UV-X4 REVIEW & headset adapter

[alan_k]

What a great little radio. Small is the word, take a look at the comparison over 20 years:

Not quite an exact comparison but not far off, both are dual band radios. The Icom is from 1992, at £320. The Vero is 2012 for £40, with a huge input from mobile phone technology for the reduction of size and price.

The integration of so many functions in a couple of chips results in just one small printed circuit board:

The UV-X4 has a very constant power output over the wide operating bands and also has very good receive sensitivity. A tad shy of the high 2W specified but low power at 0.5W is more than adequate for all flying scenarios.

Suggested menu settings are :-

Power: low (0.5W gives better battery life)

Step: 25KHz (avoids lots of Dial knob twiddling to change channel)

W/N Wide/Narrow band: Wide (The frequency accuracy is very good but other radios may not be)

SAVE battery saver: Off (see adapter info- prevents soft clicks when headset is connected)

The supplied antenna is very good on VHF and UHF, a good performance for a dual band antenna.

A HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BUY

Headset adapter.

The pinout of the Speaker/mic socket is different to the Yaesu standard.

The fundamental problem is that the clearance hole in the case for the external 4 way plug is small and does not allow the plug to go all the way in. SEE LATER POSTING

As I have found before with small radios, the hole is only big enough for the small diameter moulded plugs that are used on the earpieces.

The hole needs to be increased to 9.5mm diameter, slightly offset as shown:

The wiring required is to connect the PTT and mic inputs as on this diagram:

The battery save function is overridden by connecting PTT and mic inputs.

Depending on the current drawn by the microphone of the headset the 2.2Kohm may need adjustment. The threshold voltage to trigger transmit is 1.5V. With the headset plugged in the voltage as shown should be 1.6V or greater. When the PTT button is pressed the voltage should be 1.4V or lower.

Cheers,

Alan

Edited April 26, 2012 by Guest

[Richwill15]

Great review Alan. Thanks for posting. Showing my complete numptyness here. I'm assuming this is a transceiver? also with the unit being dual band. Does that mean comms with other paramotors AND with civi/mil ATC?

You wouldn't have a more detailled post relating to how you drilled the holes etc and connections to headset/helmet.

how much would you charge to do one if I bought it?

Thanks again for the info. For me Comms is something I sorely want educating about.

Al

[alan_k]

To answer Als questions, the radio is a transceiver but does not cover the air band frequencies so cannot be used to talk to ATC.

It covers 136 to 174 MHz, this is VHF.

This includes commonly used frequencies such as 143.950 and 143.975.

It also covers 400 to 470 MHz, this is UHF.

This includes the 8 PMR446 channels, which are:

Channel 1 - 446.00625

Channel 2 – 446.01875

Channel 3 – 446.03125

Channel 4 – 446.04375

Channel 5 – 446.05625

Channel 6 – 446.06875

Channel 7 – 446.08125

Channel 8 – 446.09375

To remove the radio chassis so the plug hole can be enlarged (file then drill to ensure circular):

The adapter lead is constructed in the following sequence:

Note the radio does have a lanyard attachment point, always a wise fitment when airborne.

Hope this helps,

Cheers, Alan

[alan_k]

HEADSET ADAPTER CABLE

I have just though, if you buy a cable similar to this http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/28083876 ... sbar&cbt=y and use half of it as the adapter cable then the clearance hole at the side of the radio doesn't need to be enlarged

Cheers,

Alan