Nope, disagree the V82 has the best ears on any hand talkie out there. Yes even over the 170. During peak ducting months I hear all kinds of things just on the stock duck that the 170 won't even break the squealch. Yes the 170 has the loudest audio and is built really well but the V82 has 7 watts TX and the sensitivity is like no other on receive which helps the 7 watt TX. I say go for the V82. The ears are the best!
Peterjmag, I was not talking about receiver sensitivity, i was refering to audio output power, and yes the vx-170 kicks all icom handhelds away when it comes to audio power, icom amateur handhelds are 280mW or less audio power output, i cant remember one being more, the vx-170 is 700mW to the internal speaker. it is the one of the reasons that i moved away from icom handhelds
When it comes to sensitivity, at least icom sells the radio with a real antenna, the stock vertex antenna sucks.
5W vs 7W, moot point, a radio is going to need alot more power to notice any real gains in simplex talk distance, besides, the fellow wants to use it for monitoring trains, and as such should have no reason to transmit.
No matter which radio you choose to buy, get a replacement antenna tuned to 161Mhz, might not seem that big a deal but it makes a big difference to how far away you can hear.
I have not done selectivity and sensitivity testing on the vx-170, but i imagine that the S&S drops of a bit but i can not quantify it.