Author Comment Albert Branson Global user (5/15/00 8:54:42 am) New Radio John Blacet. After viewing your new radio, I have decided that it is the one for Donna. Could you please tell me again where you got it and let me know the web site? Thanks, Albert John Blacet Administrator (5/15/00 10:43:58 am) Re: New Radio Vertex VX-150: $169 at: www.aesham.com/ I've had mike problems making a home brew headset (limited modulation). The regular one is expected today, so we will see if perhaps the radio has a problem or it's just me.... Other than that, I like the radio. For those who have not seen this, it has a top facing display at a 30 degree angle, weather resistant construction, NiMH battery, top mounted channel and volume/squelch knobs. It has an SMA jack for the antenna so hit HSC for an adaptor. John Blacet Administrator (5/18/00 8:21:48 am) Re: New Radio I was not very sucessful in creating a helmet system and PTT for this radio. The diagram in the manual is not correct. I determined this by ordering one of their overpriced and cheesy ear bud/mike sets and dissecting the mutha. Using the manual diagram, I could get the earphone and PTT to work fine but the modulation from the mike was VERY low. My e-mails to Yaesu regarding this have been unanswered for 2 plus weeks. I talked to two techs at Yaesu; one of whom was going to "look into it" -- never heard back from him. Tech #2 looked at the schemo and diagram and told me it "was correct". The radio uses ONE jack for the remote functions, including a "clone" feature. This requires a FOUR conductor 1/8" plug, which is not a stock item. Yaesu didn't have any loose ones, but gave me the name of a US company that has them. They didn't answer their phone. This company, turns out, sold their stock to AES. Talking to AES on the phone got me "yeah, we bought their stock, but it's not in the computer, so I don't have any idea how to get that plug." I had to order a breakout box from Yaesu for $13 plus shipping just to get the plug. Last night, I managed to get the whole system working. I will put a diagram up on the web when I get a chance to draw it up pretty. I'm out about $75 just to get this PTT running! Nice radio, though.... John Blacet Administrator (5/19/00 8:44:47 am) Re: New Radio The bottom line: don't put the 10 uF cap in the mike circuit. This is shown in the manual, but is not present in the ear bud/mike system I got from Yaesu. From the HG list Natalie's new radio Date: Fri, 27 Sep 2002 01:59:49 -0700 From: "Mark G. Forbes" Subject: Natalie's new radio These days, the radio I'm recommending to folks is the Yaesu VX-150. It's a nice, solid radio, well built, fairly easy to modify, and has a nice set of features. One of the best, IMHO, is the top-mounted display, which you can see even when it's tucked into a harness pocket. Battery, charger and everything, it's about $130. $120 at AES right now! http://www.hamradio.com/cgi-bin/uncgi/ase?ITEM=vx-150 http://search.cartserver.com/search/search.cgi?cartid=a-6994&category=newprices1&maxhits=200&keywords=vx150 Here's a pointer to the manual: http://www.yaesu.com/amateur/pdf/manuals/vx_150.pdf In the past, one of the big drawbacks to these Yaesu radios was the weird four-conductor mini-phone plug they use for both the microphone and speaker external connection. It's nice to have just one wire to plug in your headset, but not if it's a proprietary expensive connector. Those days are over; Mouser Electronics now carries the connector, and it's about a buck. www.mouser.com, part number 171-7435 The mod requires the removal of one resistor on the inside of the radi