THE ROCK BOTTOM BASICS OF PROGRAMMING YOUR YAESU VX-7R HT

In the sections that follow, words in the text in all caps refer to modes or states the radio's tiny little brain finds important: VFO mode, MEMORY mode, SET mode, and EDIT mode. When you see something in square brackets like [BAND] that refers to a button on the front of the radio and the stuff inside the braces is what's on the key. Most keys have a couple of functions so [8tuv TONE] refers to the key that says "8tuv" in white with "TONE" above it. A single or short press means that you press the key until it beeps once and let go. On a short press [8tuv Tone] means "5". If you press the [MON/F] key then the [8tuv TONE] key, the radio toggles the sub-audible tone mode (more below).

This little guide only talks about some of the uses of the buttons. You'll need to study the manual to figure out the rest if you want to dig deeper.

Footnotes (at the end of the document) are indicated in the text by enclosing a number in curly braces: {0}.

SEVEN STEPS FOR PUTTING IN A FREQUENCY AND STORING IT IN MEMORY FOR THE FUTURE

1. You are in VFO mode if you see "VFO" in the upper left cornerof the screen. You are not in VFO mode if you see "MR" there. If you don't see "VFO"in the upper left corner of your screen, put your radio in VFO Mode by pressing the [V/M WRITE] key and holding it until it beeps once.

   You MUST be in VFO Mode to begin programming your radio.

2. Set the frequency you want to use by pressing and releasing the corresponding numbers on the keypad. You MUST enter six digits in this frequency string. To enter a 6m frequency that only has 5 digits, start with a zero (0).
3. Make sure the radio is in NFM or narrow FM mode (lower right corner of the LCD screen). You want NFM, not WFM or AM. Your radio only transmits in NFM mode. If your radio shows either AM or WFM, press the [MON/F] switch until it beeps once then release it. Then push the [0 SET] key until it beeps once then release it. Rotate the outer knob on top of the radio until the top of the display says "BASIC SETUP : 4" and "RX MODE". It SHOULD let you use the [MAIN] and [SUB] buttons in bands that allow Wide FM (WFM) and won't let you change the mode in 70cm (44xMHz band) because only narrow FM is in use.
4. Now we have to set offset operation for repeaters or turn it off for simplex frequencies. You generally don't need to worry about this, see note {1} below. Check it anyway. In the lower left corner of the screen you will see either a black block with a "+" or a "-" in it or nothing. For a simplex frequency, it should be blank (say nothing). For a repeater, it should be "-" or "+" depending on the direction of the offset (see the frequency listings ... when you see a repeater listed as 145.490-107.2 the minus sign in the middle means it is a negative offset and a plus would be a positive offset). If the offset isn't right, press and the [MON/F] button until it beeps one time then release it. Then press the [0 SET] button until it beeps one time then release it. Now, rotate the outer knob on top of the radio until the display shows "Basic Setup : 7" and "RPT SHIFT". Below that and on the right it will say "-RPT", "+RPT", or "SIMP". You toggle among these using the [MAIN] and [SUB] buttons. Do not exit SET mode yet. See {2} for advanced nattering about the size of offsets which you will almost never have to worry about.
5. If the frequency in the frequency list or communications plan indicates a sub-audible tone (PL tone, CTCSS) you will need to set the tone frequency (or check to make sure it is correct). If no tone is required, skip the rest of this step. If you are NOT in the SET mode, press [MON/F] then [0 SET]. To check or set the tone frequency, Rotate the outer knob on the top of the radio until the display shows "TSO/DCS/DTMF : 2" and "TONE SET". You'll see a number like "100.0 Hz" or "82.5 Hz" in the lower right. To change this frequency, press the [BAND BAND.DN] button to activate editing. Then press [MAIN] to increase the frequency or [SUB] to decrease it until it is what you want. Then press [BAND BAND.DN] again to lock in the change. Stay in SET mode for ONE MORE STEP!
6. Having set the sub-audible tone frequency or checked to make sure it is correct, we need to tell the radio whether to use it or not. Rotate the outer knob on top of the radio until the display shows "TSO/DCS/DTMF : 1" and "SQL TYPE" in the upper left. Use the [MAIN] and [SUB] to set the value in the lower right to "TONE". If this is a simplex frequency (which generally use no tone), it should be set to "OFF". Otherwise, it should be "TONE" unless someone makes a point of telling you to use "TONE SQL" which cool but unusual. Now you can exit SET mode by pressing the push to talk (PTT) button on the top left side of the radio.
7. Now, if you are programming a local repeater, you can try transmitting to it and see if it responds. Either way, you are ready to save the settings in a memory. To save this, press and hold [MON/F] key until beeps the second time. A number will appear underneath the frequency on the left (that's the memory number the radio "recommends"). Rotate the outer knob on top of the radio until the number on the left of the screen is the memory slot number into which you want to store this frequency. If it is currently empty there will be an asterisk ("*") next to it on the display. Once you see the intended memory number, press the [MON/F] key again until it beeps then release it. Press the [V/M WRITE] switch for only one beep to go into memory mode. Your new frequency should show up when you dial up that memory number.

Repeat as necessary.

SIX STEPS FOR NAMING A MEMORY SLOT ON YOUR VX-7R

1. Make sure you are in Memory Mode. In VFO mode there will say "VFO" in the upper left of the screen. In Memory mode, it says "MR". You switch to Memory mode by pressing and releasing the [V/M WORTE] button (only one beep).
2. Find the memory slot you for which you want to enter a name by rotating the knob on the top of the radio. If you know the slot number, you can enter the digits on the keypad ("3" or "102") to press [V/M WRITE] to switch to it.
3. Now, press [MON/F] until the beep then let go. Then press and release the [0 SET] button just a single beep. Now, rotate the outer knob on the top of the radio until you see "BASIC SETUP : 11" and "NAME SET". Now press [BAND] to enter EDIT mode. You will see a blinking line under one of the positions of the edit space to the middle of the screen. You can increase or decrease letters/numbers using [MAIN] or [SUB] or you can enter letters and numbers by pressing the [2abc DW] through [9wxyz SPCL] keys. For example, when you press [2abc DW] a bunch of times you get "A" then "B" then "C" then "a" then "b" then "c" and then "2". If you press it again it starts all over at "A". You use the [1 SCAN] key to get a "1". If you push the [MON/F] key you get some punctuation characters. The funny [ARTS TX.PO] key that looks like an atom symbol in the very bottom left of the keyboard clears the position to a blank.
4. Select a character for this (each) position by with those keys until what you want shows above the blinking line (cursor). There are lots of characters to choose from including a blank space and some punctuation but there are only six spaces for the name.
5. To move to the next character rotate the outer knob on top of the radio. If you move off a position and it isn't right, you can move back rotating the dial "the other way".
6. When you have the eight characters set the way you want, press the [BAND BND.ON] key until it beeps once then let go. The name will be stored. You can go back to step 1 to change it at any time.

Advanced Notes (the stuff in the curly braces {})

{0} OK, Jordan felt some of the Stoats and Otters would get confused if there was no {0} (which makes this a self-referential recursive footnote and would send most of my stranger friends off for a stiff drink.

{1} Generally, the radio sets the offset direction for a repeater correctly without you having to do anything. This used to be complicated but got standardized a LONG time ago and the manufacturers generally have it automated for you. BUT you MUST check it and should know how to change it if for some reason the automatic setting isn't what you want (because somebody decided to be "creative" which does happen).

{2} The size of offsets is very standard except when it isn't. There are a tiny number of repeaters using strange offsets (either backward as in {1} above or at different distances in frequency). This is REALLY UNCOMMON but, of course, you will undoubtably run into it at some point. On your VX-7R, you do the following:

1. Press and hold [MON/F] through the first beep then press and hold the [0 SET] button through the first beep..
2. Rotating the outer knob on top of the radio select "BASIC SETUP : 6" and "SHIFT".
3. Press [MAIN] to increase the frequency shift amount or [SUB] to decrease it.
   1. For two meters, the standard is 0.600.
   2. For 70 centimeters, the standard is 5.000
   3. For something different, you'll find it from a listing
4. Exit SET mode by pressing the push to talk switch (PTT).

This page has been approved by Jordan. No rabbits or voles were insulted during the production of this content.