What's the best wide band all mode hand-held receiver?

[hjvan]

I see where a few of the the top models appear to be AOR 8000/8200, Yupi 7100/9000, Yaesu VR-500, Alinco DJ-X2000. I'm sure there's others that I've missed. I'd just appreciate any feedback from people with experience with these "receivers" as to which make/model is the best in it's class.


Thanks,

Heath

 

[MacombMonitor]

Consider the ICOM IC-R20.

 

[MarkWestin]

Hello,

I own the AOR AR8200 Mk 3, The Yeasu VR-500 and The Icom R-5.

I agree that you should look at the Icom IC-R20. The IC-R20 appears to be a direct challenge to the AOR AR-8200 Mk 3. You should compare both of these as they are superior to the others in my opinion. My decision was much easier since the IC-R20 wasn't being made yet.

Mark

 

[K2KOH]

I, too, agree with the others...take a good look at the R20. I own the R10, R5, R20...the 20 is definitely a big contender.

 

[ka3jjz]

One problem with the R20 - as described in a recent MT article - for milair folks is a pronounced loss of sensitivity in a portion of that band.

You didn't mention what you would be using a wideband handheld for, but if it's HF - forget about it. Do yourself a favor, and save up for a portable rx such as those from Grundig, Kaito or Sony.

Wideband handhelds generally don't play well on HF, since they lack the strong signal handling and selectivity that some of the better portables posess. This is due to faults in their design, and something that would annoy the heck out of anyone trying to use it with a good antenna in a crowded band.....73s Mike

 

[hjvan]

I will be using it for vhf, uhf, mil air, cb, ham, as well as some sw/hf. Probably wont' be using it much for anything in the 800 range as i already have a dedicated trunking scanner.

I will def. take a look at the r20. Nobody's commented yet on the the Yupiteru models, and would be interested in hearing anyon'es experiences with this brand. I know that Rich
Wells over on the strong signals site has written reviews on the Yupi scanners that were very positive.

 

[b52hbuff]

I will def. take a look at the r20. Nobody's commented yet on the the Yupiteru models, and would be interested in hearing anyon'es experiences with this brand. I know that Rich
Wells over on the strong signals site has written reviews on the Yupi scanners that were very positive.

I've heard they make great radios, but no computer control. And I think no alpha tagging.

I'd rather sacrifice some performance for a bit of convenience. I can't imagine a 1k channel radio without a computer port and tags...

 

[K2KOH]

JJZ, I have to differ with you on the HF...the R10 wasn't the greatest, but I hooked up my R20 to my Cushcraft R6000, played with the RF Gain and attenuator, and actually got it to play nicely on the NAT families on HF. But YMMV...

 

[Otto]

I have never owned one, but I almost,and maybe still might get the Alinco DJ-X10. I had checked out the Icom stuff, and they seemed a little flimsy to me, as do all Icom products. I did not think that it could put up with much abuse. The alinco comes with a desktop charger and you can also use AA batteries in a seperate pack..Dual VFO's is another cool feature. I think that the DJ-X2000 has a digital recording feature, which could come in handy to replay transmissions that you did not hear completely and such..

Does anyone have anything to say about the alincos?

 

[John_M]

The Alinco DJ-2000 has a very low scan speed, like 3 channels per second. The DJ-x10 scans a litle faster.

 

[trap5858]

I owned an Alinco DJ-10X for a while, it had some very positive features and with the use of software was very easy to program. My main gripes about it were lack of sensitivity on HF, very poor owners manual and it was a battery hog. The use of the alkaline battery pack is the way to go with this radio.

Currently I have a Yupiteru MVT 7100- not a bad radio, seems to be fairly sensitive on HF but as others report- no alpha tagging or computer input. Not the end of the world but those features are sure nice to have.

I am currently researching the Yaesu VR-500- it has gotten very good reviews from what I read.

Herb