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VX-354 Won't Let Me Select Wide ???

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03msc

03msc

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I have a UHF VX-354 that I use for work. I'm also a ham so I wanted to program a few local ham repeaters into the radio. No problem with that except that in the W/N column in CE86 it will not let me select anything other than N, which is what it puts in by itself. It's like somewhere in the software (or radio?) it has been set to only do narrow (?).

I can "kerchunk" the repeaters but if I talk it doesn't transmit...it only "kerchunks" or "trips" the repeater when I UNKEY (we've tested this with someone else using a 440 ham HT and listening...then he talked and it came across). I can only imagine it is because of the narrow setting.

Anyone have any idea why it is 'stuck' on only allowing me to select N in the W/N column? In CE86 if I go to Hardware under Common, everything is displayed but grayed out. It does, however, show next to Channel Step "5, 6.25kHz" (see attached screenshot).

Any help would be appreciated!


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wa2chj

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Yes, you are correct. CE86 will only allow narrow.....since January of 2012. There are TWO work arounds for this.
1. There is software available for Europe that will do WIDE. There used to also be a patch program that would fix the wide/narrow problem for amateurs and others who still have wide authorization, but I don't believe it is still available.
2. When using CE86, set your computer date to prior to 01/01/2012. It will then allow wide programming, but anytime you use the CE86, you will have to set your computer to prior to 01/01/2012 or the program will happily reset any wide, non-amateur, channels to narrow.
Without resetting your computer date, it should allow wide programming in the amateur frequencies, but it won't on things like NOAA, Marine, etc. that are still wide.
 
wa2chj

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Just to be clear. You have to set your COMPUTER date to 12/31/2011 or earlier. You can then click in the W/N column of the channel programming page and select (by multiple clicks) N, W4, or W5.
 
03msc

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wa2chj said:
Yes, you are correct. CE86 will only allow narrow.....since January of 2012. There are TWO work arounds for this.
1. There is software available for Europe that will do WIDE. There used to also be a patch program that would fix the wide/narrow problem for amateurs and others who still have wide authorization, but I don't believe it is still available.
2. When using CE86, set your computer date to prior to 01/01/2012. It will then allow wide programming, but anytime you use the CE86, you will have to set your computer to prior to 01/01/2012 or the program will happily reset any wide, non-amateur, channels to narrow.
Without resetting your computer date, it should allow wide programming in the amateur frequencies, but it won't on things like NOAA, Marine, etc. that are still wide.
Click to expand...

wa2chj said:
Just to be clear. You have to set your COMPUTER date to 12/31/2011 or earlier. You can then click in the W/N column of the channel programming page and select (by multiple clicks) N, W4, or W5.
Click to expand...

OK, thank you! I will try this later today (well, tonight). I would have never thought of this on my own so I'm glad I posted this question...and greatly appreciate your reply! I'll post my results here.

If someone has the patch program they wouldn't mind sharing please let me know by posting here or via a PM. Otherwise I'll try to find the European software or do the date trick.
 
wa2chj

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You're welcome. I used to have the patch, but the computer it was on died a horrible death. The computer date work around is actually the easiest. Hardest part is remembering to do it before you open any files, but after a couple of times of having to rebuild files, you'll tend to remember to do it.
I believe the European programming software is still available on the Vertex site, but I remember reading somewhere that it has other problems that can crop up. I may have that confused with another CE version, so I won't swear to it. Anyway, if you don't know, you can set up an account on the Vertex site, and all the software is then free to download...just FYI.
If you have any other problems please ask, I'll try to help you out....as will several others who are really good at programming Vertex equipment.
Scott
 
03msc

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wa2chj said:
You're welcome. I used to have the patch, but the computer it was on died a horrible death. The computer date work around is actually the easiest. Hardest part is remembering to do it before you open any files, but after a couple of times of having to rebuild files, you'll tend to remember to do it.
I believe the European programming software is still available on the Vertex site, but I remember reading somewhere that it has other problems that can crop up. I may have that confused with another CE version, so I won't swear to it. Anyway, if you don't know, you can set up an account on the Vertex site, and all the software is then free to download...just FYI.
If you have any other problems please ask, I'll try to help you out....as will several others who are really good at programming Vertex equipment.
Scott
Click to expand...

Thanks. I may need to setup a Vertex account as I do have a couple of Vertex radios.

On another note - do you know anyone who repairs Vertex radios? I have a VX-2200 (I think it is) mobile that the rx and tx is messed up on but don't want to spend an arm and a leg on it if I don't have to. I'd like to get it fixed since it's currently residing in its box in a closet. Feel free to PM me if you think that would be more appropriate in this case.

EDIT: If I go to vertexstandard.com I'm not seeing where to setup the account...which I assume means I'm looking in the wrong place but anyway...help! :)
 
wa2chj

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Unfortunately, no, I don't know of anyone who repairs Vertex except maybe TRN Communications. Search for that name. Almost all of the radios I've been responsible for have only died after they have gone obsolete and were going to be replaced anyway. That says a lot about Vertex now that I actually think about it especially when you consider they were all EMS/Rescue/Fire radios that tend to get beaten up pretty badly.
The Vertex website is: "https colon backslash backslash businessonline dot vertexstandard dot com/Login dot aspx"
I hope that doesn't violate any of the rules since it's not a hot link.
 
03msc

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UPDATE:

I got off work early today so I decided to give this a shot. The date option - changing the date to prior to 01-01-2012 - fixed this issue.

Thank you for your help!
 
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