You will not loose the "Automatic Repeater Offset" function by doing the MARS/CAP mod.

1. Press and hold the AR button while powering up the radio, then press the AR button to step through a test mode, finally revealing the Firmware version.
   
    
2. Turn the radio off and back on again to return to normal operation.

If the VX-1R does not reveal any number after repeatedly pressing the AR button, your radio is version A106 (the latest version or later)

Note: This mod should more-or-less replace the ADMS single-band monitor mod, but I cannot verify that. This has certain pros and cons that, as far as I know, make it superior to the ADMS mod. See the bottom of the document for some possible implications and technical details, as well as thanks.

1. Switch to FM band, VFO mode.
   
    
2. Store 76.000 MHz into PS memory 1L.
   
    
3. Store 77.000 MHz into PS memory 1U.
   
    
4. Switch to V-HAM band, VFO mode.
   
    
5. Store 144.000 MHz into PS memory 2L.
   
    
6. Store 145.000 MHz into PS memory 2U.
   
    
7. Press M/V, then press UP or DOWN to select memory 2L.
   
    
8. Turn dial one notch to remove radio from Memory mode and into PS mode.
   
    
9. Press and hold UP until the radio begins scanning through the range.
   
    
10. Turn the radio off with the power button.
    
     
11. Turn radio back on.
    
     
12. Press UP to stop the radio from scanning.
    
     
13. Using only the UP, DOWN, and FW buttons and the dial, move to 76.000 MHz.

    Note: Pressing BAND will kick the radio out of PS mode, and you'll have to repeat starting at step 7.
    
     

14. Store the new 76.000 MHZ that you just tuned to into PS memory 3L.
    
     
15. Go to ACT-2 band, VFO mode.
    
     
16. Store 998.000 MHz into 1L, and 999.000 MHz into 1U.
    
     
17. Go to the V-HAM band, and enter PS scanning between 2L and 2U, power off, and power on the radio, and stop scanning as in steps 7 through 12.
    
     
18. Using the same tuning technique as in step 13, tune to 998.000 MHz, and store it into PS memory 4L. Store 999.000 MHz into 4U.
    
     
19. Press M/V to exit PS mode and return to VFO mode.
    
     
20. Press UP or DOWN to select memory 3L. Press and hold BAND to enter SET mode, and configure STEP to 5 kHz, RX-MD to FM-N, and SQL TYP to nothing (T, SQ, and DCS do not appear on display).
    
     
21. Press and hold FW, select 10L with the dial, and store the memory.
    
     
22. Repeat steps 20 and 21 to store memory 4U with new settings into 10U.

You can now delete 1L, 1U, 2L, 2U, 3L, 3U, 4L, and 4U, as they are not needed any more.

By switching to the V-HAM band and doing a PS scan between 10L and 10U, you can access the entire spectum from 76MHz to 999MHz, without gaps, in any mode or step. As you learned while performing the mod, it is also possible to tune specific stations in that range by tuning without pressing the BAND button. It works much like VFO mode with respect to step, squelch, offsets, and RX mode. After picking a frequency and selecting the tuning parameters, you can also store the frequency. It will place it into the memory bank under the V-HAM band, regardless of frequency.

What this modification allows you to do:

• Store frequencies regardless of band all into one band so doing a memory scan will allow you to monitor all of them at once. Put your favorite 144, 222, and 440 repeaters all into one bank for monitoring purposes.
  
   
• ARS (Automatic Repeater Shift) will still work, so if you tune a 440MHz frequency under the PS mode in V-HAM, it'll still automatically set the offset to 5 MHz if you have ARS turned on.
  
   
• Priority (or Dual Watch) will work with any stored frequencies on the band, even if they are not in-band.
  
   
• While in PS mode, if you select a frequency (or repeater with ARS) that is normally within the TX boundaries of the radio, you will be able to transmit as if you were in VFO mode.

What this modification does not allow you to do:

• If you store a frequency that is "out of band," you will be able to monitor it, but you will not be able to transmit or monitor the input frequency of a repeater with FW+MON.
  
   
• All "out of band" frequencies must be tuned via the PS method. (Duh.) Regular VFO mode will not work to tune "out of band" frequencies.
  
   
• In PS mode, when searching through "out of band" frequencies, AT-MD will not work properly, so you will need to turn off AT-MD (from AUTO to MANUAL), and manually set step and RX mode as you scan through frequencies. It's probably a good idea to reset AT-MD back to AUTO after you have done whatever you need to do in PS mode.

How this differs from the ADMS mod:

• As far as I know, ARS is completely disabled if you use the ADMS single-band scan modification. I do not own the ADMS software, a cable, or anything else, so I cannot verify this, but a lack of ARS would be a pretty nasty flaw in my mind.
  
   
• As far as I know, the ADMS mod requires you to set all of your out-of-band memories from a computer, then upload the frequencies to your radio. That's a little annoying in my book. =)
  
   
• This mod also coincidentally gives you _continuous_ coverage over the 76-999 MHz range. This has certain implications by now theoretically allowing reception of cellular, cordless, and trunked communications which may be illegal to monitor in your area of the world. Don't do anything illegal, okay, folks?

Miscellaneous Details:

Yes, there's likely a much more efficient way to do the programming. I specifically used lots of memories to make it easier for users to do with a minimum of repetition if you mess up.

The modifications has been performed and tested on a US model VX-1R with A106 firmware.

Also, this is based on "The APO Trick" from jeeb@sol.net. I extended and optimized the application of the trick to make the modification fast, easy, and simpler for most users. His technique is a good general way to get any PS range capable to be received by the radio to show up in another band. This bug has been exploited for this mod.

Essentially, we move a chunk of the low end of the band into the V-HAM area, and a chunk of the high end into the same area. We then use those ranges to mark the endpoints of a new, full-band range. Why V-HAM? Well, putting them into one of the -HAM bands where the radio normally transmits allows us to transmit on any memory in that area. So, if you frequent 2m repeaters a lot, but want to monitor UHF repeaters, you can use this technique to store them all in one band. This will allow you to monitor all of them, and still transmit on the VHF ones. If you want to transmit on the UHF ones, switch to the right band and do it. This mod can be performed on the U-HAM band in place of V-HAM by just selecting a different range (444-445 instead of 144-145) and replacing V-HAM with U-HAM in the above procedure.

1. Press & hold the VOL + FW + MON buttons down together and power up the radio. The Display should now show HSSQ03 (note: the important 3 is the small 3 at the top of the display. If anything but 3 appears at the top of the display, press the BAND button until the 3 appears)
   
    
2. Press the UP button to display HASQ**
   
    
3. Turn the dial until the display shows HASQ08
   
    
4. Press the UP button to display THSQ**
   
    
5. Turn the dial until the display shows THSQ4F
   
    
6. Press the UP button to display TISQ**
   
    
7. Turn the dial until the display shows TISQ2F
   
    
8. Press the UP button 2 times to display S1LV**
   
    
9. Turn the dial until the display shows S1LV34
   
    
10. Press the UP button to display S9LV**
    
     
11. Turn the dial until the display shows S9LVA3
    
     
12. Press the UP button to display HSSQ03
    
     
13. Press the BAND button 3 times until the display shows HSSQ06 (again note: this is the small 6 at the top of the display)
    
     
14. Press the UP button to display HASQ**
    
     
15. Turn the dial until the display shows HASQ08
    
     
16. Press the UP button to display THSQ**
    
     
17. Turn the dial until the display shows THSQ4D
    
     
18. Press the UP button to display TISQ**
    
     
19. Turn the dial until the display shows TISQ30
    
     
20. Press the UP button 2 times to display S1LV**
    
     
21. Turn the dial until the display shows S1LV27
    
     
22. Press the UP button to display S9LV**
    
     
23. Turn the dial until the display shows S9LV96
    
     
24. Press the FW button for 0.5 seconds to store these settings into memory. The radio will return to normal mode.

The reprogramming procedure is now complete.

I have several channels on the VX-1R allocated to store a VHF memory channel with a UHF TX freq. to crossband back to the CAR to get on a local 2M repeater. Here is how I set it up. I place my mobile dual-band radio in the CAR to crossband ONE-WAY, because most of the time I can hear the local repeater, but I can't hear me. I set the CAR dual-bander up to receive the UHF simplex frequency ie..446.00 (with PL CTCSS on so every noise does not key up the crossband operation). Then I set it up on the 2M VFO side for the repeater INPUT frequency. I turn the car radio to 5 watts out and turn on the crossband to go UHF to VHF. The car radio only transmits when you are talking. And there you are, you don't have to wait until the squelch tail drops and you can join in with the best of them.

The text below is taken from the manual (page 32) on how to program the VX-1

Independent Tx-Rx Frequency Storage ("Odd Splits").
You may need to use a repeater that has a non-standard shift (an Offset that does not conform to the local repeater band plan). The VX-lR allows you to store the transmit and receive frequencies independently into a single memory; so you can store the non-standard repeater's settings without having to change the "standard" repeater shifts in your VX-1R (+/-600 khz, +/-5 MHz, etc.).
The procedure is very simple:

1. Be sure the transceiver is in the VFO mode. Press [MV] once to change to VFO operation, if necessary.
   
    
2. Turn the Dial to the desired receive frequency. Then, as with "Simple Memory Storage" previously, set up all needed CTCSS/DCS tones and modes, but eliminate any repeater shift (+ or -icon) which might be set.
   
    
3. Hold [FW] for 1 second so the "F" icon blinks and a memory number appears above the frequency dis-play. The next step must be done within 5 seconds while "F" is blinking.
   
    
4. Turn the Dial to select the memory number to store the receive frequency, and press [FW] momentarily. Remember this memory number, as you will need to select it again below. -
   
    
5. Now turn the Dial to the desired transmit frequency.
   ** At this point change bands, if you have stored a 2m receive frequency, push the [BAND] until you get to UHF ham VFO mode and enter a simplex UHF freq. (446.000 or whatever, NO OFFSET) This process you can also store a 2m simplex TX on a UHF repeater frequency.
   
    
6. Again hold [FW] for 1 second so the "F" icon blinks and a memory number appears, and turn the Dial to select the same memory you stored the receive frequency in, which will be blinking. The next step also must be done within 5 seconds while "F" is blinking.
   
    
7. Hold the [PTT] switch while pressing [FW] momentarily.

During memory storage, pressing the [PTT] switch does not cause transmission; rather, it signals the radio's microprocessor that a transmit frequency is being stored.
Memory storage is now complete. When you recall a memory containing independent Tx/Rx data per this section, you will notice that the repeater offset is shown as "-+", indicating that the pre-programmed default offset is not in use.

PC Programming Parts List

 

Q1 = 2N2222 Q2 = 2N2222 Q3 = 2N2222 Q4 = 2N2222 Q5 = Not Used Q6 = 2N3906 Q7 =2N3906 D1 = 1N914 D2 = 1N751A D3 = 1N914 D4 = 1N914

R1 = 47K R2 = 47K R3 = 10K R4 = 12K R5 = 470K R6 = 47K R7 = 47K R8 = 47K R9 = 100K R10 = 100K

The abbreviation NC means no connection.
The DB9 connector can be Radio Shack part # 276-1538 or equivalent.
A good place to start looking for the 4 conductor plug is Tower Electronics: 1-800-662-3422. The 2N2222 can be substituted for any general purpose NPN transistor, while the 2N3906 can also be substituted for any general purpose PNP transistor. D1,3,4 are general purpose silicon diodes. D2 is any 5.1V zener diode.
All resistors are 1/4 or 1/8watt - 5% tolerence resistors. This PC programming cable can also be built with SMT (Surface Mount Technology) parts if desired.
 

The interface is a bidirectional level converter, changing TTL-level to RS232, and vice versa.
The supply voltage comes from RTS, CTS and DTR and is stabilized with D2 to 5V. Q1 works as a simple switch, getting the data viz R8 from the PC. In the opposite way Q2 drives the push pull stage Q6 and Q4.

This cable works with the Yaesu FT-50, VX-1R, VX-5R. The cable can also be adapted to work with the FT-10 & FT-40 - which use a 3 conductor programming cable.

1. Power radio off (if it's On)
2. Press and HOLD the "AR" button while you power up the radio.
3. This puts the radio in the "Test Mode". Keep pushing the "AR" button.
   It will cycle through different patterns on the LCD display. At the end, it will display One Letter and Three Numbers. A102/A104 and A105 seem to be the current versions ??? If you sailed by it, just keep pressing the "AR" button.
4. To exit from this "Test Mode" just power down the Radio.

• Squelch Hysteresis
• Squelch Threshold & Tightness Adjustment
• Wide FM Squelch Adjustment
• S-Meter Full Scale & S-1 Adjustment

• Remove battery
• Remove the (3) small black screws.
• Carefully open the radio, spliting the radio front and rear cases Looking down inside of the top left side of the radio (left of rotary encoder) , locate and ADD Solder to jumpers "0" and "1" (jumper "0" is the top jumper and jumper "1" is below it)
• Assemble radio.
• Press and hold [M/V] and [AR] keys while turning on the radio.