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Reviews For: Yaesu VX-170

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Hand-held

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Review Summary For : Yaesu VX-170
Reviews: 115MSRP: 139.95
Description:
Same chassis as the VX-150. WaterPROOF. 1,000 memories. 1400mAH NiMH batt pack.

Preliminary specs indicated "1,000 conventional memories." In reality, the VX-170 sports 200 conventional memories (plus a Home channel, band edges, WX channels).
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
151154.6
NY6P Rating: 2023-04-03
Durable Little Sucker. You cant Kill It! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had this unit for the past 20 years. It was my first radio after getting my tech license. It has been through thick and thin and it still doesn't have a single thing wrong with it. I would recommend this radio to anyone who wants a reliable durable tough 2 m handheld.
KI4IES Rating: 2014-12-30
One of the best! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It has been with my own experience that the Vx 170 is the perfect radio for a new ham or even a seasoned amateur. This handheld offers extended talk time through it's 1400mAh battery and extensive memory. I have found it to be easily programmed with the ADMS software. The speaker can be easily heard and finally the screen is large enough to see. You just can't go wrong with this transceiver.
KY4WRW Rating: 2014-12-02
NO PROBLEM 2 METER Time Owned: more than 12 months.
ITS BEEN A GREAT LITTLE RADIO. I USE TO CHECK INTO NETS AROUND THIS PART OF KY.
N7GVM Rating: 2014-11-25
Good sportsman radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this radio for a few years and have used it in a mobile (when I had nothing else) with an external Larsen 1/4 wave external antenna with great results talking with repeaters across town.
Excellent protection against intrusion from water. I usually carry this radio on the side of my pack when hunting or hiking with an external speaker mike clipped on the shoulder strap.
The radio has taken a few falls over its life from countertops to hard floors and the case (front half is plastic) would typically break. For some time it was held together with superglue and Permatex. After its latest fall the case needed to be replaced. Unfortunately this radio has been discontinued and the FT-270 has taken it's place. Yaesu no longer sells a replacement case for the 170 as it is discontinued. However the case for the FT-270 works in its place.

N0FPE Rating: 2012-12-23
Solid Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Just a good solid radio that has preformed as expected over the last 6 years.
WA1SEO Rating: 2012-12-23
RX sensitivity may be lacking Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This is a nicely crafted radio. I like the heft of it more than my VX-150. I don't think the receiver is quite as sensitive as my other Yaesu HT's. At first I did think it had to do with programming the squelch setting but upon setting it to WIDE OPEN, it is not as sensitive. I can fully understand distant signals on my VX-150, FT-60 and VX-7R but can't quite make them out on this radio. I bought this radio because I used a friends but when we compared his VX-170 to my other radios, his wound up lacking in sensitivity like mine. For local repeater work it is not an issue,however. Battery life is good and I would recommend it but be aware of what appears to be a sensitivity issue.
KD0JWY Rating: 2011-07-20
Great radio Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Hello this is KD0JWY. I have used this radio and it is almost as good if not better than the VX-150. I love that the buttons are bigger, that the screen is bigger, and they kept the same Procedures in the programming like the VX-150. I had to sell this to upgrade to the FT-60R but if I needed another single band HT, I would either go for the VX-150, or the VX-170. Thanks again from KD0JWY
EMRAD Rating: 2011-06-23
Rugged HT Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Got my VX-170 in 07.
Still going.
Agree about the dinky belt clip... I never bothered to put it on the radio.
Tough rig. Passed the drop test that broke the stock antenna. Easy to read display & loud audio are two big pluses.
I've seen both the numb mic fixes, wouldn't recommend tearing the waterproofing or messing with the deviation. Best fix for that is the external mic (I'd sacrifice one of those before I would the radio).

I Noticed what appears to be a firmware bug in the VX-170 / FT-277 series radios... revolves around the VFO. Sometimes when I go into FVO mode I'll find the frequency I'd put in there gone and all zeros or some number out of range and an ERROR message, re-entering the frequency puts it back in business, I've never had a failure bad enough to necessitate resetting the processor.
Oddly enough, this seems to happen more often after the radios have been near running computers/PCs... have no idea why.

Cool radio!

Emrad
KD8IFJ Rating: 2011-06-22
good radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
good radio , i dont need great audio when using a hand held anyway ,just want the other station to understand me ,dont care if its not great quality audio , just want it to work , so for 100 bucks its a great rig , goes under water to , i dont poke holes in the mic membrane either cuz i want it to be water proof , i also like low audio cuz outside i tend to yell and over diviate the repeater anyway so low audio on a ht. good for me .
KF7AZX Rating: 2010-08-06
Great 2M Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought this radio as one of my first radios about a year ago. Some may say it has a cheap clip, and I'll tell you why. Its poorly designed. That and the headset jack are the only things I dont like. It is a very durable radio, and water proof all the way around! Because it is water proof it has a membrane over the built in mic, which makes it so that you have to speak quite loudly into the radio. The headset jack is like an odd-ball jack. Its like a 1/8" headphone jack with threads at the top. I had an earbud that was made especially for it but because of the twisting to screw it in the wires were pulled out, inside. With a little fiddling, I was able to get a regular pair of headphones to work so that I could hear it at an ARES event. The rubber duck could be better. It has a wider range than just 144-148 which i like because I can listen to the police and fire dept as well as weather channels. Yaesu did a great job of making a durable and water proof, but simple 2M radio.