I’ve been wanting to write up something covering what I discovered about my Zumspot and Yaesu FT-70D radio, especially how I configured them both, but there are already some excellent references online. One website that has been very useful to me, is written by Toshen KE0FHS: https://amateurradionotes.com/pi-star.htm
That link goes to his information of Pi-star, but be sure to check out the Hotspot section as well.
As for configuring the Zumspot, I highly suggest this document from David Hull, KC6N
It can take many hours of digging to figure out how to actually use the FT-70D with the YSF Rooms. But the reality is pretty simple. You need to place the radio into WIRES mode. You do this by putting your radio into “DN” (Digital Narrow) by using the “MODE” button. Then you enter WIRES by momentarily pushing the “F” button, then the “AMS” button. You will see “WIRES” scrolling on the LCD, and with a bit of luck, a set of four rising tones will play indicating the 70D is in WIRES mode. In my case, the first attempt seems to fail about 30% of the time, so I have to wait about 20 seconds for the radio to timeout so I can try again.
Once the radio is in WIRES mode, rotate the tuning knob one step CCW until the display shows “*—–“. Simply key in the desired YSF room number, like 6 4 2 3 0 for Ragchew America, and press the “AMS” button (note: the PTT button is NOT used when setting up WIRES or picking a room number). Your Zumspot should be connected to that room number, and the 70D will show “CONECT” then a scrolling “-RC A”.
An excellent resource for YSF Rooms: https://www.pistar.uk/ysf_reflectors.php
It should be possible to use DTMF tones to control the Zumspot without using WIRES. However I have had ZERO success doing that, and have read many posts that indicate the DTMF digits don’t work correctly on the 70D. Even the commands that are built-into the Zumspot, like powering down or resetting don’t work with 70D DTMF codes. So I suspect there is something wrong with the radio itself.
There are another set of rooms, called “FCS” that would be very easy to get to using DTMF digits, if that worked. Sadly it doesn’t. The alternative way is to get access to them using WIRES. But that is a problem as you don’t enter the room number directly, but instead have to subtract some sort of calculated offset (that might change over time), then enter that number. It works but is VERY clunky. Honestly it is easier to go into the Pi-star dashboard and reconfigure it.
Example FCS00285, DTMF A285, which happens to be “America Ragchew (XWIRES)” (a FCS room linked to YSF room 64230). You would enter WIRES 0 0 1 3 8 to get there. However if nobody else is in that room (or a repeater is not linked to it) that will fail to work. Here in RI, FCS00239, DTMF A239, is the Rhode Island room. It is accessed by WIRES 0 0 1 1 1. The math isn’t consistent, probably because not every FCS room number is in use, and I suspect the offset changes when rooms are added or removed. So mostly I stick to YSF rooms.
My final comment is that I have found my Zumspot will reset itself several times a day. The good news is it always works. The not so good news is it will change back to the default room assignment (in fact that’s how I know it is resetting). No doubt this is the “PiStar-Watchdog” process discovering something wrong.
The way to work out the FCS room number was posted on the Pi-Star support forum by KD0YD here
https://forum.pistar.uk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=313&start=10#p3825
He has attached a file to his post but note that after FCS00160 the numbers are off by 1 as there used to be a FCS00166 which is listed in his file, however that is gone so numbers above that point are off by 1.
However I created my own file using his instructions and it worked a treat and it will be very handy with my new FT-70DR that arrived today.
I have attached the bulk of KD0YD’s post below:
The FCS reflectors numbering begins at 10 except the Parrot which is 00001 and are sequential. The attached listing was made by going to https://www.pistar.uk/fcs_reflectors.php and doing select all and copy and paste to Notepad++. I then striped the blank lines and the headers. I added the first nine lines as blanks and printed to a pdf file. Took all of 5 minutes to complete. To validate I picked 5 different FCS reflectors and connected using my FT-70DR via a jumbo spot running pi-star in YSF mode.
Connected first in Wires-X by pressing F then AMS
After wires connect,
turn selector knob to En*_____ and enter the line number from the left side of the generated list and add leading zeros to make a total of 5 digits.
Example from list
215 FCS00422 (America-Ragchew) Wires-X A422
at En*_____ enter 00215 press AMS
Testing the following
00010 produced a connection to FCS00100
00032 to FCS00122
00069 to FCS00192
00130 to FCS00269
00252 to FCS00497
Hi Lindsay,
Thanks so much for your reply and great instructions on calculating the correct code to enter for FCS Rooms. As I suspected, you always have to be sure that rooms haven’t been added or removed as that has an impact on what you would enter for the FCS code number, but at least one can figure it out.
I do wish that the DTMF digits on the Yaesu handhelds worked with the ZumSpot (problem could be on either end I suppose). That would eliminate all the calculations, but it is what it is.
73, Bob, WB4SON
I am new ham (Call sign KN4MXW) and have a Yaesu FT 70D and I wonder what other equipment I need to be able to use the Digital mode. Thanks Richard 73
Hi Richard!
First off, congratulations on your new license, you put a lot of work into getting your “ticket”, so now is the time for the payoff.
Of course your Handheld Radio (HT) is all set for analog mode, so you just need to find local repeater information and program that into your rig. Check the internet to see if there is a regional repeater directory you can use. If not check out the RFinder Application (subscription fee but usually worth it).
Now for the meat of your question. What to you need to use your radio in digital mode? If you are lucky enough to be near a YSF Repeater, then you are all set, but most of us aren’t close, and using a HT with tiny antenna and 5 watts can be a challenge even when you are close enough.
Many people use what is called a “Hotspot” that is actually a device with a Simplex Repeater built into it, along with an internet connection. So you are RF from your HT to the Hotspot, then internet, then to either a repeater or other users using a hotspot and HT.
All digital radios have some way of joining groups and potentially ways of connecting to repeaters remotely. With YSF it is called “Rooms”. Many of my friends use a ZumSpot hotspot and their HT to connect to a virtual repeater room — in our case “America Ragchew”.
I would advise you to check and see if there is a local radio club that you could join, then see if others have setup a ZumSpot. Not that you can’t do it on your own, but it helps to work with folks that have already done it.
73, Bob, WB4SON