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Reviews For: Nifty! Quick Reference Mini-Manuals for Yaesu, Kenwood & Icom

Category: Ham Shack Accessories

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Review Summary For : Nifty! Quick Reference Mini-Manuals for Yaesu, Kenwood & Icom
Reviews: 35MSRP: 16.65
Description:
High Quality, Laminated, 12 page booklets covering all aspects of Multi-band, all mode radios. Printed in color, these quick reference guides are packed with condensed and simplified step-by-step setup and operating instructions that are easy and clear to use.

Compact and rugged design lets you keep the guide with you when operating your rig so you can re-program your radio no matter where you are. Instruction sequences are augmented with hints and explanations not found in the manufacturer's user manuals.

Faster and easier to use than a normal user manual, Nifty Ham Accessories has produced a series of these handy guides for most current model Yaesu, Kenwood and Icom transceivers.
Product is in production
More Info: http://niftyaccessories.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00354.3
K5ADF Rating: 2007-04-22
Great Reference Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have one of these for each of my mobile rigs and keep them in the vehicle. They are durable, compact and easy to use and carry. They are a condensed quick reference. When I forget how to setup the rig for a particular use, I find them to be very helpful. I do not believe that they are intended to replace the manual or to be used to initially learn how to use the rig. Nothing beats reading the actual manual when you first buy the rig. I still refer to the actual manual when I am investigating a feature I have not tried before or to determine if the radio has a certain capability.

When used as a quick reference guide in addition to the manual, they are great. I do agree that seeing the entire last page with the advertisement for other products is very annoying.
K9MGY Rating: 2007-04-22
Not What I Thought It Would Be!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I really thought the manuals would be of great help to learning my VX-7R. The instruction manual that came with the radio is much better and easier to understand. The nifty manuals are not any easier to follow than the instruction manual. I would not recommend this manual, but I see others really like them. Thats my $.02.
K5MTF Rating: 2006-11-09
Excellent products - I have several Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have mini-manuals and the mini-reference cards for all my rigs (TS-2000, TM-D700, TH-D7, VX-7R). These are very complete and easy to use. They're also very durable and appear to be waterproof. Much easier to carry and use than the original manuals. Give them a try!

73,
Mike de K5MTF
OE3SGU Rating: 2006-10-01
Very good Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own one for every of my RIGS. I use this little helpers more often than the original manuals of the manufacturers, very handy.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by OE3SGU on 2006-04-11

I own one of these helpfull books for each of of my transceivers, they are very usefull, especiall when taking your RIG on travel. The only thing I claim is the fairly high price.
KC7VTR Rating: 2006-09-21
slightly disappointed Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Yaesu FT-8800R mini manual:
Same great quality as my VX-2R quick reference. But I can't give it a 5 because the last page is advertising for their other products. Effectively it's 11 pages of info not the advertised 12 pages. While I don't mind space for the URL and copyright, I wish they would have either put more usage info in or at least made the font slightly larger to fill the space.

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Earlier 5-star review posted by KC7VTR on 2006-09-21

Yaesu VX-2R quick reference card:
Lots of info packed into wallet sized card, laminated, color coded, etc.
K0KES Rating: 2006-08-17
IC756PRO2manual Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Excellent a very cheap investment to help learn how to operate a rather complex radio well thought out and easy to find what your looking for quickly
W5GW Rating: 2006-07-12
Great Product Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I just purchased my 3rd mini-manual. The are concise, yet easy to understand and very helpful to access that 'feature' you know is there but can't seem to find find in your 150 page owner's manual.

My recent purchase was a lesson in how service used to be.

I had selected the wrong manual when I placed my initial order. Whoops! After contacting them, they not immediately sent out the correct manual, they also immediately refunded the purchase price difference and just kinda suggested it would be good if I sent the incorrect manual back.

Again, they really made me feel like a valued customer, instead of berating me for my blunder. How refreshing!
KC9HJO Rating: 2006-04-24
Very Informative Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the mini-manual for my TS-570dg and the operating guide. I fine them very informative...especially the TS-570 mini-manual...it has a wealth of hints and tricks not mentioned in the factory manual. I find myself referencing these guides constantly while on the air. Great product! 73...Mark...KC9HJO.
W6LBV Rating: 2006-03-08
Well produced products Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased both the general HF/VHF/UHF Bands Operating Guide and the specific Kenwoood TS-2000/TS-2000X Mini-Manual. These are my first purchases from Nifty Accessories.

General Comments: both guides have identical physical properties, including page size, type of binding, use of laminated card stock, and color print schemes. They have good value because of their convenient page size, text layout, durability, and portability. Although the prices are a bit high for the amount of finished product, money spent for them will not be wasted and good use of the guides can be expected.

Bands Operating Guide: I was slightly disappointed with this product because it "brought nothing new to the party," i.e., it provided no new information or insights. The bulk of this guide consists of the national band plans and operating conventions for the ARS bands between 1.8 and 450 MHz. These data can be easily collected from the FCC Rules, ARRL Web page, and other sources, and the guide presents little that is not already available. It is essentially a summary of existing data.

Moreover, a strong caution is in order about depending upon this (or any) guide's printed plans for the bands above 30 MHz. Working VHF/UHF band plans are very much established regionally, and the plan adopted by your region may differ considerably from the national plan printed in the guide. The differences may be exacerbated when you travel away from home and into a different region. The guide does mention this situation, but only for the 222 and 440 MHz bands. There are regional band plan differences on 6 and 2 meters as well. Listen before you transmit!

TS-2000 Mini-Manual: In contrast to the generalities of the Operating Guide, this product shows a strong understanding of the specific radio and some genuine insight into "taming this beast." It definitely has value and it will be of considerable use even if the Kenwood instruction manual is already resting on the operating bench (not that the Kenwood manual is faulty, but rather the organization of the Nifty manual is better and the instructions are more comprehensible). You may well learn some new tricks for the radio from this guide. This one is a keeper.
K2GW Rating: 2004-11-16
Essential Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've bought the Nifty manuals for two types of HT's, two HF rigs and the general frequency guide. All are done extremely well and are organized in a logical "how to do this" function. Some of the cheaper competitive products are just condensed reprints of manufacturer's manuals.

With the complexity of rigs today, you can't possibly remember all of the obscure functions. In an emergency, could you program your HT for an odd split and PL? If you don't know it off the top of your head, then you've just found why you need the Nifty wallet card for your HT!

73

Gary, K2GW