| KC8SKE |
Rating:      |
2005-08-29 | |
| Neat Little Radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Well, I've had mine just about 2 months now. I'm still discovering direct access to menu items via the keypad..(who reads the manual??)
So far I've been very happy with the radio. Programming software makes it a very versatile scanner. Battery life seems fine to me, it's really quite a step up from years ago. I'm in the process of getting a spare batt, and charging stand (2 hour charge with it). I dont like the fact that there isnt an alkaline pack available for it that will allow decent transmit power. Audio is great, almost too loud sometimes, and I like the quick access to all the different bands. I like the added 220, never had it before. It's an impressive little radio, nice firm feel, havent had it 'tip' easily like in other reviews. Battery life is acceptable, not stellar, but is it ever with a 2 way?
I bought it for it's waterproofness, after destroying an ft-50 in a torrential downpour. FT-50 aftermarket antennas, bnc-sma adaptors, dc cords, all work on the VX-6R.
Since most my radio activities seem to extend into very long hours, I'll probably just pick up a small fanny pack battery, and dc-cord it into the VX-6R. |
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| KENNJEN |
Rating:     |
2005-08-22 | |
| Good over all. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I'm a new ham. So, this is my first and only rig at this point. This being the case, I won't even know it, if VX6R was an OUTSTANDING radio. Having said that I've found some minor issues, so I'd gave it a 4. However, as a whole, the radio works great and I don't regret buying it !
The radio is constructed very ruggedly. Good thing, because the belt clips is designed badly. It really needs a good spring loaded belt clip. For that reason, I've promptly dropped it on solid concrete 3 times within a period of 15 minutes on a first outing from about 4 feet. However, the radio is still rock solid. The radio seems to be constructed of quality material, from the casing to the switches.
If you REALLY REALLY need the waterproof feature, then the water proofed jack is a good compromise. However for a average Joe like me, who only needs water resistance, this jack is bit of a pain. ONE :It's rather awkward to unscrew the thing in/out, because of the close proximty to the antenna and the knob. So, when you want to just slap your speaker mic and go, you can't. You have to sit down, and gingerly screw it in. TWO: You have to get accessories specific to this plug. You can't just plug in your single plug speaker mic. you have to get one specific to vx-7/6 model. I wish I had the simple plain plug, so I can slap a speaker mic or rip it out, when I want.
Also, is it just me, or does this menu structure, or lack of it, very labor intensive ? There is approximately 80 menu items available. This couldn't be structured in to a muti-tiered menu structure ??? I have to roll through every thing to find what I need some times. This could have been avoided with strucutred menu system.
The battery seems to last a good while. I can leave it scanning with some minimal qso for 2 - 3 days. (turning it off when I'm working and sleeping)
I like the HT fine. I don't regret buying it. However, I may have been more satisfied with some other HT. There are many good HTs out there right now....
Good points :
Quality workmanship, Toughness, Good battery life,
BAD POINTS :
belt clip, waterproof jack, programming, |
|
| KE7DSR |
Rating:      |
2005-08-11 | |
| Very Good Radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| This radio has just relaced my IC-W32. The receiver if far superior to the ICOM and the added 220Mhz is a bonus. So far I have been able to hit all the repeaters that I have tried, including 220Meg. The stock antenna seems very good, although I will try an aftermarket in the near future. Easier to use than the VX-7R, most used function are directly accesible from the keypad without needing to dig through menu's. I will take this on the boat with me so we will soon see how it will handle water. So far the only negative point is the belt clip seems a bit lame. Yaesu, please make a metal one. I am sure a bit of spring steel is not going to kill your profit. Its a keeper (so far)... |
|
| W4MOD |
Rating:      |
2005-08-03 | |
| great radio for Wires-II |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I just got this radio and I loved it specially the Wires-II feature I can now connect instantly and connect to different stations as well, the shortwave radio as well is good, marine band, radio am, fm, and tv too..
prefect for quick and hamfest action...
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|
| N2FDU |
Rating:    |
2005-07-07 | |
| Good and bad in one package |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
The plus side:
FANTASTIC speaker audio
HOT receiver
Size
Easy to manipulate controls
Nice sized display
Backlit buttons
Designed with ergonomics in mind
Memory bank availability
A better scanner than most scanners
The minus side:
Poor battery life, even in saver mode
Transmit audio stinks (waterproof membrane over mic)
Belt clip too small and insecure
Difficult to program on the fly
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|
| AB0RE |
Rating:     |
2005-07-05 | |
| Good buy - only minor irritations |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I've had my VX6R for a while now and am very happy with this purchase.
As already outlined, some of its opportunity areas are:
- Lousy belt clip. A spring clip w/ alligator teeth would be much better.
- Uneven bottom surface - unit tends to wobble and/or fall over when set down.
- Mediocre stock duck antenna
- Annoying RX coverage gap between 915 & 944MHz.
- WX-alert is not at all a "seamless" operation.
- Roughly 3.5W shy on 220 power output.
- Adjacent channel rejection. My unit sometimes gets tripped up by strong signals 50kc away and tries to "receive" on the wrong frequency.
That being said, the radio also has a lot of strong points:
- Lithium Ion battery technology w/ quick 5/hr charge time.
- Great audio considering how tiny this radio is.
- Memory banks and ability to link banks for scanning.
- Waterproof - "AB0RE Shower Portable!!" :-)
- Built in frequency counter.
- Adjustable mic gain
- 220MHz coverage (Could it be the radio manufacturers are finally listening to hams???)
- Fairly easily programmable considering extent of features included.
- Overall, solid performance on all three bands.
Go out and buy one. You won't regret it.
73,
Dan / ab0re |
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| W3IYJ |
Rating:      |
2005-07-05 | |
| Only one snag so far! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
What a great little radio when even the FT817 is too much to take along. I love the ease of use and the waterproofing provides a lot of peace of mind when fishing with the VX-6 in the vest pocket.
The only disappointment so far is the belt clip. This radio was only several excursions in the field old when the belt clip broke, leaving no provision for attaching the radio to webbing, etc. as the lanyard loop is integral with the clip. Examining the broken clip, it appears that the plastic selected for the clip was too brittle to hold the load of the radio without the use of a fender washer on the single screw head to spread stress through a larger area of the part. The break was a characteristic "pull through" fracture where the broken pieces radiated cracks outward in a neat pattern around the screw hole. (like a bullet hole in plexiglass). I did not contact Yaesu for a replacement under warranty because to replace a part that is not of sufficient design strength would be to chance loosing or damaging the radio with another fall. I will use a modified clip system designed for cell phones as I have seen some of them stronger than this clip (and that swivel to boot). Another small frustration was that the radio does not stand up well when sitting on a desk. The bottem details of the radio are not aligned on one plane creating a wobbly stance. The radio is easy to tip over when standing next to the charger or on a desktop.
Bottom line, wonderful operating radio, easy to program and use. Great reception and signal reports. Clear audio. Fair reception in remote areas with stock antenna. Wish list would have been an audio tone adjust to give minimal presets for bass/treble for music and shortwave listening, a miniSD card slot so I could program settings in my PC and have my personal settings/freqs stored on tiny cell phone style card, and a much beefier belt attachment system
Still - go and buy one. A wonderful and easy to use sportsman's HT. |
|
| VA2DJX |
Rating:      |
2005-07-03 | |
| very impressive |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
this is a keeper
good audio - rx
battery last forever
few intermod on the 440 mgh
not a bug it s a HT after all
go to your local store and get it
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|
| K1MF |
Rating:      |
2005-06-03 | |
| The Greatest Yet |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Yaesu VX-6R
Well here is the kid in the candy store again, and usually I hit up on some of these rigs as they just come out, kind of like to be the first kid on the block with it, however having just made a major purchase of a house, the rig had to be put on the back burner until after the closing. I guess the investors don’t like to see excessive spending while you are in front of an army of lawyers, bankers and other characters. The closing is completed, and now I was freed to roam the candy stores and make two purchases, a 5kw generator for those cold New England nights where I want heat, just getting to be a little old to rough it in the cold anymore, and to keep the sump pump alive and active and my new VX-6R, the little brother to the VX-7R. Well other purchases also included paint, curtains (for the shack) and a bedroom set, however that said lets get down to the business of reviewing the Yaesu VX-6R.
First if you think this is the rig for you, or the FT-60R, maybe the VX-7R or any other rig, be it HF, VHF or whatever you please, and from any other manufacturer, take advantage of the web sites, like http://www.vertexstandard.com as the manuals are available in PDF format for down loading, and by doing that you can get an advanced look at the operating and programming side of the scene and also become an educated consumer by doing your homework up front before you make a purchase. Now for some this might be a big dollar amount, for others it is not, however to make sure that this rig, or any other rig on the market is going to be a truly comfortable fit for you please spend a little time, download the manuals and become an educated consumer as well as an educated amateur radio operator, I don’t want anyone to be disappointed in their choice. And after a couple of cups of coffee, time in the back house and after a brief nap I was done and ready to go and do battle with my new jewel of the air waves.
The VX-6R arrived late in the day, as UPS delivery in area is usually after 5:30 and seeing that I need my sleep as I get up really early to go to work, I had just enough time to unpack the rig, and put it on charge, and as indicated by the display and the green glowing LED in the morning the rig was charged and ready to go.
Programming this is a breeze and seems to be much more user friendly as I did not have to refer back to the manual to enter the PL tones, offset and memory channels, just punch in the desired frequency, auto repeat function took care of the offset, punched in the type of tone function, CTCSS, dialed in the tone frequency and then enter it into the desired memory location, all in under a minute. I did not find the keyboard cramped where you end up hitting a key unintentionally, as I have little Vienna sausage fingers and often have a difficult time with some rigs. So programming was very easy, as compared to a number of other rigs out there, where you have to constantly refer to the manual until the 5th entry is made, this one is easy enough not to have to refer to the manual, the way most of us want it away, however it is still a good idea to have a good time with the manual as there is just so much packed into this HT you don’t want to miss out.
I like to run low power myself and had programmed the local repeater in at the 30 mw level, so I was surprised when I was able to key up the repeater and get a good return signal, something that I could not do with another rig set at the 200mw level, so it tells me that the antenna is well matched to the antenna, and efficient in it’s class. And yes using other antennas may provide better results, however it does not mean you have to run out and purchase another antenna right away, as you will find the supplied antenna quite adequate and efficient for you amateur radio operation. Also as a side test we hooked up the supplied antenna to a HP 8753A Network Analyzer with HP 85046A S Parameter Test Set and found that the SWR on all the amateur bands to that the antenna was designed to be operated at was under 1.23:1 at worst case, and most often better in the antenna range.
As indicated on my HP-437B power meter, all power levels listed in the technical specifications are within 2% and on the high side of the specified readings.
I found no spurs using the HP-8563E spectrum analyzer, while transmitting, very clean signal was displayed on the screen, much better than some other rigs, often I found that spurious signals were down in the mud, at -83db or better.
I used a HP 8663A signal generator and at -127dbm operating into an antenna, and the rig being about 20 feet away I was still able to break the squelch and hear the signal coming through loud and clear on the 2-meter, 1.25-meter, and at 70cm ham bands, all other out of band operations using a suitable antenna had similar results.
Using an EPI 545 microwave frequency counter indicated very accurate results, meaning you will not have to worry about being off frequency, seeing at 146.520 I was only 73 cycles high, nothing to worry about, and well within spec.
BC and SWL reception, is more than asked for when using an external antenna, using my CP-9 Comet helps out greatly when using the aircraft band, and looking for TV stations whose transmitters are a bit too distant for the supplied antenna to receive, however using the appropriate antenna for the bands desired is a plus, and the receiver performs very well thank you, and as far as commercial broadcast FM, the audio is clear. And of course operating the 2-meters and 70cm with the GP-9 is more than asked for. I had opportunity to use my 220 MHz ground plane and had been able to get into a fairly distant repeater some 50 plus miles away using 1.5 watts. I have no complaints with this HT, and I don’t think most will find fault either, although some who are in high RF areas might experience some intermod problems, however given what we are asking for this little guy to do it is a minor annoyance
Well the painting is finished, well with the exception of the basement, which is where the shack is coming together, the curtains are up, the generator is working, including enough juice for the rigs, and the house is fantastic, and could not ask for a better HT, this will be it for a while. The honey said I could have all the antennas that I want, as long as she has her sewing room, so her wish is answered and so is mine. So if you are in need of a really great HT, at a good price this is the one, the Yaesu VX-6R is going to be a hard act to follow. Time to put the shoes on and take the puppies out for a walk. Bye Bye for now, K1MF signing and listening for any final comments.
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|
| W2DI |
Rating:      |
2005-06-03 | |
| Like it too! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Just picked up this HT and I like everything about it. I've tried just about every radio out there and the VX-6 seems as good in every category as the others.
I did pick up an HT-224 triband antenna and it works well, not that I thought the stock antenna was that all that bad.
I had a Th-F6A and liked that radio also, especially with the ssb. However, I couldn't understand why its output settings are 5W., 0.5W and 0.05W. I listen and work the local repeater from work and need the mid-power settings of a watt or two to get out of the building (I'm located right in the middle of the structure).
I did a couple audio tests and everyone tells me the '7' audio setting is just right for my voice level. The mike gain is a really nice feature to have.
There doesn't seem to be the same problems the early VX-7s had with the muted audio and loud PL tones.
The CW practice is neat and I especially like the 'Wakeup' feature. In this mode the radio is OFF until activity is detected on whatever channel you have it on. Its a good way to 'monitor' your repeater while using very little current to do so.
Good battery life and the fast charger base is not too expensive. It uses the supplied wall supply that comes with the radio for power.
Our repeater has 2m, 220 and 440 so this radio is perfect for me.
With the features it has and not finding any unusual problems as compared to other units, I'll give it a 5!
Thanks for listening to my opinion.
Enjoy!
Joe -- W2DI |
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