Standard HX381

[csadoian]

Hi,

I recently came across a Standard HX381 hand held VHF radio. Apparently this is used primarily for use in the Marine world, so I thought I would ask my question here.

The exact model is a Standard HX381V (AA). I have done some Googling and searching here in the forums and have been unable to find much information on it. It appears to be a 12 channel radio and it has 5 programmed (I used a frequency meter to determine what was programmed into it).

163.000
166.200
170.375
169.600
154.000

I assume I need special programming software to program it, along with a programming cable. I did find a commercial cable that fits this radio and the HX482, HX581 and HX582, but it's priced at $60, which is twice what I paid for the radio and charging stand.

I did find some software that should work with the radio, but I'm reluctant to spend the money to buy the programming cable. I'm sure it's just a serial interface, it's mating up to the circular connector on the side of the radio that makes it a challenge.

I am an "official provider" on Broadcastify and was thinking about using it for one of my feeds, since in my experience these commercial radios have much better audio than scanners (well, at least the ones I have, I have fairly old units). I only need narrow band FM for the particular feed I'm thinking about using it for.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has any information on this radio or can point me to a place where I could find some.

Thanks,

Chuck

 

[kf8yk]

The HX381 is designed as a land mobile radio (LMR), not marine. Usually Standard brands their marine products as Standard Horizon, or just Horizon. All programming requires the DOS software & an interface cable.

The programming cable is serial but requires a level converter to shift RS-232 voltages to TTL. The RFGuys cable includes the necessary electronics to do this. The proprietary accessory connector on the side of this radio makes fabricating a cable difficult.

Keep in mind that this radio was introduced over 25 years ago & it does not support narrow banding.

 

[csadoian]

Appreciate the information. I did not realize the radio was designed so many years ago. The one I acquired appears to be in very good shape so I am still considering buying the programming cable.

 

[csadoian]

Well, after mulling it over for a while I decided to purchase the programming cable from the RFGuys. The software I found on the internet worked fine and I was able to program the radio and it works pretty good. The software only runs in DOS, but that wasn't a problem since I keep a Dell Latitude D620 laptop around that has a real serial port. I have it set up to dual boot Windows XP or Windows 7, and when I need to run programming software that requires DOS I just use a DOS USB drive set up with FreeDOS. The other radios I have that I program on occasion are Motorolas, and the programming software works in Windows XP just fine.