If you guys want to be notified of this cable's release, sign-up for the DigiRig Mobile "Email List". The form is on the bottom-right of this page: digirig.net/
Thanks for the confirmation. I have a loaner VX-7 from a friend and will test it out soon. Check out the Digital Mode Series in the description. The process for setting up packet radio is covered in the Baofeng video. It's an identical setup. I basically just use Dire Wolf and the AX.25 tools. Jason, KM4ACK, has a video on setting up Pat Winlink for packet. I just used that video as a reference.
@@TheTechPrepper Hi there, I love watching your videos and in my upper 60's now, and used to be a CB Radio bug because we had lots of friends and people in our area and it was a blast, but that was 30 years ago outside Chicago. Now I live on the Gulf Coast of MS and thinking about an emergency hand held Ham with as much on it as possible for as little $ as possible, lol. I like the Yaesu radios you show but I guess my pocketbook is Blaupunkt. Something that's easy to program or pre programed if they exist and needs no license to start with but that has a lot more for when I get the license please. Thanks Tech Prepper! From Anthony
@@anthonyjoseph8391 If you want to be fully legal, your best license-free options are FRS and MURS. These radios are limited on range given their low power output. You will find very few people on MURS. GMRS radios are probably the best thing for you as they offer more power and have a decent community. A license is required, but it requires no test and the fee just dropped to $35. I am not a GMRS user, so I would check out NotARubicon on UA-cam. If you want to get your ham license, then just go with a $30 Baofeng UV-5R. Thanks for the support. Good luck!
I am small potatoes, but we'll see. I'm going to HRO this weekend in Phoenix. We'll see how their inventory looks. I am still getting complaints that the Mobilinkd TNC3 is still not available following my digital series. As a general rule, I buy my gear before I drop a video. Cheers, Josh.
@@TheTechPrepper I went to buy one and they are still sold out haha. I think we are like minded because I also bought one of those for my mobile rig before you dropped a video as well as I bought my d710 the same time as you haha. That's actually how I found you was your d710. Aprs is the reason I got my tech.
@@chunkylover54 The D710 is beautiful. Glad to hear you that my video pushed you into the hobby. Congrats! I had to buy a second D710-GA when HRO discovered a mystery pallet after they were discontinued. Like you, I am barely staying ahead of the curve of radios and accessories that are either being discontinued or are just impossible to get due to the supply chain. This is another reason why bought my second VX-6R recently. I have a suspicion that it may be discontinued soon. I'll buy a third unit as soon as I sell one of my FTM-6000 manpacks.
@@TheTechPrepper I got the vx6r to fill in for my ft3d which was out for repair and dont telll anyone I think I might like it better haha. I got a ftm200 now and it does a lot better on the digital modes than a 5w ht.
Thanks. I really did I hate the technical stuff. I was exploring APRStt the last week...and, I literally yelled: "I hate this nerd shit" about a half dozen times.
Hey Gaston! Thanks for the callout! It's pretty cool to see you working with a prototype cable to get the VX-6R connected to the DigiRig. Even more reason to get this radio. Hope you've been well. Catch ya soon, 73. Eric
Thanks for visiting the channel, Eric. I am delinquent with my Winlink emails. I respond eventually. The VX-7 also works with this cable. A fellow ham sent me his radio for testing. The VX-6 is the perfect backcountry radio especially with the MARS/CAP mod. Under an emergency MURS/FRS/GMRS will work. 73's
@@TheTechPrepper Been a minute since I was here, honestly. But I try to keep up! MARS/CAP is a must out in the open spaces. You just never know when it will be necessary. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and experiences!
I do alot of digital field work down in Tucson on HF (using a digi-rig) and never crossed my mind to use my VX-7R for digital, especially winlink. That would be a game changer if you had to get out away from base and send an email to the base in a peer to peer scenario. Alot more secure than voice in the clear thats for sure. Great video..off to get one of their cables and a new digi rig. (Now if they can make a digi rig that is more user select able without opening it up that would be great!
It was 88°F here last Night and 102°F in the Day. Humidity as high as the Mt. Everest. 96°F today and Thunderrain might hit us thru the late Evening Hours. Damn...I was about to go portable Radio tonight. I better stay home. Happy wednesday Gaston & thx for the Video. 73 de YFUG 💯👍👍👍🙋♂️
Sounds like it's warming up for you, too. Stay cool. We've been hit be monsoon twice this week. The garage is between 93F and 100F these days at 0500 daily. It feels strange sweating while sitting still in front of the camera. Cheers, Uncle Günter!
@@TheTechPrepper The fricken Heat made me put the Sun Visors down, shutting off my PC cuz it's a Highend Gaming Bullet producing 10°F more Room Temperature inside my Place...and laying down and reading Antenna Books for HAM Radio or having a longer Power Nap. Monsoon Rain not funny in no way and at no time. I have seen it back at my Days in CA, AZ and NM. Death Valley was blooming up and looking even greener and more colorful than the Amazon Rainforest at its best Days. 73 de AFUG🍻
The Yaesu FT-270 2m HT also uses the screw-in single pin mic connector. The radio is IPX7 rated and seems brute-tough. Uses the same battery as the FT60. Yaesu have discontinued so many fine radios.
That is a great ruggedized HT. I have a pair of FT-270's. It's great to have interchangeability with the FT-60 batteries. Like you said, another great radio that is no longer available.
Great video man. You got me wanting one of those bad! Also, looks like you have the Argon Pi case. Would you recommend it, you dig it? Thanks for all you do.
I appreciate the kind comment. It's a great radio. I have a feeling that Yaesu is going to discontinue the VX-6R soon. Once I convinced myself that this would be my new EDC radio, I had to get a second unit. Yes, I would highly recommend the ArgonOne. That Pi4 is my permanent 2m packet station (connected to FT-2980R). I covered this case as well as a few others. I did a ton of thermal testing as well as other benchmarks. ua-cam.com/video/tQI--vMFhVU/v-deo.html
Great video on the very capable DigiRig. I use APRSDroid and Mobilinkd for SMS texting, what do you use for computer + digirig? I imagine it's some form of packet (AX.25) software for APRS such as direwolf?
On the computer, I use Dire Wolf and the AX.25 tool chain for packet work. I run YAAC (APRS) and Pat (Winlink). Outside of packet, I run fldigi/flmsg as well with the DigiRig. Thanks for stopping by, Dennis.
Glad you enjoyed it. It's the 2m/440Mhz Arrow II backpacker Yagi mounted at 16' on a painter's pole. It's the only way for me to hit that distant digipeater from my home on 5 watts. I've tried my roll-up j-pole and it will not work over that range and my terrain. The directional antenna is a must with this low power. I was considering climbing a peak behind my house as I can hit that digipeater with the rubber duck antenna if I'm at higher ground.
@@TheTechPrepper Thanks! I'll look into that antenna. I'm upgrading myself to a Yaesu FT-60r as the Baofeng UV-5R just isn't cutting it for my needs. Going for my General Class license pretty quick too. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the digital stuff you've been covering in your videos. So much cool stuff to do and play with! Thanks for sharing your ham experiences and journey with us!
I am currently working on trying to get a couple VX8DR handhelds to work with digirigs, and ATAK, using the Hammer plugin. I got it to work using an anytone radio and a couple retivis radio with a Btech APRS cable instead of the digirig.
Good luck getting the VX-8DR. I do not believe there is cable yet for the VX-8, so you may need to build your own cable.The VX-8 is a nice radio. I have one of those, too. I've had mix success with the APRS K1 cable as the VOX delay on the Baofengs is really slow.
@@TheTechPrepper The current version of the Hammer plugin on the ATAK app allows you to adjust for the vox delay by milliseconds. Right now I have it set to 2000 just to give myself a large cushion. I'll experiment with how long or short it really needs to be once I get the other settings correct and get reliable connections on the VX-8DR. Next Im gonna play with the audio sampling rate, I managed to get a couple hits by raising it from 16,000 to 20,000, but it's sporadic. I'm using an adapter to go from the radio plug to the 3.5mm plug, but Im not sure they are working properly. I have a few of the CT-M11 cables for the VX8, but I would need to send them to digirig and ask them to make the adapter. I did get other radios to work (Anytone 878 / Retivis RT3S) using the btech APRS cable with just 1000 millisecond delay. Sorry this got really long.
You are 100% correct. Yes, this cable works with the FT-270. That is a beautiful 2m-only HT. I wish they were still in production. I am trying to find some units on the secondary market along with the voice inversion boards.
Glad to help take you take a trip down memory lane. I missed the packet radio hay day as I'm new to the hobby. It must have been incredible using packet radio pre cellphone and Internet. What is old, is new again.
@@TheTechPrepper Back in the days (circa 1993), all my hamradio softwares (for MS/DOS) were downloaded from the local packet-radio BBS. It could take days to downlad enough data to fill up a 1.44MB floppy disk. It was fun!
@@TheTechPrepper It was rewarding if the parts you downloaded and assembled were upright. If you had corrupted bytes (which could happen at the time), you had re-download the faulty "7PLUS" part(s) till they were all correct and ready to be assembled into your long awaited last version of the BayCom software 😅
Does this work like the Digirig lite? I’m watching your vids trying to figure out how to decide between the standard vx6r vs the FT5dr. I was wondering how you did digital comms with the vx6r and now I know the answer.
I sent Denis the Argent Data Systems cable: www.argentdata.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=67&osCsid=moGNSExzWzmAADm3MIbPY0 For the other end is used these: amzn.to/3cwfECl
@@TheTechPrepper Thanks so much for providing these! Hopefully Denis releases these soon, so I can get a factory made one too! Also, do you have any info on which modes/freqs to monitor if you're using digital mode over a VX-6R? Would be good to get a list of those compiled :D
@@macpwn No problem. I'm on the hunt for the perfect communications setup and have no issues sending emails to people to help them improve or expand their products. The only established frequency that I know of is 144.390 which is the APRS calling frequency in the US. I have a few other frequencies that I use for packet and digital, but they are specific to my state and area. For example, we have 1200 packet digipeaters on 145.710. Check out your state's band plan. For my personal fldigi use our group uses 145.500. If you visit the Winlink website and go to the map section you'll see other frequencies if you filter by VARA and Packet. Good luck!
thanks for this video, I now have the VX 6R and a digirig, any chance you can share the settings on your radio that you use? I am having trouble making a winlink packet connection
There are no actually settings other than opening up the squelch all the way (15) and playing with the speaker level. I have my volume set to the 10 o'clock position and have no issues decoding packets. Good luck.
Sure, that is possible. But, you're mileage will vary on packet when receiving after a transmission. The PTT does not get unkeyed as quickly as when you have a hardware-based PTT signal. You will likely miss some packets.
Could you use the black cable, the one that plugs into the mic port, and go directly to an android or iphone using their respective apps? Thanks for your videos!
You actually need to keep all the cables as well as by an "OTG" cable. This will only work on Android. Right now only two apps on Android support this interface: AndFlmsg and WoAD. Good luck.
Are there any special menu settings for the VX-6R (VX-7R) when connecting to the Digirig? I have the computer set up okay. Showing audio on the VARA FM window. When I go to start a VARA FM session, nothing happens on the radio, that is it's not transmitting. Any ideas?
Hi, I really enjoy your videos. Just wanted to ask you that my VX6R takes a very long time to get full charged to get the red LED to green. While charging from three bars the radio gets pretty hot. However, when the charging indicator in the display moves to the fifth bar the radio cools down until it is fully charged and the LED turns green. Is this normal? Another thing which I want to know is about the threaded extra extention rubber antenna that comes with the VX6R. May I know for which band it is for? Thank you and have a blessed day ahead Cheers! New Delhi
Morning! The battery does heat up, but I've never had a problem. I've had mine for about 15 months and charge it about once per week. It's the Diamond Antenna BNCJ-SMAP adapter (amzn.to/3VcaWLS). I use this on every Yaesu HT as I prefer BNC as my standard. This also puts less stress on the SMA connector that is attached to the radio. It's easier to replace the adapter if it wears out. The Antenna that I am using here with that adapter is the Comet BNC-24.
@@TheTechPrepper Thank you for your response. I can now understand the logic of having a SMA BNC adapter. Yes, I would also go for the same Now I understand that while charging the VX6 gets heated in the back of the radio and is normal What I am actually inquisitive is about the two little rubber duckies - the two inch and the four inch that comes in the VX6R box along with the wall charger, rubber ducky antenna, battery, radio, operating manual and warranty card. These two are to be threaded to the main rubber ducky. I want to know when to use/attach to the antenna and for which band Thanks and have a great day ahead. Cheers!
@@shandybrandy5407 No problem. Use the smaller one for 2m and 70cm. Use the larger extension for 6m. Good luck and great question. Remember: The antenna gets longer as you down in frequency. I always remember this with "lower = longer". There are two L's.
@@TheTechPrepper Thank-za-ton for the response once again. Now I understand the usage of those two OEM little antenna attachments Guess what, I was watching your videos on Abbree tactical antenna and the other video on Cat tail... Trying for the the Diamond SMA to BNC connector but sadly Amazon will not ship it to New Delhi. Lot of desires but such bottleneck makes it very frustrating By the way, I really appreciate the way you speak in the video looking directly to the camera. Simply superb and manly Thank you once again and also wishing you an advanced blessed weekend ahead Cheers & 73
We've all done that. You can't go wrong with the VX series. A friend is letting me borrow his VX-7. It's nice that you can MARS mod it with the Commander software. You can't do that with the VX-6.
Dam you! Now you are going to make me buy a vx-6r. I have vx-8dr. It’s a good radio. But I can’t find much on the market for it. It’s all gone. It works fine, but this looks more rugged.
The VX-8DR is a great rig. I had one for about a year and then sold it with the GPS and AA tray. I was unable to find a second unit, so it had to go. Note: There's no APRS on the VX-6R. However, it's still me EDC radio. It's more rugged than the VX8
@@TheTechPrepper thanks, love the videos. I’m going to buy 2 or 3 of the vx6r. What antenna do you recommend. I’m going to watch some more of your videos. Also do you have a recommendation where to purchase from. I can buy on Amazon, but I rather support smaller shops.
@@theguuchful Good call. I actually have 5 total. Consistency is great. Yes, if you can, try a local Ham Radio Outlet or Gigaparts. Otherwise, I would order online through either of them if you do not have a local store.
Truth be told, I really wanted the VX-8. It has built-in APRS. If you ever decide to sell it, I'd be interested. Why does Yaesu discontinue these great radios?
@@TheTechPrepper probably because it didn't have the yaesu digi mode would be my guess. My VX-6's I just love them, but had to choose the minimal station I was going to keep at hand, so the vx-8 (ht's are really pretty useless up here), my FT-818 and mt ftm400 mobile. Rest of my station gear now awaits my move in storage. Sigh
I appreciate the correction. We had a 14.4kbs modem in '95 and rapidly upgraded to 28.8kbs, 33.6kbs and final to to a US Robotics 56k modem by the late 90's. It seems like that little Packard Bell was getting upgraded ever year. Cheers.
If you guys want to be notified of this cable's release, sign-up for the DigiRig Mobile "Email List". The form is on the bottom-right of this page: digirig.net/
I can confirm the VX-7R has the same screw in cable. Great video, I also would like to see more detail how it's ran on the software side.
Thanks for the confirmation. I have a loaner VX-7 from a friend and will test it out soon. Check out the Digital Mode Series in the description. The process for setting up packet radio is covered in the Baofeng video. It's an identical setup. I basically just use Dire Wolf and the AX.25 tools. Jason, KM4ACK, has a video on setting up Pat Winlink for packet. I just used that video as a reference.
@@TheTechPrepper Great thanks, I will do that.
@@TheTechPrepper Hi there, I love watching your videos and in my upper 60's now, and used to be a CB Radio bug because we had lots of friends and people in our area and it was a blast, but that was 30 years ago outside Chicago. Now I live on the Gulf Coast of MS and thinking about an emergency hand held Ham with as much on it as possible for as little $ as possible, lol. I like the Yaesu radios you show but I guess my pocketbook is Blaupunkt. Something that's easy to program or pre programed if they exist and needs no license to start with but that has a lot more for when I get the license please. Thanks Tech Prepper! From Anthony
@@anthonyjoseph8391 If you want to be fully legal, your best license-free options are FRS and MURS. These radios are limited on range given their low power output. You will find very few people on MURS. GMRS radios are probably the best thing for you as they offer more power and have a decent community. A license is required, but it requires no test and the fee just dropped to $35. I am not a GMRS user, so I would check out NotARubicon on UA-cam. If you want to get your ham license, then just go with a $30 Baofeng UV-5R. Thanks for the support. Good luck!
Amateur radio
After your recent few videos, I sense there is going to be a run on the VX-6R radios. HRO still has them. Time to stock up?
haha i got one before it was cool :). I can confirm its a great radio
I am small potatoes, but we'll see. I'm going to HRO this weekend in Phoenix. We'll see how their inventory looks. I am still getting complaints that the Mobilinkd TNC3 is still not available following my digital series. As a general rule, I buy my gear before I drop a video. Cheers, Josh.
@@TheTechPrepper I went to buy one and they are still sold out haha. I think we are like minded because I also bought one of those for my mobile rig before you dropped a video as well as I bought my d710 the same time as you haha. That's actually how I found you was your d710. Aprs is the reason I got my tech.
@@chunkylover54 The D710 is beautiful. Glad to hear you that my video pushed you into the hobby. Congrats! I had to buy a second D710-GA when HRO discovered a mystery pallet after they were discontinued. Like you, I am barely staying ahead of the curve of radios and accessories that are either being discontinued or are just impossible to get due to the supply chain. This is another reason why bought my second VX-6R recently. I have a suspicion that it may be discontinued soon. I'll buy a third unit as soon as I sell one of my FTM-6000 manpacks.
@@TheTechPrepper I got the vx6r to fill in for my ft3d which was out for repair and dont telll anyone I think I might like it better haha. I got a ftm200 now and it does a lot better on the digital modes than a 5w ht.
Working on learning more about digital. Thanks for the vid.
Just ordered this cable. I'll bring my setup when I got the road towards Quartzfest and see if I can send some emails on the road
Nice. We have an RMS Gateway near Quartzfest that I am curious to try. We can compare notes.
Just bought a digirig after one of your videos. It arrived today and that sucker is truly tiny.
It's even smaller if you switch out the case...about the size of a domino. Enjoy. These are great.
I love your channel especially when you tell people that you hate the technical crap 😅
Thanks. I really did I hate the technical stuff. I was exploring APRStt the last week...and, I literally yelled: "I hate this nerd shit" about a half dozen times.
Hey Gaston! Thanks for the callout! It's pretty cool to see you working with a prototype cable to get the VX-6R connected to the DigiRig. Even more reason to get this radio. Hope you've been well. Catch ya soon, 73. Eric
Thanks for visiting the channel, Eric. I am delinquent with my Winlink emails. I respond eventually. The VX-7 also works with this cable. A fellow ham sent me his radio for testing. The VX-6 is the perfect backcountry radio especially with the MARS/CAP mod. Under an emergency MURS/FRS/GMRS will work. 73's
@@TheTechPrepper Been a minute since I was here, honestly. But I try to keep up! MARS/CAP is a must out in the open spaces. You just never know when it will be necessary. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and experiences!
Im surprised that they didn't make the cable before your request. I think I need one now.👍
I've been lucky that they built three cables based on my request: VX-6R, FT-2980, and the short FT-8xx cable. Enjoy!
I do alot of digital field work down in Tucson on HF (using a digi-rig) and never crossed my mind to use my VX-7R for digital, especially winlink. That would be a game changer if you had to get out away from base and send an email to the base in a peer to peer scenario. Alot more secure than voice in the clear thats for sure. Great video..off to get one of their cables and a new digi rig. (Now if they can make a digi rig that is more user select able without opening it up that would be great!
Terrific video. Just purchased the digirig and cables for my vx7 r. Are there any settings that neeed to be made on the radio?
Thank you for sharing your experience with us.
It was 88°F here last Night and 102°F in the Day. Humidity as high as the Mt. Everest. 96°F today and Thunderrain might hit us thru the late Evening Hours. Damn...I was about to go portable Radio tonight. I better stay home. Happy wednesday Gaston & thx for the Video. 73 de YFUG 💯👍👍👍🙋♂️
Sounds like it's warming up for you, too. Stay cool. We've been hit be monsoon twice this week. The garage is between 93F and 100F these days at 0500 daily. It feels strange sweating while sitting still in front of the camera. Cheers, Uncle Günter!
@@TheTechPrepper The fricken Heat made me put the Sun Visors down, shutting off my PC cuz it's a Highend Gaming Bullet producing 10°F more Room Temperature inside my Place...and laying down and reading Antenna Books for HAM Radio or having a longer Power Nap.
Monsoon Rain not funny in no way and at no time. I have seen it back at my Days in CA, AZ and NM. Death Valley was blooming up and looking even greener and more colorful than the Amazon Rainforest at its best Days.
73 de AFUG🍻
Can you provide the source for your sma to bnc connector? I like the way yours looks. Also, does it maintain the waterproof properties with an o-ring?
The Yaesu FT-270 2m HT also uses the screw-in single pin mic connector. The radio is IPX7 rated and seems brute-tough. Uses the same battery as the FT60. Yaesu have discontinued so many fine radios.
That is a great ruggedized HT. I have a pair of FT-270's. It's great to have interchangeability with the FT-60 batteries. Like you said, another great radio that is no longer available.
Great video man. You got me wanting one of those bad!
Also, looks like you have the Argon Pi case. Would you recommend it, you dig it?
Thanks for all you do.
I appreciate the kind comment. It's a great radio. I have a feeling that Yaesu is going to discontinue the VX-6R soon. Once I convinced myself that this would be my new EDC radio, I had to get a second unit.
Yes, I would highly recommend the ArgonOne. That Pi4 is my permanent 2m packet station (connected to FT-2980R). I covered this case as well as a few others. I did a ton of thermal testing as well as other benchmarks. ua-cam.com/video/tQI--vMFhVU/v-deo.html
@@TheTechPrepper Thanks for the info and the link. I'll have to check it out.
Pay rent or buy VX6R......
Decisions. Just kidding. Keep on keeping on!
@@TheNoCodeTech Pay rent. Best, TTP
Great video on the very capable DigiRig. I use APRSDroid and Mobilinkd for SMS texting, what do you use for computer + digirig? I imagine it's some form of packet (AX.25) software for APRS such as direwolf?
On the computer, I use Dire Wolf and the AX.25 tool chain for packet work. I run YAAC (APRS) and Pat (Winlink). Outside of packet, I run fldigi/flmsg as well with the DigiRig. Thanks for stopping by, Dennis.
Sweet setup! Thanks for the cable heads-up. What kind of antenna were you using with the VX-6R that was outside pointing west?
Glad you enjoyed it. It's the 2m/440Mhz Arrow II backpacker Yagi mounted at 16' on a painter's pole. It's the only way for me to hit that distant digipeater from my home on 5 watts. I've tried my roll-up j-pole and it will not work over that range and my terrain. The directional antenna is a must with this low power. I was considering climbing a peak behind my house as I can hit that digipeater with the rubber duck antenna if I'm at higher ground.
@@TheTechPrepper Thanks! I'll look into that antenna. I'm upgrading myself to a Yaesu FT-60r as the Baofeng UV-5R just isn't cutting it for my needs. Going for my General Class license pretty quick too. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the digital stuff you've been covering in your videos. So much cool stuff to do and play with! Thanks for sharing your ham experiences and journey with us!
@@dreadedzen9 You'll never regret your General. It's the best bang for your buck. I'll be covering digital on HF soon.
I am currently working on trying to get a couple VX8DR handhelds to work with digirigs, and ATAK, using the Hammer plugin. I got it to work using an anytone radio and a couple retivis radio with a Btech APRS cable instead of the digirig.
Good luck getting the VX-8DR. I do not believe there is cable yet for the VX-8, so you may need to build your own cable.The VX-8 is a nice radio. I have one of those, too. I've had mix success with the APRS K1 cable as the VOX delay on the Baofengs is really slow.
@@TheTechPrepper The current version of the Hammer plugin on the ATAK app allows you to adjust for the vox delay by milliseconds. Right now I have it set to 2000 just to give myself a large cushion. I'll experiment with how long or short it really needs to be once I get the other settings correct and get reliable connections on the VX-8DR. Next Im gonna play with the audio sampling rate, I managed to get a couple hits by raising it from 16,000 to 20,000, but it's sporadic. I'm using an adapter to go from the radio plug to the 3.5mm plug, but Im not sure they are working properly. I have a few of the CT-M11 cables for the VX8, but I would need to send them to digirig and ask them to make the adapter. I did get other radios to work (Anytone 878 / Retivis RT3S) using the btech APRS cable with just 1000 millisecond delay. Sorry this got really long.
what is that adapter? the silver on at 3:16
If you're talking about the one between the digirig and the laptop, it's a usb a to usb c charger
I think that threaded tip for the vx6 may also serve those of us with the FT270R. Any thoughts?
You are 100% correct. Yes, this cable works with the FT-270. That is a beautiful 2m-only HT. I wish they were still in production. I am trying to find some units on the secondary market along with the voice inversion boards.
DR now has the screw in and FT60/70 cables.
Can VARA be substituted for PAT?
Do you think the VX-5 would do the same?
You mentioned using your YAGI with the VX-6R. Is it possible to do SSB with this radio/antenna ?
No. The VX-6R only transmits on FM.
Reminds me of the good old times of AX.25 Packet-Radio! I still have a PK-88 TNC and a BayCom modem... 😅
Glad to help take you take a trip down memory lane. I missed the packet radio hay day as I'm new to the hobby. It must have been incredible using packet radio pre cellphone and Internet. What is old, is new again.
@@TheTechPrepper Back in the days (circa 1993), all my hamradio softwares (for MS/DOS) were downloaded from the local packet-radio BBS. It could take days to downlad enough data to fill up a 1.44MB floppy disk. It was fun!
@@ElektroLUDIKITS The good old days. That's dedication. I bet it was more rewarding than downloading multli GB files today.
@@TheTechPrepper It was rewarding if the parts you downloaded and assembled were upright. If you had corrupted bytes (which could happen at the time), you had re-download the faulty "7PLUS" part(s) till they were all correct and ready to be assembled into your long awaited last version of the BayCom software 😅
Does this work like the Digirig lite? I’m watching your vids trying to figure out how to decide between the standard vx6r vs the FT5dr. I was wondering how you did digital comms with the vx6r and now I know the answer.
Yes. I have a DigiRig Lite. I'm using it now with the VX-6
@@TheTechPrepperoh nice. It sounds like that’s part of your off grid HT set up then.
Thank you!
You're welcome!
hi nice vid, can i use it as gateway to zello? tnx
Not sure. Happy hunting tracking this down.
do you have a link for the parts to build the cable? I wouldn't mind trying to build one myself.
I sent Denis the Argent Data Systems cable: www.argentdata.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=67&osCsid=moGNSExzWzmAADm3MIbPY0
For the other end is used these: amzn.to/3cwfECl
@@TheTechPrepper Thanks so much for providing these! Hopefully Denis releases these soon, so I can get a factory made one too! Also, do you have any info on which modes/freqs to monitor if you're using digital mode over a VX-6R? Would be good to get a list of those compiled :D
@@macpwn No problem. I'm on the hunt for the perfect communications setup and have no issues sending emails to people to help them improve or expand their products.
The only established frequency that I know of is 144.390 which is the APRS calling frequency in the US. I have a few other frequencies that I use for packet and digital, but they are specific to my state and area. For example, we have 1200 packet digipeaters on 145.710. Check out your state's band plan. For my personal fldigi use our group uses 145.500. If you visit the Winlink website and go to the map section you'll see other frequencies if you filter by VARA and Packet. Good luck!
Can a normal 3 ring 3.5mm cable be used with the DigiRig interface?
No. You need a special TRRS connector from DigiRig.
A ham radio BBS system would be awesome
Yep. They're rare these days, but they do exist. There's one in our area, but I plan to deploy one myself for the community.
Would the Mobilinkd cable work with the digi rig ?
No. They have different pinouts. At least none of the cables for my Yaesu radios work with both devices.
What is the differences between Vx-6 and the vx-6r?
thanks for this video, I now have the VX 6R and a digirig, any chance you can share the settings on your radio that you use? I am having trouble making a winlink packet connection
There are no actually settings other than opening up the squelch all the way (15) and playing with the speaker level. I have my volume set to the 10 o'clock position and have no issues decoding packets. Good luck.
on my vx-7r why can't I just get a usb sound card and connect it to the radio? as the radio has vox...
Sure, that is possible. But, you're mileage will vary on packet when receiving after a transmission. The PTT does not get unkeyed as quickly as when you have a hardware-based PTT signal. You will likely miss some packets.
Could you use the black cable, the one that plugs into the mic port, and go directly to an android or iphone using their respective apps?
Thanks for your videos!
You actually need to keep all the cables as well as by an "OTG" cable. This will only work on Android. Right now only two apps on Android support this interface: AndFlmsg and WoAD. Good luck.
Great Video, be Prepared 73. Is very cool to See that, is there a turnarund to do Winlink Witz a .Mac?
Thanks. The Pat Winlink client can be run on macOS, but I have never tried it.
@@TheTechPrepper Thanks, if the Interface is Here, then i will test it.
@@kokohenker9439 Good luck!
@@TheTechPrepper Tahnks.
Nice video 👍
Thanks! I appreciate the support.
Will this work with the Yeasu 817ND?
Yes. It works great. I have tested the DigiRig Mobile with my FT-818ND. You will need a different cable. Get the "Yaesu 8xx" cables from DigiRig.
Are there any special menu settings for the VX-6R (VX-7R) when connecting to the Digirig? I have the computer set up okay. Showing audio on the VARA FM window. When I go to start a VARA FM session, nothing happens on the radio, that is it's not transmitting. Any ideas?
did you figure it out?
@@anonymous_friend yes. Thanks.
Hi, I really enjoy your videos. Just wanted to ask you that my VX6R takes a very long time to get full charged to get the red LED to green. While charging from three bars the radio gets pretty hot. However, when the charging indicator in the display moves to the fifth bar the radio cools down until it is fully charged and the LED turns green. Is this normal?
Another thing which I want to know is about the threaded extra extention rubber antenna that comes with the VX6R. May I know for which band it is for?
Thank you and have a blessed day ahead
Cheers!
New Delhi
Morning! The battery does heat up, but I've never had a problem. I've had mine for about 15 months and charge it about once per week.
It's the Diamond Antenna BNCJ-SMAP adapter (amzn.to/3VcaWLS). I use this on every Yaesu HT as I prefer BNC as my standard. This also puts less stress on the SMA connector that is attached to the radio. It's easier to replace the adapter if it wears out. The Antenna that I am using here with that adapter is the Comet BNC-24.
@@TheTechPrepper Thank you for your response. I can now understand the logic of having a SMA BNC adapter. Yes, I would also go for the same
Now I understand that while charging the VX6 gets heated in the back of the radio and is normal
What I am actually inquisitive is about the two little rubber duckies - the two inch and the four inch that comes in the VX6R box along with the wall charger, rubber ducky antenna, battery, radio, operating manual and warranty card. These two are to be threaded to the main rubber ducky. I want to know when to use/attach to the antenna and for which band
Thanks and have a great day ahead.
Cheers!
@@shandybrandy5407 No problem. Use the smaller one for 2m and 70cm. Use the larger extension for 6m. Good luck and great question. Remember: The antenna gets longer as you down in frequency. I always remember this with "lower = longer". There are two L's.
@@TheTechPrepper Thank-za-ton for the response once again. Now I understand the usage of those two OEM little antenna attachments
Guess what, I was watching your videos on Abbree tactical antenna and the other video on Cat tail...
Trying for the the Diamond SMA to BNC connector but sadly Amazon will not ship it to New Delhi. Lot of desires but such bottleneck makes it very frustrating
By the way, I really appreciate the way you speak in the video looking directly to the camera. Simply superb and manly
Thank you once again and also wishing you an advanced blessed weekend ahead
Cheers & 73
I had the vx6 and made the mistake of selling it. I now have a vx7r which is a great radio
We've all done that. You can't go wrong with the VX series. A friend is letting me borrow his VX-7. It's nice that you can MARS mod it with the Commander software. You can't do that with the VX-6.
@@TheTechPrepper I wasnt aware of that. I might have a look at the software
Dam you! Now you are going to make me buy a vx-6r. I have vx-8dr. It’s a good radio. But I can’t find much on the market for it. It’s all gone. It works fine, but this looks more rugged.
The VX-8DR is a great rig. I had one for about a year and then sold it with the GPS and AA tray. I was unable to find a second unit, so it had to go. Note: There's no APRS on the VX-6R. However, it's still me EDC radio. It's more rugged than the VX8
@@TheTechPrepper thanks, love the videos. I’m going to buy 2 or 3 of the vx6r. What antenna do you recommend. I’m going to watch some more of your videos. Also do you have a recommendation where to purchase from. I can buy on Amazon, but I rather support smaller shops.
I never use the aprs anyway.
@@theguuchful Good call. I actually have 5 total. Consistency is great. Yes, if you can, try a local Ham Radio Outlet or Gigaparts. Otherwise, I would order online through either of them if you do not have a local store.
…great video!,…is ft-8 possible,with that set up?,using psk500f??….thank you!!
Dang it. My VX-6R's are both now in storage, I only kept out my VX-8. Ah keep notes at least
Truth be told, I really wanted the VX-8. It has built-in APRS. If you ever decide to sell it, I'd be interested. Why does Yaesu discontinue these great radios?
@@TheTechPrepper probably because it didn't have the yaesu digi mode would be my guess. My VX-6's I just love them, but had to choose the minimal station I was going to keep at hand, so the vx-8 (ht's are really pretty useless up here), my FT-818 and mt ftm400 mobile. Rest of my station gear now awaits my move in storage. Sigh
@@TheTechPrepper I have a vx-8 without gps module. If you're interested I could be easily persuaded to sell cheap or do ham swap if you rather.
@@ericbjorkman4665 If you're interested in parting with it, please shoot me an email. I am non QRZ. 73 de KT1RUN.
In 1995 people were using 19,200 baud modems. 1200 baud is more like 1985....
I appreciate the correction. We had a 14.4kbs modem in '95 and rapidly upgraded to 28.8kbs, 33.6kbs and final to to a US Robotics 56k modem by the late 90's. It seems like that little Packard Bell was getting upgraded ever year. Cheers.
Can I use the digirig mobile to run APRS Droid? I have a Yaesu VX170 (same cable as the VX6) and an old android phone.
Only $60 for Digirig less than half the price of signalink.
As someone who has a both, the DigiRig is a welcomed new innovation. Half the price, size and weight.
In 1994 the fastest modem was 56k
More like 28.8k in 94. 56k wasn't for a couple more years.
Which cable logic are you using as the site as multiple logic options, vx7r here. Again great job, thank you
Great question. You want: Logic Levels (default). Enjoy your DigiRig!