaptor, which is not really adequate for operating the
- scanner in America. If you operate the scanner with this
- adaptor, the unit will tend to heat up quite a bit. It is
- fine for charging the batteries while turned off.
-
- Manual
- The manual you get depends on where you obtain the scanner.
- Yupiteru provides an English translation of the Japanese
- manual, and it is, as expected, a bit hard to understand.
- Javiation has rewritten this manual in real English and it
- clearly describes all the operations of the MVT-7100. It is
- completely sufficient to get you started, although it
- doesn't go into detail about things like how organize your
- memory channels.
-
- Modifications
- There are no known modifications to this scanner, although
- it has only been available a short time. Unfortunately, when
- you open the unit, you automatically lose all of your
- programmed scan channels. This is somewhat of a disincentive
- to people experimenting with modifications or adding RFI
- shielding to the unit.
-
- Recommendations
- This is one of the most powerful, capable, and usable
- handheld wide-range scanning receivers ever built. The only
- other scanner with its features is the AOR AR1500 and the
- MVT-7100 stands heads and shoulders above it in terms of
- ease of use, sensitivity, and features. In one handheld
- unit, you have the capability of receiving virtually every
- type of voice transmission essentially across the entire
- radio spectrum! It is quite unbelievable. This unit is
- highly recommended!
-
- Where to get it
- The MVT-7100 has not (at the time of this review) received
- FCC type acceptance in the United States. It may or may not
- receive this acceptance before the deadline of April 26,
- 1993, which will preclude the importation of cellular-
- capable scanners. This means that there are currently no
- (and may never be) US importers of this scanner. However, a
- company in the UK, Javiation, has been able to ship units to
- individuals in the US, as long as they are not for resale.
-
- Jonathan Clough, owner of Javiation, has been available on
- CompuServe, particularly in HamNet, to take orders and
- support users. His support has been superb and he has been
- extremely helpful in answering questions, expediting orders,
- and keeping his customers appraised of changing
- circumstances. By the way, I have no personal interest in
- Javiation, except as a satisfied customer.
-
- The price of the MVT-7100 will vary depending upon the
- relative strengths of the US dollar, the English pound, and
- the Japanese yen. However, it will probably fall in the
- range of $550 to $600 US. Price includes shipping by
- Federal Express. Jonathan is offering a one year
- warranty on units purchased through him.
-
- He may be reached at:
- Javiation
- Carlton Works, Carlton Street
- BRADFORD
- West Yorkshire, BD7 1DA
- United Kingdom
-
- Phone 0274 732146 (From U.S. 011 44 274 732146)
- Fax 0274 722627 (From U.S. 011 44 274 722627)
-
- CompuServe address: 100117,535.
- (Internet: 100117.535@CompuServe.COM)
-
- Please send any comments, corrections, or updates on this
- review to Howard Bornstein, 76174,637. (Internet:
- 76174.637@CompuServe.COM)
- YUPITERU MVT-7100 wideband handheld receiver Rev. Apr 15, '93
- ============================================
- This is a compilation of comments re:specs on the CompuServe HAMNET forum,
- followed by my own comments after using this remarkable radio for a while
-
-
- Specifications:
-
- Frequency coverage: 530KHz to 1650MHz continuous
-
- Modes: AM, NFM, WFM, LSB & USB
-
- Sensitivity:
-
- 0.530 - 2.000 MHz 10 uV (10 dB s/n) [actually tunes to 0.100 MHz]
- 2.000 - 30.0 MHz 1.0 uV LSB/USB
- 1.5 uV AM
- 1.5 uV FM
- 30.0 - 1000 MHz 0.5 uV AM, LSB, USB, NFM
- 0.75 uV WFM
- 1000 - 1300 MHz 1.0 uV
-
- Search speed: 30 steps per second.
-
- Tuning Steps:
- WFM = 100KHz,50KHz
- NFM = 100KHz, 50, 25, 20, 12.5,10, 9, 6.25, 5 & 1KHz
- LSB/USB = 100KHz, 50, 25, 20, 12.5,10, 9, 6.25, 5 & 1KHz; 100Hz, 50Hz
-
- Switchable Attenuator on different channels not just "all or nothing"
- It's a bit of a power hog at 140 mA on its 4 AA batteries, but has a
- 10 mA power saving mode. However in standby mode it still takes 100
- mA.
-
- The Japanese Domestic version of the set has the following frequencies
- omitted: 253-255, 262-266, 270-275, 380-382, 412-415, 810-834, 860-899,
- 915-960. For continuous coverage R103 (SMC) next to IC277 is removed.
- There are NO "UK MODELS" or "JAPANESE MODELS" as some people are
- trying to make out. The models available in the UK have had this mod
- done, they are not different processors as I have heard certain people
- say.
-
-
- Comments:
-
- NOTE: This scanner is not currently distributed in the United States.
- ACE Communications, who mainly import the AOR line, stock the MVT-5000
- and 7000 handhelds, but have balked twice at importing the 7100. At times
- they have predicted they would carry it Spring-Summer 1993, for $579. If
- you live in the US the only way to get this scanner now is to import it
- yourself. Many UK dealers will ship worldwide using 2nd day FedEx.
-
- First, this is a very capable scanner. It seems to have excellent
- sensitivity down to 2 MHz or so (like the specs say) but even there, I
- can actually get medium wave stations! (Unlike the R1 or AR1000). In
- across-the-board sensitivity alone it flat out blows the doors off the
- AR1000, and outdoes the PRO-43 a bit, too.
-
- The radio comes with a swivel telescopic antenna ... no duckie. I'm
- doing most of my non-HF testing using a rubber duckie. Amazingly,
- though, I can get BBC at 6175 KHz using a rubber duckie alone!
- Incredible... SSB actually =works=! I was copying hams on 20m in SSB
- mode ... clearly. The carrier insertion oscillator is stable, and
- having useable HF on a handheld is somewhat mind-blowing. With a
- little fiddling, I can also demodulate inversion-scrambled cordless
- phones using SSB.
-
- The general dimensions are like a slightly taller PRO-43. However, the
- plastic is soft and thin like the AR1000, and it lacks the stiff
- internal metal frame of the PRO-43. The optional carry case is very nice.
- It borrows the best features of the ICOM and AOR cases. Padded black
- plastic with cutouts or detents for the side and top knobs and buttons.
- Clear vinyl to cover the LCD and keypad. A top flap, secured by a velcro
- strip, covers the top deck of the raido. Audio is very crisp - even bright
- - and does not distort appreciably even going full tilt. The display
- is large and readable but requires you to look at it from slightly below
- for optimum contrast. It lacks the contrast control of the MVT-7000
- and ICOM R-1. There is a defeatable beep ... I'm leaving it on until I
- get used to the way the thing behaves (error conditions can show up
- audibly if you do something wrong).
-
- The feature set is like the ICOM R1 meets the AR1000 meets the
- PRO2006. There are many, many data manipulation and convenience
- features (like several ways to correct input errors, etc).
-
- 1000 memory channels - Memory channel will store any frequency, mode
- and increment step. (eg. channel 1 123.75MHz, AM 25KHz steps while
- channel 2 could be 5.616MHz, USB, 50Hz etc). Contents of a memory
- channel can be transferred to manual mode in 2 key presses: FUNC +
- M-VFO you can then manually tune/search up/down from displayed freq.
-
- The memory channels are divided into 10 bands of 100. You can link up
- to 4 scan banks together. The scanner does not store your choice of
- scan banks; this is lost whenever you interrupt the scan process
- (including powering off). However, you can also link 100 separate
- channels from different banks using programmed scan, (whose contents
- IS stored in memory) or all that use a specific mode (e.g. AM mode)
- using mode scan (shades of the ICOM). There are 10 search bands which
- are =NOT= linkable. Switching from one to the other, though, takes
- only 2 swift keystrokes.
-
- Memory channel backup is not permanent. It does not use an EEPROM like
- the AR1000 or PRO-43; rather a backup battery like the R-1. The manual
- says after the nicads are exhausted/removed, it will back up the
- memories for about one week. Mine displayed CLEAR on the LCD when
- first powered up; I assume this is what you get when the memories have
- been lost or cleared.
-
- Within the search banks you can program any 2 limits, any mode, any
- increment step. There is no facility for automatically filling
- memory channels with active frequencies found during a scan ("auto
- memory write" or the like).
-
- While searching you can easily change the mode or step size. You do
- not have to re-program the whole search bank limits etc.
-
- There is one priority channel (in addition to the 1000)
-
- Up to 500 frequencies can be locked (passed as they call it) out
- during search. These will be skipped even if you search in manual
- mode. They are not just stored within the search bank.
-
- The LCD display also includes a bar-graph signal strength meter like
- the R1 (although it lacks the numerical scale of the R1 and, I fear,
- the calibration too). It's somewhat topheavy - most strong signals go
- near, or up to full scale. Still, a nice plus.
-
- Many keys have 2 functions. The second function is printed below each
- key. This is confusing, and since the additional function is printed
- midway between the upper and lower key you sometimes get confused as
- to which is associated with which. However, the key layout is logical
- and so is easy to memorize; e.g. MODE change is the second function
- associated with the STEP change key. This is important, as the two
- settings interact (e.g. the step will change according to the "rules"
- as you change modes, so you must often then go back and change the
- step).
-
- There is a metal eyelet jutting out of the top right side of the
- scanner, for attaching a carry strap. It gets in the way when you want
- to slide the scanner into the Pouch. Not as annoying as those blasted
- Frankenstein things on the AR-1000, but I wish it were hinged rather
- than being stiffly bolted onto the frame. It also comes with a sturdy
- METAL belt clip which screws on.
-
- I guess people are more interested in the minuses. Nothing is perfect,
- and so here are what I perceive as drawbacks:
-
- First and foremost, the 476 MHz area is unuseable where I am. It is
- filled with intermod from pagers, even in low signal areas without an
- antenna. It is doubtful that I have a defective unit ... I think
- this is one of those weird interactions inherent in local conditions
- and the design of the radio. There are reports of UK cell phone signals
- appearing 400 MHz lower on the predecessor to this model, the MVT-7000.
- Heck, for many people 160-161 is unuseable on the PRO-43, so there).
-
- Frequency entry is quirky. The selected increment determines not only
- the channel spacing, but whether or not an input frequency will be
- rounded after you hit [ENTER]. For instance, to scan cordless phones
- you would normally search 46.61 - 46.97 at 20 KHz increments. BUT ...
- you can't input 46.61 with the increment set to 20 ... it gets rounded
- to 46.60 to be consistent with the channel spacing the set "thinks" is
- appropriate. Solution: use 10 KHz steps. This, however, will slow down
- searching and, potentially, cause it to stop short of the center
- of carrier during search (see below).
-
- The above can make filling your scan memory channels time-consuming
- unless you group the frequencies beforehand according to channel
- spacing. For instance, to enter 453.8, 471.1625, and 869.01 into
- consecutive memory channels, you would have to change the step for
- keying in each of these values before putting them in memory.
- Remember, the memory channels =also= store the increment selected.
-
- In SSB mode you must manually account for the 1.5 KHz frequency
- offset. I test the frequency accuracy of radios by zero-beating
- against known AM transmitters in sideband mode (ECSS). In LSB mode,
- WWV at 15000 KHz actually zero beats at 14998.5, and in USB mode at
- 15001.5. Various observers have found the calibration of the set
- to be off by 300-1000 Hz from that actually displayed. I find that
- acceptable for a battery operated portable intended for VHF/UHF use.
- (Tweaking this could be difficult, since the radio will not operate
- with the cover off - doing so unplugs the circuit boards from each
- other, and may also cause a CPU reset).
-
- Selectivity is a little broad for serious HF use. Especially on
- SSB, where the same filter seems to be used as in AM mode. ISB
- reception, for instance, would be impossible as the sidebands would
- overlap. Lots of adjacent channel splatter in the 49m band, for
- instance, in AM mode. Obviously this is not a DX rig. However it is
- MORE than acceptable for casual listening to broadcasts and SSB
- voice mode transmissions. Reportedly it works acceptably for FAX
- and RTTY when used with an external demodulator.
-
- As the set, like the AR1000, lacks "zero matic" circuitry, it may stop
- short of the actual frequency in search mode, especially with narrow
- (< 10KHz) search increments. A twist of the VFO knob or a push of the
- up arrow key takes care of that. The S-meter makes it easy to figure
- out where you are relative to the center of signal.
-
- The light only stays on when the button is pushed. Pity. However, it
- illuminates the whole keyboard a beautiful translucent green. Looks
- like a Princess phone. Really neat!
-
- The battery saver must be switched on manually when you are listening
- to one channel for a long time. Any operation which is incompatible
- with the super saver mode (like memory scan) will turn off the battery
- saver. You must manually re-activate it if you want to use it again.
-
- The delay is global (not per channel) and can't =really= be disabled.
- When the delay is "off" you get a 2-second delay. When it's "on" you
- get a 4-second delay. There is no "hold" (infinite delay) like on the
- AR1000, but pushing the "monitor" button breaks squelch and will hold
- the channel as long as you keep it pressed. However, there is a "skip"
- mode which will play 5 seconds of a signal and them move on. This
- would be particularly useful for sampling the shortwave broadcast
- bands, where the huge number of signals would keep your finger poised
- on the SEARCH button all the time.
-
-
- Mike Schuster
-
- schuster@panix.com
- schuster@shell.portal.com
- 70346.1745@CompuServe.COM
-
-