Radtel RT-880 programming

[EAFrizzle]

Ok, after digging into the CPS for this radio, and the performance last night/this morning, I'm more impressed with it, even though it's going to mean a lot of PITA programming.

The V/U transceiver is simple enough, just like anything pulling from RR. The "radio", "FM radio", "HF receiver" is a line by line thing that is going to be tedious. I realized this morning that it doesn't have 128 presets for the HF/FM parts; it's actually 128 x 128. (Wrong, just 128)

On HF, you're limited on frequency input in the software to X.xx in MHz,(RT Systems) which doesn't give you 5.935, 11.175, etc. It's not so much for tuning to a discrete channel as it is to put you in a specific area to tune around. I haven't tried programming and FM and MW BCB stuff yet. (Radtel CPS allows full frequency entry, I'll be using it)


This is going to be kinda slow for me to put together, but I'll share the HF CP when I get plenty of things added. I'll have BC and stuff like HFGCS, USCG Wx, etc. Any suggestions for inclusion are welcome.

Edit to add (stuff)

 

[EAFrizzle]

After a bit of experimenting, I've figured out how the FM/HF side is configured. Each of the 128 memories is just a VFO. I'm just setting start frequencies, modulation and step size for convenience; you could do the same with just 1 VFO for each band.

The weird thing is these "channels" being called "zones" on the radio screen, when they're nothing like the transceiver zones. Lots of functionality in this radio, just not super easy to get to. Being able to assign functions to all the buttons helps greatly, once you decide how you want them setup.

 

[EAFrizzle]

Ok, I finally got a codeplug Frankensteined together using three different programs. The two that work with the 860 call certain functions different names, which are often different still on the radio. At least from here on out, I won't have to mess with the HF side's programming. Once I get the key functions assigned the way I want, I can put that into the RT CPS and have a somewhat stable program for the transceiver.

AM reception in the airband is really nice. I've got it scanning ~700 channels now, just to see how it does on rx. It's typically slow, but having zone assignments for scan lists will let it be useful.

 

[EAFrizzle]

I'm really impressed with the airband performance on this radio, both VHF and UHF. It'll take some more work, but I'll probably make this my primary airband radio. I only monitor about 20 on a consistent basis, so the slow scan speed won't be too much bother.

Shortwave broadcast reception is greatly improved with the MLA-30+, with no attenuation. It doesn't equal the Eton Elite Executive w/100' ground loop, but it's 1/3 the size and fits in the cup holder, so it's a great addition to the desk so far.

 

[Jokeyman]

Following all threads about these Radtels which are new in my shack. 860 and 880-are complex, a bit fiddly being used to a WS1040 for scanning, my old Icom transceiver which I also use for SWL, plus an old Kaito KA2100 which has held up well. I am still confused about how to set up specific scanning ranges on this. the CPS software-you are right about zones, i cannot quite suss out how to set up a specific range such as for the airband, FRS, or specific HAM bands. I understand most functions of the 860-but as far as scanning/setting specific bands, mine does not have any.

I am also being thrown off by the Radtel "FM radio" description-the folder in the software, as this brings up 4 separate bandplans with the software, which I see in my 860 scrolling through with the (#). These are all not "FM", so it has me greatly confused. There are the 4 separate "bandplans" I see when I shift through the hashtag or number (#) key without making any alterations with the CPS software. One is longwave, one is the actual FM broadcast range, and 2 different bands are actually set to 14.275 Mhz (40 meter band) which makes little sense to me at least to me.

I think the basic operating system of this radio is what is confusing me. My zones are empty, and the channels are preset all over the place when I read the radio into the CPS software, without any seeming order at all. I am guessing-that I will have recreate whatever individual "channels"-specific frequencies in the software channel list, and then somehow put those designated "channels" into specific zones, and from a new blank setup? I wish Radtel had instructions for the software-and I have studied every youtube demo I can with this one. any help, appreciated. I also use the MLA-30 loop outside, a 100' external longwire, plus an outdoor CB vertical and Discone outdoor vertical for upper bands. Getting some good results with this array, although these are pretty noisy-must not be much shielding inside these.

 

[EAFrizzle]

"FM Radio" is just their term for the LW - FMBCB receiver section. Long press of "#" let tou change from band to band in a channels, while a short press changes the mode.

The "FM Radio" section is noisy because of it running in a high-gain mode all the time; there's no way to add more gain to it, just to dial it back. Think of a high-gain guitar amp, like for metal, Randy Rhoads' rig is a good example. He had so much input and pre-amp gain running that when he was playing, he got that great sound, but as soon as he stopped it went into feedback from all the gain. The 880 does something similar in that when a station that's been full-quieting shuts off, the receiver starts roaring static.

I haven't tried the Radtel CPS at all, and from everything I've read, I think I'm just going to wait for RT Systems to come out with one for it. It was well worth getting the RT CPS for my 860.

 

[Jokeyman]

One other function I don't quite understand yet-this is quite different from my old analog Icom transceiver-and my dedicated scanning radios.

Setting 3 different frequencies form the "radio" mode, not the "FM" mode, no matter how I set this up, each frequency only becomes active when I press the PTT 1 button-the one below the PTT transmit side key. In other words-I cannot scroll through the 3 different frequencies "live" with the right side key that switches from one screen/frequency to the other and have each in monitor mode simultaneously. I must be missing something as I believe this radio is capable of doing that, or is it? I can switch to each individual one and monitor with squelch at zero-so I suppose this is a type of "verify" function when switching from screen to screen but still can only monitor one frequency at a time, as in a more standard design scanning radio. I am not really seeing how "multi standby" works-maybe it isn't working-whether I switch it on or off-i still can only monitor 1 frequency at a time. maybe i just don't understand what is supposed to be happening!

And apparently-so much to learn sorry for my somewhat slow comprehension-with the multi PTT, I can transmit one more than one frequency simultaneously-I thin that's what is happening. Pretty amazing if so, this is a step up from programming a repeater offset! Currently I have it turned off so I don't accidentally transmit on a frequency I have no license for.

 

[merlin]

Thanks to all above, I have been considdering this radio or the Quansheng RT-11, but I want to wait till the GPS version is out a while.
@ Jokyman, I beleve this monitors all 3 VFOs simultaneously, not sure how to save 1 particular frequency to a channel for TX.

 

[EAFrizzle]

Multi-PTT just assigns one of the left keys to each VFO/channel. I wouldn't recommend trying to transmit on 3 different frequencies simultaneously; I doubt it would transmit on more than one without being in crossband repeater mode.


The Multi-Standby lets you listen on the FM receiver section, while monitoring the frequencies in the transceiver section, letting them break in with activity.

If you're just using the transceiver to montor, check your CTC/DCS settings. Under Channel Settings, select #1 CTC/DCS. Use the * key to switch type until you get to Off. That should allow you to hear the audio.

Are you using the key functions as it came out of the box, or have you assigned specific functions to keys?

 

[EAFrizzle]

Holding the "Down" arrow key as you power up the radio allows you to switch from RT-880 mode to Wideband Receiver mode, which prevents it from transmitting. That mode will let you get it set up the way you need without worrying about an unintended transmission.

 

[Jokeyman]

Thanks EA, now I get it. What we have here is a sort of ham band receiver for monitoring longwave to 30MHz and on the other a vhf/uhf hand-held transceiver for the upper ham bands but that can also function as a scanner/monitor for any band depending upon which of the of the 3 choices that are given as the radios total lower and upper frequency ranges. And yes I am programming my own functions for key assigments. And am also noticing , this one is a bit glitchy in that when I program a function it doesn't always "take". I sometimes have to perform a programming step more than once to get it to work. I thought I was just doing it wrong, but this has happened several times. For example, set numeric key 4 to squelch, enter it and done. Nope. Try again now it works. Might just be the keypad but I press keys very solid to make sure. And sometimes switching from "FM" mode (wideband receiver mode) to UHF/VHF (RT880 mode) same problem. Possibly the keypads need breaking in.

 

[UniRec]

Hi all. Just joined this forum and I am a complete newbie to radio so please bear with my ignorance. I bought the Radtel RT-880 and I'm learning how to program it. One problem that I'm having is that when I try to go into FM Radio mode, the radio almost instantly goes back to VFO mode. I'm pressing the Radio button, it switches to FM Channel for about 1/2 a second and then goes back to VFO. I have set up 6 channels based on a YT video I watched and it worked once. I was able to scroll through my channels. I added 4 more and it's back to switching back. I went back to the original 6 channels that worked but no luck. Is this a set up issue (something I screwed up) ot is there possible something wrong with the radio.

Sorry this got so long but I wanted to give you the info I have. Thanks for any help.

 

[Jokeyman]

I am having this problem with 860 not noticing on the RT-880. Not sure what's causing this but I suspect it may have to do with squelch setting but still testing this out. If squelch is open, scanning won't work and this is normal functioning for a scanner, stations must be programmed in manually in vfo mode if squelch is set at zero. This may be why the radio might not be able to switch over to radio mode but I could be wrong. Both my radios are on v1.06 so if there are glitches in the os I couldnt tell-at least not yet.

 

[EAFrizzle]

Under the FM Radio menu settings, there is RX Standby. Make sure it is off. This setting allows you to monitor whatever is in your VFOs while listening to shortwave etc.

The Multi-Standby under Basic Settings allows you to monitor all three VFOs at the same time. If this is on, and those channels are busy, the radio will switch back and forth from VFO to FM Radio if RX Standby is on.

I keep Rx Standby off when I'm listening to shortwave broadcasts. I turn it on for monitoring the military aircraft bands.

 

[UniRec]

Thanks for the reply.
I went to the RX Standby in FM Radio menu settings and I can't set it to either on or off. I get this error message:

Setting Failed - Range Limitation

Any idea what that means? I don't know if this matters but I tried setting it in all 3 Working Ranges. Multi-StandBy is also off.

I just updated the firmware today to the latest version (Ver 1.14)

 

[Jokeyman]

Thank you. Not sure about unirec's post but this clarifies that for me. I Not exactly understanding what some of these functions are for is my problem. And RX st as ndby was one of those. I will guess this is also how the 860 functions, I will check that too. I just reconstructed my (roughly speaking) 75' outdoor longwire with an antenna tuner and will be testing both 880 and 860 for SWL, against my Icom transceiver-see how the S- meters snd audio will compare. So far with a shorter indoor longwire, these are working pretty well. Im in a bad reception area surrounded with many tall oaks but a huge central open area. No groundplanes but Im wondering if these will respond well to an additional ground plane connection for the lower bands-80, 160 meters or even the medium wave AM bands. Years ago as a kid with home-made crystal radios-all I needed was a radiator pipe and i'd get AM stations from 1000 miles away. Guess those days are long gone. Maybe not. Easy enough to connect the HF antenna connector to a ground but I have no radiators. Why Im posting as long as i'm here. I suppose a simple copper ground rod might do. Ill try it, post back.

 

[EAFrizzle]

@UniRec that's not an error that ive come across, so it's probably another glitch in the FW update. I usually don't update FW on CCRs unless it's really needed to fix something, and has history of being stable. If you can't roll back the FW, you may have to wait for the next update.

@Jokeyman I usually have an MLA-30+ hooked to the 880, but I've had decent results with a simple 100' ground loop made from speaker wire. The MLA-30+ active loop does best on the 880 and 860 with 6-9 dB of attenuation, then adjusting the gain to minimize noise and overload. The receiver gain is extra-hot to function with those small loops, so any good antenna will make a big difference.

 

[UniRec]

@UniRec that's not an error that ive come across, so it's probably another glitch in the FW update. I usually don't update FW on CCRs unless it's really needed to fix something, and has history of being stable. If you can't roll back the FW, you may have to wait for the next update.

@Jokeyman I usually have an MLA-30+ hooked to the 880, but I've had decent results with a simple 100' ground loop made from speaker wire. The MLA-30+ active loop does best on the 880 and 860 with 6-9 dB of attenuation, then adjusting the gain to minimize noise and overload. The receiver gain is extra-hot to function with those small loops, so any good antenna will make a big difference.

@EAFrizzle Thanks for the reply. I'll see if I can roll back the firmware.

 

[UniRec]

I am having this problem with 860 not noticing on the RT-880. Not sure what's causing this but I suspect it may have to do with squelch setting but still testing this out. If squelch is open, scanning won't work and this is normal functioning for a scanner, stations must be programmed in manually in vfo mode if squelch is set at zero. This may be why the radio might not be able to switch over to radio mode but I could be wrong. Both my radios are on v1.06 so if there are glitches in the os I couldnt tell-at least not yet.

@Jokeyman That was exactly the problem. I had my squelch set to 0 so I changed it to 4 (just to make sure) and it's working now. Thank you for your advice.

 

[EAFrizzle]

@EAFrizzle Thanks for the reply. I'll see if I can roll back the firmware.

Overnight, I found a lot of people having problems with v .14. Most people are rolling back to v .09 to cure multiple issues.