Yaesu vx-8dr

[Blackbadge]

Hello all, any inventors out there that can make a lower profile gps antenna that would just plug into the top of the vx8dr, I have seen small gps antennas that would plug into an sd card slot for pcs. The yaesu design only looks good on the mic. Why not just have one the size of a small stubby antenna, any thoughts ideas would be appreciated.

 

[KA1NTG]

I agree, the Yaesu SpeakerMic and GPS unit are both overpriced and slightly unwieldy, but I'd be shocked if a 3rd party came out with anything for it. Remember how quickly the vx-8GR died? And the FT-1DR is replacing the 8DR for all extents and purposes....

Myself I'll be happy to have the durable little quadbander in my go bag....

 

[KE5MC]

Blackbadge,

That stock Yaesu module is more than just the antenna. It contains the receiver and serial interface electronics to the radio.

Admittedly the piece to attach to the top of the radio is a little odd, but likely difficult to improve on.

Mike

Hello all, any inventors out there that can make a lower profile gps antenna that would just plug into the top of the vx8dr, I have seen small gps antennas that would plug into an sd card slot for pcs. The yaesu design only looks good on the mic. Why not just have one the size of a small stubby antenna, any thoughts ideas would be appreciated.

 

[K4APR]

It wasn't a replacement for the Yaesu GPS, but we were working on a gateway device to adapt a standard "mouse" style GPS to the VX-8. It never got traction from mentioning it in forums, ect. so we didn't persue it any further than the drawing board. The trick is, the standard serial GPS is RS232 @ 4800 baud. The VX-8 is looking for 3.3V TTL @ 9600 baud. The RS232 to TTL part is a snap, the baud rate translation was the trick. We planned to do it with a high speed PIC with two hardware USARTS. The code to run it was very simple.