- [Man voice] CQ CQ Parks on the Air, CQ Parks on the Air.
KB9VBR kilo Bravo Niner, Victor Bravo Romeo calling CQ.
(upbeat music)
- Hi I'm Michael, KB9VBR, your host for Ham Radio Q&A.
I'm on a mission to inspire
and educate the amateur radio community,
and today I'm starting a series
of how-to videos on the Yaesu FT-891.
The FT-891 is a very popular portable or field transceiver
as it gives you up to 100 watts of power
in a very small package.
But the biggest complaint is the limited number
of front panel buttons forcing the user deep
into the menu system of the radio.
So we are going to dig into those menus
and unlock some of the features
of this extremely versatile rig.
And to start out,
we are gonna talk about the voice memory keyer.
The FT-891 allows you to record up to five voice messages
of 20 seconds in length and replay them over the air.
This is a handy feature if you are on a frequency
and you're wanting to call CQ.
You can enable to the voice keyer to do that for you,
saving your voice, which is super handy during a contest
or a Parks on the Air activation.
The memory keyer just isn't limited to voice messages,
you can also record five separate morse code messages,
which can use streamline your CW contacts.
Depending on the mode you are in,
the radio will toggle automatically
between the voice and CW message.
So how do we get started with the voice memory keyer?
Well, the first thing is to go
to the record settings list screen.
This is done by pressing the F key
until you get to the fourth menu list.
But there's a catch, the record settings menu won't be there
unless you activate it,
you will only see the three default list screens.
So we need to dig into the menu system.
Press and hold the F button to go into the menu system.
Turn the function dial until you get to menu item 5-11,
labeled record setting.
Pressing the function dial to select the menu item,
then you'll be able to turn the dial
to activate that line item.
Now escape the menu by single pressing the F button.
From the frequency display screen
we can now single press the F button
until we get to the fourth list screen,
titled Record settings.
On this screen you will see eight menu items,
DEC, PB, MEM, and CH1 through CH5.
Working backwards, CH1 through CH5
are your individual memory channels.
MEM activates the memory record function
and PB activates the playback function.
DEC or decrement is a morse code keyer function.
The transceiver can store incrementing serial numbers
in the keyer for CW contests
and if your serial number gets off for any reason
the DEC button will decrement that number.
We don't need that feature for voice keying, though,
so just ignore it for now.
So let's record a message.
To do so, turn the function dial until MEM is highlighted.
Push the function dial
and a flashing record indicator will appear
Now turn the dial to CH1 and push the dial button again.
This selects recording to channel 1.
Press and release the push to talk button on the microphone.
Don't hold it down, you just want a momentary press.
Begin speaking into the microphone.
- [Man voice] CQ CQ Parks on the Air, CQ Parks on the Air.
KB9VBR kilo Bravo Niner, Victor Bravo Romeo,
calling CQ for Parks on the Air.
- At the end of your message,
press the function dial button to stop recording.
The transceiver will replay what you have recorded.
- [Man voice] CQ CQ Parks on the Air, CQ Parks on the Air.
KB9VBR kilo Bravo Niner, Victor Bravo Romeo,
calling CQ for Parks on the Air.
- Try to press the function dial button
as quickly as you can,
otherwise the FT-891 continues to record.
And I've found that when using the voice keyer,
you gonna want to keep that tail as short as possible.
(bleeps)
- [Man voice] CQ CQ Parks on the Air, CQ Parks on the Air.
KB9VBR kilo Bravo Niner, Victor Bravo Romeo,
calling CQ for Parks on the Air.
CQ CQ Parks on the Air, CQ Parks on the Air.
KB9VBR kilo Bravo Niner, Victor Bravo Romeo,
calling CQ for Parks on the Air.
- The nice thing with 5 memories,
is that you can keep a standard call for CQ
and also have tailored calls for things
like Parks on the Air, QSO parties, or contests.
You can set the memories up,
to fit however your operation style is.
Now these memories won't play back over the air
until you activate the PB or playback mode.
To do so, on the record settings screen,
turn the function dial until PB is selected
and then press the dial button so that it is highlighted.
When the playback mode activated,
and you press a channel memory button,
the transceiver will play your message over the air.
Now that we've got that set up,
let's make these memories a little more accessible
and assign a channel to one of the front panel buttons.
To do so, rotate the function dial until channel 1
or any of the other channels, is selected.
Then press and hold either the A B or C buttons.
The channel will now occupy on of those buttons
and you can access the voice keyer
by pressing the A B or C.
(bleeps)
- [Man voice] CQ CQ Parks on the Air, CQ Parks on the Air.
- Alternately, Yaesu's optional FH-2 keypad,
unlocks the power of the voice keyer
and gives you five buttons for all five channels
ready at your fingertips.
This a handy accessory for the contester
or the CW operator as they'll have all those functions
for at radio access.
And finally, if you are wondering about the CW memory keyer,
the process is similar but different enough
that we will devote a future video to that.
You will find that process
in the Yaesu FT-891 advanced operation manual settings
starting at page 11.
Setting up the voice memory keyer
will streamline your next QSO party
or Parks on the Air activation and save your voice.
Have you used the voice keyer or have questions about it?
Well, leave it in the comments below.
And if there is an FT-891 feature or tip
that you want more instruction on,
let me know and I'll add it to the series.
But that's it for now.
I'm Michael, KB9VBR.
Have a great day and 73.