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| Reviews Summary for Yaesu VX-7R |
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Reviews: 260
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Average rating: 4.1/5
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MSRP: $369.00
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Description: Quad band Hand held Xcvr
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More info: http://
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You can
write your own review of the Yaesu VX-7R.
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KD4TIM
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 3, 2008 12:47
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Belt Clip
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Great HT. Only problem is the belt clip. Periodically check the screw that holds the round hanger part of the quick draw clip to the radio. I found on a recent hike mine had come loose and I darn near lost the radio. Very tough radio but the belt clip is a weak link unless you keep checking to make sure the supplied screw on the hanger (at the rear of the radio) stays tight.
I give it a five because of its toughness which I need when hiking and bicycling. Great power and audio. I'd buy another.
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N9IVQ
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Rating: 2/5
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May 7, 2008 06:54
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VC-27 / VX-7 Issues
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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An interesting little update about the VX-7R and a problem with many external speaker/microphone/headphones:
There exists a small problem with some speaker/microphone/headphones units, including the VC-27. The problem is actually with the radio but becomes apparent with the external devices.
If the VX-7 is placed in scan mode while using some external microphones, and a loud noise (such as wind blowing on the microphone, a cough by the operator, etc.) the VX-7 will come out of scan mode. If not in scan mode the unit momentarily does an actual PTT and really does transmit.
This has the potential to be a real problem, especially if you have applied the "free-band" modifications, listen to public safety frequencies, and have not set the TX frequency/offset of each public safety channel to a frequency the VX-7R is unable to transmit in.
Now before you ask, no this is not a VOX issue: I have turned VOX off in my unit and have verified the problem with two different VX-7R and two different VC-27 microphones.
Apparently, the loud noise introduces a change in the microphone element of sufficient change to demand additional current flow in the circuitry of the VC-27. Because the VX-7R PTT line is shared with the microphone audio line, this change in current is just enough to momentarily trigger the PTT.
Give it a try, connect the VC-27 to the radio, place the radio in scan, and blow into the microphone. The unit will pop out of scan. Do this with scan off, and you will see the radio briefly transmit. (Though it is a short transmission, to short to unlock the CTCSS in most repeaters)!
I have tried this on several external microphones I use with the VX-7 and the problem exists on all of them. It appears that unless your microphone’s PTT switch isolated the microphone from the circuit the problem has the potential of occurring.
I found the problem while riding my motorcycle. This makes the VX-7 virtually worthless to me since that is exactly why I purchased it. I guess I could modify all of my external devices by adding resistance to the microphone circuity, or running the microphone lines through additional contacts on the PTT switch (if they exist --- NOT)..
I am interested in hearing from anyone else that is able to replicate this problem or has a solution to it.
N9IVQ@arrl.org
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KB3LAZ
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Rating: 4/5
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Mar 8, 2008 00:25
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not bad
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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Well I got my first vx7 and it would xmit for about ten minutes then nothing. I called yaesu and they said it had a PLL unlock issue. so I took it back to AES and exchanged it the same day. So no big deal that stuff happens. I have to say over all I really like my vx7. However the audio could use some improvement. you have to talk into it a little louder than most HTs. And the volume does not go up quite loud enough. It does however do what the articles say it will so Im happy. If your looking for a good Ht that does it all you will not be disappointed.
73
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KC9EJN
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Rating: 3/5
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Mar 7, 2008 19:17
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Good HT
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I’ve been a ham for a little shy of five years now and in that time I’ve owned my share of HTs. I was really happy with my Yaesu ft-60r until during a severe weather event my radio got wet and failed me. I decided that since the ft-60r performed so well up to that point that I would stick with the Yaesu brand. I chose the vx-7r based on the weather proofing and the fact that it’s a tri(quad)-bander.
First off, the compact design makes it hard to believe that they crammed so many features in such a small package… Well, they tried to anyway.
COMPLAINTS & GRIEVANCES:
Programming the vx-7r manually wasn’t too terribly hard. However, I was disappointed when I went back to memory mode to see that NONE of my alpha tags were there. Along with the alpha tags being MIA, the icons that I tried to assign to individual entries were still on the default settings. These I feel, were minor grievances. More pressing problems soon reared their heads as I began to scan; I was getting a TON of white noise and intermod so I attempted to turn the squelch up. In order to achieve this (aggravatingly enough) you have to enter into the settings mode and scroll through the myriad of menus and find the settings for the squelch…ARRGH! Why on earth would otherwise intelligent designers NOT put a squelch control knob on the radio its self?!? Talk about your proverbial “brain fart”! I’m no engineer by any means but in MHO, they should have the tuning function as a “soft key” function and given the dial on top to the squelch…. makes sense to me! Next among the laundry list of dislikes was the dual receive “chirp” or “click”. When receiving a signal on one receive while the other scans, you hear a click or chirp (extremely annoying). Furthermore, the WX alert does not work! This week was our state wide tornado test. I made sure to have the wx alert feature turned on and made sure the HT could receive a good signal from NOAA and was in scan mode at the time of the test. The vx-7r never alerted me to ANYTHING! Last and most notably irking, the infamous muffled audio. Yes, in order to get this HT sealed water tight, Yaesu had to seal up all points of entry including the mic hole thus greatly diminishing the audio. So, you can pretty much rule out using this radio in a library setting given the fact that in order to be heard you have to be speaking quite loudly.
PLUSES:
Quad bands! I know it’s officially a tri bander but it’s actually a quad (6 & 2 meters as well as 222 and 440)… what more can I say?
Weather proofing (AWESOME)! Finally, I can weather spot outdoors without having to worry about my HT going kaput!
Dual receive is okay but not full duplex and kinda cheesy sounding w/ the clicks.
Love the speaker / mic jack is GREATLY improved from the ft-60r. My old speaker/mic would pull right out of the jack and engage the PPT in the process. This one screws in and is 100% secure!
Temperature sensor: The temp sensor is a really neat feature…only drawback is that it is very slow to pick up temp variations.
The display is great, much nicer than its predecessors. When you get the icons to actually show up where they are supposed to be, they are really neat to have!
Color strobe: this feature is good for identifying which receive is active. The “beam” setting is extremely bright and can be used as a flashlight if needed. Just be careful when accessing it… it WILL blind you! LOL
RUGGED! This thing is built like a tank!
I came to the realization that this radio was not going to live up to its reputation by me trying to program it manually. Therefore, I opted for the Commander software. I must say to anyone who has a vx-7r you simply MUST try this software. You can set the rig up how you want it; icons, alpha tags, output etc.. and everything will appear as it should. It also does mods via software. No Soldering involved and if / when you are tired of the selected mod you can revert back to unmodded…sweet!!
Overall, I think the VX-7R is a decent little HT and I’m glad I have it. I’m GLADDER having waited until the price came down to a more reasonable range. I would have been quite disturbed paying nearly $400.00 for a radio with so many issues. Having said that, I would like to say I do like this radio (although it doesn’t seem so). I look at it this way: This HT is chock full of innovative, useful ideas…that could have been executed better.
Here’s an idea for Yaesu free of charge: Take the ft-60r and add full duplex capability, the display, RX & TX capabilities, speaker / mic jack & water proofing from the vx-7r and THAT would be a truly great HT!
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KD0CXB
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 25, 2008 16:28
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good rig
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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i am new to ham so this is my first rig, it is incredible it is very durable when i was camping it was grate to have the duel receive i monitored simplex on on and a repeater on another. i would not suggest getting the barometric pressure microchip it is pointless but i recommend this radio it is a bit complex but not to bad
also i got it at hamcity.com for $276.
73
kd0cxb
merrick
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ONENINETY
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Rating: 1/5
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Feb 18, 2008 14:10
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Disappointed
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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Right out of the box, this radio felt really good, sturdy and well packaged. That's were it ended. The keys were hard to use; even though you got a click, it didn't always mean the command was accepted. So if you got a step or two ahead and you didn't notice right away, the unit occasionally locked up and could only be restarted by removing the battery. The battery compartment is tight and needs to be so, but opening it frequently for a restart wasn't fun. Storing a frequency in memory, using the function key, was a hit and miss proposition. Sometimes it would take several iterations to make it work. -First time I tried a brand other than ICOM in the last 27 years. I am back to ICOM (IC-91AD), and the VX-7RB is back to YEASU.
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KC9MSA
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 15, 2008 16:34
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Nice HT!!!!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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No problems at all!!! Very nice little HT, I recommend the programming software, unless you really want to learn all the programming features of this HT. Which, is no fun on these menu driven radios. I don't know why people were complaining about the buttons being hard to push. They are firm, but who cares. At least the chances of pressing the wrong button on accident are less likely. It is small, light weight, and seems to be built like a tank!!! Great reception, very wide, although I would have thought that Yaesu would have followed Kenwood and made this radio recieve SSB....hmmm....
All in all, a great buy. I highly recommend the Diamond SRH999. The factory rubber duck is adequite, it does work decent, but the diamond is a great upgrade!!!
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ZOULAS
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 13, 2008 07:37
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Great Radio
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I had the VX-5R for 5+ years. Very happy with it. Decided to upgrade. Very nice radio. Quality is A+, buttons are solid, good weight to it. Receive is nice, transmit as well. Put it this way, I am using it in Manhattan on the 17 fl--no problems! Only downside, its complicated. The reason is that it does a lot. This is not a simple 2M radio. It has a GAZILLION functions. And they are all accessed through a half dozen buttons. Although this is bad, its also expected. This is a top radio, with top features. If you are looking for the best, this is it. Love YAESU!!
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WA6L
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 25, 2008 16:00
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Great Emergency Rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This looks to be one of the most often reviewed items on eHam! More than 250 reviews as of this date.
I don't know if there is all that much that I can add. Many others have said it before: great features, durable, but not for the technically challenged.
So rather than a review, this is going to be more of a testimonial. I am a member of an animal rescue unit, and I have carried a VX-7R in my fire jacket into several of the Southern California wildfires this year and last. It has been extremely reliable, performed well, and still looks almost new after taking a lot of abuse.
The fact that you can extend the transmit frequency range through software is a key feature. It allows the same radio to be used for county mutual-aid frequencies as well as for RACES frequencies. With the ability to monitor two bands and/or two frequencies at the same time, this radio has really been a real asset for emergency communications. (Kenwood TM-D700A in the truck for much the same reason).
Perhaps this HT is not for everyone. But if you are going to be using it outdoors more than in, and if you need a lot of flexibility for emergency communications, this is a great choice.
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KB3PXR
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 7, 2008 06:00
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Great Radio Minor Issues
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This radio is great, just use some sense.
The first issue is battery life. I get a day out of it with plenty of time to spare. If using for emcomm just charge battery packs off of an SLA or use an SLA to charge it. This issue is minor and can be overcome easily.
The microphone is not as sensitive as you expect it to be. Just hold the radio closer to your mouth and you will be fine. This issue is very minor and only worth mentioning as it may seem odd to hold the radio that close to your mouth.
Dual receive birdies and images. I actually reported to a repeater owner that the were also transmitting out of band due to this (they checked it out and thanked me). Not a major issue, I'm a new ham and this is a mistake I expected to make. This really is not worth taking points off as I can't see how anybody could design a dual receiver any better in this regard.
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