Interested in getting a VX-7R

[wise871]

I've been doing a lot of reading and I'm leaning towards a VX-7R as my second radio. From what I have read it's a great radio. My son has the FT-60 so the 7R would be mine. I did look at the VX-8r and I just don't think I need all the bells and whistles it has to offer. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[mparker]

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Go for, its a great little radio. not sure what your 1st radio is, but the 7r will do cross band repeat... that might be a plus when working in the yard... assuming you have a radio in you house that also supports crossband repeat

 

[KC8RFE]

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Go for, its a great little radio. not sure what your 1st radio is, but the 7r will do cross band repeat... that might be a plus when working in the yard... assuming you have a radio in you house that also supports crossband repeat

the VX-7r will NOT do crossband repeat. The radio only has dual receive and will not receive on the second band while transmitting.


I don't think any manufacturers currently produce an HT that is capable of crossband repeat. There are several older models that will however.


Either way the VX-7R is a great radio i have really enjoyed mine.

 

[kc2rgw]

I have really liked mine.

radioshop888.com has an extended battery...ugly but quite effective for it too, 2200mAh iirc. Adds a lot of time on it.

VX Commander freeware software works great on it too and it makes a decent analog scanner so using the software to load it up and sort the memory banks is very useful.

I chose the 7R over the 6 because of the dual VFO, dual receive capability. I use it frequently while leaving the main on a repeater and the sub scanning public service. You can even set audio priority so that if Main opens squelch it is either mixed with or mutes the sub.

Lot of great features.

 

[wise871]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. A friend brought in a VX-7R for me to try out. I'm still on the fence between the VX7 or VX8. Currently HRO has them both and it's only $50 difference.

 

[mrweather]

For $50 I'd say go for the 8R. It's basically the same as the 7R but with a few more "neat" features like GPS and APRS. Plus, it's a newer radio (the 7R model has been around for quite a while now).

I've had my 7R for several months now and I really like it. At the time I bought it the 8R was over $100 more so I didn't take the plunge. But $50 is a little more palatable and had it only been that much of a difference at the time I probably would have bought the 8R instead.

 

[gewecke]

Has anyone tried the extended transmit modification yet? I'm curious to know if it would allow the 220mhz. band afterwards? I'm thinking about buying one,since it uses the same battery and drop in charger as the vx5r.
n9zas

 

[KC8RFE]

Has anyone tried the extended transmit modification yet? I'm curious to know if it would allow the 220mhz. band afterwards? I'm thinking about buying one,since it uses the same battery and drop in charger as the vx5r.
n9zas

the radio will transmit 300mW on 220 right out of the box.

 

[eorange]

Not sure if this will help, but FWIW - I upgraded from an FT-60 to the VX-8R earlier in 2009. I really like the radio; the biggest standouts are the way it fits in my hand, it's slim, and IMO the user-friendliness. The alpha tags are 16 chars and the menu items are full words!

This, of course, may be exactly the same as the VX-7R; I don't know.

I will say the APRS feature is pretty cool. I don't have the GPS unit, but it's neat to be able to beacon from the HT. I just programmed in my lat/lon manually for my QTH. Not to mention collecting beacons from all over the place and watching them roll in.

 

[wise871]

Thanks all. I ordered the VX-8R. The big seller is the $50 difference from the VX-7r compared to when it first came out. The 16 char alpha tags, user interface, and other reviews. I should have it by Friday. I did break down and order the software & cable. This will make life simpler. I may not get into the blue tooth, APRS, or other advanced features right away but it’s nice to have when I do.

 

[eorange]

Congrats!

I initially programmed the thing, with full alpha tags for all my stuff, by hand. That was a while ago. Just 2 weeks ago I finally bought the software and cable, which is definitely nice.

After I sucked in the contents of the radio to the software, it was funny seeing all the errant channels I had stored by mistake, lol.

Another nice thing is all the marine channels are pre-programmed in a separate memory space, which is cool (esp. you being in Florida). I caught all the usual action on Lake Erie this summer, and at times some transmissions from Canada.

 

[chrisil2312]

I have the VX7r too

It is a great radio. I got my ham tech in May. I have only programmed my local stuff in it. It does a lot more than that.

Christopher
KC9PWU

 

[blinddog50]

wise871,
You made the right decision.
Just the easier menu makes it worth the extra $50.
Had two 7's, sold them and replaced them with two 8's.
Damn fine radio.

edit: Don't worry about the Bluetooth add-on. Not worth the cost.