Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Yaesu VX-3R

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

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
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
N8EKT Rating: 2007-09-04
quit after 3 days! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have owned the vx-1 and vx-2 so I thought the vx-3 would beat them both.
Well I could see from the start that the vx-2 was every bit the radio the vx-3 is.
And I took the radio to work to show my co-workers what all it did and it just died!
Dead, no display no power up beeps nothing!
Battery was suppling proper voltage and current and the radio was drawing 30ma on the meter but it would not come back on.
Only had this radio for three days so I will NOT be buying another one.
I will be investing in a radio that has been on the market long enough to work out the bugs!
AA7LG Rating: 2007-08-28
I love it! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Yaesu VX-3R transceiver is spectacular for it’s intended purpose. This compact hand held is very small and un-obtrusive, therefore you will be inclined to bring it places where you would leave a large unit behind. It does a great job hitting repeaters when in realistic range. Some reviewers were critical of the AM/FM performance of the receiver. One must be realistic, this radio does not have a yagi, it has a SMALL rubber duck antenna. In an urban environment it does a very good job on AM & FM as long as your stations are not shielded by large structures. With a larger rubber duck reception is vastly improved. Don’t blame the radio because you can’t hear your favorite FM station from 50 miles away, give it an antenna and it will. I bought this transceiver for my wife to carry in her purse. I’ve become attached to it, I’ll have to buy another for her. 73, Bob AA7LG
K0ZZE Rating: 2007-08-14
Just as good as the 2R Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this radio from Ham City for 165.00. Thats the cheapest price in town. So far I like all the features of this micro ht. The RX does really well, I received a station 30 miles away on simplex in my RF reflecting house and almost had a heart attack because the reviews said the RX wasn't so good. So that surprised me lol. The FM radio portion doesn't receive some of the FM radio stations but I wanted a small hand held not a Sony Walkman. Battery life seems good as well as the TX portion too. I can hit repeaters 15 miles away full quieting. The 3r has very good back lighting and the buttons light up good as well. I do also like the locking Vfo knob that makes it handy when your dropping this little ht in your back pocket. I haven't experienced that battery cover moving from side to side, mines on there pretty tight. I like the password feature and the Mic gain feature. The programing was a little tough for the first 3 Min's because all of the buttons have three functions, but I learn quick and have it all down pat. I can just hit buttons now without looking at the manual. Overall its a good HT with a military look and some improvements over the 2R. I sold my 7r to get this and I am not disappointed, I am going to get another one in a few months for the wife:) You can carry this thing everywhere and not look like a goofball using it. Its small and really portable and fun to use. If your looking for a small FM broadcast radio, go buy a Walkman. If your looking for a good dual band micro ht with out of band receiving capabilities then this is a good choice.
W4FTL Rating: 2007-08-10
GREAT little radio... Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I notice the reviews go from great to terrible.
Maybe they are some duds in the lot. I had a VX1, then a VX2, and I love this rig. I like all the improvements over the VX2, and the FM is not so bad tho maybe the VX2 had a better broadcast FM receiver. The radio is so small a belt clip is pointless. The lanyard hole is still there. I LIKE the locking knob. Yes I wish the broadcast AM receiver was better, but with such a TINY rig the bar antenna is smaller than a normal AM bar antenna. The radio seems more solid than the VX2. The display seems brighter with more info on it. So even if the broadcast receiver is a bit weak I am happy with the radio. Maybe Yaesu will tweak future versions of it.
SM6XUN Rating: 2007-08-07
A delight! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was looking for a new small transceiver that would fit in any pocket, this is the one!
I have been using FT-11, VX-7, IC-E90 and a whole lot of other handhelds but this one cant really be compared in size with those bulky ones, this one would fit right in a empty cigarette pack.

One thing i really like with VX-3 is the dial-lock feature, when locked i dont have to worry about any change of operating frequency when i slip the radio into my backpocket, just lock and go!

One con might be the backlid that covers the battery, it feels a bit loose, although it stays in place anyhow.

As always, dont expect this radio to be a full-featured BC-band receiver, although i dont complain and i have had worse handhelds!

Finally, this radio deserve a decent antenna, leave the supplied one in the box, and get a Diamond SRH-815 or similar good antenna.
KC3LDA Rating: 2007-08-06
DEAF IN FM BROADCAST Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just received my VX-3r last week and returned on the same day.
The one feature that Yaesu is claiming for their newest HT - Stereo FM Broadcast Reception is completely non-existent. I'm sorry, but, if you manufacture a product, it should do exactly what you claim it can do right out of the box, no additional antennas or options need be added. The VX-3R did little to live up to Yaesu's claims so I exchanged the VX-3R for another VX-7R which, by far, is the best HT ever made, to bad I can't say the same for it's little sister.
73
KC3LDA
KB3IHU Rating: 2007-08-03
Does what I ask of it Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was in the market for a 2m/440 HT, so I went out on a limb after reading some of the reviews of this product and grabbed one from HRO. The unit arrived two days ago and was easy to set up for my needs. I own a VX-150 and knowing that HT helped me set this one up with ease.

I picked this HT over the numerous others for its size, RX range, and price. The VX-3R has a lot of extras, but I like the fact that it is an HT that I can take to work and cross-band repeat to my TM-708A sitting in my truck. If a local emergency net starts up due to weather or some other disaster I will be able to keep informed.

I think it’s a great HT and so far no complaints………….


73’s John KB3IHU

G7EMK Rating: 2007-08-03
Save Your Money Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I said I'd come back with a follow up review once my replacement Yaesu VX3 arrived. Well it has arrived and it is just as awful and deaf on WFM from 76MHz to 108MHz as before. I think Yaesu have dropped a right clanger with this little number, and I would encourage you to buy either the Yaesu VX2 or Icom IC E7 if you are looking for a micro hand held. I am so surprised that Yaesu have gone to market with such a poor broadcast receiving HT.
I like the menus within the unit and the text option, mike gain and other little bits, but performance is what you are paying for and the VX3 just does not cut it. It was good to see that following my initial review that other Hams had had the same issues, as I was concerned I'd been sold a pig in a bag due to previous review ratings showing mainly 5/5. This is very miss leading.
I'll either sell my unit or use it under that table leg in our dining room to stop it from rocking.
FORMER_W5TD_JOHN Rating: 2007-08-01
Great features-lousy receiver Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have owned a couple of VX2R HTs in the past and really liked them, and was commenting early this year that if they put dual receive in the VX2R, as
well as a bar antenna, it would be the perfect HT, although I also thought putting 5 watts into it would be perfect. You can imagine how excited I was when I saw that Yaesu listened and came out with the VX3R (minus the 5 watts). I bought one a little over a week ago from Texas Towers, Serial
Number 6H range, and here is what I can say about it so far:

1. The dual receive works nice on it. True it isn't dual receive as the subreceiver can only do AM and FM broadcasts but that is all I generally
used the subreceiver on a VX7R or TH-F6A for anyways. When a signal appears on the main receiver it quickly switches over to that receiver. You can program how long it takes to go back to the subreceiver after the main
receiver drops out. I really like this feature so far and have no complaints that the subreceiver is only AM/FM broadcasts.

2. The bar antenna also works pretty good, about as good as the one does in the Kenwood TH-F6A. It picks up AM stations better than the VX2R due to the bar antenna, and you can still listen to them when you set the HT down. I have tried it a little bit on shortwave stations and it seems to work ok there also. There are special memory banks with the 75 or so most common shortwave stations programmed into them, and they are identified by name rather than frequency.

3. There is a programmable key on the front (ala the VX6R and VX150), which I use to check battery voltage. You can set it for anything you want (it is the WIRES key). This would also be nice to take you right to the CTCSS frequency set if you have to change tones alot. This is a feature I am really glad to see added to the HT.

4. There are 3 different ways to control the volume:
a. Push the volume button while turning the knob on top. This is awkward and can't see why anyone would do this, but it is the default setup.
b. You can use a menu setting to change it where you push the volume button, and it stays in volume control mode for several seconds where you use the encoding knob. Much easier than A
above.
c. You can toggle between making the knob on the top a dedicated tuning knob or a dedicated volume knob by pushing the F key and then
the VOL key. This is what I do, leaving it as a VOL knob most of the time. This idea was adopted from the Icom T90A and I really like it. Great featured added by Yaesu.

The receive audio sounds really good, and the volume ranges from 0 to 32. The audio output seems about the same as the VX2R, which is sufficient in all but the most noisy enviroments. I briefly listened to FM stereo on walkman headphones and it sounded pretty good.

5. The power on button is kind of awkward to push on for some reason, and the mechanically locking dial is ok, but seems kind of unnecessary. An
electrically locking dial is ok by me.

6. The menus are arranged alphabetically. I can't remember if they were on the VX2R or not. I know the VX6R had them this way. Much better than how
there were arranged on the VX7R which was a disaster in an otherwise almost perfect HT.

7. You can set microphone gain (the default seems fine for me) and there is also a front end attenuator, but it only works on the main receiver. You cannot use it on the subreceiver. Also, you can set squelch independently for AM broadcast, FM broadcast, and regular FM. Great feature, as I never liked having the AM squelch setting slaved to the regular FM setting. Most
Yaesu HTs have had separate squelch settings for the Wide FM receive.

8. Most other features seem similar to the VX2R.

9. The biggest disappointment to me is with the FM broadcast band receive. It doesn't seem as good as on the VX2R most of the time, and not near as good as on the VX7R or VX5R. It will pick up the loudest stations, but the lesser ones are sometimes lost. I have to qualify this because inside the house it doesn't pick up stations that the VX2R would, but when I got
outside it did pick up some of those stations about as good as the VX2R would. Sometimes the VX2R would get crosschannel interference from another station inside the house. This wasn't a problem with the VX3R because it wouldn't pick up the station in the first place.

There is a way to hook up an external antenna on the ear phones jack, which makes it better on receive than the VX2R is, with no noticed crosschannel interference so far. I just use a pair of walkman headphones for the antenna in a room or 2 around the house where I want to listen to one of the less loud stations and then it works better than the VX2R did, in which you
couldn't connect an external antenna
.
To get this to work, you need to change 2 menu items:

A. Change item 2 (FM ANT) to EARPHO which uses the earphones as an antenna. It also uses the rubber duck antenna in this mode, so you can use it without earphones (which is what I do most of the time).

B. Change item 77 (SP OUT) to SPKR which always has the audio coming out of the speaker, even when earphones are connected.

With these changes you can hook up an external antenna and still receive the audio thru the internal speaker. The receiver seems fine on the ham bands.

Overall I like the VX3R. The changes made to the VX2R were very nice-other than the reduced receiver performance on FM broadcast bands. I paid $179 shipped for it, which is only $20 to $25 more than what the VX2R went for new. It was definitely worth the extra money. I generally don't buy radios new, but did want to be the first on the block to have a VX3R. Still love
the size of these HTs.

73s John AA5JG
M0LSK Rating: 2007-07-19
First look - Impressive! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was fortunate to play with an imported VX-3R the other day and I was impressed. I used own a VX-2 and I have been running a VX-7 since 2002.

The radio is of similar design to the VX-2 but feels more solid and better built. The AM bar antenna worked well on strong broadcast stations and the recovered stereo audio on broadcast FM was excellent using my iPod earphones.

Needless to say, I will be buying one as soon as the arrive in the UK...

You may want to join the VX-3R yahoo group if you own one, or thinking about it:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VX-3R

73' Laurence M0LSK