50/144/430 MHz TRIPLE-BAND HEAVY DUTY SUBMERSIBLE TRANSCEIVER VX-8R OPERATING MANUAL VERTEX STANDARD CO., LTD. VERTEX STANDARD 4-8-8 Nakameguro, Meguro-Ku, Tokyo 153-8644, Japan US Headquarters 10900 Walker Street, Cypress, CA 90630, U.S.A. YAESU EUROPE B.V. YAESU UK LTD. P.O. Box 75525, 1118 ZN Schiphol, The Netherlands Unit 12, Sun Valley Business Park, Winnall Close Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 0LB, U.K. VERTEX STANDARD HK LTD. Unit 5, 20/F., Seaview Centre, 139-141 Hoi Bun Road, Kwun Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong VERTEX STANDARD (AUSTRALIA) PTY., LTD. Normanby Business Park, Unit 14/45 Normanby Road Notting Hill 3168, Victoria, Australia Contents Introduction ................................................................................. 1 Controls &Connections ............................................................... 2 Display Icons & Indicators ......................................................... 3 Keypad Functions ....................................................................... 4 Accessories & Option .................................................................. 6 Accessories Supplied with the VX-8R ..................................... 6 Available Options for your VX-8R .......................................... 7 Installation of Accessories ........................................................... 8 Antenna Installation ................................................................. 8 Belt Clip Installation ................................................................ 8 Installation of FNB-101LI Battery Pack .................................. 9 Battery Life Information ........................................................ 10 Installation of FBA-39 Alkaline Battery Case ....................... 11 Interface of Packet TNCs .......................................................... 12 Operation ................................................................................... 13 Switching Power On and Off ................................................. 13 Adjusting the Volume Level .................................................. 13 Squelch Adjustment ............................................................... 14 Selecting the Operating Band ................................................ 15 Selecting the Frequency Band ................................................ 16 Frequency Navigation ............................................................ 17 1) Tuning Dial .................................................................. 17 2) Direct Keypad Frequency Entry .................................. 17 3) Scanning ....................................................................... 18 Transmission .......................................................................... 19 Changing the Transmitter Power Level ............................ 19 VOX Operation ................................................................ 20 AM and FM Broadcast Reception ......................................... 22 AF-Dual Operation ........................................................... 24 Advanced Operation ................................................................. 26 Keyboard Locking ................................................................. 26 Adjusting the Keypad Beeper Volume Level ......................... 27 Setting the Frequency Display Image Size ............................. 27 Audio Muting ......................................................................... 28 Keypad/LCD Illumination ...................................................... 28 Changing the Channel Steps .................................................. 29 Changing the Receiving Mode ............................................... 29 SQL S-meter .......................................................................... 30 Repeater Operation ................................................................... 31 General ................................................................................... 31 Repeater Shifts ....................................................................... 31 Automatic Repeater Shift (ARS) ........................................... 31 Manual Repeater Shift Activation .......................................... 32 Changing the Default Repeater Shifts .............................. 32 Checking the Repeater Uplink (Input) Frequency ................. 33 CTCSS/DCS/EPCS Operation ................................................. 34 CTCSS Operation .................................................................. 34 DCS Operation ...................................................................... 36 DCS Code Inversion ........................................................ 37 Tone Search Scanning ........................................................... 39 EPCS (Enhanced Paging & Code Squelch) ........................... 40 Storing the CTCSS Tone Pairs for EPCS Operation ....... 40 Activating the Enhanced Paging & Code Squelch System .. 41 Paging Answer Back ........................................................ 41 CTCSS/DCS/EPCS Bell Operation ....................................... 42 Programming the User Melody ........................................ 43 Split Tone Operation .............................................................. 44 Tone Calling (1750 Hz) ......................................................... 45 Memory Mode (Regular Memory Channel Operation) ......... 46 Memory Storage .................................................................... 47 Memory Recall ....................................................................... 48 HOME Channel Memory ....................................................... 49 Labeling Memories ................................................................ 50 Memory Offset Tuning .......................................................... 51 Masking Memories ................................................................ 52 Memory Bank Operation ....................................................... 53 Moving Memory Data to the VFO ........................................ 55 Memory Only Mode ............................................................... 55 Memory Mode (Special Memory Channel Operation) .......... 56 Weather Broadcast Channels ................................................. 56 VHF Marine Memory Channels ............................................. 57 Short-wave Broadcast Station Memory Channels ................. 58 Scanning ..................................................................................... 60 General ................................................................................... 60 VFO Scanning ........................................................................ 62 How to Skip (Omit) a Frequency during VFO Scan ........ 63 Memory Scanning .................................................................. 64 How to Skip (Omit) a Channel during Memory Scan ...... 65 Preferential Memory Scan ................................................ 66 Memory Bank Scan .......................................................... 67 Programmable (Band Limit) Memory Scan (PMS) ............... 68 "Priority Channel" Scanning (Dual Watch) ........................... 69 Priority Revert Mode ....................................................... 70 Automatic Lamp Illumination on Scan Stop .......................... 71 Band Edge Beeper ................................................................. 71 Bluetooth® Operation ............................................................. 72 Pairing .................................................................................... 72 Activation ............................................................................... 73 Operation ............................................................................... 74 GPS Operation .......................................................................... 76 Setting the Time Zone (Time Offset) ..................................... 78 Selecting the Display Units of the GPS Screen ...................... 79 Selecting the Map Datum ...................................................... 79 APRS® Operation ...................................................................... 80 Preparations ........................................................................... 80 Receiving an APRS Beacon ................................................... 83 Transmit an APRS Beacon .................................................... 85 Receiving an APRS Message ................................................. 88 Transmit an APRS Message .................................................. 90 ARTSTM (Automatic Range Transponder System) ................ 92 Basic ARTSTM Setup and Operation ..................................... 93 ARTSTM Polling Time Options .............................................. 93 ARTSTM Alert Beep Options ................................................. 94 CW Identifier Setup ............................................................... 95 Spectrum Analyzer Operation ................................................. 96 Channel Counter Operation ..................................................... 98 Smart Search Operation ......................................................... 100 Message Feature ...................................................................... 102 General ................................................................................. 102 Programming a Message ...................................................... 102 Programming a Member List ............................................... 103 Set your Personal ID ............................................................ 104 Sending a Message ............................................................... 105 Receiving a Message ............................................................ 106 Emergency Feature ................................................................. 107 Emergency Channel Operation ............................................ 107 Emergency Automatic ID (EAI) feature .............................. 108 Selecting the EAI mode and its Transmit Time .............. 109 Activating the EAI feature ............................................. 109 To Locate an Unresponsive Operator using the EAI feature .......... 110 Internet Connection Feature .................................................. 111 General ................................................................................. 111 SRG ("Sister Radio Group") Mode ..................................... 111 FRG ("Friendly Radio Group") Mode ................................. 112 DTMF Operation ..................................................................... 114 CW Learning Feature ............................................................. 116 CW Training Feature .............................................................. 118 Sensor Mode ............................................................................. 119 Sensor Mode Options .......................................................... 120 Clock Set ........................................................................ 120 Selecting the Measurement Units of the Sensor Unit ..... 121 Correcting the Sensor Unit ............................................. 121 Miscellaneous Setting .............................................................. 122 Password .............................................................................. 122 Programming the [Internet(TXPO)] Key ............................. 123 ATT (Front End Attenuator) ............................................... 124 Receive Battery Saver Setup ............................................... 125 TX Battery Saver ................................................................. 125 Disabling the BUSY Indicator ............................................. 126 Automatic Power-Off (APO Feature) .................................. 126 Transmitter Time-Out Timer (TOT) .................................... 127 ON/OFF Preset Timer .......................................................... 128 Busy Channel Lock-Out (BCLO) ........................................ 129 Changing the TX Deviation Level ....................................... 129 Changing the Microphone Gain ........................................... 130 S-and TX Power Meter Symbols ......................................... 130 Display Contrast .................................................................. 131 Display Dimmer ................................................................... 131 My Bands Operation ............................................................ 132 Changing the Status of the [VOL] Key ................................ 133 Reset Procedures ..................................................................... 134 Cloning ..................................................................................... 135 Set ...