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VX-120 O

PERATING

 M

ANUAL

1

G

ENERAL

 D

ESCRIPTION

The 

VX-120

 is a compact, high-performance subnersible

 FM hand-held providing up to

five watts of RF power and wealth of convenient features for the 2-meter amateur band.

New and exciting features of the 

VX-120

 are Enhanced Paging and Code Squelch (EPCS),

that allows you to page a particular station and only receive calls from that station, if
desired; and a security Password feature, that will allow you to turn on and operate your
transceiver only after you enter your Password.

Additional features include a convenient access key for Vertex Standard’s WIRES™ (Wide-
coverage Internet Repeater Enhancement System), a transmit Time-Out Timer (TOT),
Automatic Power-Off (APO), Automatic Repeater Shift (ARS), Vertex Standard’s exclu-
sive ARTS™ (Auto-Range Transponder System) which “beeps” the user when you move
out of communications range with another ARTS™ equipped station, plus provision for
reduction of the TX deviation in areas of high channel congestion. And an RF squelch
circuit allows the owner to set the squelch to open at a programmable setting of the S-
Meter, thus reducing guesswork in setting the squelch threshold.

We appreciate your purchase of the 

VX-120

, and encourage you to read this manual thor-

oughly, so as to learn about the many exciting features of your exciting new Vertex Stan-
dard hand-held transceiver!

: IPX-7 Specification for submersibility: 3 ft. for 30 minutes

Summary of Contents for VX-120 Series

Page 1: ...ANDARD US Headquarters 10900 Walker Street Cypress CA 90630 U S A YAESU EUROPE B V P O Box 75525 1118 ZN Schiphol The Netherlands YAESU UK LTD Unit 12 Sun Valley Business Park Winnall Close Winchester...

Page 2: ...nnections 3 Top Front Panel 3 LCD 4 Side Panel 5 Keypad Functions 6 Installation of Accessories 8 Antenna Installation 8 Installation of FNB 83 Battery Pack 8 Battery Charging 9 Low Battery Indication...

Page 3: ...coverage Internet Repeater Enhancement System a transmit Time Out Timer TOT Automatic Power Off APO Automatic Repeater Shift ARS Vertex Standard s exclu sive ARTS Auto Range Transponder System which...

Page 4: ...VC 27 Earpiece Microphone VC 24 VOX Headset FTD 7 DTMF Paging Unit B suffix is for use with 100 120 VAC C suffix is for use with 230 240 VAC and U suffix is for use with 230 VAC Availability of acces...

Page 5: ...he click stop will turn the radio off DIAL Knob This inner 20 position detented rotary switch is used for setting the operating fre quency and also is used for menu selections and other adjustments Sp...

Page 6: ...kip Memory Channel or Preferential Memory Channel Repeater Shift Direction CTCSS DSC Operation Internet Connection Feature Active Key Lock Active Bell Alerm Active Battery Saver Active Dual Watch Acti...

Page 7: ...gnals near the background noise level temporarily Press the F key on the keypad first then press this switch to enable to adjustment of the squelch threshold level EXT DC Jack This coaxial DC jack all...

Page 8: ...hile in the Memory Recall mode Selects the Memory Scan Skip channel selection mode Engages the Set Menu Mode Selects the desired transmit power output level Activates the Key Lockout feature Activates...

Page 9: ...erses the transmit and receive frequencies while working through a repeater Switches to the Home favorite frequency Channel None Sets frequency control to the VFO mode Toggles the VFO between VFO A an...

Page 10: ...f using an external antenna for transmission ensure that the SWR presented to the transceiver is 1 5 1 or lower to avoid excessive feedline loss INSTALLATION OF FNB 83 BATTERY PACK The FNB 83 is a hig...

Page 11: ...operation reception or trans mission Do not leave the NC 88 connected to the transceiver for continuous periods in excess of 24 hours Long term overcharging can degrade the Ni MH battery pack and sig...

Page 12: ...NSTALLATION OF ACCESSORIES INSTALLATION OF FBA 25A ALKALINE BATTERY CASE OPTION The optional FBA 25A Battery Case allows operation of the VX 120 using six AA size Alkaline batteries When installing ba...

Page 13: ...L knob as with voice operation The input level to the VX 120 from the TNC should be adjusted at the TNC side the optimum input voltage is approximately 5 mV at 2000 Ohms Be sure to turn the transceive...

Page 14: ...nect the antenna to the top panel ANTENNA jack Rotate the top panel s VOL PWR knob inner knob out of the click stop to turn on the radio The current DC supply voltage will be indicated on the display...

Page 15: ...ilt in CTCSS Decoder This feature will keep your ra dio quiet until a call is received from a station sending a carrier which contains a matching subaudible CTCSS tone Or if your friends have radios e...

Page 16: ...ncy instead of a higher frequency just rotate the DIAL one click in the counter clockwise direction while the VX 120 is scanning The scanning direction will be re versed To revert to scanning toward a...

Page 17: ...ttings 1 If you re just talking to friends in the immediate area you ll get much longer battery life by switching to Low Power operation described in the next chapter And don t forget always have an a...

Page 18: ...LK P K Both the PTT switch and keypad are locked out LK P D Both the PTT switch and DIAL are locked out LK ALL All of the above are locked out To lock out some or all of the keys 1 Press the F key th...

Page 19: ...DIAL knob to select Set Mode Item 25 LAMP 3 Press the F key momentarily to enable adjustment of this Item 4 Rotate the DIAL knob to select one of the three modes described above 5 When you have made...

Page 20: ...ily to enable adjustment of this Item 4 Rotate the DIAL knob to select the desired signal strength level for the squelch threshold S 1 S 2 S 3 S 4 S 5 S 6 S 8 S FULL or OFF 5 Press the PTT switch to s...

Page 21: ...AUTOMATIC REPEATER SHIFT ARS The VX 120 provides a convenient Automatic Repeater Shift feature which causes the appropriate repeater shift to be applied automatically whenever you tune into the desig...

Page 22: ...n Turn ARS off if you do not wish this to happen If you make a change in the repeater shift on a memory channel that you already stored the radio will consider this a temporary change unless you store...

Page 23: ...th astronauts on orbiting space vehicles it may be necessary to use non standard splits between the receive and transmit frequency If the application is infrequent enough not to warrant the dedication...

Page 24: ...nce more to restore VFO A to the receive VFO position 10 When you have finished with Split operation re enter the Set mode and change Set Mode Item 50 VFO SPL to VSP OFF Asplit frequency pair set up v...

Page 25: ...Tone SQueLch system is active which mutes your VX 120 s receiver until it receives a call from an other radio sending out a matching CTCSS tone This can help keep your radio quiet until a specific ca...

Page 26: ...if your friend s use transceivers equipped with this advanced feature Just as in CTCSS operation DCS requires that you set the Tone Mode to DCS and that you select a tone code 1 Press the F key then p...

Page 27: ...ss the F key then press the LOW LOCK SET key to enter the Set mode 3 Rotate the DIAL knob to select Set Mode Item 44 SQL TYP when TONE SQL is selected or select Set Mode Item 13 DCS COD when DCS is se...

Page 28: ...the squelch will close automatically after the incoming page ends Storing the CTCSS Tone Pairs for EPCS Operation 1 Press the F key then press the LOW LOCK SET key to enter the Set mode 2 Rotate the D...

Page 29: ...r EPCS operation you may set up the VX 170 such that a ringing bell sound alerts you to the fact that a call is coming in Here is the procedure for activating the CTCSS DCS EPCS Bell 1 Set the transce...

Page 30: ...the icon will blink during operation Select the desired operating mode from the selections shown above TONE CALLING 1750 HZ If the repeaters in your country require a 1750 Hz burst tone for access ty...

Page 31: ...4 If you wish to select a different channel number into which to store the data rotate the DIAL knob to select the desired memory channel You may jump 10 memory channels if you re in a hurry 11 21 31...

Page 32: ...Mode Item 33 REV HM from REV to HOME if it is not already set to this option see page 77 2 Select the desired frequency while operating in the VFO mode Be sure to set up any desired CTCSS or DCS tone...

Page 33: ...rammed a label which is under 6 characters press and hold in the F key for one second to confirm the label if the label is exactly 6 characters in length you do not need to press and hold in F key 11...

Page 34: ...gi nally appeared on the LCD 5 If you wish to store a new frequency set during Memory Tuning just press and hold in the F key for one second per normal memory storage procedure The microproces sor wil...

Page 35: ...ey if needed to enter the Memory Recall mode 2 Press and hold in the VFO PRI key then rotate the DIAL knob to select the desired Memory Bank BANK 1 through BANK10 3 Press the MR SKIP key momentarily n...

Page 36: ...s transferred the TX frequency will be ignored you will be set up for Simplex operation on the Receive frequency MEMORY ONLY MODE Once memory channel programming has been completed you may place the r...

Page 37: ...ses on a station press the PTT switch once to halt the scan or press it twice to restart the scan 4 To exit to normal operation press the WX EMG key again Severe Weather Alert In the event of extreme...

Page 38: ...he scanner will halt on a signal it encounters and will hold there for five seconds If you do not take action to disable the scanner within that time period the scanner will resume even if the station...

Page 39: ...Programmed VFO scanner Available selections are 1 MHz 2 MHz 5 MHz PMS x and ALL PMS x The scanner will sweep frequencies within the currently selected PMS frequency pair See page 41 for details ALL Th...

Page 40: ...Scan Resume mode as the incoming signal will not pause long enough for the transceiver to resume scanning Such channels may be Skipped during scanning if you like 1 Recall the Memory Channel to be sk...

Page 41: ...he Skip channel selec tion mode 3 Rotate the DIAL knob so as to select ONLY 4 When you have made your selection press the PTT switch to save the setting and exit to normal operation 5 To remove a chan...

Page 42: ...DIAL knob to select the first Memory Bank BANK 1 BANK10 you wish to sweep using Memory Bank Link Scan 3 Press the F key momentarily The current Memory Bank will now be swept during Memory Bank Scan A...

Page 43: ...concept 144 300 MHz into Memory Channel L1 the L designates the Lower sub band limit 3 Likewise store 148 000 MHz into Memory Channel U1 the U designates the Upper sub band limit 4 Confirm the radio...

Page 44: ...ain to disable the VFO Priority mode Memory Channel Priority 1 Store the frequency you wish to be the Priority Channel into memory channel 1 2 Now set the radio for operation on another memory channel...

Page 45: ...RI key to disable the VFO VFO Dual Watch SCANNING PRIORITY CHANNEL SCANNING DUAL WATCH Priority Revert Mode During Priority channel operation Dual Watch a special feature is available which will allow...

Page 46: ...nob to set this Set Mode Item to OFF 5 When you have made your selection press the PTT switch to save the setting and exit to normal operation BAND EDGE BEEPER The VX 120 will automatically beep when...

Page 47: ...er Alert Scan feature 1 Press the F key then press the LOW LOCK SET key to enter the Set mode 2 Rotate the DIAL knob to select Set Mode Item 52 WX ALT 3 Press the F key momentarily to enable adjustmen...

Page 48: ...e channel and E two sec onds after the PTT switch release the Emergency feature will resume To disable the Emergency feature press the F key momentarily or turn the radio off by rotating the VOL PWR k...

Page 49: ...1 channels are not filled after the first sweep however the radio will continue sweeping until they are all filled Starting the Smart Search Mode 1 Press the F key then press the LOW LOCK SET key to e...

Page 50: ...etting 6 Rotate the DIAL knob to select Set Mode Item 22 I NET 7 Press the F key to enable adjustment of this Set Mode Item 8 Rotate the DIAL knob to set this Set Mode Item to INT COD thus activating...

Page 51: ...s the F key then press the LOW LOCK SET key to enter the Set mode again 4 Rotate the DIAL knob to select Set Mode Item 24 INT MR 5 Press the F key to enable adjustment of this Set Mode Item 6 Rotate t...

Page 52: ...reviously in non ARTS operation If you move out of range for more than one minute four pollings your radio will sense that no signal has been received three beeps will sound and the display will rever...

Page 53: ...F key momentarily to exit ARTS operation and resume normal functioning of the transceiver ARTS constitutes a form of remote control operation that may be re stricted to certain frequencies U S users...

Page 54: ...y times as necessary to com plete your callsign If you make a mistake press the MHz key to move back to the previous letter number s slot then re select the correct letter number 7 When you have finis...

Page 55: ...7 until you have completed the telephone number 9 If you make a mistake press the MHz key to move back to the previous digit then re select the correct number 10 Press and hold in the F key for one se...

Page 56: ...VX 120 OPERATING MANUAL 54 NOTE...

Page 57: ...e automatically five seconds after the incoming page ends you may now resume DTMF Pager operation Storing the 3 digit code for the DTMF Pager Operation 1 Press the F key then press the LOW LOCK SET ke...

Page 58: ...switch to send the 3 digit DTMF pager code which is stored in the last selected DTMF Pager Memory register 7 When you receive a DTMF paging call it will open your radio s DTMF squelch and the LCD will...

Page 59: ...er number 7 When you have finished entering the ANI code and it contains less than 16 characters press and hold in the F key for one second to confirm the callsign if the ANI code has exactly 16 chara...

Page 60: ...s the F key again to clear any previous password 5 Rotate the DIAL knob to select the first digit of the desired letter which corresponding with the front panel keypad W substitute for WX EMG key L su...

Page 61: ...restore all other settings to factory defaults CHANGING THE CHANNEL STEPS The VX 120 s synthesizer provides the option of utilizing channel steps of 5 10 12 5 15 20 25 50 100 kHz per step as well as a...

Page 62: ...ormal operation When you are operating on Packet switch the Receive Battery Saver OFF as the sleep cycle may collide with the beginning of an incoming Packet trans mission causing your TNC not to rece...

Page 63: ...APO feature helps conserve battery life by automatically turning the radio off after a user defined period of time within which there has been no dial or key activity The avail able selections for the...

Page 64: ...me is within 10 seconds of the Time Out Timer expiration an Alert bell will provide an audible warning from the speaker 2 Since brief transmissions are the mark of a good operator try setting up your...

Page 65: ...urations the output signal phase is inverted from the input Small signal or power amplifiers having an odd number 1 3 5 etc of amplification stages may result in inversion of a transmitted or received...

Page 66: ...SET key to enter the Set mode 2 Rotate the DIAL knob to select Set Mode Item 51 WID NAR 3 Press the F key momentarily to enable adjustment of this Set Mode Item 4 Rotate the DIAL knob to set this Set...

Page 67: ...the radio on 3 Rotate the DIAL knob to select one of the choices from the reset menu F1 SETRST Resets the Set Menu mode settings to their factory defaults F2 MEMRST Clears the Memory settings to facto...

Page 68: ...on does not matter 4 Rotate the DIAL knob on each radio to select to F6 CLONE then press the F key momentarily 5 The display will disappear for a moment then the CLONE notation will appear on the disp...

Page 69: ...VX 120 OPERATING MANUAL 67 NOTE...

Page 70: ...DT 20 EDG BEP FUNCTION Setting of the Automatic Power Off feature Selects the Beep option during ARTS operation Selects the Polling Interval during ARTS operation Enables Disables the Automatic Repeat...

Page 71: ...sables VFO Split operation Select Wide 5 kHz or Narrow 2 5 kHz TX Deviation Enables Disables the Weather Alert Scan feature AVAILABLE VALUES DEFAULT BOLD ITALIC EMG BEP EMG LMP EMG B L EMG CWT EMG C B...

Page 72: ...le paused Selects the Memory Scan Skip channel selection mode Enables Disables the Weather Alert Scan feature POWER SAVER SETTING Selects the Receive mode Battery Saver interval sleep ratio Enables Di...

Page 73: ...it operation Select Wide 5 kHz or Narrow 2 5 kHz TX Deviation PAGER SETTING REQUIRES OPTIONAL FTD 7 Enables Disables the ANI function Program the ANI Identifier Enables Disables the ANI function Setti...

Page 74: ...he Polling Interval during ARTS operation Available Values 25 SEC 15 SEC Default 25SEC Set Mode Item 4 ARS Function Enables Disables the Automatic Repeater Shift function Available Values ARS ON ARS O...

Page 75: ...n Setting of the DCS code Available Values 104 standard DCS codes Default DCS 023 Set Mode Item 14 DCS N R Function Enables Disables Inverted DCS code decoding Available Values T RX N RX R TX R T RX R...

Page 76: ...P Loud Alarm sounds EMG LMP The LCD Keypad lamp flashes EMG B L Loud Alarm sounds and the LCD Keypad lamp flashes EMG CWT Transmits the Morse Code SOS message on the air begin ning one minute after ac...

Page 77: ...e Item 24 INT MR Function Selects the memory register for an Access Number DTMF code for non WIRES Internet Link System access Available Values d1 d9 Default d1 Set Mode Item 25 LAMP Function Selects...

Page 78: ...ilable Values FREQ ALPHA Default FREQ Set Mode Item 29 NM WRT Function Stores Alpha Numeric Tags for the Memory channels See page 31 for details Set Mode Item 30 PSWD Function Enables disables the Pas...

Page 79: ...iority Revert feature Available Values RVT OFF RVT ON Default RVT OFF See page 43 for details Set Mode Item 37 RXSAVE Function Selects the Receive mode Battery Saver interval sleep ratio Available Val...

Page 80: ...42 SKIP Function Selects the Memory Scan Skip channel selection mode Available Values OFF SKIP ONLY Default OFF SKIP The scanner will skip the flagged channels during scanning ONLY The scanner will o...

Page 81: ...g of the CTCSS Tone Fre quency Available Values 50 standard CTCSS tones Default 100 0 Hz Set Mode Item 47 TOT Function Setting of the TOT time Available Values 1MIN 30MIN or OFF Default 6MIN minutes T...

Page 82: ...can feature Available Values ALT OFF ALT ON Default ALT OFF The following Set Mode Items will appears when the optional FTD 7 DTMF Paging Unit is installed Set Mode Item 53 ANI Function Enables Disabl...

Page 83: ...390 g with FNB 83 antenna and belt clip Transmitter RF Power Output 5 0 W High 2 0 W Middle 0 5 W Low 7 2 V Modulation Type Variable Reactance F2D F3E Maximum Deviation 5 0 kHz F2D F3E Spurious Emissi...

Page 84: ...the FTD 7 under the caution seal in the battery compartment on the back of the radio just peel off the caution seal 4 Align the connector on the FTD 7 with the transceiver s connector and gently pres...

Page 85: ...VX 120 OPERATING MANUAL 83 NOTE...

Page 86: ...VX 120 OPERATING MANUAL 84 NOTE...

Page 87: ...interference that may cause undesired operation 3 The scanning receiver in this equipment is incapable of tuning or readily being altered by the User to operate within the frequency bands allocated to...

Page 88: ...Copyright 2005 VERTEX STANDARD CO LTD All rights reserved No portion of this manual may be reproduced without the permission of VERTEX STANDARD CO LTD E H 0 2 2 N 2 0 0...

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