goonz Posted February 1, 2011 Report Share Posted February 1, 2011 That's a bummer to start with! I play at Command0's, but only private skirms as i don't have time on sundays. Link to post Share on other sites
Buffel Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Programming the radio through a USB-Serial adapter works fine. Also just finished rewiring the NATO connector and everything is still alive. Whew. Link to post Share on other sites
goonz Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 Great news! Just a regular USB to Kenwood you find for 10€ on eBay? By the way, the visual difference between the 1st gen en 2nd is should be a CCI sticker between the antenna and u183 plug. Any sign of a sticker on yours? Link to post Share on other sites
slu Posted February 4, 2011 Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 Programming the radio through a USB-Serial adapter works fine. Also just finished rewiring the NATO connector and everything is still alive. Whew. I thought you originally report it didn't work? What has changed since then? I am very interesting in getting a United Star one. Could anyone tell me where from which retailer can I find the "later" version? EDIT: Well read some more, looks like "version 2" is everywhere. About to get on from RSOV. Will try to get this to work with a genuine H350/U headset. Now to find an ancient computer with a serial port... Link to post Share on other sites
sigma3 Posted February 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2011 I believe what he means is that the USB-to-Kenwood connector did not work, but the Kenwood-to-serial-to-USB-adapter-to-USB does. I too am about to take the dive on one of these, as soon as New Year craziness dies down a minute. Link to post Share on other sites
Buffel Posted February 5, 2011 Report Share Posted February 5, 2011 I believe what he means is that the USB-to-Kenwood connector did not work, but the Kenwood-to-serial-to-USB-adapter-to-USB does. Exactly Link to post Share on other sites
sigma3 Posted February 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 23, 2011 My United Star just arrived from EB. Looks really good so far with two exceptions: 1) the programming software came on a disc that was completely unprotected, just sliding around in the bottom of the box. I'm sure it's fine, but c'mon, how hard is it to put a sleeve on a CD? 2) the CD is one of those 3" mini-CDs, so it won't be possible to use it with the slot-loading drive on my laptop. Hopefully it's just a file I can copy to the hard drive and chuck the disc. I'll get to charging it up tonight and see if I can't get an old PC to boot. Link to post Share on other sites
sigma3 Posted February 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2011 Well, that was a pain in the *albatross* of downloading and installing all kinds of drivers and having to get alternate versions of the programming software and all that, but it's now working very reliably. I'm pretty confident saying this is a solid radio of pretty high quality for what it is. Unfortunately, the radio alone does not solve all my problems! I'm having a hard time finding a PTT with mil plugs that will work. If anyone has got one of these to work with a replica PTT to a REAL headset, I'd love to hear about it. Link to post Share on other sites
slu Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Speaking of the United Star models, who has these in stock? They are out everywhere, and I don' t know if EB's stock status is up to date, nor do I really want to have to buy from them. Link to post Share on other sites
sigma3 Posted March 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 I got mine from EB about 3 weeks ago. I share your feelings on them but had no problems with this order. RSOV occasionally has them, as well. On to my continuing mini-review: I used this in the field on Saturday for the first time. It was very rocky terrain and not good for radios, but I was impressed with the performance of this one. It seemed able to receive and transmit better than most other radios present (mostly Icom F4s). However, I did discover that the channel wheel on the top is VERY sensitive, and several times I had unintentionally changed channel. Not cool! I may need to look into ways to disable that wheel. I also still don't have a working PTT, so I was using the radio entirely by hand, which was annoying (but really nothing to do with the radio itself). Link to post Share on other sites
robi Posted March 7, 2011 Report Share Posted March 7, 2011 Which headset are u using? What did you modify? Link to post Share on other sites
sigma3 Posted March 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I haven't modified anything yet. I WILL be using it with dual comm MSA Sordins, which I realize I'll have to modify to work (or get a super expensive dual-impedence PTT, which won't happen). Link to post Share on other sites
slu Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I just ordered one (UHF) from UN Company. Same price as EBB but with express shipping. They (UNCo) seem to have gotten some in stock recently. I plan to use this with an H-350/U "telephone" handset (at least for now) for a USMC kit. Anyone have experience with how the H-350/U PTT functions with this one? If not, I guess I'll find out in a few days. Hopefully its plug and play, fingers crossed. What kind of cabling did you end up using for the PC connection, sigma3? Serial to USB? Since I'll probably set the frequencies to FRS and let it be, I could probably find some ancient computer to do the one-time programming, but I'd rather be able to do it at home. Anyway, I currently run an F4 as well, so I'm glad that this will actually be an upgrade in performance, not just a $10 radio in a fancy looking metal box. Link to post Share on other sites
sigma3 Posted March 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I bought a $5 USB-to-serial adapter off ebay and (eventually, after mucking around with drivers for a while) that did the trick. The software's not great but it's easy enough once you get it working. My team leader has a bunch of H-350s that we're going to try it with. Haven't done so yet. I suspect it'll run into the same mic impedence problem, but who knows. Link to post Share on other sites
robi Posted March 8, 2011 Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 I haven't modified anything yet. I WILL be using it with dual comm MSA Sordins, which I realize I'll have to modify to work (or get a super expensive dual-impedence PTT, which won't happen). Mhh that´s my problem. That MBITR looks very cool, but I don´t want to modify my 500US$ Sordin -.- Link to post Share on other sites
sigma3 Posted March 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2011 Yeah, I know the feeling, but the modification honestly does look pretty trivial and perfectly reversible (if done by someone competent – so I'm having a buddy do it!) But if you really don't want to do that, you could try to get your hands on one of these: http://gearsoc.com/blog/2010/02/tea-universal-ptt/ Link to post Share on other sites
slu Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Any mo' info on usage with H-350/U? So far 1 report of working fine. Just got mine in, but currently programmed for 453MHz. I'm waiting for the serial to USB cable to reprogram to FRS/GMRS, so that's at least Friday before I can even see if Tx/Rx works, and at least till next week that I receive a H-350/U for PTT testing. Any tips on using the software before-hand? It looks good. All the markings look fairly accurate. Even the NSN on the right hand sticker is correct. The battery sticker is stuck on incorrectly and also incorrect (it says charge every 2 weeks, should be 12 weeks), but it feels solid. Lighter than I thought it would be, but heavy enough that you notice the difference when you put it on your vest. Link to post Share on other sites
sigma3 Posted March 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 My team leader should be bringing me a H-350 on Friday to test. Meanwhile I've nearly got my Sordins working. On the software: don't bother with the software off the disc. It MAY work for you but I could never get it to even run under XP, and I hear it was buggy anyway. There's an updated version someone posted on ASC... http://h.foxleader.net/tactical/mbitr/setup_mod.zip This one I've had no problems with (not even the harmless but confusing popup message bug some other users have reported) Also, here's a file with default FRS/GMRS freqs. http://h.foxleader.net/tactical/mbitr/MBITR-FRS-GMRS.txt The whole ASC thread is easily the most informative on these radios and I recommend reading it all. http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=114793 Happy squawking! Link to post Share on other sites
slu Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 On the software: don't bother with the software off the disc. It MAY work for you but I could never get it to even run under XP, and I hear it was buggy anyway. There's an updated version someone posted on ASC... http://h.foxleader.net/tactical/mbitr/setup_mod.zip This one I've had no problems with (not even the harmless but confusing popup message bug some other users have reported) Also, here's a file with default FRS/GMRS freqs. http://h.foxleader.net/tactical/mbitr/MBITR-FRS-GMRS.txt Thanks for that. I've downloaded it. Are you supposed to run the installer or can you run the .exe directly? If I try installing, the included serial doesn't work. If I run the .exe, the just starts and then closes itself. Link to post Share on other sites
sigma3 Posted March 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Hmm, I believe I ran the installer and had no problems with the serial. Link to post Share on other sites
slu Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Hmm, I believe I ran the installer and had no problems with the serial. Yeah my bad. You have to key in the code instead of cut and paste. Link to post Share on other sites
sigma3 Posted March 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 Unfortunately, I discovered a real problem. I attached an MSA U94 PTT to the radio, but apparently I attached the hell out of it, because I couldn't get it to detach later. I thought I had it and it was pulling loose... but actually it was pulling loose the entire U-283 connector from the radio and severed all of the wiring! This should be easy enough to fix, except I'll need a pinout of the wires. Gonna ask around on ASC for that. The connector is still stuck on the PTT connector, and I'm not totally convinced it's coming off. Gonna spray the whole thing with silicon and see if that helps. Link to post Share on other sites
slu Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 I remember reading another guy with a similar experience on that ASC thread. Seriously weak sauce. Hope the fix is fine. Is the physical connector attached to the body via glue? Link to post Share on other sites
föhoni Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 Mhh that´s my problem. That MBITR looks very cool, but I don´t want to modify my 500US$ Sordin -.- i buy that mbitr 148 model from toysoldier with the real 5 pin ptt for real Sordin,peltor usw works absolutly great with my sordins no problems speak and hearing good,distanc good and for ca 200 usd great best regards Link to post Share on other sites
Buffel Posted May 20, 2011 Report Share Posted May 20, 2011 Unfortunately, I discovered a real problem. I attached an MSA U94 PTT to the radio, but apparently I attached the hell out of it, because I couldn't get it to detach later. I thought I had it and it was pulling loose... but actually it was pulling loose the entire U-283 connector from the radio and severed all of the wiring! This should be easy enough to fix, except I'll need a pinout of the wires. Gonna ask around on ASC for that. The connector is still stuck on the PTT connector, and I'm not totally convinced it's coming off. Gonna spray the whole thing with silicon and see if that helps. Sigma, did you manage to resolve this? If not send me a message and I'll look up the info in my notes. I had exactly the same problem. The connector is a replica of the milspec connector, and the use of loctite is beyond the chinese apparantly. So I too had the problem with the connector screwing loose and twisting & breaking the wires beneath. Strongly recommend putting loctite on the threads when you fix it. Link to post Share on other sites
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