Kenwood/Viking radio's

[Baker845]

Local fire dept i'm with is looking to replace there current portables which are little over 10 years old. I don't know a lot about Kenwood/Viking new radio's and wanted to ask for some feed back here.

If anyone uses VP-5000-5200, VP-6000 or Kenwood Nx-5200, It would be great to see how they holding up, pro's or com's and info you free would help.


thank you.

 

[mmckenna]

I've got a few NX-5200's for our officers. They are running analog only, but have been doing just fine for a few years now. Very feature rich radios if you need them to be, very cost effective radios if you don't order them with all the added features.

 

[AF1UD]

I've used both the NX-5200, NX-5300 and now the VP8000. Very solid, and reliable. Also, they are fully customizable and east to use and program.

I second what mmckenna said.

 

[Josh]

I purchased an NX5200 back in 2015 when they first came out, and a second one a year later that I use as-needed at work but is always at the ready in my truck. Flawless performance... still have the original batteries from 2015 but that will probably need to change soon.

-Josh

 

[mmckenna]

still have the original batteries from 2015 but that will probably need to change soon.

-Josh

Kenwood OEM batteries are pretty good. I've got a lot of batteries I purchased in 2011 as part of a large project that are still working just fine and happily hold a charge.

 

[dryfb]

My NX210's battery was used by BNSF, and it holds a charge better than an NX1300 battery from 7 months ago, same rated mAh too so they really do hold up good

 

[DeoVindice]

I have a VP5230 and a VP6330. The construction and ergonomics of the VP6000 are definitely better and more suited to fire use, but the radios are otherwise the same. Like exactly the same, they share the same FCC ID.

I use my VP6330 as a work radio for underground mining and it handles that environment well. Receive audio is nice and loud, and noise cancelling on transmit hasn't left anything to be desired with a KMC-72 RSM. I appreciate the ability to lock out the radio controls while not locking the programmable mic buttons.

The primary con with these is thickness when using a KNB-L3 or larger battery, and the lack of an OEM fire-type RSM to match Harris or Motorola. Otto does offer a compatible fire mic but I haven't tried one.

 

[otobmark]

Small Local Fire Dept. in county below me just bought around 90 VP6000's. Too new to give a competent review but so far they are very happy. They are coming from obsolete XTS5000 with maybe a few APX6000. The real reason they went EFJ was delivery and dealer responsiveness. The Moto guys showed up and tried to sell them the NEXT complete with monthly subscription fees. You can imagine how well that went over. Also delivery was 6 - 8 months or more out. EFJ had them their radios programmed and ready to go in a week. Impressive noise cancelling around trucks.
The only thing I don't like about the vikings is that they are thick...hasn't caused me any issues but I just like lean radios. The way the fire fighters carry it is a non-issue.

 

[Project25_MASTR]

I've been playing with a UHF VP6000 and also own a 7/8 VP6000. In addition to those, I rock a VM900 in my pickup (with a UHF 5300 to round it all out).

A VP5000 is literally a NX5000 portable running Viking firmware. Don't believe me, run the VP5000 FCC ID...it'll return as a NX5000. Con of course is you don't get DMR or NXDN support on the VP5000. Pros are better trunking performance and you are dealing with Armada and not D1N. Armada is built around the maintenance of radio fleets (like Motorola's Radio Management but IMO more feature rich). To the end user...there OTAP, kiosks and even WiFi are all methods which Viking radios can receive codeplug updates and firmware updates.

The VP6000 is literally a NX5000 with a top display in a flared chassis running Viking firmware. Again, check the FCC ID.

As far as how the radios perform...I think the noise cancellation is better and the audio quality is better compared to an APX. Sensitivity wise...having tested thousands of XTS and APX portables over the years, the VP6000's I have basically perform the same for SINAD and BER.

Full disclosure...a glance at my title should make it pretty evident who is currently signing my paychecks. That being said, even if that was not the case I would continue to use the products over APX as long as I had that ability (i.e. not forced onto a single vendor system).