Yaesu Victor Xray 8 Romeo/ Foxtrot Tango 857

[srd84]

I was going to buy a VX8R but I've read alot of stuff about "better to buy a reciever that does one thing well than alot of stuff poorly." Does reception on this HT suck that bad? Shortwave bad? Unable to work repeaters?

What about the FT-857? In lieu of the vx8r I was thinking of saving for a month and buying this instead. But does the same apply here? Reception/Transmission bad? Shortwave bad?

I'm graduating from scanning to Tech license. I'm gonna sit for my tech license on 4 APR. I don't want to just buy a 2m rig. And I would like to get as much bang for my buck as possible, but not wait until I have one large or more to buy something (I'll do that later.)

I know...just buy a SW receiver....but I like the idea of being able to buy a multi-band rig that I can put in my truck, then bring into the house and monitor and/or talk on as many bands as possible...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Steve

 

[W6KRU]

I have an ft857 and it works very well IMO. I use the 2m a lot and it is excellent compared to my ft90. I have also used ft2800s and ft1800s and it is better than those as well on 2m.

On the HF side it is good but not great compared to some of the more expensive full size radios. I just screw the appropriate ham stick on the back of my Bronco and talk to guys all over the US on 20m and 40m. I also had several contacts with Brazil and Argentina during a 2 week period last summer. I use an ldg at100 pro tuner to broaden the ham sticks a little.

 

[DaveNF2G]

Shortwave on any handheld radio is going to be troublesome.

I have the FT-857D and I agree with DDan about its quality. It is a very good all-purpose transceiver.