Taking Ham Test Saturday, buying new HT, leaning FT-60R

whooey · Feb 2, 2016

After scanning in FL since 2005, I am finally taking my Technician test Saturday so I can legally have a scanner in my car. I figured since I like radios, and I'll have a ham ticket, I may as well buy at least an HT.

I have narrowed my search down to the Yaesu brand.

From my research, every one loves the FT-60R for its simplicity and ruggedness. I am leaning that way, not too many bad reviews on that radio.

However I like extra features, and waterproof would be a plus since I do fish a lot.

So does anyone have any recommendations or should I go with the FT-60R?

Price isn't really a factor here.

gewecke · Feb 2, 2016

The VX6R is also a good choice. 73, n9zas

whooey · Feb 2, 2016

gewecke said:
The VX6R is also a good choice. 73, n9zas

At first glance, that does look like a great radio as well. Thank you for your reply.

K4EET · Feb 3, 2016

whooey said:
<snip> I am finally taking my Technician test Saturday... <snip>

Good luck on the test!

whooey said:
I have narrowed my search down to the Yaesu brand.

From my research, every one loves the FT-60R for its simplicity and ruggedness. I am leaning that way, not too many bad reviews on that radio. <snip>

Yaesu is my favorite manufacturer because of the top-quality equipment that they produce. The FT-60R is $149 at Gigaparts (5W 2M/70CM HT) and is a great entry-level HT. If you are taking the test at a hamfest, you should be able to find the Yaesu FT-60R cheaper than that at one of the vendors.

Again, good luck on the test!

73, Dave K4EET/AE

jaspence · Feb 3, 2016

FT-60R

I have the FT-60R and had the VX6R. The FT-60R is a less complicated radio to learn. I have 6 Yaesu radios and a FT-1DR coming. My experience has been that the FT series are more consistent in their keyboard for on the go programming and the VX series have many bells and whistles that make them more difficult to learn. If you get the 60, take a look at the free FT-60 Commander software. It works well. Chirp also works but does not let you set up the scan banks.

Good luck on your test!

whooey · Feb 3, 2016

K4EET said:
Good luck on the test!

Yaesu is my favorite manufacturer because of the top-quality equipment that they produce. The FT-60R is $149 at Gigaparts (5W 2M/70CM HT) and is a great entry-level HT. If you are taking the test at a hamfest, you should be able to find the Yaesu FT-60R cheaper than that at one of the vendors.

Again, good luck on the test!

73, Dave K4EET/AE

Thank you Dave! I am taking the test at a local community college. I am also leaning FT-60 bc the AA compatability.

jaspence said:
I have the FT-60R and had the VX6R. The FT-60R is a less complicated radio to learn. I have 6 Yaesu radios and a FT-1DR coming. My experience has been that the FT series are more consistent in their keyboard for on the go programming and the VX series have many bells and whistles that make them more difficult to learn. If you get the 60, take a look at the free FT-60 Commander software. It works well. Chirp also works but does not let you set up the scan banks.

Good luck on your test!

Thank you for your reply. I am pretty geeky and like complicated stuff, I enjoy radios with lots of features. I'm truly torn.

Do I go with the tried and true FT-60R or a more bells and whistled VX series? I'll end up with both I'm sure.

N4KVE · Feb 3, 2016

K4EET said:
Good luck on the test!
If you are taking the test at a hamfest, you should be able to find the Yaesu FT-60R cheaper than that at one of the vendors.

73, Dave K4EET/AE

Yeah, the Orlando Hamfest is next weekend. Plenty of great deals there.

whooey · Feb 3, 2016

MOONBOOTS said:
Yeah, the Orlando Hamfest is next weekend. Plenty of great deals there.

Oh dang, will the wife let me escape, that is the question LOL.

KE0GXN · Feb 3, 2016

I have owned the FT-60 now for almost a month. I like it a lot. It is still a popular radio with many hams old and new. I will say its pretty straight forward and does not have the bells and whistles of your higher end HTs. Of course at 5 watts max its not going to reach out there, but if you are fairly close to some repeaters you should have no problem hitting them.

As you probably already know you may want to upgrade from the stock antenna as well.

I ended up buying software to program mine, just for ease of use, but if your radio programming savvy you should have no issues programming from what I hear. Unfortunately, I am not, but it is something I am working on. I am from the days of when you entered six digit a frequency into a scanner and pressed "enter" and you were done....

Accessories I purchased with it that may interest you or not, but you may need depending on the application you decide to use it as.....an extra battery, AA battery case, hand microphone and car charger adaptor.

I use mine as a base station (its my only radio at the moment), so I wanted the extra battery options and the ease of utilizing a hand microphone instead of having to pick the entire radio up and putting it near my face every time I transmitted with it. The car charger gives me the option of charging the battery in my car if I decide to go mobile with it, also if I am not mistaken you can transmit with the car charger plugged in, but you can't when its in the desk charger.

Hope that all helped.... I too was a long time scanner user and just recently got into ham myself.

Good luck on your exam and welcome to the hobby!

N5TWB · Feb 3, 2016

whooey said:
Thank you Dave! I am taking the test at a local community college. I am also leaning FT-60 bc the AA compatability.

Thank you for your reply. I am pretty geeky and like complicated stuff, I enjoy radios with lots of features. I'm truly torn.

Do I go with the tried and true FT-60R or a more bells and whistled VX series? I'll end up with both I'm sure.

Your reason for leaning toward the FT-60 is a wise reason and one that many experienced hams have learned to appreciate over the years. I don't have an FT-60 but I do get to work with one occasionally as a community volunteer. You won't be unhappy with the radio or its ability to do the job.

a417 · Feb 3, 2016

whooey said:
I am finally taking my Technician test Saturday so I can legally have a scanner in my car

I'm sorry, i need to side-jack this thread for a bit...is this for real? This is a thing in FL?

paulears · Feb 3, 2016

The FT-60 is a nice radio, but I find it's horrible to use mobile because of the very small size and tiny writing. Nothing wrong with it performance wise and his has plenty of volume and decent battery life - just awkward for using while driving!

KB3KBR · Feb 3, 2016

thebigphish said:
I'm sorry, i need to side-jack this thread for a bit...is this for real? This is a thing in FL?

yup see :Mobile Scanner & RADAR Detector Laws In The U.S. :roll:

W6SAE · Feb 3, 2016

KB3KBR said:
yup see :Mobile Scanner & RADAR Detector Laws In The U.S. :roll:

That's a very useful link. Thanks for posting it!

whooey · Feb 4, 2016

KE0GXN said:
I have owned the FT-60 now for almost a month. I like it a lot. It is still a popular radio with many hams old and new. I will say its pretty straight forward and does not have the bells and whistles of your higher end HTs. Of course at 5 watts max its not going to reach out there, but if you are fairly close to some repeaters you should have no problem hitting them.

As you probably already know you may want to upgrade from the stock antenna as well.

I ended up buying software to program mine, just for ease of use, but if your radio programming savvy you should have no issues programming from what I hear. Unfortunately, I am not, but it is something I am working on. I am from the days of when you entered six digit a frequency into a scanner and pressed "enter" and you were done....

Accessories I purchased with it that may interest you or not, but you may need depending on the application you decide to use it as.....an extra battery, AA battery case, hand microphone and car charger adaptor.

I use mine as a base station (its my only radio at the moment), so I wanted the extra battery options and the ease of utilizing a hand microphone instead of having to pick the entire radio up and putting it near my face every time I transmitted with it. The car charger gives me the option of charging the battery in my car if I decide to go mobile with it, also if I am not mistaken you can transmit with the car charger plugged in, but you can't when its in the desk charger.

Hope that all helped.... I too was a long time scanner user and just recently got into ham myself.

Good luck on your exam and welcome to the hobby!

Thanks for your reply! Yep from all my research I have nailed it down to the FT-60 and the VX-6r. VX-6R has the marine for receive and its water proof. The only reason I'm considering it....

KB3KBR · Feb 4, 2016

KK6ZLX said:
That's a very useful link. Thanks for posting it!

you're welcome!

whooey · Feb 11, 2016

Update. I passed my test, hooray!

I was a little annoyed the guy wouldn't tell me how many I missed. I studied my tail off and wanted to know. Not his fault, he was following the rules.

I went ahead and ordered the VX-6R along with the programming cable and CD. I went with the VX-6R over the FT-60 for the following reasons: Waterproof, transmits on a extra band, receives wider coverage including broadcast FM and lithium Ion battery.

I cant wait to get it. Thank you all for your help.

paulears · Feb 11, 2016

When I did my CW test back in 1980, my instructor had warned me that I had a tendency to send faster than I could receive, and on hearing my speed, what would I do if the examiner (a professional in British Telecom/Post Office radio station) sent me back stuff at 20wpm instead of 12? I sent the words on the card he got me and he smiled and gave me a blank sheet of paper and then went for it. He took it away at the end, before I'd read it, and to this day have no idea what he sent me, because at that speed, I just wrote, not read it. I passed, but when people asked me what he sent, I had to say no idea!

It's very annoying when hey take papers away, but it's been the case for years now - probably because if there is a resit because you fail, they don't want you to just fix the weak area.

K4EET · Feb 11, 2016

whooey said:
Update. I passed my test, hooray! <snip>

Congrats on getting your license! Now begins the wait for the callsign. Did they give you a "FRN" number that you can use to find your new license here (the FCC's ULS website)? Or you can look it up with your name spelled and punctuated exactly as it was submitted on the FCC's License Application Form (FCC 605). I used "whooey" in the name search but it came back as Not Found...

73, Dave K4EET

Gunnar_Guy · Feb 11, 2016

Congrats on your ticket!

whooey said:
Thanks for your reply! Yep from all my research I have nailed it down to the FT-60 and the VX-6r. VX-6R has the marine for receive and its water proof. The only reason I'm considering it....

I had a VX-7R and FT-60R at one time. The FT-60R was redundant in my use, so a newly licensed friend needed a radio and ended up with it.

The FT-60R is an excellent combination of both ham and commercial qualities and is a fantastic radio if you only have one. There's a good reason why it's been in Yaesu's line for more than a decade and several models have come and gone in it's lifetime. There's just not much that is wrong or can be improved. Actually the single thing I didn't like was the flap over the power and speaker/mic jacks. It was just never quite right if you used the jacks and it would be better it was easily removable/installable.

You'll like the VX-6R, though, it's also a great radio. But it's a little more prone to intermod, a little finicky to operate. Nothing major, though, and really is a toss-up in the end.

Taking Ham Test Saturday, buying new HT, leaning FT-60R

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