Yupiteru MVT-7100 Owner's Guide Rich Wells - N2MCA Introduction In an effort to better understand the operation of the Yupiteru MVT-7100, and to offer a valuable resource to other people who may be using these wonderful radios, I wrote this owner's guide. It does not hurt that the originally supplied manual that comes with the radio is rather poor. Like many translations from the original Japanese, the grammar leaves much to be desired. And, on the whole, the organization of the topics is not helpful in gaining a useful understanding of the radio and how all the pieces interrelate. This guide goes through the operation of the MVT-7100 in a step-by-step process starting with the basics and builds up to the operation of the more advanced features. While I've never had the pleasure of playing with the MVT-7200, most of what appears here should apply to it. Where there are differences that I know of between these two radios, I have pointed them out as best I could. Feel free to make copies of this document and distribute as you see beneficial to the radio monitoring hobby as long as it is done FREE of charge. I simply ask that this information be kept intact. A lot of hard work and effort has gone into the writing of this guide. I would appreciate it if every effort is made to keep this document whole with me as the original author. If you would like to share your thoughts about this owner's guide, have suggestions for its improvement or have further questions, feel free to send me e-mail. Happy reading and strong signals! Rich Wells N2MCA n2mca@strongsignals.net http://www.strongsignals.net/ Table Of Contents Warning Features Resources Memory Organization Definitions & Terms Available Modes Terminology Mode Operations VFO Mode Memory Mode Scanning Modes Search Band Programming Mode Searching Modes Search Pass Mode Priority Mode Other Features AM Antenna Attenuator Battery Saver Beep Delay Lamp Monitor Reset Skip Acknowledgement s Warning If the radio is being used with standard alkaline batteries, do not use the AC or car power adapters. External power should only be applied to the radio when it has been equipped with rechargeable batteries or the batteries have been removed from the radio. Even if you do use power in this manner with rechargeable batteries, leaving the radio plugged in continually will overcharge and overheat the batteries. Both of which will drastically shorten their lifespan. Features 1000 channels 500 search pass frequencies 10 memory banks 10 search bands 13 step sizes (MVT-7200) 12 step sizes (MVT-7100) 6 receive modes (MVT-7200) 5 receive modes (MVT-7100) 1 priority channel Large, full function, LCD VFO Squelch monitor Rotary control Attenuator Programmable battery save Programmable beep Resources 1000 Memory channels (0-999) 500 Search pass frequencies 100 Channels/bank 10 Memory banks (1-0) 10 Search bands (1-0) 13 Step sizes (MVT-7200: 50/100 Hz 1/5/6.25/9/10/12.5/20/25/50/100/125 kHz) 12 Step sizes (MVT-7100: 50/100 Hz 1/5/6.25/9/10/12.5/20/25/50/100 kHz) 6 Receive modes (MVT-7200: AM/NAM/FM/WFM/USB/LSB) 5 Receive modes (MVT-7100: AM/ FM/WFM/USB/LSB) 1 Priority channel Memory Organization Bank Channels ---- --------1 000 - 099 2 100 - 199 3 200 - 299 4 300 - 399 5 400 - 499 6 500 - 599 7 600 - 699 8 700 - 799 9 800 - 899 0 900 - 999 Priority channel is memory channel 1000 Definitions & Terms Here are some basic definitions as well as terms used in the MVT-7100 Instruction Manuals that will help you to use this guide more effectively. Attenuator A device which is used to diminish the strength of an incoming signal. This is typically used to alleviate overloading of the front end radio circuitry by very strong, and usually nearby, transmissions. The MVT7100 allows you to set the attenuator for individual memory channels as well as while performing a search. Memory bank An association of memory channels. This radio has 10 memory banks (1-0). Since it also has 1000 memory channels, this means there are 100 memory channels per memory bank. Memory channel A location used to store a frequency and its associated receive mode. The MVT-7100 has 1000 memory channels which are divided into 10 banks. Pass Refers to scanning and searching operations. A memory channel can be passed so that it is not checked during a scan operation. A frequency can be passed so it is not checked during a search operation. See Scan Pass and Search Pass for more information. Priority Channel Special memory channel that can be checked on a periodic basis for active transmissions. This is usually programmed with very important frequency that you do not want to miss activity on. The MVT-7100 has 1 priority channel which is located at the end of "normal" memory. Receive Mode The method by which radio transmissions will be demodulated so that the resultant audio portion may be directed to the speaker. Available receive modes are : AM - Amplitude Modulation (below 30MHz, amateur radio, commercial and military aircraft) NAM - Narrow AM (mainly used below 25MHz; only found on the MVT-7200) FM - Frequency Modulation (most VHF/UHF communications) WFM - Wide FM (for FM radio and TV audio) USB - Upper Sideband (mainly used below 25MHz & amateur radio bands) LSB - Lower Sideband (mainly used below 25MHz & amateur radio bands) Scan Pass Most receivers refer to this feature as channel lockout. Once a frequency has been programmed into memory, a scanning operation will stop on this channel if an active transmission is detected. Certain frequencies may contain transmissions which are very or always active. To keep the scanning operation from stopping on these channels, they can be locked-out/skipped/passed during a scan. Scanning The act whereby memory channels are successively checked for active radio transmissions of their programmed frequencies. Search band A feature which allows a pre-defined frequency range to be programmed so that it can be repeatedly searched for active transmissions. Stored with each search band are a starting frequency, ending frequency, receive mode and step size. The MVT-7100 has 10 search bands. Search Pass Some receivers refer to this feature as search-skip. If you have a known frequency, which you would like to skip while performing a search, it can be placed in a special memory. Yupiteru refers to this as the Search Pass Memory. Once placed in this memory, this frequency will not be tested for an active transmission, or in other words it's skipped/passed when performing a search. The MVT-7100 has 500 Search pass frequencies. Searching The act whereby a frequency is incremented or decremented successively to detect active radio transmissions in a given frequency range. Searching is usually performed on a programmed Search Band. Skip The MVT-7100 has a feature called skip, which allows a paused scan or search to resume after a fixed time. Normally, during a scan or search, if an active transmission is detected, the scanning or searching operation will be paused until the transmission ceases. Once the transmission goes away, the scanning or searching operation resumes. If you have the index feature enabled, scanning or searching will pause on an active transmission for at most 5 seconds before resuming. Step size A value in Hertz (Hz) or kiloHertz (kHz) that indicates the amount by which a frequency will be changed due to user or radio control while searching for active transmissions or using a VFO. Available step sizes are : Hz : 50/100 kHz : 1/5/6.25/9/10/12.5/20/25/50/100/125 NOTE: Only the MVT-7200 has the 125 kHz step size S-meter A feature used to graphically represent the strength of the signal being received. It is usually calibrated to a dB (logarithmic) scale. A bar graph is used where more bars indicate a stronger signal. VFO A temporary location to store a frequency so that a memory channel does not have to be programmed. Associated with this frequency are various settings such as receive mode, step size, attenuator, and delay. Available Modes Memory The radio is in Memory mode when a memory channel number is visible in the upper left corner and followed by the CH indicator. Pressing the MR key toggles between Memory and VFO modes. Priority Priority mode is enabled when the PRI indicator is visible. This is a mode independent of the VFO, Memory, Scanning or Searching modes. Scanning In this mode, the scanning operation checks the specified banks for active transmissions on the programmed frequencies within those banks. There are two scanning modes with three scanning submodes for a total of six different types of scan that can be performed. The two modes are : Continuous: scanning of all non-empty banks Bank: scanning of up to four banks The three sub-modes are : Normal: a normal scan Mode: scans only those channels with the specified receive mode Program: scans only those channels which have been program tagged This gives us the following six scan mode types: Continuous Normal Continuous Mode Continuous Program Bank Normal Bank Mode Bank Program Search Band Programming In this mode, the search bands (1-0) used to perform searches are programmed with starting and ending frequencies as well as step sizes and receive modes. Searching In this mode, the searching operation checks for active transmissions on the frequencies in the specified search range. There are two searching modes which can be performed. The two modes are : VFO: Band: starts searching from the current VFO frequency search a preprogrammed search band Search Pass The radio is in Search Pass mode when a blinking P indicator is visible and the contents of the Search Pass memory are being displayed. VFO The radio is in VFO mode when there is a frequency displayed but no memory channel or `CH' LCD indicator present. Pressing the MR key toggles between VFO and Memory modes. Terminology When you see `FUNC + key' Press FUNC You will hear a beep (if enabled) and FUNC will be displayed Press `key' Mode Operations VFO Mode VFO holds: Frequency Step size Receive mode Attenuator Delay Skip How to change the frequency Simply key in the desired frequency 1. Enter the frequency 2. If you make a mistake during entry A. Press C/AC B. Use arrow keys to select digit to be corrected C. Change digit using key press or rotary control D. Press ENT when completed 3. Press ENT NOTE: Instead of correcting at step 2 above, simply press C/AC twice and start over with the frequency entry. Use the rotary control or arrow keys Use the rotary control or arrow keys to increase or decrease the currently displayed frequency by the currently set step size. Holding down an arrow key will change the frequency rapidly. Use the ad-hoc approach This approach allows you to change one or more of the individual MHz digits of the current frequency. Press FUNC + MHz. Use the arrow keys to select the digit to be changed (it will blink faster than the other digits). Press the appropriate number key or use the rotary control to select it. Repeat as necessary to change any other digits. Press ENT to finish entry or C/AC to cancel the changes. Regardless of how you change the frequency, be sure to verify the receive mode and step size are set appropriately. Changing receive mode 1. Press FUNC + MODE 2. Use rotary control or arrow keys to select receive mode 3. Press ENT to accept change or C/AC to cancel Changing step size 1. Press STEP 2. Use rotary control or arrow keys to select step size 3. Press ENT to accept change or C/AC to cancel NOTE: Each receive mode keeps track of its own step size. If you are going to change the receive mode and step size, change the receive mode first since it might recall the step size you need. Programming Memory Once a favourite frequency has been entered in VFO mode, it can be programmed into one of the 1000 memory channels (0-999) or the priority channel (1000). When frequency data is copied from a VFO to a memory channel, a specific channel number can be specified or the current memory channel can be used. To copy to a specific memory channel 1. Enter the 3-digit channel number (0-999) 2. Press FUNC + MW 3. A double-beep is heard To copy to the current memory channel 1. Press FUNC + MW 2. A double-beep is heard NOTE : The current memory channel can be noted by pressing MR to enter Memory mode, noting the channel number, then pressing MR to return to VFO mode. NOTE : When a VFO is copied to memory, the following settings are also copied to that memory channel 1. Frequency 2. Step size 3. Receive mode Each time a memory write (copying VFO to memory) is performed, the current memory channel is incremented by one. To write successive memory channels, simply enter the frequency data and use the method to copy this frequency to the current memory channel. When frequency data is copied from a VFO to a priority channel, a memory channel number of 1000 must be specified. To copy to the priority channel 1. Enter 1000 2. Press FUNC + MW 3. A double-beep is ...