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Reviews For: Yaesu VX-3R

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

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Review Summary For : Yaesu VX-3R
Reviews: 139MSRP: 199
Description:
A micro-sized dual band entry from vertex/standard...With 1.5 watts output on 2 meters, and 1 watt on 440... With 13.8 vdc power jumps to 3 watts on 144, and 2 on 440...Has wide band rx, and NEW ferrite bar antenna for AM broadcasts... 1000 ma/1 amp lithium -ion battery
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.yaesu.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
001394.3
KE5RMS Rating: 2007-11-26
A very impressive HT! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I wanted to find a small HT that would fit in my pocket to complement my excellent Yaesu FT-60R. After reading the reviews here, I decided to purchase a new VX-3R locally from Austin Amateur Radio Supply.

Initially I was a little worried about the low power on the unit, but that worry disappeared after I found I could easily hit the popular local repeaters from my apartment. The included antenna is a nice size, however as expected it performed very poorly. I put on a Diamond SRH320A and the performance was like night and day.

The interface works better than I expected. Programming and using the HT is fairly simple. The only thing I do not like is having to press two buttons at once for some functions. Other than that, the buttons are laid out well and easy to press. The VX-3R does not feel cheap in my hands like some HTs I have held.

Overall the size and weight is what I like the most about this little thing. Yaesu did an excellent job of squeezing so many features into such a small HT with so few buttons without sacrificing ease of use. I recommend this product to anyone looking for a solid HT they can drop in their pocket!

Tony
KE5RMS
VR2XCL Rating: 2007-11-13
Could be better Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've the radio for 2 weeks now, everything worked fine except one thing please see below.

I am impressed so much features built in such a small package, and the battery life is good too, I carry it everyday for monitoring the repeater as well as listening to the radio. Yaesu used to have a complex and hard to remember user interface, this one is reasonably easy to understand without too much reading of the manual, but I still hate multi key press at the same time. I don't do much transmitting with it so can't comment on it's quality, but the receiving audio is excellent and I like the idea to have FM stereo built in, but the 'radio band' receiver is not as hot as other HT I've used, FM stations keep breaking up even when use with earphone as antenna, much worse than my Nokia cell phone !! and I don't like to have separate phone jack for that, I would rather have an adapter with mic and ptt like those for cell phone, so that I can use my favorite headset all the time.

Here's the ugly bits, just this morning I find the tuning knob fails to control the volume and channels, there is serious bad contact inside the thing causing the control jumping up and down, I don't know why this happened it is so new and I didn't drop it, I need to bring the radio to the service center to fix that, looks like the new radios are using cheaper parts.

The other complain is the AA battery case, it is too tight for most rechargeable to fit in also bad contact, I would rather it takes AAA cells with reduced RF out.

PS. Btw anyone knows if this radio can transmit on 409Mhz after mods, we've a non standard bandplan for FRS here.

73,

Joe
W0ACE Rating: 2007-11-05
Perfect! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I use this bicycle mobile with a dual band 1/4 wave whip. It works better than I could ask for. I have good FM reception, and love the fact it will dual receive FM broadcast and the local 2m machine! I have also used it crossband repeating with great results with my 50w mobile rig. I also got the AA battery box, which works good, but it does ADD alot of size to the HT. Only thing I would change would be to add a volume knob. But, we can't have everything!

If your looking for a super small HT that will do alot, this is it! Another Yeasu Hit!

PS....I use a 2.5amp 6V AA battery pack on my bike, so I have 3 watts output. Makes alot of difference coverage wise. 73's.......w0ace
KC2RUV Rating: 2007-10-20
Raving Fan Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is my third Yaesu radio so needless to say i am a raving fan. I lost my FT-60R and was looking for a radio to cross band with my FT-8800. This radio is the best little pocket radio I have used. It should not be someone's only radio. Let's face it most repeaters are like soap operas and you hate to miss an installment. The best way to program this radio is to line up all your channels in numeric order. It is very easy to move these groupings to banks for easier listening. This is not the HT for the new ham that thinks he is going to put a mag mount on the car and start operating. If you own other Yaeseu product and are looking for a pocket radio you could not make a better choice.
KI4BPF Rating: 2007-10-05
So far, so good! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've programmed this radio in 30 minutes total. It has great reception (beter on 440 than my Kenwood TH-F6A...don't tell my Kenwood). The radio has good everything as far as I can tell.

Cons:
no dedicated LAMP button
no dedicated VOLUME (unless you configure it)


Good buy.
VK4HAM Rating: 2007-10-01
lasted 1 day Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Like a few others my first opinion of this handheld is not the best. It was great until I ran out of battery and then when I went to recharge - no go. I rang the supplier and he advised to change transformer to 7.5v I did this and it recharged ok - then ........NOTHING - it was kaput.

Hopefully all will be alright and I'll get another one which I can leave a better report on, but at the moment it hasn't done anything for me yet.
N6NQ Rating: 2007-09-26
I loved it, but... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I loved this little rig from the minute I laid hands on it. To me, the ultimate in a HT is one that is always with you. With the wide receive, including the AM an FM broadcast bands, enough power to hit all the local repeaters, and so small it hid in your shirt pocket, it seemed like the perfect rig to me.

Unhappily, within a couple of days, I noticed an intermitant signal on my home repeater. It would be there part of the day, and gone part of the day. I tuned around on vfo mode and found the signal was 5khz above the repeaters output freq. None of three other receivers received it. The kicker was that the signal was there with no antenna attached. Birdie in the wrong place. 146.735. Took it back for an exchange. Opened three other boxes. All the same! Unhappiness.

I ultimately settled for a VX-7R. Not as small, but a really nice radio.
KB7QDI Rating: 2007-09-24
As good as the 2R PLUS! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Simply put, I've had the VX-3R since they came out, and am completely happy with it.

I've owned just about every HT Yaesu has come out with lately, including the VX-1R and the VX-2R. They are, in my opinion, perfect radios for cross-banding.

There are some added features in the VX-3R (e.g. morse code testing, text messaging, etc.) that I simply won't use. And, to be honest, I don't know anyone that uses the WIRES functionality. However, the addition of broadcast AM and FM is a real hit with me. Throw in the options of using either the antenna or farrite bar for AM, or either the antenna or earphone jack for FM, really sold me because they attempted to solve every possible issue right off the bat.

For power, 1.5 watts on 2 meters (1 watt on 440) is good for close repeater or simplex work, and if you do crossband, 100 milliwatts is great for a 2 to 3 block area around your crossbanding radio.

The biggest change, in my opinion, is the lockable knob on top. It did take some getting used to, but in the end I appreciate what they've done, and it does keep the volume from blaring in your ear accidentally.

If you are thinking about the VX-3R as your first "got into the hobby" HT radio, I would probably ask you to consider something with more power (FT-60R is a great 5-watt HT). On the other hand, if you are seeking a small HT for crossbanding, plus other features, the Yaesu VX-3R will suit you just fine.
G4WIE Rating: 2007-09-22
Very Good! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought one today. I also have a VX6E. The VX3 albeit less TX power receives everything that the VX6 does. Very pleased
DL1AKE Rating: 2007-09-21
Do not use the VX-3E for reception Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
What I do like in comparison to my VX-2E is the design incl. the display and some of the new features (CW Training).
However, the reception on all bands - in comparison to my VX-2E - is bad. Especially the FMW band (radio) is a lot worse than VX-2E and far below the specification given in the manual. Switching the antenna from head phone to ham antenna does not change the sensitivity at all at my radio.
Specified for the VX-3E on 107.000 MHz/WFM/12dB Sinad is 3µV, the measured Value is 45,1µV. Similar the sensitivity on hambands is not as good as my VX-2E. Please see table.

I keep my VX-3E for CW training purpose, but will use my VX-2E for Ham.

all Measurements with 4032 Stabilock:
VX-3E SN: 7I041833 VX-2E SN: 5J500506
I------------------------3E measured ----------II-----3E manual----II---2E measured----I
MHz mode I----------I dBm I----------I µV I----------I µV I-------------I dBm I--------------I µV
0,504 AM I----------I -72,7 I----------I 51,80 I----------I 3,00 I----------I -108,5 I----------I 0,84
1,791 AM I----------I -72,7 I----------I 51,80 I----------I 3,00 I----------I -114,0 I----------I 0,44
1,800 FM I----------I -106,2 I----------I 1,09 I----------I 3,00 I----------I -118,2 I----------I 0,27
7,000 FM I----------I -109,1 I----------I 0,78 I----------I 3,00 I----------I -125,4 I----------I 0,12
28,000 FM I----------I -110,3 I----------I 0,68 I----------I 3,00 I----------I -123,6 I----------I 0,14
30,000 FM I----------I -116,2 I----------I 0,34 I----------I 0,35 I----------I -122,5 I----------I 0,16
50,000 FM I----------I -114,4 I----------I 0,42 I----------I 0,35 I----------I -113,3 I----------I 0,48
75,000 FM I----------I -108,6 I----------I 0,83 I----------I 1,00 I----------I -99,9 I----------I 2,26
76,000 WFM I----------I -88,9 I----------I 8,02 I----------I 3,00 I----------I -102,0 I----------I 1,77
88,000 WFM I----------I -85,7 I----------I 11,60 I----------I 3,00 I----------I -105,6 I----------I 1,17
107,000 WFM I----------I -73,9 I----------I 45,10 I----------I 3,00 I----------I -109,5 I----------I 0,74
108,000 AM I----------I -111,1 I----------I 0,62 I----------I 1,50 I----------I -114,8 I----------I 0,40
128,000 AM I----------I -112,3 I----------I 0,54 I----------I 1,50 I----------I -118,8 I----------I 0,25
136,000 AM I----------I -114,8 I----------I 0,40 I----------I 1,50 I----------I -120,6 I----------I 0,20
137,000 FM I----------I -121,3 I----------I 0,19 I----------I 0,20 I----------I -124,6 I----------I 0,13
144,000 FMN I----------I -122,6 I----------I 0,16 I----------I 0,16 I----------I -124,1 I----------I 0,13
145,000 FMN I----------I -122,0 I----------I 0,17 I----------I 0,16 I----------I -123,8 I----------I 0,14
146,000 FMN I----------I -122,0 I----------I 0,17 I----------I 0,16 I----------I -123,7 I----------I 0,14
173,000 FMN I----------I -115,8 I----------I 0,36 I----------I 0,20 I----------I -122,4 I----------I 0,16
174,000 FMW I----------I -101,6 I----------I 1,86 I----------I 1,00 I----------I -110,6 I----------I 0,66
221,000 FMW I----------I -90,5 I----------I 6,67 I----------I 1,00 I----------I -94,2 I----------I 4,36
222,000 FMN I----------I -94,0 I----------I 4,46 I----------I 1,00 I----------I -107,5 I----------I 0,94
350,000 FMN I----------I -115,2 I----------I 0,38 I----------I 0,50 I----------I -119,9 I----------I 0,22
419,000 FMN I----------I -119,6 I----------I 0,23 I----------I 0,18 I----------I -122,2 I----------I 0,17
420,000 FMN I----------I -121,0 I----------I 0,19 I----------I 0,18 I----------I -122,8 I----------I 0,16
430,000 FMN I----------I -120,9 I----------I 0,20 I----------I 0,18 I----------I -123,8 I----------I 0,14
435,000 FMN I----------I -121,6 I----------I 0,18 I----------I 0,18 I----------I -122,8 I----------I 0,16
440,000 FMN I----------I -123,1 I----------I 0,15 I----------I 0,18 I----------I -124,0 I----------I 0,14
450,000 FMN I----------I -123,3 I----------I 0,15 I----------I 0,18 I----------I -123,2 I----------I 0,15
469,000 FMN I----------I -124,1 I----------I 0,13 I----------I 0,18 I----------I -122,8 I----------I 0,16
470,000 FMW I----------I -108,9 I----------I 0,80 I----------I 1,50 I----------I -109,2 I----------I 0,77
802,000 FMW I----------I -116,3 I----------I 0,34 I----------I 1,50 I----------I -84,7 I----------I 13,00
803,000 FMN I----------I -113,6 I----------I 0,46 I----------I 1,50 I----------I -97,2 I----------I 3,08
900,000 FMN I----------I -116,3 I----------I 0,34 I----------I 1,50 I----------I -90,3 I----------I 6,83
999,000 FMN I----------I -109,2 I----------I 0,77 I----------I 1,50 I----------I -86,1 I----------I 11,00