| N5MAV |
Rating:  |
2011-06-21 | |
| Excellent! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I wanted a handheld for local VHF/UHF use. I'm into backpacking and motorcycles so size and weight were a consideration. This radio exceeded my expectations. I occasionally poke a long wire into the antenna and enjoy shortwave. The low power hasn't been much of an issue as there are numerous repeaters in my area. It's an awesome gadget to play with when traveling. No reliability issues. I love it! |
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| KA8BYU |
Rating: |
2011-04-19 | |
| Great little radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| What a great little handheld, I'm on my second one, I still have the first one, the radio got smacked by a door while on my belt and the LCD is damaged but it still trasmits and recieves just can't tell what freq. it's on I bought it in 2006, and got sent a replacment for it from a family member who is not a ham in 2009 for christmas, she thought it was "a cute little toy". For those who say it's too hard to program I beg to differ I have programed 130 freqs by hand, don't have the software for it.I do have the aa battery case option as I do for any of my radios that they make them for, good to have if no power available to charge, have had no issues with this radio. Recieve is good for all bands, makes a nice little rig to throw in your pocket for a walk or just about anything else very discreet to operate, and the power output is more than enough for local use. As with all handhelds there are limitations as to what to expect it to do as long as you can live with those you will find it a good value for the buck |
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| IW9FQJ |
Rating: |
2011-02-07 | |
| Really portable rtx |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| This is really a Handheld Transceiver, not a brick! |
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| KV4BL |
Rating: |
2010-12-05 | |
| Great LIttle Radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have had this radio for a little over two years and am well satisfied with it. As others have noted, I recommend getting the Diamond SRH519 antenna for it. It will do wonders for xmit and receive range. Also as noted previously, it makes a huge difference in its reception of NWS broadcasts on 162 MHz. Transmit audio and receive audio are excellent for such a small radio. With just the SRH519 mounted on it, I occasionally snag some good SWL stations on HF with this radio. This radio has ridden in my shirt pocket just about everywhere I have gone for the past two years and it shows no signs of serious wear and tear. I also recommend getting the DC plug and AA battery case, just in case you find yourself unable to charge the radio from house current. Unlike other brands of radios I have tried, the AA battery case allows for many hours of continuous play and many transmissions before the batteries become weak. The AA case adds considerably to the bulk, so I only keep it for standby purposes. Works great for cross-band repeat to my mobile IC-2820.
I have a couple of suggestions to YAESU which, IMHO, might make this radio even better for the end user.
1) How about a sturdier back cover for the li-ion battery than it is shipped with, which has a sturdy, Public Safety or pager grade spring-loaded clip on it? This could be an option as the added bulk would negate me carrying it in my shirt pocket as I now do.
While some complain about the current backing being to flimsy, I have made do with it just fine. Still, it would not hurt to make it a little sturdier than it now is.
2) What about adding contacts to the bottom or lower sides of the radio to facilitate a drop-in or snap-in battery charger? Having a drop-in/snap-in feature on a wall wart would be neat and save space. Additionally, if such contacts were added, how about a drop-in desk top charger which would allow for simultaneous charging and even rcv/xmit with the radio turned on, but would not damage the battery? If they wanted to really get fancy with the contacts on the bottom, how about a desktop charger/convert-a-com type unit which would allow for simultaneous charge, operation, and also allow for external antenna connection to the charger unit and a mic connector on the charger unit? If such were available, I would definitely buy it.
One last thing. Does anyone out there know how to make the WX alert work? That is the one real negative I have found with this radio. I have gone to the menu and set the alert feature to "on", but it does not work when a NWS alert tone goes out. Everything else works so well that I hate to gripe about that one thing, but am I missing something? Following the directions thus far has not yielded successful function of the WX alert feature.
All in all, this has been a very satisfactory radio. If something were to happen to it, I would definitely replace it with another one just like it. |
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| KB3TUO |
Rating: |
2010-10-15 | |
| Great Hand-Held! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I got this HT for Christmas 2009 after taking my technician license exam on the 23rd of December and I have used it frequently since then. This radio has LOTS of features, many of which I have never even touched (or know how to use yet)! Because of its size, and as is the general consensus with many other HTs, this radio is almost entirely menu-driven. For me, a 20 year old aspiring electrical engineer, it took about 3 to 3.5 seconds to get used to. Honestly, it was not that bad.
About the stock rubber duck antenna.....
EVERYONE says "it's crap" or "it's terrible! get a Diamond antenna" Here's my issue with all of the people that said those kinds of things: It goes without saying that an external antenna such as a j-pole or yagi will perform better than what's included. As for a better screw-on antenna, it is VERY probable that an aftermarket antenna designed only for 2M/70CM is going to perform better on those bands than the stock antenna, which is designed to receive all kinds of things! I have used the stock antenna without a problem. I mean, really people, what do you expect from an antenna that's three inches tall and sits on top of your radio? For local stuff it's fine, for longer distances, USE AN EXTERNAL ANTENNA SET-UP! PERIOD! People expect the little rubber duck to perform miracles for them. It won't and that's IT.
As for the other aspects of the radio, READ THE MANUAL! They wouldn't print a thick manual for such a little radio if there weren't so many features. This is the only way you will learn how to use all of the features and the sooner you read the manual, the better. For anyone who thinks it "takes too much time" to read the manual, good luck!
The radio is very very compact. I have had the antenna bend many times from being in my pocket or elsewhere and all I had to was bend it back into place and it's ready to go.
About the AM/FM broadcast receive...
It's great! Again, what do people expect of this thing! There ARE radios just for receiving AM/FM broadcast, you know. The stereo output to headphones or speakers sounds phenomenal when listening to an FM station. I really like the SUB-RX feature that allows you to listen to a broadcast station while monitoring an amateur frequency AT THE SAME TIME! The radio is very easy to overload on HF frequencies. For instance, while listening to 40 meters, AM broadcast stations will come over the speaker loud and clear. I can put my cell phone next to the radio and hear strange noises, too.
I use this radio a lot with a Tokyo Hy-Power HL-35V 2 meter amplifier (read my review of that unit if you're interested). I have not had any problems with the radio and I think Yaesu did a nice job with it.
For anyone who complains about the battery cover being loose, I have one question, Would you like some cheese to go with that whine?
For anyone who gives this radio a bad rating because it "doesn't do SSB" or "the menus are too hard for me to use!" OH WELL! If you don't like it, don't buy it!
I am very happy with this radio and I am sure it will last me a long time. I also have the MH-34B4B speaker mic and the FBA-37 akaline battery adapter and they both work just fine.
One gripe I have is that you have to buy a separate unit, the E-DC-21 cigarette lighter adapter to get the radio to do the whole three watts out.
Let me clear something up for all of you.
Using the NC-85B battery charger while transmitting will NOT give you three watts! I knew this before I got the radio and it's not a big deal because I'm either within 1.5 watts range of someone or I use the amplifier. The E-DC-21 unit can be used for charging the battery and transmitting, but the NC-85B can NOT! It's for charging the battery and that's it. |
|
| KATEKEBO |
Rating: |
2010-08-18 | |
| Vesatile and extremely portable |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have owned the VX-3R for few days and I am extremely pleased. I give it a 4/5 rating just because there is no 4.5/5 option.
This radio is not perfect, but it is an extremely versatile choice for a backpacker or frequent traveller.
The VX-3R is actually four products in one, each with its own rating as indicated below:
- It's a dual band handheld transciever - rating 3/5
It is not very sensitive on the stock antenna and doesn't have much power output, but it works. I can "hit" all local receivers within 5 miles, and in clear locations I can contact repeaters that over 10 miles away. It has a lot of memories and the operation is fairly simple and intuitive in spite of limited number of user controls.
- It's a broadband scanner - rating 3/5
Not very sensitive with the stock antenna, but it has wide coverage, the bands are logically organized and it's simple to use.
- It's a pocket AM/FM broadcsst receiver - rating 4/5
It's actually a pretty good pocket broadcast receiver, reasonably sensitive, and the audio is quite pleasant for such a small radio.
- It's a miniature SW broadcast receiver - rating 2/5
There are very few pocket-size shortwave receivers and all currently available models are pretty mediocre. The only really good pocket shortwave radio ever made was the Sony ICF-SW100 but it has been discontnued long time ago. The VX-3R is pretty deaf on the stock anrenna, the 12 kHz filter is too wide to have any decent selectivity, and it lacks SSB. But it allows me to listen to stronger stations while away from my home receivers.
So why am I giving this radio a 4.5 rating if the individual ratings in each product categories are lower? Because the VX-3R does all four things at the same time, in an incredibly portable package. No other product offers the same level of flexibility at this price-point and with the same level of portability. Given, I could use a better dedicated handheld transceiver / broadband scanner (for example the FT-60R) and a seperate receiver (for example Sony ICF-SW7600GR), but this would mean carrying two different, larger and heavier devices, with their own accessories (charger, spare batteries, etc.). The size, portability and flexibility of the VX-3R are unbeatable when camping, hiking, canoeing or on a short business trip. While it does not excell in any of its functions, it does all of them reasonably well. And the best part is that it does all that for under $200 (including the battery case for AA-cells).
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|
| N5ACK |
Rating: |
2010-07-31 | |
| My favorite HT |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I've had mine about 4 months ago. It has great receive, I can hit repeaters over 12 miles away with the stock antenna. The fact that I can get batteries for about $6.00 each on ebay is a huge plus. It fits in my pocket perfectly. Great to take on trips. I could go on and on. |
|
| VE3PLO |
Rating: |
2010-07-06 | |
| Great little radio!!! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
TONS OF FEATURES!!!!
I have had this radio for the past 5 months, performs very well. Love every aspect of it, the fact that it has no clip that everyone is whining about makes it SUB compact. You can put it in that smallest pocket in your jeans. The antenna that comes with it, does very well what it is supposed to do. Transmit on advertised bands, and receive on all others that the radio is made for. Afterall if you want all the features advertised, you would need to have a screwdriver antenna:P
With 3 watts and a home made coat hanger antenna on 2m i can hit repeaters 100km away. AMAZING!!!
Whoever whines about receive, antenna, etc, is not right. Why expect performance of a base radio and a HF beam from a radio that is the smallest/cheapest on the market!? Get a grip people!!! |
|
| W5AAX |
Rating: |
2010-05-25 | |
| Really Great Little Radio |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| This little thing is really full of powerful stuff! I like the reception of everything except the AM broadcast band (like others have said). The Yaesu antenna that comes with it should be replaced as soon as you get it out of the box. I bought a couple of SRH-519's (one for the VX-3 and one for my new FT-60R). Got them from Palmetto Antennas, palmettoantennas.com, Ruston, La. The SRH-519 is a great improvement over the stock antenna. Programming the little thing can be a tedious matter (especially for a 77 year old like me). So, let me recommend ARRL's Travel Plus for Repeaters and G.R. Freeth, G4HFQ's software and a USB programming cable (which I found on Ebay). This combination makes programming the little bugger a breeze. And, if you plan a trip, it can make the changes along the route and at the destination in nothing flat. With the low power of this little thing, I can hit most of the repeaters in the area as well as being able to listen to public service radio and weather radio (and broadcast stations). It's a fine little radio what it costs. |
|
| KK6EY |
Rating: |
2010-04-13 | |
| Great Little HT |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I have been licensed for over 20 years and out of all the HT's that I have owned, I have to say that this is the best bang for the buck.
I will try not repeat what others have said. The size is perfect and the functionality is great. It does take a while to learn to navigate your way around.
I love this little radio and was not sure I would use all the functions it offers. I found that once you start using it, it is hard to put down and has so much to offer. Now I am considering the VX-8R since I would like the 1.25M and 50M abilities.
You won't go wrong with this little radio. |
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