Ef johnson VP900 Reviews

dustinw251 · Jan 26, 2018

I was just reaching out to some of you guys that have had experiences with the VP900 radios, im looking for Pros and Cons. For the functionality and price it seems like a better alternative for me to attempt to use. Since we operate on VHF and 700 public safety bands the price point compared to motos is a given in the dual band capable radios. Im interested to hear why or why nots on the radios, i do have a demo coming in the next week or so to try out before we start buying them. But one or 2 weeks to demo prob wont let me get through all the good and bad. Thanks in advance!! Negativity is welcome here if need be. [emoji4]

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mmckenna · Jan 26, 2018

I had a chance to try one out at a demo a few months back, as well as a VP600
Nice radio.
What was impressive was the noise cancellation features. They took an APX portable and a VP900 out to a fire truck at the pump panel. Rev'd the engine to it's pump speed and then had someone talk on each radio. Both radios had their "noise cancellation" turned on.
The APX was difficult to understand.
The VP was easily understandable.

dustinw251 · Jan 26, 2018

I watched a youtube video on that same scenario, two pumpers and a generator. Had alot less audio loss than the apx. But as helpful as u have been with info for me in the past and you have seen it. Ill take that video as not being a made up sales video lol.

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mmckenna · Jan 26, 2018

Yeah, it was pretty impressive.
The APX was pulled from one of the fire officers in the room, so it wasn't a plant.
They went back and forth a few times and it was really noticeable.

I think that's one of the benefits of the Kenwood/EF Johnson merger. Kenwood has always been good with their audio. EFJ makes some nice gear.

KyFireFreak · Jan 28, 2018

We purchased 2 of them just to see. They are the 800/VHF flavor. We are a county EMS that uses the Indiana SAFE-T system primarily but some of the volunteer FD's we run with are still on VHF analog.

I like that I can scan between the VHF & 800 within the same zone. I think they work better on the 800 system vs the VHF. Reception and transmit on the VHF analog is lacking compared to others in the same location with a far lower tier radio.

The only complaint I get out of them are that they are big and heavy compared to the XTS 1500's and then APX 6000's which most of our guys were used to. But I obviously like having both bands in one radio and will purchase more when the time comes.

MTS2000des · Jan 28, 2018

Demo'ed a VHF/7/800 back in late 2015. At that time, we still had our legacy Smartnet simulcast analog 800 up, and were turning up our now current 7.14 LSM 800. So I got to give it a good run on Smartnet, P-25 TDMA and analog/digital conventional.

Radio is built like a tank. I think superior to the XTS5000 in some ways (uses screws in construction, very thick plastic, etc). Super loud RX audio.

Yes, it's a "brick" of the radio, but think of it as a modernized XTS5000: top display, TDMA capable, multi-band.

And Armada is a gem of a radio management tool. FYI, the ones we had were made in USA by EFJ, the current crop of these are now built by JVC Kenwood in Japan.

kc1efx · Mar 2, 2018

Whats your guy's opinion on the programming software? Ease of use, export/import capability, general layout and features?

cmjonesinc · Mar 2, 2018

I've only had my hands on a couple for programming but from everyone I've talked to they seem to like them better than the apx's. That was coming from a few moto diehards so it said a lot to me. As far as cps goes, Armada in my opinion is better designed and runs better than the apx cps. Apx cps always seemed clunky to me.

kc1efx · Mar 4, 2018

Agreed, APX CPS and KPG-D1N have both been very clunky for me. I run them both on a pretty well spec'd windows machine. Nonetheless, I can't seem to import/export MDC lists or anything for that matter in a standard format like CSV.

The price comparison of these units (referencing the comparable APX) is substantial. I mean it's going to be hard to convince our departments to spend the near 8K on a Motorola for what I was quoted at with these.

So lastly, will EFJ provide demo units including software/cables?

MTS2000des · Mar 4, 2018

kc1efx said:
So lastly, will EFJ provide demo units including software/cables?

Your local dealer would be the one to ask fro demo radios with programming setups. Our local dealer in Atlanta provided us with several demo's of the VP series, along with loaning us programming cables and providing us with Armada along with a crash course in how to use Armada (which lasted about 30 minutes, as it is very easy to navigate and figure out how to do what.)

Ef johnson VP900 Reviews

dustinw251

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mmckenna

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dustinw251

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mmckenna

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KyFireFreak

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MTS2000des

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cmjonesinc

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kc1efx

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MTS2000des

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