vr-500 opinions

[pdfdems286]

looking for opinions of yaesu vr-500. thank you.

[eorange]

Read this for starters. I've had one since 2002 and probably will never part with it.

http://www.radioreference.com/forums...0-icom-r5.html

[datainmotion]

I have had one for years and the only issue I have had with it is the BNC-F connector on the chassis has broken loose from its solder joint. That was probably caused by an aftermarket antenna though.

[MarkWestin]

I think that this almost 10 year old review from the "Strong Signals" web site would still be helpful:

Strong Signals - Yaesu/Standard VR-500 Review

I have had my VR-500 for about 5 or 6 years now, and while it is not a scanner, it is a good handheld receiver. My only problem so far is that I dropped it and bent/broke the BNC connector. The radio is very difficult to take apart for this type of repair.

For a contrast, I once owned a Yaesu VR-5000 receiver. Avoid the VR-5000 at all costs. It is (or was) FCC Class A rated (business use only which means that it generates a lot of noise) The VR-5000 is useless if used with a "back of set" type antenna. It used to like to lock up and you would lose whatever you had programmed into it (by hand, no software was available at the time).

Mark

[eorange]

Originally Posted by MarkWestin

and while it is not a scanner, it is a good handheld receiver.

Even though the VR-500 is marketed as a communications receiver, it does have scanning capabilities. It can scan up to 10 banks of 100 channels each.

Unfortunately, the scanning is slooow (12 channels/sec).

[bearcat012]

Originally Posted by pdfdems286

looking for opinions of yaesu vr-500. thank you.

My only gripe is no PL/DPL. Other than that, a quick grab and go receiver. Leave the original antenna in the box, it is garbage.

[carmelof]

I had mine Yaesu-VR500 for about 5 years and i find it its does a good job for a small receiver and i agree with Mark on the Yaesu-VR5000 keep away from it at all cost to many problems with it and got rid of it.

Regards Lino.
ALINCO-DJX2000
AOR-3000/AOR-3000A/AOR-8200MK3
GRE-PSR500
ICOM-R3/ICOM-R20/ICOM-RX7/ICOM-PCR1000/ICOM-PCR1500/ICOM-PCR2500/ICOM-R9500
JRC NRD-545
KENWOOD TS-480SAT (2)
REALISTIC-PRO2035
UNIDEN-245/UNIDEN-396/UNIDEN-780
YAESU-VX7R/YAESU-FT8800R/YAESU-VR500