Subject: C508A Mods.... From: RLS Date: 1996/12/28 Message-Id: <32C61579.4180@ix.netcom.com> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.equipment [More Headers] Does anybody have any info on what mods are possible for The C508A Standard Dual Band Micro size HT? Wondering about extended XMT abbility in particular. RLS Subject: Re: C508A Mods.... From: "Bill Crocker" Date: 1996/12/29 Message-Id: <01bbf5b6$ed55d960$7450c7cd@billc> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.equipment [More Headers] CAUTION: I read and heard that this Cellular mod does not work in the newer releases of the Standard C508A. Bill Crocker Clint Bradford wrote in article <9612290914066030@atdbbs.com>... > Subject: Standard C508A mods > > > top right-hand corner > > > | | | > | | +-----+ > | | o o | > | | # | <- remove this SM component > +-----+ o o | for cellular RX unlock > | > | | > | | > | // \ > | // \ > CPU | \ > | o o | > | o o under / > | o#o Lithium / > | battery / > -----+ | > ^ | > | | > remove this SM (RD77) | > component to extend | > TX 115-164 & 400-464 | Subject: Re: Standard C508A From: dedger@aol.com (DEdger) Date: 1996/12/24 Message-Id: <19961224032700.WAA28850@ladder01.news.aol.com> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.equipment [More Headers] I agree with the previous postings. The 508A is hands down the best HT for receiving I have ever owned. I carry mine around whenever I travel, even overseas, with no hassle--after all, it is no bigger than a pager with the antenna off. Recently in Tokyo I bought the latest version of the radio -- the Standard C701. It looks just like the 508A but has full coverage receiver and transceive on the 1.2 GHZ band. The receiver is just as hot as the 508A and they have added more memories, 100 in all. Standard makes great radios. 73, Dave AA5NU Subject: Re: C508A Mods.... From: "Martin Gary" Date: 1996/12/31 Message-Id: <01bbf6d1$f39756c0$bd4a4dc6@eagle189.eaglenet.com> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.equipment [More Headers] Here's the mods..... Subject: Standard C508A mods top right-hand corner | | | | | +-----+ | | o o | | | # | <- remove this SM component +-----+ o o | for cellular RX unlock | | | | | | // \ | // \ CPU | \ | o o | | o o under / | o#o Lithium / | battery / -----+ | ^ | | | remove this SM (RD77) | component to extend | TX 115-164 & 400-464 | The following procedure involves removing the lithium battery which saves your memory channels. Note any memory channels you wish to save -- you will have to re-enter them. Also note the placement of the battery before you remove it, since you don't want to put it back in the wrong way. Remove the 4 screws from the back of the radio and separate the front and back pieces. Be careful not to damage the flexible cable connecting the two. Unsolder and remove the lithium battery, being careful not to short-circuit it. Remove the surface mount chip resistor RD77, at the fifth pin of the CPU chip, counting up from the bottom. Two component pads above it are already empty. To permit RX of cellular, also remove the surface mount component depicted in the diagram above, way in the upper right-hand corner. Resolder the lithium battery back into place, noting that the polarity is correct. Press the reset switch, and reattach the two halves of the radio. Place the batteries back in and power on. Subject: Re: Standard C508A From: "D. H. Frank" Date: 1996/12/22 Message-Id: <32BD5DB5.3F2F@worldnet.att.net> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.equipment [More Headers] John P. Cross, Emperor wrote: > > I am interested in the C508A. I was wondering if anyone has any experience > with it they would like to share. It sure looks like fun! > > 73 > John Cross > AB5OX I have one and I love it. As another ham said when I described it as cute, " it's not cute,... it's precious " It has a very sensitive receiver, and is a fine pocket scanner. I added the Comet SMA501 mini dual band antenna, and use it with a dual band mobile rig in the crossband repeat mode, and can get into any system I need to. It would be nice if it had a DTMF pad to control my IC-2410H remotely, but then it wouldn't be so small and 'precious'. I really like it! 73, Don, W9SL Subject: Re: Standard C508A From: tek@tdl.com Date: 1996/12/23 Message-Id: <32BE3FFB.13D2@tdl.com> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.equipment [More Headers] D. H. Frank wrote: > > John P. Cross, Emperor wrote: > > > > I am interested in the C508A. I was wondering if anyone has any experience > > with it they would like to share. It sure looks like fun! > > > > 73 > > John Cross > > AB5OX > I have one and I love it. As another ham said when I described it as > cute, " it's not cute,... it's precious " > It has a very sensitive receiver, and is a fine pocket scanner. I added > the Comet SMA501 mini dual band antenna, and use it with a dual band > mobile rig in the crossband repeat mode, and can get into any system I > need to. > It would be nice if it had a DTMF pad to control my IC-2410H remotely, > but then it wouldn't be so small and 'precious'. > > I really like it! > > 73, Don, W9SL I have to agree with both of these fellows, I have owend one for about 2 months now & am very impressed. Aside from the weak power output & no DTMF dialing it works great , and the reciever blows my Kenwood TH-78a's out of the water! No intermod problems with this puppy & I'm only using the stock rubber duckie. Have not yet modified this unit & to be honest , I don't intend to- it works fine out of the box , even on 800! I use a Radio Shack Tone generator to access autopatch, but you have to be getting in clean into the repeater for the tones to get across good. I can access most of the major repeater systems in my area, use it on my commute home just fine. Truly a marvel in "downsizing" of radios, I bet in year or less Standard will have a model with DTMF functions, they had the C108 (2meter), then they came out with the C508a. I am curious on how some of the other antennas rate, they are very expensive (but pretty), I tried a couple of them out at HRO & did a quick mini-comparison to the stock Rubber duckie, didn't see much difference off the bat, if anyone knows a specific antenna that works much better than the stock model (besides external) that doesnt compromise it's compactness & is worth the money, please advise. Happay Holuh-dayz. <----"Ebonic" spelling/annunciation. Subject: Re: Standard C508A From: "D. H. Frank" Date: 1996/12/23 Message-Id: <32BEA7B4.75CB@worldnet.att.net> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.equipment [More Headers] tek@tdl.com wrote: > > D. H. Frank wrote: > > > > John P. Cross, Emperor wrote: > > > > > > I am interested in the C508A. I was wondering if anyone has any experience > > > with it they would like to share. It sure looks like fun! > > > > > > 73 > > > John Cross > > > AB5OX > > I have one and I love it. As another ham said when I described it as > > cute, " it's not cute,... it's precious " > > It has a very sensitive receiver, and is a fine pocket scanner. I added > > the Comet SMA501 mini dual band antenna, and use it with a dual band > > mobile rig in the crossband repeat mode, and can get into any system I > > need to. > > It would be nice if it had a DTMF pad to control my IC-2410H remotely, > > but then it wouldn't be so small and 'precious'. > > > > I really like it! > > > > 73, Don, W9SL > > I have to agree with both of these fellows, I have owend one for about 2 > months now & am very impressed. > Aside from the weak power output & no DTMF dialing it works great , and > the reciever blows my Kenwood TH-78a's out of the water! No intermod > problems with this puppy & I'm only using the stock rubber duckie. > Have not yet modified this unit & to be honest , I don't intend to- it > works fine out of the box , even on 800! > I use a Radio Shack Tone generator to access autopatch, but you have to > be getting in clean into the repeater for the tones to get across good. > I can access most of the major repeater systems in my area, use it on my > commute home just fine. Truly a marvel in "downsizing" of radios, I bet > in year or less Standard will have a model with DTMF functions, they had > the C108 (2meter), then they came out with the C508a. > I am curious on how some of the other antennas rate, they are very > expensive (but pretty), I tried a couple of them out at HRO & did a > quick mini-comparison to the stock Rubber duckie, didn't see much > difference off the bat, if anyone knows a specific antenna that works > much better than the stock model (besides external) that doesnt > compromise it's compactness & is worth the money, please advise. > > Happay Holuh-dayz. <----"Ebonic" spelling/annunciation. WRT antennae for the 508, you can't beat the laws of physics,... bigger is better! The standard duckie is OK on the ham bands for which it was designed, but doesn't perform as well 'out of band' as an after market antenna. I have what I believe is a Comet dual band duck that is 10" long, that is an outsatanding performer both in and out of the ham bands,but at 10", looks a little silly on the radio. It is however, amazing what a decent antenna will do with as little as 250mw output. It actually will match the performance of a 2.5W HT with a with a marginal antenna. 73, Don, W9SL Subject: Re: Standard C508A From: au@ix.netcom.com(au) Date: 1996/12/22 Message-Id: <59i71b$t4a@sjx-ixn3.ix.netcom.com> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.equipment [More Headers] In <59hi0r$pf1$1@uhura.phoenix.net> jpcross@phoenix.net (John P. Cross, Emperor) writes: > >I am interested in the C508A. I was wondering if anyone has any experience >with it they would like to share. It sure looks like fun! > >73 >John Cross >AB5OX Very neat little radio John, BUT be aware that it only runs 1/4 watt. I just recently sold one because of this problem. If you near repeaters then it will work just fine. I live about 20 miles out of the nearest large city. The 1/4 watt was very noisy into the local machines. Also power drops to 100 miliwatts as the batteries get weaker. Also lack of DTMF dialing can be a real problem. If you access autopatches, you will have to either get a DTMF tone generator or use a different radio. Audio is not very loud. About the same as using a speaker/mic. The physical size is great! Decent display. Very sensitive on all frequencies, including 800 Mhz. Easy to program. Uses an SMA connector for the antenna, so an adapter is needed to hook up outside antenna's. If you can tolerate the low power and no dtmf dialing, its actually a neat little radio. George N7BUI Subject: My Standard C508A Can't Hear Packet! From: jwill@saturn.vcu.edu (Jimmie S Williams) Date: 1996/09/01 Message-Id: <50danr$ovo@saturn.vcu.edu> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.digital.misc [More Headers] I am having a problem with my C508A HT. I am trying to use it for an ultra-small QRP Packet radio rig along with a Baypac modem and a HP200LX palmtop computer. Well, this setup works just fine on my Alinco DJ-580 HT.... but when I hook it up to the Standard C508A (the tiny shirt pocket dualbander) It can send packets, but can't receive packets .... go figure. I have placed calls to TigerTronics ... they are helpful, but can't help me with this HT. I tried hooking this same HT up to my desktop and Kantronics KPC-3 TNC and the same thing happens (sends OK , but can't receive packets) ... the Tigertronics fellow thinks that there might be a problem with audio filtering in the HT.... Can anybody shed some light on this problem? I would be most grateful. Subject: Re: Standard C508A Dual Band HT From: dgf@netcom.com (David Feldman) Date: 1995/10/31 Message-Id: Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc [More Headers] In article bruce@tx.abekas.com (Bruce Busby) writes: >>>I am thinking of puchasing a Standard C508A HT as a second HT, mainly for my >The battery life is, in fact, awesome. Using a couple of AA alkalines I use Ray-O-Vac renewals, for which I can get 10 decent recharge cycles before pitching them, depending on how patient I am. I haven't tried Eveready AA lithiums but suspect they'd last well into forever. >Audio _is_ a problem in a vehicle with the windows down; for such I use one of those car cassette audio adapters - sony made mine - you shove a cassette-like thing into your player and plug the 1/8" phone plug into the HT's external speaker jack. Works great, get as much audio as my car radio gives, and in this mode the HT audio gain is lower anyway saving a bit more power. At a volume setting between 1 and 2 there is no distortion and tons of available volume from the car cassette player. Anyone know of a 2M inline amplifier that is intended for 1/4W drive level? I think VOCOM or someone made one, but that's 10 years ago. 73 Dave WB0GAZ dgf@netcom.com Subject: Re: Standard C508A Dual Band HT From: pbutlalj@ia.net (Allan Butler) Date: 1995/10/26 Message-Id: <46n0qu$hgf@hera.ia.net> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc [More Headers] In article <46b93u$hda@nkosi.well.com>, gclyde@well.sf.ca.us says... > > >I am thinking of puchasing a Standard C508A HT as a second HT, mainly for my >wife to use. Does anyone have experience using them? Also, does anyone >know the mods for expansion of the 2m band to inlcude marine VHF for >emergency purposes? Well having had one since June and only having put the 3rd set of batteries into it I would say that it is really not too power hungry. I do use it quite a bit and in July used it solidly 8 to 12 hours a day for transmit and receive for a week. That was when I changed the first set of batteries out of it. The antenna is not very large but it does work well in the amateur bands. Outside the amateur radio bands it is not very well tuned and the radio has a difficult time hearing things. The radio uses a SMA connector for the antenna. It may be somewhat difficult to find an adapter for this connector but it is not impossible. If one is in a city where there are several repeaters the radio will work quite well. The radio has ctcss capabilities to both encode and decode. Be warned that there is NO way to connect external power up to this radio. It will run on the two internal AA cells just fine for a long time. Then when they die just toss a couple more in there. There is a charger and a NiCd pack made for the radio but in my humble opinion it is not really necessary. > >At $285 it seems like quite a good deal. Check with AES. I believe their price was a little lower than that 285 dollar price that you mention. > >Thanks for any info, here or by e-mail to gclyde@well.com. -- Allan Butler KA0IES ajbutler@ia.net Article 166 of 333 Subject: Re: Standard C508A Dual Band HT From: ring@porky.cb.att.com (WarrenRing) Date: 1995/10/23 Message-Id: Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc [More Headers] In article <46b93u$hda@nkosi.well.com>, George Clyde wrote: > >I am thinking of puchasing a Standard C508A HT as a second HT, mainly for my >wife to use. Does anyone have experience using them? Also, does anyone >know the mods for expansion of the 2m band to inlcude marine VHF for >emergency purposes? Two things. First, this HT is a "mini". It has a mini antenna, a mini battery, and a mini speaker. That means you're going to get mini range and/or mini transmit time, and the speaker fidelity will probably be mini. That's OK for your wife if she needs something to call for help with if the car conks out in town, but don't plan on yacking for an hour on the local repeater with it, unless you plug into an external power source. And if you stray very far from the repeater, you'll need to plug into an external antenna, like a mag mount. And if you drive with the windows open, you need an external speaker. Second, do you mean using the HT to transmit on marine band? If I remember correctly, marine radios, like CBs, must be type-accepted for marine transmission. Most HTs are able to receive out of band, but transmitting out of band is usually reserved for MARS and Civil Air Patrol members. Depending on the mode and frequency, you may be able to monitor marine transmissions. Maybe someone else can clarify this. Even if you could transmit out of band, you would realisticly (excuse me) need more power (like 25 watts) and a big whip antenna on the boat. > >At $285 it seems like quite a good deal. That HT lists at $345, so the price sounds OK. You might want to shop around. Try R&L. > >Thanks for any info, here or by e-mail to gclyde@well.com. Hope this helps. Warren Ring AB6QE Columbus, Ohio Subject: Re: opinions on Standard C508A? From: nepaleduc@aol.com (Nepal educ) Date: 1995/09/01 Message-Id: <427dgd$c01@newsbf02.news.aol.com> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.equipment [More Headers] Hi, I have had a C508A for about a month. Great HT, but careful of the limited output power - even with an external antenna on a car I have difficulty getting reliable QSOs thru repeaters. I am looking at buying a "brick" amplifier to get round this. The other restriction is the audio output is not enough for use in a moving car unless you use a headset. Its best applications are the ones I bought it for - hill topping on climbing trips and use in hotel rooms when travelling. Sure there is no autopatch capability, but look at the size and price! The scanning capability is awesome. Last weekend I was able to access repeaters in San Francisco on 440MHz from a 12,000 ft mountain in Yosemite National Park - about 150 miles - all on the 3 inch long antenna! Also used it in the UK a couple of weeks ago - the C-508A built-in 1750 tone capability is needed to access British repeaters. Let me know if you need more info. Rob ZL2AXQ/6 Mill Valley CA Subject: Re: Standard's "CT508-A" And Cellular From: "James F. Boehner, MD" Date: 1996/06/11 Message-Id: <31BE3CB4.18AC@csra.net> Newsgroups: rec.radio.scanner [More Headers] J.P. Kleinhaus wrote: > > Apparently, the mods don't work in later versions of the C-508. > The one I bough (new in December) worked as advertised with the > mods. > > Some of the insensitivoty reported may stem from the antenna. > I find some images in the 400-410 range that are from 450-460. > However, the cell band works fine and it seems as sensitive > as any of the other radios I have that cover that range. > > PS. The C-508 I bought WAS a US version. > > Sean Nixon (nixon@actrix.gen.nz) wrote: > : J.P. Kleinhaus wrote: > : > > : > There IS a hardware mod for the C-508A that restores full > : > cellular coverage AS WELL AS 30KHz steps in the cell bands. > : > I don't remember where I got, but search some of the > : > popular web sites and you WILL find it. > : > > : http://oak.oakland.edu:8080/pub/hamradio/mods/standard/c508a-1.mod > : is where I got the mods from. This was supposed to recover the > : cellphone band as well, I removed both of the jumpers, but the cellphone > : band remained locked out- guess its because it was a US model. > : Ive found the receiver is very insensitive above 465MHz & suffers > : from a lot of image interference, but for its size is an excellent > : radio. > -- > ===================================================================== > J.P. Kleinhaus, AA2DU > ARRL Hudson Division C.A.C. Representative > E-mail: aa2du@netcom.com > Compu$erve: 74660,2606 > > It's not a bug...It's a feature!! > ===================================================================== Seems the only way to keep up on rigs that can be modified to get the "forbidden band" is to buy early, before anyone figures out the mod, and complains to the manufacturer. The early Standard C-508A's had 30 khz step size as standard (no pun intended)in the 800 mhz segment. The image reception was excellent, even without hardware mod. If you check Javiation home page, Standard has come out with a mini scanner with about the same frequency range as the AR8000 (DC to light!). I believe it is just a bit longer than the C-508A. At Dayton (for those interested), one of the Standard representatives was from Japan, and showed us a tri-band version of the C508A!! WOW!. 2Meters, 440 and 1.2 Gig! The bad news is that it will not be marketed in the US anytime soon because of the prohibitive cost. Buying a unit from Japan won't work either, as their government prohibits rigs that can be opened to full range transmit, and the Japanese Amateur band plan is much different than the US. Oh well! '73 de JIM Article 192 of 333 Subject: Re: Standard C508A Dual Band HT From: bruce@tx.abekas.com (Bruce Busby) Date: 1995/10/31 Message-Id: Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc [More Headers] >>I am thinking of puchasing a Standard C508A HT as a second HT, mainly for my >>wife to use. Does anyone have experience using them? >Two things. First, this HT is a "mini". It has a mini antenna, a mini >battery, and a mini speaker. That means you're going to get mini range >and/or mini transmit time, and the speaker fidelity will probably be mini. I have one of these little beasts I use in the SF bay area. Betty (my SE) & I can choose from the many repeaters here to cover her commute, be it SF (North) or SJ (South). We manually cloned them for ease of QSY without WingNuts (TM) following us about (yes, with only 0.28 W out, jamming [sigh] can be a problem). The battery life is, in fact, awesome. Using a couple of AA alkalines will run it in mostly receive, some transmit for three days easily. Since the transmit draw is about 300ma, you can key down for 3 hours on a fresh set of cells. Standby receive draw is only 11ma (at a 4:1 sleep:receive ratio) and actual receive is 30-40ma. >That's OK for your wife if she needs something to call for help with if the >car conks out in town, but don't plan on yacking for an hour on the local >repeater with it, unless you plug into an external power source. And There's no connector for external power, and 3v is all the little devil would eat anyway. >if you stray very far from the repeater, you'll need to plug into an >external antenna, like a mag mount. To do this with commonly available magmounts, you need the SMA to BNC adapter. I have a friend with the C108A (the 2m only version) that does a very good job this way. >And if you drive with the windows open, you need an external speaker. Audio _is_ a problem in a vehicle with the windows down; for such occassions I got one of those earpiece earphone/mike combo doodads. (You _could_ just buy the wife one of those ultra-quiet Lexus things... :) Sorry, but I know nothing about using the 508 outside the ham band other than to tell you that the antenna is deaf as a millpost (_not_ the radio) outside the 2m band (e.g., 162.55 WX is a no-op with the stock antenna). Best regards, Bruce KD6FST Subject: Re: Standard C508A From: gary@ke4zv.atl.ga.us (Gary Coffman) Date: 1995/09/15 Message-Id: <1995Sep15.122132.20751@ke4zv.atl.ga.us> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.misc [More Headers] In article <199509141604.AA08087@narya.cmotor.com> cbotka@cmotor.COM (Chris M Botka) writes: >I have not yet seen any reviews or opinions regarding the new Standard C508A >Dual Band Radio, tho I hear they're selling like hot-cakes. Any user input >would be appreciated. >Christopher Michael Botka I wrote a mini-review over in the .equipment group a week or so ago. The executive summary is, buy it, its neat. There are a few quirks, the manual *really* sucks, no TT pad, and it is only 0.28 watt, but its such a *handy* little thing, kind to batteries, covering a very wide range of frequencies (100 MHz to 999 MHz with a couple of gaps, no 200-300 MHz or 512-800 MHz coverage, the latter isn't interesting being just UHF TV, but coverage of the former would be), good audio on transmit and receive, relatively little intermod for such wide frequency coverage, and its just cute. It's the closest thing yet to Dick Tracy's wrist radio. Now I wouldn't suggest anyone buy this rig as their *primary* radio, but especially if you have a mobile rig capable of crossband repeating, this thing is great. Think of it as a pocket scanner that can double as a cordless mike with a long range. A TT pad would make it perfect, but like the Standard engineers, I can't figure out where to put one either. Did I mention it's tiny? It really is primarily a scanner, and it has more scanning modes than you can shake a stick at. Being able to transmit too is a nice bonus. Everyone to whom I've shown mine wants one, including non-hams interested in it as a scanner. Gary -- Gary Coffman KE4ZV | You make it, | gatech!wa4mei!ke4zv!gary Destructive Testing Systems | we break it. | emory!kd4nc!ke4zv!gary 534 Shannon Way | Guaranteed! | gary@ke4zv.atl.ga.us Lawrenceville, GA 30244 | | Subject: Re: opinions on Standard From: gary.coffman@intac.com (GARY COFFMAN) Date: 1995/09/10 Message-Id: <8B0D03D.00270014D4.uuout@intac.com> Newsgroups: rec.radio.amateur.equipment [More Headers] mei!ke4zv!gary From: gary@ke4zv.atl.ga.us (Gary Coffman) Subject: Re: opinions on Standard C508A? Message-ID: <1995Sep9.055938.20453@ke4zv.atl.ga.us> Date: Sat, 9 Sep 1995 05:59:38 GMT In article <424vft$iu7@bigblue.oit.unc.edu> help@oit.unc.edu (User Services) writes: >I'm thinking about getting the C508A for its size and low power demand, but >I'm worried about not having autopatch capabilities. Please give me your >opinion of this radio. Universal Radio has them back ordered. Thanks. I like mine, but then I don't have a patch on my repeater, and I do have a cellphone. I'm surprised by how well this little radio works. Battery life is great. Intermod is much less than I had expected, though there is some. Audio quality is good, both transmit and receive, though receive volume is limited and might be a problem in very noisy areas. The manual sucks, I mean *really* sucks (and is insulting to a ham with an IQ above plant life too), but you can figure it out if you try. There is no schematic or board layout or theory of operation section, major bummer. It takes Icom/Yaesu/Radio Shack/MFJ speaker mikes (and packet cables), and I suppose you might find a mike with a TT pad on it (kind of silly really, to have a mike bigger than the radio). The supplied rubber dummy load is pretty good in the ham bands, but sucks rocks outside the bands, a major bummer considering the wideband capabilities of the rig as a scanner substitute (but likely a major contributor to the good intermod performance in band). Comet has introduced a gain antenna for the rig that works much better out of band. Big though. The rig has a SMA antenna connector which limits antenna choice, and I wouldn't recomend swapping it back and forth to a mobile antenna since the little connector would wear out quickly. The low output power surprisingly isn't a problem. It gets in almost anywhere my FT470 does, both used as handhelds and not as mobile rig substitutes. All in all, a good buy for what it is (I don't expect it to substitute for a mobile rig, and it makes a great "remote mike" for a crossband capable mobile rig). I'm keeping mine.