Smallest Scanner OR dual band radio for casual VHF and UHF comms.

[SurgePGH]

I have a Uniden BC125AT but am looking for stealth monitoring. Maybe stealth is a bad descriptor...
My wishlist is as follows.
Smallest or small form factor.
VHF & UHF Lets say 150-160 and 450-512ish RX only is great but if it does have TX thats not a deal breaker.
I am PRETTY sure that I don't give a hoot about DMR, NXDN, ProVoice or anything other than analog.
Small scanner is ideal BUT if there is a Dual Band Radio that is smaller then so be it.
Again, RX is the mission here but size matters! (along with decent RX sensitivity and a good scanning speed)

Thanks for the advice,
Dave

*EDIT* I have re-discovered my Icom IC-R5! I would like a better alpha display. What other receivers are in the size arena with this?

 

[w2lie]

Take a look at the Icom IC-R6 if you just need analog. It’s a different animal than the typical Uniden scanner.

If you want TX, look at a Yaesu VX-3r. Tiny little radio that has a wide rx. Been discontinued for years and still gets a pretty penny on the used market.

 

[CommRX]

While I never owned an Icom R6, I did have its competitor years ago, a Yaesu VR-120. The gaps sucked, especially in milair band, but it was a great dual vfo radio. 2 aa batteries, and a (limited) alphanumeric display. Sensitivity was great, but I don't recall the scan speed right off.

 

[SurgePGH]

I have discovered the Standard / Yaesu VR-160 and WOW! I like it! Does anyone here have one that they'd be willing to part with at a fair price??

 

[a727469]

I have discovered the Standard / Yaesu VR-160 and WOW! I like it! Does anyone here have one that they'd be willing to part with at a fair price??

While not wide receive for your basic requirements I would recommend the Yaesu FT-4X Dual Band…I have one for a few months and excellent receive and easy to program with CHIRP free software…they are around $90…I would sell mine because I really do have too many radios! But you might do just as well new…

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

What's your budget & how important is a numeric keypad to you? Personally I find some of the small form factor receivers without number pads a bit cumbersome to operate, one of the main reasons why I sold my Icom ID-51A. I find it much easier to just punch in a frequency directly from the keypad instead of turning knobs and dials and repeatedly hitting up or down arrow keys but maybe that's just me. If you're looking for a SFF with full numeric keypad & no TX capability, consider something along the lines of the Alinco DJ-X11, never owned one but have seen good reviews. Typically go for about $300-500 second hand. There's a pretty detailed review with demo video on this thread

 

[SigIntel8600]

Alinco

Credit card sized transceiver UHF/VHF.

 

[pb_lonny]

Icom R6 or the Yaesu VX3 would be good choices.

 

[SurgePGH]

While not wide receive for your basic requirements I would recommend the Yaesu FT-4X Dual Band…I have one for a few months and excellent receive and easy to program with CHIRP free software…they are around $90…I would sell mine because I really do have too many radios! But you might do just as well new…

Will the FT-4XR do receive up to 500Mhz? I see the specs say 480 but didn't know if it would go another 20 Meg.

Alinco

Credit card sized transceiver UHF/VHF.

I wish I could find one for sale.

 

[SurgePGH]

Icom R6 or the Yaesu VX3 would be good choices.

I can't find a Yaesu VX-3 for sale in the US.

 

[a727469]

On the ft4x I was unable to enter 490 so as it stands it won’t cover to 500 but there might be a software hack to cover

Yaesu FT-4XR VHF/UHF Dual Band 5W HT Transceiver

Free shipping over $100, great deals on cool stuff, ham radio, icom, kenwood , yaesu, wouxun, MTC, scanner, two way, commercial

www.mtcradio.com

also though a bit bigger the
ft-60r. Another excellent radio covers a very wide range per the below brochure I have one and can confirm

https://www.yaesu.com/downloadFile.cfm?FileID=1124&FileCatID=38&FileName=FT%2D60R%5FNew%20Product%20News.pdf&FileContentType=application%2Fpdf

Yaesu FT-60R 144/430MHz FM Dual Band Handheld Transceiver

Free shipping over $100, great deals on cool stuff, ham radio, icom, kenwood , yaesu, wouxun, MTC, scanner, two way, commercial

www.mtcradio.com

​

 

[krokus]

The Kenwood TH-F6 (or F7, for the European market.)

They are dual band, with receive for more freqs than you're looking for.

 

[bearcatrp]

If you can find a Icom R30, you won’t be disappointed. Best handheld receiver on the market. It’s discontinued.

IC-R30 Receiver Handheld - Features - Icom America

www.icomamerica.com

 

[palmerjrusa]

The Yaesu VX-R1 is a little marvel, long discontinued but still have my unit.

Ditto for the Icom IC-R2 and Icom IC-Q7A

 

[rja1]

Alinco

Credit card sized transceiver UHF/VHF.

If you're looking for small, analog, receive only.........Alinco DJ-X7T. 100-1299.995 mHz AM, FM, FMn. I've gone through a lot of radios & HT's, but I still have my 'X7T.

K1ERP

 

[SurgePGH]

If you're looking for small, analog, receive only.........Alinco DJ-X7T. 100-1299.995 mHz AM, FM, FMn. I've gone through a lot of radios & HT's, but I still have my 'X7T.

K1ERP

This looks to fit the bill! Now to FIND one! NONE on eBay.

 

[jaspence]

If you have or will have any P25 Phase 1 or 2 in your area or in future systems, only a dedicated SDS100 will meet your needs. DMR is also being used by many businesses. The University of Michigan uses it for the athletic department, and a `major hospital near me also uses it for all coms. General users include towing, some EMS and law enforcement departments, and in store communications.

 

[SurgePGH]

If you have or will have any P25 Phase 1 or 2 in your area or in future systems, only a dedicated SDS100 will meet your needs. DMR is also being used by many businesses. The University of Michigan uses it for the athletic department, and a `major hospital near me also uses it for all coms. General users include towing, some EMS and law enforcement departments, and in store communications.

I have an SDS100, SDS200, (2) BC125AT, (3 or 4) BCT15X a massive amount of random Uniden and Radio Shack legacy scanners and more 2-Way radios than I care to count.

The equipment that I am in search of is Analog only, VHF (150-159ish) UHF (450-503ish) non trunked transmissions. I can currently monitor this a zillion different ways BUT I am looking for the smallest form factor to do this. There are several great recommendations above BUT I can NOT find any of them currently available anywhere.

 

[jaspence]

I understand your wants, but they are not the way that communications are headed. As more demands and population growth come, so will new methods which are already pushing analog out of the picture. Twenty-five years ago I could monitor the sheriff and two largest city police departments in my county with a 4 channel crystal scanner. Except for older monitoring listeners, few have even seen a crystal scanner. I still have mine with a bunch of crystal that are useless.

 

[bearcatrp]

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