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Reviews For: yaesu VR-5000

Category: Receivers: Scanners

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Review Summary For : yaesu VR-5000
Reviews: 31MSRP: 800
Description:
Multimode HF/VHF/UHF Receiver
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.co.jp/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00312.8
SV1QVL Rating: 2016-11-18
A real disaster Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my VR-5000 new on 2011 and it was one of the last that left the production line. After a year i replaced the display for the well known trouble. The second display was alive for about two years and it was replaced again. The third display died about a year ago and decided to store the receiver. About a month ago, i decided to brink it back to life but no more reception on main or sub and display got worse. I sent it to Yaesu UK for repair but the guys there told me that the repair will exceed 500 euro. I'm very disappointed with Yaesu and this receiver.No more Yaesu for me.
OD5ZZ Rating: 2015-06-30
Good Scanner Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Good scanner , The RX strength depends on the antenna you use , but that is true with any radio , the audio is good , I found that the scanner runs better with the ATT activated especially on air bands ,

The band scope is a nice and helpful feature

I agree Yaesu did complicate things with there menus , but reading can get you the answers needed , there are a lot of search and scan options to learn about , not the simple plug and play type .


Overall I am very pleased with the performance of the scanner it deserves a 5
VE3JSW Rating: 2013-01-12
GREAT RECEIVER Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I don't know where all these negitive reviews are coming from.
Over time I can say that this is a pretty REMARKABLE RADIO. No problems whatsoever and I have worked this machine on every possible option that is built in to it.
I would buy another in a heartbeat.
VR2ZXP Rating: 2009-12-03
Not too bad!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Advantage :
1) Sound is solid, loud enough, not so noise.
2) Squelch is stable without any chopping.
3) Selectivity is not bad with my Diamond NR-770H. I haven't heard any interference noise.
4) With tunable filter and attenuator in front of the front end.
5) 2000 memories. Enough for all usage.
6) Can easily connect it to PC through CAT port with USB to RS232 cable. No need any interface card.
7) Scanning speed is fast but no missing.
8) Spectrun display is not beatiful but useful for scanning signal on VFO mode.

Disadvantage :
1) No CTCSS & DCS.
2) WFM is clipping for some FM broadcast.
3) Quite hard to understand the procedure in operaton manual.
4) Hard to store a large amount of memories but it can be improved by using FTBVR5K with CAT interface.
5) Display shadow is serious, cannot tune the constrast too dark.
6) Cannot change LCD backlight color.
7) Have 2 antenna ports but they cannot be selected on front panel. Wideband antenna must be used or using a duplexer for 2 antennas with different bands.
8) Waveform display is poor. It is not a helpful function.
9)Sub receiver cannot work on different band from main receiver. It just can work in WFM, FM & AM mode.
10) Alphanumeric display digit in each memory is less. Just have 8 digits.

Hope these informations can help us to make the decision.

Best regards,
Fai. VR2ZXP 73!!
CT2FPE Rating: 2008-05-16
MUST HAVE SCANNER Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Ok, This is one of the best scanners I´ve had, the display is huge, the all-modes are great, I use FTBVR5K (http://www.g4hfq.co.uk/) software to input and edit frequencies to the VR-5000, the manual is a bit messy, but if you take the time to follow the instructions, it will be ok.
W8JI Rating: 2007-07-29
Horrid programming interface Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I orignally gave this radio to my son as a birthday gift.

After he didn't use it, I got him something else.

I've been using it as a scanner, but had a difficult time understanding the manual to program it. Tonight I relived that experience. Either the manual sucks or the person who designed the user interface software really should be fired.

If anyone knows a clear flow chart or instruction set to program this "thing" please let me know!!
KD0ZV Rating: 2007-04-10
Its a nice scanner at best Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This makes a decent scanner with the exception of my HF gear interferring with it. The performance is really sub-standard on HF bands. Barely usable in my opinion.

I replaced it with a used IC-8500. It is 100x the receiver in every way. I guess the VR-5000 would make a nice mobile unit because its small and can cover the spectrum.

As far as operation and the manual. Typical Yaesu. Radio is hard to figure out even after reading the manual over and over.
K4TB Rating: 2007-04-09
It Does the Job Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned a VR-5000 for over 3 years and can say it is a good general purpose receiver. It is best to look at it's capabilities individually however. For instance, the World Clock is a nice feature by itself and allows adjusting for daylight savings time, however daylight savings time works differently on the panel clock. Similarly, it work well as a shortwave receiver or as a UHF receiver, but not with the same antenna for both, naturally. Because it has so many capabilities it takes some study to use it properly, and that may be where some people lose interest.

The only beef I had originally was they LSB and USB carrier points seemed to be too far off calibration to satisfy me, but Yaesu service got them readjusted very close (see my separate review of Yaesu service).

The DSP unit is a must accessory. It brings the VR-5000 up to the next level of performance. My dedicated HF transceiver or my VHF/UHF satellite receiver outperform the VR-5000 in their own bands, but neither can match the VR-5000 in total bandspread or choice of modes of course. The VR-5000 is a very good monitor receiver that rounds out my staton.
KE7ATE Rating: 2005-11-14
This actually is a solid receiver Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own a Yaesu VR-5000 and have found it to perform very well. It is NOT a high end amateur radio reciever, but it almost makes the grade if you know how to use it and you use the right antennas with it. I have the DSP unit installed and it it adds a lot to the radio. I have never had any problems or reservations about this radio. I use it as a scanner and as a general coverage radio. There is nothing the radio can't do. I better radios, they just cost about three times as much. For the price..you can't beat this receiver.
NN6AA Rating: 2005-07-20
terrible unit Time Owned: more than 12 months.
the vr5000 is really worthless..... if one didnt have the manual you would not beable to do anything with it except turn it on... that's pretty easy...... yaesu really went way out of its way to program in memory freq's.... just so stupid in this day and age.... anyone that says this is a good unit must be nuts..... and i agree with most here on the hf receive forget it.... as is most of yaesu's hf stuff .. like there all mode daylight to dark handhelds....if one can receive hf on those you must be right next to the transmitter..... anyway this is a piece of junk and i feel for it also like so many others...... now yaesu hf transceiver are vry good radios..... but the rest of their stuff... junk.......