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MEASUREMENTS, IN THE MARCH/APRIL 2021 ISSUE OF QEX FOR MORE
INFORMATION.  USING THE AH 705 MOST OPERATORS WILL PROBABLY USE THE
INTERNAL AA BATTERIES FOR POWERING THE TUNER.  THIS MINIMIZES
REQUIRED EQUIPMENT IN THE FIELD, AS THE AH 705 CANNOT BE POWERED
FROM THE IC 705.  WHILE THE AH 705 DRAWS UP TO 300 MA DURING TUNING,
LATCHING RELAYS ARE USED SO THAT WHEN TUNING COMPLETES, THE AH 705
DRAWS VERY LITTLE CURRENT.  AS NOTED IN THE MANUAL, WHEN THE AH 705
WILL NOT BE USED FOR A W THE DJ VX50T SPORTS SEVERAL SCANNING MODES,
AND I WAS PLEASANTLY SURPRISED TO DISCOVER THAT THEY WORK EVEN
WITHIN THE FM BROADCAST AND AVIATION BANDS.  YOU ALSO HAVE 200
MEMORY CHANNELS TO STORE WHATEVER YOU STUMBLE ACROSS, AMATEUR OR
OTHERWISE.  EACH MEMORY CHANNEL CAN BE LABELED WITH ALPHANUMERIC
CHARACTERS.  ON THE SUBJECT OF MEMORIES, LIKE MOST MODERN
TRANSCEIVERS, THE DJ VX50T MEMORIES CAN BE PROGRAMMED THROUGH
EXTERNAL SOFTWARE.  I COULDNT TEST THIS FEATURE WITH THE DJ VX50T,
BUT IM CONFIDENT THAT IT PERFORMS SIMILARLY TO OTHER SOFTWARE
PACKAGES IVE USED.  IT IS A MATTER OF LOADING THE TRANSCEIVERBS
MEMORY CONTENTS INTO YOUR COMPUTER BY ATTACHING A USB CABLE TO THE
RIG AND PLACING THE RADIO IN THE CLONE MODE.  ONCE LOADING IS
COMPLETE, YOU CAN MODIFY EXISTING MEMORIES, ADD NEW ONES, AND MAKE
OTHER CHANGES.  THIS IS MUCH EASIER THAN DOING MEMORY PROGRAMMING BY
HAND THROUGH THE KEYPAD.  THE SOFTWARE AND CABLE ARE AVAILABLE ON
THE AIR THE DJ VX50T IS CAPABLE OF 5 W OUTPUT ON 2 METERS AND 4 W ON
70 CENTIMETERS.  IF YOU PREFER TO EXTEND THE BATTERY LIFE, YOU CAN
SELECT A LOWER OUTPUT POWER SETTING.  WITH THE FLEXIBLE ANTENNA AND
MAXIMUM OUTPUT, I HAD LITTLE DIFFICULTY ACCESSING ALL REPEATERS IN
MY LOCAL AREA.  TRANSMIT AUDIO REPORTS WERE CONSISTENTLY GOOD.
TAKING THE RADIO ON THE ROAD, I REPLACED THE FLEXIBLE ANTENNA WITH
AN SMA TO BNC ADAPTER AND CONNECTED IT TO A DUAL BAND MAGNETIC MOUNT
ANTENNA.  EVEN AT THE LOWEST OUTPUT POWER SETTING, THE COVERAGE WAS
IMPRESSIVE.  THE DJ VX50T FEATURES VOICE OPERATED TRANSMIT/ RECEIVE
SWITCHING VOX.  I THOUGHT IT MIGHT FUNCTION ONLY WITH AN EXTERNAL
SPEAKER/MICROPHONE OR HEADSET, BUT I SOON LEARNED THAT THE VOX WORKS
WITH THE INTERNAL MICROPHONE AS WELL.  THE FEATURE TOGGLES ON OR OFF
WITH A PUSH OF THE FUNC KEY, FOLLOWED BY THE 3/VOX KEY.  I
DISCOVERED RIGHT AWAY THAT IT PAYS TO ADJUST THE VOX DELAY SETTING
IN THE TRANSCEIVER MENU.  THE DEFAULT SEEMED TO BE 3 SECONDS, WHICH
CAN FEEL LIKE AN ETERNITY WHEN YOURE WAITING FOR THE RADIO TO SWITCH
BACK TO RECEIVE.  SPEAKING OF VOICES, THE DJ VX50T IS EQUIPPED WITH
A VOICE ANNUNCIATOR THAT WILL CALL OUT THE CHANNEL NUMBERS WHEN YOU
ARE OPERATING IN THE MEMORY MODE.  THIS IS CONVENIENT WHEN YOURE IN
A LOW LIGHT ENVIRONMENT, OR IN THOSE SITUATIONS WHEN YOU SIMPLY CANT
LOOK AT THE DISPLAY.  THE TRANSCEIVER WILL ALSO BARK ERROR IF YOURE
ATTEMPTING TO ENTER AN INCORRECT FREQUENCY OR TRYING TO OTHERWISE
MAKE THE RADIO DO SOMETHING IT PREFERS TO AVOID.  AS I MENTIONED
EARLIER, THE BATTERY IS SIZEABLE, AND I WAS PLEASED WITH HOW LONG IT
LASTED
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