An email I opened this evening sheds some light on why it is better on the ears. Tony Allen EI4DIB also has this radio and has had a bit more time to look in to things. In his blog post Tony says " There is one thing that I was surprised to find in the Menu was a thing they call “Compander Function” this I discovered operates a bit like a very fancy Noise Blanker as it totally eliminates the static heard on a very weak station." Well what ever you call it it works! There was an M6 station calling someone this afternoon and when I have heard him in the past he was 25% white noise. There is no S-meter so it is difficult to tell if he was actually a stronger signal but I suspect not, so wow! My antenna is quite low so I have great hopes for the future when I get the 4m antenna up above the roof line.
I am slightly jealous that Tony got a DTMF mic with his, where as mine is a standard mic. The ability to enter frequencies directly would be nice, so I think it is time to scan eBay and see if I can get one cheap enough. I will have to look in to which rigs have compatable wiring. The programming cable is a USB to RJ45 which plugs into the mic socket. One of those would be nice too.
Read Tony's blog post reviewing the Anytone AT-5189 here.
Note the Anytone AT-5189 is sold as the MyDel MY-5189 at Martyn Lynch and Sons.
Photo shows the 2m version.
I have just received the AnyTone AT-5189 (or MyDel MY-5189 as sold by Martin Lynch & Sons). Mine had the DTMF mic. The manual shows a programming cable and software, but neither Martin Lynch & Sons or the manufacturer Qixiang's website have these available Perhaps this is to come in the future. The rig is simple to set up, although I have not played with settings for a repeater as none are available in the west country (are there any 4m repeaters in the UK?) Audio is very good and my first half a dozen QSOs gave good reports. Definately much better than my old converted Pye FM-1200 (using the same 4m vertical), even if the power output is 25w compared with 35w for the FM-1200. Sadly no S-meter, but S-meters can give false impressions and readings. Like the "Compander" function which acts as an excellent noise blanker and removes much of the FM noise. Nice rig and well worth the money.
ReplyDeletedoes anyone know how to adjust internal mic gain and power adjustment edd g1gkw
ReplyDeleteWhen I first got my one second hand the reports on the audio were bad.
DeleteI was told the the audio was well down and i needed to turn the mic gain up.
I didnt find the mic gain but the answer to my problem was simple.
I opened up the mic. removed the plug for the cable and removed the circuit board.
The problem was that the condenser mic sits in the membrane along with the push buttons.
The membrane covered the mic, so i just cut the part of the membrane that covered the mic and the problem was solved.
Now getting good reports with the radio.
Hope that helps
mm0dvb