Yaesu VX-6R TX Mod
 

I just discovered what appears to be the "free band" mod for the US version of the VX-6R. It requires the removal of one solder blob.

Here's the procedure:

  1. Turn off the radio and remove the battery.
  2. Remove the stick-on plastic cover that fits over the cutout where the SU-1 goes.
  3. You will see two rows of solder pads, one row of eight (with two pads soldered) and to its right, one row of five (with no pads soldered).
  4. Counting from the left on the row of eight pads, go to the fourth pad and remove the solder from it.
  5. Replace the SU-1 cover and replace the battery.
  6. Reset the microprocessor.
  7. The radio will now transmit from 137 - 174, 222 - 230, and 420 - 469. The TX LED lights up in many other ranges but I have not checked power output anywhere but in the ranges I just mentioned.

Enjoy!

73, Jim K5QL
Free band mod for VX-6R USA version

 
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VX-6R USA mods warning

The 'free band' mod on the VX-6R.
I live in SE Asia, and bought the rig new last week.
Out of the box, it is a TRIPLE band (50/144/430MHZ) rig, and, as stated in other posts, comes complete with the same 'top blob' antenna as my VX-7R (the 'top blob' is the screw-on top section for 6m)
After removing solder bridge No.4, it now TX's across a very wide range of frequencies, including 222 MHz.
A word of caution though!
If you accidentally (or otherwise) TX on a ridiculously high frequency (500MHz or so) or in the FM broadcast band, the radio shuts off immediately!
It will then NOT POWER UP at all, until the DC adaptor/charger is attached!
I thought I'd killed the rig, and had to wait 8 hours until I got home to plug in the adaptor.
This 'shut down' also has the very strange effect of completely discharging the battery (any ideas?).
With regard to non filtering outside of the official bands, this is not a huge concern in Cambodia, where 147.000 MHz is the 'Icom' band (Cambodian CB!), and 7-7.100MHz is used by shop owners and others to talk to relatives around the country and in Vietnam.
You can even buy the Thai 245-246 MHz 5w FM CB HT's here for less than $50 (80 channel, maybe mod-able to 222 MHz?).
So, in summary, do the mod by all means, but be careful of TX on some frequencies.
And don't panic if your radio shuts down, just be prepared for a 2-3 wait for the radio to charge again.
I would welcome any ideas on why the battery would completely discharge so quickly.
Gud DX to all.
Paul XU7ADQ

 

 

ATTENTION
The KB2LJJ takes no responsibility for any damage during the modification or for any wrong information made on this modification.