Five years later… It seems this very use of the GM function has become “a thing.” I think Yaesu’s North American Rep, John Kruk, mentioned it on a video when discussing the release of the FT5, last week (as I write), and since then, I have seen two other discussions about it. When I read about the GM and CAM features, I thought they would be great if I was still a part of a Search and Rescue team, but saw not much else for me to do with it. But now, setting the radio to a Yaesu simplex calling frequency (either 147.525 or 145.5625 in the USA), and using the GM feature, seems like a fun new way to play radio. I have had it all along, just never knew about this way of playing. Thanks for the brief tutorial.
I am in rental vehicles all the time for work. Try cutting out a small circle from a plastic bag and putting it between the magnet and the car roof. It helps keeps the scratching down. You know, when it's not an aluminum roof that is.
+Ringway Manchester yep it turns out on the TR all the panels are made from pressed aluminium, I wasn't going to permanently use a magmount on this car anyway TBH!
When I had a car and frequently operated mobile, I used to keep coffee filters in the glove box to put underneath the mag mount. It did a good job protecting the finish, but you had to change them often as they disintegrated with weather.
Hi Andy, great stuff your doing , I am on Fusion in Southend I work through a node in Kent, W&S are waiting for the NOV coming very soon, should open it right up. Great mode to use.Regards Brian.
Hi Andy, thanks for the informative veds ! I have noticed through you-tube that the speaker audio output is not loud compared to other handheld radios. How do you find it compared to the ID-51? Is it way too soft or not an issue? Also what about air-band reception sensitivity. Planning to Buy an FT2 as it seems Yaesu are not coming out with a replacement any soon.
Hi Andy. Just down the road to you I think and I now have an FT-2DE. Bought it for a road trip across the States but with W&S putting a repeater in soon and ERG considering it, I thought I'd become an early adopter.
got a question, what is the national calling frequency for digital, I know it's 144.612, but I checked on a chart and is shows that it's a repeater input? I have a yaesu ftm 3200 dr that can only do 2 meters thx
Hi Kev, it's 144.6125 MHz ... I've seen loads of activity there in the last week so I'm sure you'll have some luck, ultimately as we know VHF can be better for DX. Fusion signals are a bit like FM so they propogate well too.
Hey Andy thanks for the advice will log the 70cm call frequency in the Yaesu to, although I left the radio on 144.6125 c4fm and even sent a few gm pings out but nothing coming back. will persist with it mate and see what happens.
Cool yeah it will be interesting to see if you get any activity, ultimately if we can encourage more HAMs to do it in the area then we might be able to have some fun! That was kinda the point of this video. Keep me posted, I'll put my radio on 144.6125 GM mode when I'm back from Brighton tomorrow, who knows I might catch you if there's a lift on... It beacons every few seconds so if there's ever a path between us you never know!
+andy kirby Weekends are usually best for playing radio for me so will defo crank the antenna up and send out some 10 sec pings and see if anything comes of it. Will keep ya posted mate.
I`m on Fusion works very well, and I am in Southend, W&S are waiting for their NOV which will open up this mode a lot,I run through a node in Kent works great......
+Vital Ral hey, no not really, it works well...the only thing I would say is the interface is a bit sluggish, the touchscreen isn't the greatest one in the world. On the plus side though the battery lasts longer between charges than any other radio I have.
Well thank you for reply. I bought one a few days a go and noticed that when radio switched to auto mode between fm and digital then each time it receives there's a high pitch sound that is present. When I tried to do the same on my ft1xd it wasn't there. Another way to hear it would be to set radio in DN mode, lower the volume all the way down and push moni-tcall button to open squelch. I think that's a bug that Yaesu needs to fix but I have to address that to them yet.
Don't know where abouts your based Andy but here in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex no one uses DV mode and no Fusion repeaters local to speak of except GB7YO which is not operational. Had the FT-991 radio over a year already and never heard a soul on Digital, Oh well analog it still is for now. Cheers Danny
+Danny Stephenson hey Danny, it's certainly hit and miss to find any digital activity but trust me it is there, try monitoring the calling channels 144.6125 and 438.6125 I've had quite a few QSOs there on DMR, Fusion and DStar. I left my FTM400 on group mode the other day and when I came back it had logged a callsign I'd never made contact with before (I wish they had sent me a message!) I'm basically in the middle of nowhere in a small town near Braintree. The other thing is digital signals propagate the same as FM so when there's a lift on you'll hear even more activity, especially repeaters! Your actually not that far from me...
Five years later… It seems this very use of the GM function has become “a thing.” I think Yaesu’s North American Rep, John Kruk, mentioned it on a video when discussing the release of the FT5, last week (as I write), and since then, I have seen two other discussions about it.
When I read about the GM and CAM features, I thought they would be great if I was still a part of a Search and Rescue team, but saw not much else for me to do with it. But now, setting the radio to a Yaesu simplex calling frequency (either 147.525 or 145.5625 in the USA), and using the GM feature, seems like a fun new way to play radio.
I have had it all along, just never knew about this way of playing.
Thanks for the brief tutorial.
Hi Andy. I have the FTM 400 and an FT3D. Great radios! M3XHT
Love your vids Andy,just did not understand most of this one.
I am in rental vehicles all the time for work. Try cutting out a small circle from a plastic bag and putting it between the magnet and the car roof. It helps keeps the scratching down. You know, when it's not an aluminum roof that is.
Great video Andy, interesting stuff. Frustrating the antenna doesnt stick to the roof! That's gotta be a first.
+Ringway Manchester yep it turns out on the TR all the panels are made from pressed aluminium, I wasn't going to permanently use a magmount on this car anyway TBH!
+andy kirby I meant TT
Just as well then! Look forward to the next upload. 73 from M3HHY
When I had a car and frequently operated mobile, I used to keep coffee filters in the glove box to put underneath the mag mount. It did a good job protecting the finish, but you had to change them often as they disintegrated with weather.
Good idea! The issue I had is that my car is Aluminium (Aluminum if you are in the US) so no mag mount will stick!
Seen quite a few of your offerings- really enjoy your delivery style. 73s de G6XYZ
Hi Andy, great stuff your doing , I am on Fusion in Southend I work through a node in Kent, W&S are waiting for the NOV coming very soon, should open it right up. Great mode to use.Regards Brian.
+thames Ranger hey Brian, that's interesting which node is that? Might try it when mobile
Did you ever find a GM frequency? Been looking but doesn’t seem to be anyone using it.
Hi Andy if you get a small steel plate and put a cloth under it to stop it hurting your roof lining the mag aerial will stick
+John Goodman really? How does that work?!!
Great video. What brand is your mini antenna?
Try a glass mount antenna- my car has a huge sunroof and no where to put the mag mount so the glass mount works great. Ps. The tint might affect it
Hi Andy, thanks for the informative veds ! I have noticed through you-tube that the speaker audio output is not loud compared to other handheld radios. How do you find it compared to the ID-51? Is it way too soft or not an issue? Also what about air-band reception sensitivity. Planning to Buy an FT2 as it seems Yaesu are not coming out with a replacement any soon.
a trick : you can watch movies at flixzone. Me and my gf have been using them for watching all kinds of movies these days.
@Marcellus Donald Yup, have been watching on Flixzone for months myself :D
@Marcellus Donald Yup, I have been using flixzone for since november myself :)
@Marcellus Donald Yup, been watching on Flixzone for months myself :)
@Marcellus Donald Yea, have been watching on Flixzone for months myself =)
Hi Andy. Just down the road to you I think and I now have an FT-2DE. Bought it for a road trip across the States but with W&S putting a repeater in soon and ERG considering it, I thought I'd become an early adopter.
Hi Paul, great to hear from another local HAM, that's cool maybe we could work simplex!?
got a question, what is the national calling frequency for digital, I know it's 144.612, but I checked on a chart and is shows that it's a repeater input? I have a yaesu ftm 3200 dr that can only do 2 meters thx
Hi Kev, it's 144.6125 MHz ... I've seen loads of activity there in the last week so I'm sure you'll have some luck, ultimately as we know VHF can be better for DX. Fusion signals are a bit like FM so they propogate well too.
Hey Andy thanks for the advice will log the 70cm call frequency in the Yaesu to, although I left the radio on 144.6125 c4fm and even sent a few gm pings out but nothing coming back. will persist with it mate and see what happens.
Cool yeah it will be interesting to see if you get any activity, ultimately if we can encourage more HAMs to do it in the area then we might be able to have some fun! That was kinda the point of this video. Keep me posted, I'll put my radio on 144.6125 GM mode when I'm back from Brighton tomorrow, who knows I might catch you if there's a lift on... It beacons every few seconds so if there's ever a path between us you never know!
+andy kirby
Weekends are usually best for playing radio for me so will defo crank the antenna up and send out some 10 sec pings and see if anything comes of it. Will keep ya posted mate.
I`m on Fusion works very well, and I am in Southend, W&S are waiting for their NOV which will open up this mode a lot,I run through a node in Kent works great......
Hi Andy, Frequency for that node which is in Gillingham 434.037.50.DN works well from here, only on evenings and weekends though, best regards Brian.
+thameswater interesting, thanks I'll have to try it!
Hi Brian im also in southend. What node do you use? Andrew
Thanks Andy!
Well it's been a while since you owned ft2dr. Have you encountered any problems with it?
+Vital Ral hey, no not really, it works well...the only thing I would say is the interface is a bit sluggish, the touchscreen isn't the greatest one in the world. On the plus side though the battery lasts longer between charges than any other radio I have.
Well thank you for reply. I bought one a few days a go and noticed that when radio switched to auto mode between fm and digital then each time it receives there's a high pitch sound that is present. When I tried to do the same on my ft1xd it wasn't there. Another way to hear it would be to set radio in DN mode, lower the volume all the way down and push moni-tcall button to open squelch. I think that's a bug that Yaesu needs to fix but I have to address that to them yet.
The will hold the aerial magnet through the head lining and hold on to the metal plate
+John Goodman oh I see what you mean, from the inside. I think there's too much interior padding to do that. Worth a try though thanks.
Hi Andy posted to FB fusion group and FT2 group hope you don't mind....regards G1YPQ
+Karl Hobson that's fantastic thanks :-)
Don't know where abouts your based Andy but here in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex no one uses DV mode and no Fusion repeaters local to speak of except GB7YO which is not operational. Had the FT-991 radio over a year already and never heard a soul on Digital, Oh well analog it still is for now.
Cheers
Danny
+Danny Stephenson hey Danny, it's certainly hit and miss to find any digital activity but trust me it is there, try monitoring the calling channels 144.6125 and 438.6125 I've had quite a few QSOs there on DMR, Fusion and DStar. I left my FTM400 on group mode the other day and when I came back it had logged a callsign I'd never made contact with before (I wish they had sent me a message!) I'm basically in the middle of nowhere in a small town near Braintree. The other thing is digital signals propagate the same as FM so when there's a lift on you'll hear even more activity, especially repeaters!
Your actually not that far from me...
Is that an F-Type? - the whole car is aluminum dude
It’s an Audi TT.
Just started doing this in the UK. Zero hits so far.
What frequency were you on?