| VE6BGM |
Rating:     |
2021-03-31 | |
| Good, not great |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
2021 Update.
Still use this radio daily. Has been dropped more times than I can remember. Writing on some keypads coming off. Lost rubber cushion. Still use original antenna. Batteries still last a whole 12-18 hours. Have used for APRS, SMS. But as a portable this is used as backup. But used to monitor 2 local repeaters. Has outlasted Kenwood, Icom and Wouxun and Baofeng.
I have no problem with the menu system. Find it much easier than the Kenwoods, especially D72. APRS does what I need. Volume is low, but I knew that before I bought it. Noone has complained about my transmit AF and I have heard a number of others with the 8DR and they all sound good. Battery life is shorter when running APRS, but I get a full days use out of the 1800 mAH battery. It is small and will fit in any pocket. Do I rely on it when doing public service? Only for APRS. I have owned a number of Kenwood, ICOM and Yaesu. So far I have had more luck with Yaesu then the other 2. Everyones mileage may vary. |
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| W0SGR |
Rating:      |
2021-03-30 | |
| The first Radio I bought once licensed. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Purchased in 2015
Great Great HT. It is solidly built, very small, waterproof. It is loaded to the brim with features and menu items almost so many that it is overwhelming.
It has wideband receive so you can listen in on a wide range of frequencies. For the experienced HT user I would absolutely recommend it.
Mine was expensive but I was surprised at how much they have retained their value. A few extra batteries and accessories and it would cost more than some nice used HF rigs.
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| KB4MSZ |
Rating:      |
2019-01-16 | |
| Amazing HT |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have had the radio for just over a year and, now that I have had time to learn it's functions (those I use anyway) I find it to be quite the powerhouse. I was out of Ham radio for over 30 years and my how it's changed. I won't go into great detail as most of this unit's features are well known. But I do want to mention something I have found.
One of the main complaints I read about with the VX-8DR (and other newer Yaesu HT’s) is the lack of a dedicated volume control.
I don’t know if this would apply to other Yaesu HT’s, but with my VX-8DR I accidently found that the main knob can be assigned to control just volume. I did this by pressing the VOL button and then pressing the F button. The volume level indicator will blink as it usually does when adjusting the volume. But with the right combination of F key and VOL key the volume level indicators will continuously blink. Now the radio is in volume control mode with the main knob. Be sure to have the desired memory channel(s) already selected as the main knob no longer controls memory selection. I have managed to turn this feature on and off a number of times and while I still haven’t pinned down exactly what combination of F and VOL keys set it up, it does eventually work. I have never read of this feature in any of the Yaesu manuals. After powering down and restarting the radio this feature continues to function, so it isn’t just a temporary adjustment. We can have the best of both worlds with the multi-function knob. Pretty handy, I think.
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| PY2RAF |
Rating:    |
2018-11-23 | |
| A great radio! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Owned a VX-8DR for a year and a half. And here's what I think of it.
Generally speaking, this is a good radio: Been my 144/430 MHz radio in a almost daily use. Here's what I like in it:
GOOD:
1. Sturdy. Reliable. If it gets too hot, it cuts the transmission power to Level 2, in order to avoid major damage.
2. Feature-packed. Oh yea, you will have to read the fancy manual. Do yourself a favour and do read it.
BAD:
3. Radio goes bananas: It reboots when TXing using external antenna + external power supply and using L3 and HI power modes. Does not happen when using only the battery (not connected to wall wart).
4. Sensitivity/selectivity: It is very prone to strong signals/images. I would recommend getting yourself a RTL-SDR FM bandstop filter if you are in a FM broadcast polluted area.
5. Lacks remote control: While it supports the ADMS suite, it lacks something like the CAT interface.
UGLY:
6. Rubber antenna: Awful. Bad. BADDDD. Buy yourself some decent antenna.
7. Proprietary connector: A shameless vendor lock-in. |
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| IU5JJA |
Rating:     |
2017-11-28 | |
| a very good, yet not perfect radio |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
This radio is, on the average, very well built. Its quality is remarcable and has nothing to share with the poor substance of most of the chinese cheap products.
It is very modern, being managed by a rather complicate software, which is not so intuitive and obliges, having almost 100 menus, to often refer to the manual. A good solution is programming it via computer. Even if I am a rather conservative person and still like the old-fashoned radios, I am not willing to consider this as a minus in the radio evaluation, as technology goes on and we have to follow it.
There are two real negative points which, according to my opinion, deserve to be underlined:
- the audio output is very low;
- no level and squelch pots.
That means that one has to use a combination of keys to regulate the volume and the squelch level, a very annoying procedure if you are on the field and not on the couch at home.
Apart from that, it is very reliable and works fine, reports are very good.
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| W2GT |
Rating:      |
2017-01-17 | |
| My personal favorite handheld |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've had a strange relationship with this model and have owned several of the "DR" version over the past few years. The appearance of it initially caught my eye, just something about the look is "all business", but when I got my first one, I was very disappointed with the audio - the speaker wasn't as loud as I was used to - it seemed to turn up all the way to "medium". I didn't use it much and sold it, but I still liked the "look" and decided it probably wasn't that bad and bought another. I actually went this "cycle" several times and finally gave up.
THEN, a couple of years later, I was looking for a handheld that supports Bluetooth to pair with a motorcycle helmet headset, so I bought yet another and the BU-2 module, to my total surprise, the one I bought (mid 2015 serial number) wasn't plagued by the low receive audio and the "muffled" reports I was getting with the previous units. I made a decision to build a small "go-bag" centered on this radio, batteries, mic-mounted GPS unit, roll-up slim jims for 2 and 6 meters, etc. I now own 3 of these with 2015 and 2016 serial numbers and they work perfectly - the analogy is tired, but these are truly the "Swiss Army knife" of handheld radios!
These are not a radio for a beginner, or someone not willing to sit down with the manual for a few hours. GPS and APRS works good and settings are in a separate menu, which is a good thing. I use the Bluetooth module with Oontz earbuds and a J&M helmet headset, but I have found some low-end BT devices that won't pair. Great radio, If I were able to only own 1 handheld, this would undoubtedly be it. de W2GT |
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| WB2PDW |
Rating:      |
2016-06-08 | |
| EXCELLENT HANDHELD RADIO |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ THE MANUAL BEFORE OPERATING THIS RADIO. 176 PAGES! THIS RADIO IS JUST LOADED WITH FEATURES THAT WILL KEEP YOU BUSY A LONG TIME LEARNING THEM ALL. AMAZING HOW SO MUCH CAN BE PUT INTO A SMALL BOX. SO MUCH BETTER THAN MY CRYSTAL SET I HAD WHEN I WAS A KID. 1953! THINGS SURE HAVE ADVANCED SINCE BACK THEN, AND IF I HAD THIS RADIO BACK THEN I GUESS IT WOULD ONLY RECEIVE AM AND FM,JUST THINK ABOUT THE NEXT 50 YEARS. THANK YOU YAESU FOR ALL THE TIME PUT INTO SUCH A GREAT HANDHELD RADIO, I'M COMPLETELY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR GIFT TO HAM RADIO! 73 WB2PDW |
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| YELLOWLEMON |
Rating:   |
2016-05-19 | |
| The newer FT1DR is much better |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I bought one of these used with all the accessories (GPS,Mic,High Capacity LiIon battery, Data cable) because I like it's rugged build. The low profile rotating knob for example is brilliant, as is the mic connector on the top.
However it has several cons that make the FT1D a better choice:
- When an APRS beacon is received there is no pop-up notification, even though it's set up in the settings.
- Many APRS packets are just not decoded, whereas the FT1D sitting right next to it decodes them all.
- The external GPS really is clumsy.
- The menu is just one long list of 120+ settings with no structure or categorisation. The FT1D does this much much better with the submenus.
- Battery life is terrible, and I tested this using the same brand new battery I got with my FT1D (the VX8DR and FT1DR both use the same batteries & charger cradle which is cool)
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| ZL1NJR |
Rating:    |
2016-05-13 | |
| Too expensive for what you get |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Overall, this is a great radio, but is it worth the money? That's debatable. It's a radio filled with features, most of which you'll probably never use.
Pros
Once you get used to it, the menu system and setup isn't so bad. Having to press a button while turning the VFO to adjust volume I actually think is a really good idea, that way you don't accidentally turn the volume way up or down. You also wont accidentally press any of the buttons because they are recessed into the radio. Audio reports for tx are excellent and RX audio quality is excellent. No complaints there. The radio itself is small and fits in your hand well. The spectrum analyzer and frequency counter are also pretty cool features.
Cons
The menu system and setup is fine once you get used to it, but is initially very complicated and intimidating. Battery life is utterly abysmal compared to my chinese HTs. The LCD window is easily scratched. For a "heavy duty" HT, it doesn't make sense that they used SMA for the antenna, except maybe so it could be compatible with common antennas. While the radio has a very wide receive, reception on HF and commercial AM is completely useless without a suitable antenna. Audio quality is excellent, but in some situations, the audio is not loud enough, even when it's as loud as it can go. Recessed buttons make it harder to press buttons on accident or snag buttons, but it also makes them harder to press. Lastly, accessories for this radio are way too expensive, and some other radios in this price range include the accessories that this one does not, such as GPS. |
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| KI4TCX |
Rating:    |
2015-10-03 | |
| This radio is ok except for one problem |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I bought the VX-8DR because it did so many things. I thought in an emergency I could use the ham radio side and also listen to AM/FM broadcast stations. However the battery on mine will not stay in place. I don't use mine that much and take really good care of my stuff. I have read that others are having this battery problem too. Not sure if it's something with the battery or the radio. The radio isn't much good if it doesn't work because the battery won't stay in place. Other than the battery problem I'm having I really like this radio.
Pros
Fits well in the hand
I have vision problems but the buttons are still easy to read.
Backlit keypad
Receives and transmits on a lot of frequencies AM / FM broadcast, 2m,440,6m, 220 with 1.5w, SWL broadcast band and more.
Cons
The standard battery is 1100 ma should come with a bigger battery like the Yaesu Ft1dr
The price isn't bad until you start to add on accessories then the thing can get pretty pricey.
The Squelch and volume controls. I like the ones on the Ft-60r |
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