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Show all reviews of the Yaesu VX-6R
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You can write your own review
of the Yaesu VX-6R.
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KL0PE
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 15, 2007 18:15
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Send this review to a friend!
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Small radio; BIG features
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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When you pick up the VX-6R for the first time, you know you're holding a real radio. While it's small and light, it doesn't feel cheap. The fit and finish of the rig is top-notch, and the controls have a sharp, positive feel to them; the knobs in particular are large enough that I imagine they could be operated even while wearing gloves. All this in an attractive, rugged, waterproof (within reason) housing.
Receive audio is surprisingly loud and clear from such a small speaker with minimal distortion. I've used the rig mobile and walking through noisy environments without having to strain to hear it, and the volume knob was only at 50%, so there's plenty of overhead in case things get even louder. Received good transmit audio and signal reports from the local repeater so I didn't have to fiddle with the mic gain, but the option is there if you need it so you won't have to worry about the waterproofing membrane attenuating your transmitted audio.
Newcomers might be intimidated by the ostensible complexity of the radio, but once you've read through the clear and well-written manual and are familiar with the basic features, you should have little trouble (while the manual does have a table of contents, an alphabetized index would have been nice). Programming the radio is very simple. While there are a lot of settings to be aware of, once you get the flow down things go pretty quickly. Being able to copy and paste the memory alpha-tag is extremely handy when you have a number of channels with the same or similar tag, though with a six-character limit, you have to get pretty creative with your tagging (as did the Yaesu engineers, which becomes evident when you scroll through the settings menu!). One handy feature is the ability to program up to two of your most frequently accessed menu items to the keypad, one assigned to the [P(DMR)] key and one to the internet key (activate this feature by holding down the internet key while powering the radio on; otherwise, pressing the button will simply activate the internet feature).
To help keep the 900+ memories organized, there are 24 banks to store memories in, so you can have one bank just for local frequencies, one for amateur radio frequencies, one for aviation frequencies, etc. You can also alpha-tag the banks to make it easy to identify what's stored in them. Accessing the bank feature is simplicity itself: just press the BAND key. Pressing F then the BAND key allows you to dial through the different memory banks to select one for operation. To return to normal memory operation, just press BAND again. Operating in the VFO mode is similarly uncomplicated. Frequency ranges are conveniently arranged into separate bands that can be cycled through by pressing the BAND key (there are, I believe, 10 different bands). Yaesu was also nice enough to pre-program the radio with a special bank for NOAA weather radio, one for 89 popular shortwave broadcast frequencies, and one for marine channels (pointless for me in my land-locked QTH).
On receive, the radio is very quiet and not as prone to intermod as I was expecting considering the "DC to daylight" receive range. I can leave it scanning next to my computer and I get minimal interference. It's obviously less sensitive on the low-bands as you would expect with the stock duck, but an external antenna can be used for shortwave listening if you prefer (I've not tried this personally, so I can't comment on how successful this solution might be). That said, I was surprised at the number of shortwave broadcasts I was able to receive at night using just the stock duck. Being able to receive broadcast radio in the AM and FM bands is nice as well, and listening to music through the small, mono speaker is unexpectedly pleasant. However, be warned that the VX-6's receiver can easily become overloaded if you're near a powerful transmitter like a commercial radio station (I've only experienced this once while driving within 50 feet of a tower; I've not done any kind of extensive testing, but keeping the radio set to narrow FM seems to attenuate particularly strong signals).
As far as scanning goes, there are a lot of options. In memory mode, you can scan all memories, just memories in the same band as the starting frequency, or memories that share the same 1 or 2 beginning characters in the alpha tag. In VFO mode, you can scan the current band only, the entire frequency range supported by the radio (though this would probably take a while), or within one of 50 user defined frequency ranges. These options allow for a lot of flexibility and are a very welcome feature. One nice touch is the ability to store up to 100 "nuisance frequencies" that will be skipped over during VFO scan which can help you avoid intermod, "birdies", and constant carrier transmissions.
Battery life is about average. The manual says you'll get 8-hours with transmission and 15-hours receive only. This should be more than sufficient for most folks, but if you're going to be away from the charger for an extended period of time then you'll want to pack a few extra batteries. While the VX-6 can be conveniently powered with 2 AA's using the FBA-23 battery pack, transmission is restricted to QRP levels.
There are also a number of "cute" features added on that may be of limited usefulness but are fun to have anyway. For instance, the T/X LED can be set to shine a bright, white light as an emergency source of illumination (though it's no match for my 2 AA LED Maglite), and there is a CW training feature that'll beep out a group of 5 letters for you to identify. Then there's the frequency counter, though Yaesu makes no guarantees that it's accurate, and a temperature sensor that displays the not particularly helpful internal temperature of the radio.
I do have a few niggles, but they are extremely minor:
- It would be nice if the volume knob had a few extra click-stops to allow for finer adjustment of the audio. As it is, you're sometimes stuck with either slightly too quiet or slightly too loud.
- I've also found no way to delete memories. Memories can only be masked, which is almost like deleting them except that the memory channel will be indicated as "full" during programming, which isn't particularly helpful. The only way I know of to actually delete the memories is to use programming software like Yaesu's ADMS or KC8UJN's freeware VX-6 Commander (which, incidentally, works flawlessly). On that note, programming software is definitely recommended because with 900 memory channels plus 50 pairs of scan edges, 24 banks, 10 "home" channels, 10 direct access memories, plus a couple of others that I've probably forgotten, things can very quickly get unwieldy, and the only practical way to keep them organized is to use a desktop program.
- I do wish Yaesu had included a dot matrix display like the VX-5 and the VX-7, but I guess there has to be something to account for the price difference between the VX-6 and VX-7. The included display, however, is by no means objectionable.
- Finally, the included belt clip looks all but useless, so I didn't even bother installing it. For such a rugged little radio, it's disappointing that Yaesu didn't spring for something more in keeping with the radio's design (such as the large spring clamp like is found on the VX-150). I highly recommend ditching the included clip and purchasing Yaesu's swivel clip which fits on the VX-6 perfectly (it comes standard with the VX-7 and VX-170). I know some don't like the swivel clip, but I've found it to be solid, secure, and well-designed.
Like I said, minor criticisms at worst.
Even with the length of this review, I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. If you're seriously considering this rig then head to Yeasu's website and download the manual and give it a read. This will by far be the best way to make an informed purchasing decision. But for what it's worth, I'm of the opinion that this is easily one of Yaesu's best radios, right up there with the FT-51. I recommend it without reservation.
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