Thanks Mike, appreciate the information.
CS700 DMR UHF Portable radio
- Thread starter k3td
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KA9JYO
Member
90% of digital repeaters are on UHF or higher, just works better for digital. Some places near a military facility are VHF due to FCC requirement.
Most of the users that have them on the NCPRN DMR sound very good and the users seem to really like them. I love my Moto equipment as you can see below ,but I may have to try one of these. I like the radio layout better than the XPR6550's and I cannot afford a XPR7550. I use my XPR4500 mobile on NCPRN ,but I want an HT.
KA9JYO
Member
DMR CS700
Andy, this is the best way to try DMR, I got a CS700 about 1 month ago, I think is a great radio for the money, if I was you I'll get it soon, the price may go up. I access a repeater 18 miles away using the stock
Antenna.
Carlos KA9JYO
I`m thinking on getting into another digital mode soon, and right now it seems DMR is the way to go. Anyone have a website i can have a look at so i can get a gander at this radio? Price seems really nice, and if i could find one i`d SERIOUSLY give DMR a heavy look. N9NRA
Andy, this is the best way to try DMR, I got a CS700 about 1 month ago, I think is a great radio for the money, if I was you I'll get it soon, the price may go up. I access a repeater 18 miles away using the stock
Antenna.
Carlos KA9JYO
JPSan
Member
CS700 - Software update 3/12/14
Connect Systems released a software update to version to CP ver 1.16
This update adds cut and paste in the software and other improvements.
Connect Systems has been very responsive in listening to amateur users and adding features and improvements.
The current firmware version is 1.025
Connect Systems will have a booth at Dayton this year.
You can find the updates on the CSI DMR Radios Yahoo Group : https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/csidmr/info
Connect Systems released a software update to version to CP ver 1.16
This update adds cut and paste in the software and other improvements.
Connect Systems has been very responsive in listening to amateur users and adding features and improvements.
The current firmware version is 1.025
Connect Systems will have a booth at Dayton this year.
You can find the updates on the CSI DMR Radios Yahoo Group : https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/csidmr/info
kayn1n32008
ØÆSØ
I am looking forward to receiving my CSS-700. While there is not a DMR repeater where I live yet, it looks like a pretty decent radio. Will be fun to play with.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Are you guys purchasing these directly through Connect Systems or are other vendors selling them. I can't seem to find where to buy.
K
kk4mei
Guest
EBAY
Prices are a bit higher there than what was mentioned earlier in this thread. Did the prices go up or just typical ebay shanagans.
K
kk4mei
Guest
lol yeah typical ebay donkeys
JPSan
Member
Purchase direct from Connect Systems
As posted this on page 1 of this thread these are the prices directly from CS.
Connect Systems Inc.
5321 Derry Ave
Suite B
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
PH: (805) 642-7184
Best to e-mail them : jwanger@pacbell.net
CS700 DMR UHF handheld is .... $180.00
Programming cable is ..... $5.00. (Programming software and drivers FREE on the CS website)
A 2000mah battery ( radio comes with a 1700mah as stock) ..... $30.00.
I have seen the CS700 selling for $285.00 for just the radio, the programming cable with software for $49.00.
Programming software is free on line.
They will be at Dayton this year.
Kenwood has DMR radios available now in the U.K. see my post in the Kenwood section of the forums
As posted this on page 1 of this thread these are the prices directly from CS.
Connect Systems Inc.
5321 Derry Ave
Suite B
Agoura Hills, CA 91301
PH: (805) 642-7184
Best to e-mail them : jwanger@pacbell.net
CS700 DMR UHF handheld is .... $180.00
Programming cable is ..... $5.00. (Programming software and drivers FREE on the CS website)
A 2000mah battery ( radio comes with a 1700mah as stock) ..... $30.00.
I have seen the CS700 selling for $285.00 for just the radio, the programming cable with software for $49.00.
Programming software is free on line.
They will be at Dayton this year.
Kenwood has DMR radios available now in the U.K. see my post in the Kenwood section of the forums
The price on Ebay is dealer retail. The price for up to 2 radios for hams is $180 each.
CS-700 and NCPRN
This may have been covered already, if so please forgive me. I am getting ready to make the jump into DMR. I live in Four Oaks. I have ordered a Connect Systems CS700. I have already downloaded the software from the manufacturer. I want to make sure that I set the radio up correctly since this is something new for me. If there is anyone out there that has a CS700 that can help me set mine up, I would be greatly appreciative. I have seen videos and read literature and am more confused now than before. I can be reached at: jarsmember@yahoo.com, by phone at (919)934-9623-H or (919)628-9927-C
Thanks
This may have been covered already, if so please forgive me. I am getting ready to make the jump into DMR. I live in Four Oaks. I have ordered a Connect Systems CS700. I have already downloaded the software from the manufacturer. I want to make sure that I set the radio up correctly since this is something new for me. If there is anyone out there that has a CS700 that can help me set mine up, I would be greatly appreciative. I have seen videos and read literature and am more confused now than before. I can be reached at: jarsmember@yahoo.com, by phone at (919)934-9623-H or (919)628-9927-C
Thanks
kayn1n32008
ØÆSØ
Join the CS700 yahoo group and download a sample code plug and take a look through it, there may already be a code plug for where you live
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Mike,
You are in luck. It looks like there is a MARC repeater just south of you near Wood Lee Rd. & Hockaday Rd.
Got to the DMR-MARC website and select the repeater map display. Zoom in on Benson NC and just east you will see a bubble flag. Click on the bubble and you should see all the details for K4ITL repeater you need to input to the program. Following the details on the YouTube video sub the value in the video for the one in the bubble. Not exactly a one for one subsitution. With the detail of the repeater you need to reach maybe it will be less confusing.
Don't forget to register for an ID # on the MARC website. It is an important number that you need to input. The first 4 numbers are your geographic location. The last three are you person ID.
Mike
You are in luck. It looks like there is a MARC repeater just south of you near Wood Lee Rd. & Hockaday Rd.
Got to the DMR-MARC website and select the repeater map display. Zoom in on Benson NC and just east you will see a bubble flag. Click on the bubble and you should see all the details for K4ITL repeater you need to input to the program. Following the details on the YouTube video sub the value in the video for the one in the bubble. Not exactly a one for one subsitution. With the detail of the repeater you need to reach maybe it will be less confusing.
Don't forget to register for an ID # on the MARC website. It is an important number that you need to input. The first 4 numbers are your geographic location. The last three are you person ID.
Mike
mikepdx
Member
A free service manual available too.
I'm sold.
Digital transceivers at reasonable prices.
It's about time.
I look forward to the day that D-Star is only
remembered of as an early, but failed attempt
at mass appeal digital mobile radio for amateur radio.
I'm sold.
Digital transceivers at reasonable prices.
It's about time.
I look forward to the day that D-Star is only
remembered of as an early, but failed attempt
at mass appeal digital mobile radio for amateur radio.
iball
Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2008
- Messages
- 31
Well, to bump this thread a bit I got my CS700 last Thursday. Since I already had the software installed on the laptop I use for radio stuff and a code plug downloaded from the Yahoo group, I was able to edit that older plug to add in a new repeater and verify the other repeater settings from the DMR-MARC website and it was off to the races.
Wow. So much easier to use than DSTAR. I have an IC-7100, 880H, ID-51, and ID31 and using DSTAR on those is a lot of different clicks and taps than just twisting the knob on the CS700 to go from LCL Kansas City to Midwest, or North America, or World Wide. Twist the knob to the channel you want and talk away.
And unlike DSTAR, the repeaters here don't try to hang on to a weak signal - they just dump it. So very rarely do you hear any "R2D2" garbled transmissions due to long distance packet loss.
They just threw up a new DMR repeater in Manhattan, KS over the weekend.
With both DMR repeaters and HTs (soon to be mobiles) being cheaper than their comparable DSTAR brethren I can see DMR quickly catching up to DSTAR. There's what, 1200+ DSTAR iGate repeaters world-wide now? DMR is at 712+ now I think.
The same day I applied for my DMR radio ID 3 others applied for theirs in my area - we're numbers 83, 84, 85, and 86. They also got their CS700s on the same day I did.
Don't get me wrong, I still like DSTAR and use it once in a while, but not so much now that I've got a DMR radio. It's nice listening to those 3-hour long nets in the background while working on the computer.
Wow. So much easier to use than DSTAR. I have an IC-7100, 880H, ID-51, and ID31 and using DSTAR on those is a lot of different clicks and taps than just twisting the knob on the CS700 to go from LCL Kansas City to Midwest, or North America, or World Wide. Twist the knob to the channel you want and talk away.
And unlike DSTAR, the repeaters here don't try to hang on to a weak signal - they just dump it. So very rarely do you hear any "R2D2" garbled transmissions due to long distance packet loss.
They just threw up a new DMR repeater in Manhattan, KS over the weekend.
With both DMR repeaters and HTs (soon to be mobiles) being cheaper than their comparable DSTAR brethren I can see DMR quickly catching up to DSTAR. There's what, 1200+ DSTAR iGate repeaters world-wide now? DMR is at 712+ now I think.
The same day I applied for my DMR radio ID 3 others applied for theirs in my area - we're numbers 83, 84, 85, and 86. They also got their CS700s on the same day I did.
Don't get me wrong, I still like DSTAR and use it once in a while, but not so much now that I've got a DMR radio. It's nice listening to those 3-hour long nets in the background while working on the computer.
N4KVE
Member
I'm waiting for CSI, the importer, to come out with the new firmware so the mike gain is adjustable, so we can hear the users on our system who use these CS700 radios. While the Moto radios can adjust the mike gain in the CPS, this can't be done yet on the CS700. I was told this is supposed to be rectified this month. They need to be louder.
iball
Member
- Joined
- Dec 22, 2008
- Messages
- 31
I think part of the problem is that users with older Motorola radios haven't updated the firmware in their radios or have but haven't bothered to adjust the AGC properly.
"Louder" isn't always "better". Many a time I've been able to discern a Motorola user when they key up due to the extreme volume they're belting out, so much so they're barely intelligible, while the other CS700 users in my local area come across just fine.
Much like some HF users that don't know how to properly use the compression feature in their rigs.
But that's neither here nor there - eventually we all understand each other. Point is, the CS700/CS701 radios are starting to make DMR look "affordable" to the amateur radio community. DSTAR took a long, long time to gain acceptance and it's still out of the reach of most hams due to the cost of the radios and repeaters.
Jerry's CS DMR radios and cheaper MOTOTRBO repeaters are poised to actually kick-start a real push for digital voice in the amateur world. They may be cheap but they certainly aren't crap.
I expect the clamor for AGC in the CS700/701 to grow until it eventually gets into the firmware or a newer model.
"Louder" isn't always "better". Many a time I've been able to discern a Motorola user when they key up due to the extreme volume they're belting out, so much so they're barely intelligible, while the other CS700 users in my local area come across just fine.
Much like some HF users that don't know how to properly use the compression feature in their rigs.
But that's neither here nor there - eventually we all understand each other. Point is, the CS700/CS701 radios are starting to make DMR look "affordable" to the amateur radio community. DSTAR took a long, long time to gain acceptance and it's still out of the reach of most hams due to the cost of the radios and repeaters.
Jerry's CS DMR radios and cheaper MOTOTRBO repeaters are poised to actually kick-start a real push for digital voice in the amateur world. They may be cheap but they certainly aren't crap.
I expect the clamor for AGC in the CS700/701 to grow until it eventually gets into the firmware or a newer model.
N4KVE
Member
I think the CS700 is a good way for people who can't afford a Moto radio to get into DMR. By the way, all the guys on our system leave AGC off, & set the mike gain as specified on the DMR-MARC site. If everyone used the CS700 radio, we'd all have our rx volume controls set higher, & they'd all sound fine, but when all the Moto guys set our mike gain per DMR-Marc site spec's, we then have to lower the rx volume control so we sound good, that's when we have trouble hearing the CS700 guys. At the Orlando Hamfest, the system owner [7 repeaters all over Florida linked] set every user's radio with the same mike gain. Of course there was no way to set the gain on the CS700. If the CS700 was out when I started with TRBO, I'd have bought it, but it wasn't, so I bought a XPR6550. But we're waiting until the new fw comes out so we can boost the mike gain to equal the XPR6550. Many users have older fw because they can't get the EID, & don't want to be stuck with narrow band. Those who work in the biz do have the EID, while others [myself included] use the hack described on P25.CA where I have the newest fw, & use CPS 10.0, & can still have wideband w/o the EID.
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