Yaesu users

[StevesKJ]

I made a casual observation recently on my FT-8800. A few weeks ago in Big Bear, I could receive but was not able to transmit. About a second or so after keying up, I would get a "courtesy tone" but no signal output. At the time, I ended up resetting my radio to the factory presets. It worked fine for a while. Then the same thing happened again before coming home that weekend. Another reset. Then it went out again Saturday.
I did a little experiment today and I think I found the problem. I am WIRES capable and by quickly pressing the left volume knob, the "INT ON" appears. The manual says that sets up an internet connection. When I key up in that mode, I get the same "courtesy tone". Pressing the left knob again will de-activate it. It seems as long as the WIRES is not activated, I can transmit OK.
I wanted to share this with anyone interested. By all means, if this is incorrect, chime in and straighten me out. I am still trying to figure things out.
Steve

[OLLIE]

Steve,

Before I saw your WIRES comment I was going to tell you that INT was activated. My faceplate is mounted next to my right thigh. I bump the botton occasionally and get that neat little tone. I am not familiar with WIRES though... What does it do?

[ki6kui]

From the Vertex Standard web site: WIRES® (Wide-Coverage Internet Repeater Enhancement System) is a comprehensive and easy-to-use system for linking repeaters and/or home stations together, using Internet voice technology.

It is similar to IRLP for linking a station to the Internet and using VoIP to link to another WIRES station.

I have the VX-170, and I have accidentally entered that mode also. After you do it a couple of times, you know what to look for.

[sdnative]

Found this on the RT Systems FAQ page:

My friends tell me there is a beep at the beginning of my transmission with blocks what I am trying to say.

You have activated the Internet Connection option for the radio (page 50 in the manual).

In the FT-8800 it is easy to activate this feature since the on/off switch for it is the left VOL/SQL knob (which unfortunately is a frequently used control for the Main band of the radio). If you press the knob momentarily, the Internet Connection Feature is activated. Press the knob again momentarily to disable this feature and eliminate the interfering beep.

Note: If this feature is "ON" when you do Radio | Get data from in the Programmer, the "ON" state will be recorded to be sent to the radio every time you program it. If you had this problem. Turned off the feature manually. Then the problem returns the next time you program the radio from the Programmer, you need to turn the feature off by pressing the left Vol/SQL knob momentarily. The next time you plan to program your radio from the Programmer, do Radio | Get data from into a new file before sending your file to the radio. This will record the change for that feature and keep it from being turned on again by the Programmer.

[taugust]

I have seen this with many Yaesu users. Some radios have a 'four leaf clover' icon button. This turns the mode on and off. Usually the courtesy tone is an annoyance, but doesn't affect your transmission. You could lock the radio if you don't change anything, and prevent the mode from being turned on. It seems like this should be a 'press and hold' button, not a 'one press' feature.