Railfan Technology > Need Yaesu FT-250 Scanner Question

I have aYaesu FT-250 scanner that's displaying a "b" in the bottom left corner of the display.
I don't recall seeing that before and don't know if, or how, I caused it.
What does it mean?
How do I get rid of it?
Do I need to get rid of it?
Thanks.
Phil

Pressing the VFO(pri) button changes between VFO A and B.
The radio has 2 VFOs, A and B, this changes between them.
They're used for working in split mode i.e when receive/transmit are on slightly different frequencies.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/20 15:46 by exhaustED.

The manual suggests it's a 'VFO split' pg 10 shows how to disable it:

https://www.yaesu.com/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=6399&FileCatID=151&FileName=FT%2D250R%5FOM%5FENG%5FEH038N101.pdf&FileContentType=application%2Fpdf

All I use it for is listening to dispatchers and trains.
Does it matter if it's set to "a" or b" for the way I use it?
It's one complicated little device for my purposes!
Phil

philhoov Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> All I use it for is listening to dispatchers and
> trains.
> Does it matter if it's set to "a" or b" for the
> way I use it?
> It's one complicated little device for my
> purposes!
> Phil

If you can listen effectively in both a and b (and i think you should be able to) then it doesn't matter which you use.
Yes, it's capable of a lot more than most people will ever use it for (let's face it, most electronic devices are!). 

Thanks to everyone for your help.
Phil

A real simple way to verify a radio is working in the RR or public service bands is to check the NWS Weather broadcast which has a number of frequency assignments around 162 MHZ. The broadcast is transmitted from local sites all across the USA, most locations can receive one or more of the broadcasts. Tuning to one of those broadcasts simply says your radio is working, if you change locations, change an antenna, change some keypad settings, look for a loose connection, you can quickly verify the radio is still operating.

Here's an explanation of the VFO split term:
https://www.onallbands.com/what-is-split-operation-in-ham-radio/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/27/20 22:06 by TCnR.

That's an excellent tip.
Given our current low rail traffic and PSR, I often wonder if my scanner is working.
Do you happen to know the frequency for NWS in the Boise, Idaho area?
Thanks.
Phil

https://www.weather.gov/boi/nwr

"The NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) system is a direct broadcast by the National Weather Service on the VHF-FM band.The broadcast is a continuous cycle of individual products providing a tailored weather information package for residents within the weather radio broadcast area. The product format varies with the time of day and with the season. A warning alarm is transmitted whenever severe weather, national emergency, or other hazardous event requires rapid public warnings. Regular programming is interupted to broadcast these warnings. This warning alarm can be heard on weather radios equipped with the "alarm" feature.NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts can usually be heard as far as 50 miles from the antenna site, sometimes more. The effective range depends on many factors, particularly the height of the broadcasting antenna, terrain, quality of the receiver, and type of receiving antenna.The following are NWR locations in Idaho and bordering states which broadcast continuous 24-hour weather information.

Boise NWR.....................WXK-68.......162.55 MHz
Bonners Ferry NWR.....WWG-99......162.50 MHz
Burns (OR) NWR.....KHB-30........162.475 MHz
Grangeville NWR...........KXI-82..........162.45 MHz
Kalispell (MT) NWR.......WXL-82........162.55 MHz
Lewiston NWR...............WXK-98.......162.55 MHz
Logan (UT) NWR...........WXK-22.......162.40 MHz
McCall NWR...................WWF-58.......162.475 MHz
Missoula (MT) NWR......WXL-25........162.40 MHz
Payette NWR..................WXK-88.......162.40 MHz
Pendleton (OR) NWR...WXL-95........162.40 MHz
Pocatello NWR..............WXL-33........162.55 MHzS
pokane (WA) NWR.....WXL-86........162.40 MHz
Twin Falls NWR.............WXL-35........162.40 MHz



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/28/20 08:14 by TCnR.

Very helpful.
Didn't know this was available.
Many thanks!
Phil

NWS uses 7 frequencies.  Here's the good news/bad news:  they are fairly close to the frequencies of the railroad VHF band which makes them useful to test a scanner/amateur radio for reception.  BUT, the bad news is the that NWS channels are still wide-band frequencies and the railroad frequencies are narrow band.  So, an amateur radio (most all of which are wide-band) will have better reception on the weather channels than it generally will on the railroad channels.  Also, most all currently sold amateur radios do have a narrow-band setting--however, on most of them, the narrow-band setting only affect the TRANSMIT side of the radio.  And, as I've posted many times before, the amateur radios--unless they have a 2.5 kHz tuning step--will not tune the "splinter" channels created by narrow-banding.  While the railroads have not started to use those splinter channels much, when they do, a typical amateur radio will not tune them, and--worse yet--they can bleed over onto the original railroad channels if the radio is not narrow-band receive capable.  That is why I no longer recommend amateur radios for railfanning use.  One of the very few exceptions is the Kenwood TM-281A mobile amateur radio--it is fully narrow-band analog capable, including tuning the splinter channels, and is a high-quality radio nearly equal to commercial mobile radios in performance. 

I will stick with the Yaesu for now, but curious what the Kenwood model is and what they cost ~ in case I want one later.
Thanks.
Phil

philhoov Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I will stick with the Yaesu for now, but curious
> what the Kenwood model is and what they cost ~ in
> case I want one later.
> Thanks.
> Phil

DX Engineering has the TM-281A for $142.95  HRO currently has it on sale for $137.95.
 

Arved Grass
Fleming Island, FL

philhoov Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I will stick with the Yaesu for now, but curious
> what the Kenwood model is and what they cost ~ in
> case I want one later.
> Thanks.
> Phil

I've had a Yaesu FT-250 for about 10 years - it's a great scanner!