yaesu ft-60r or yaesu vx-6r

[kc9neq]

new to the ham scene.
which is the better radio, the yaesu ft-60 or yaesu vx-6r.

thanks

 

[Bill_White]

Vx-6r

They are pretty much the same…
The VX-6 is a bit smaller and adds:
TX/RX on 220 MHz, 1.25 Meters
Wider receive 504 kHz-998.9 MHz (less cellular & cell images)
Internet key for access to WIRES
Optional barometric module
CW trainer
Direct memory recall
Enhanced paging and code squelch
And I’m sure I forgot a few…
I think the added features of the VX-6 are worth the extra money.
$244.00 & free shipping from Gigaparts.com
http://www.gigaparts.com/store.php?action=profile&sku=ZYS-VX-6R
I am very happy with mine.

 

[N1SQB]

Welcome to the hobby!
If you are starting out, the FT-60 is the best. The VX-6 may be a bit more than what you need! The FT-60 is a work horse and is built solid and tough. Nothing against the VX-6,mind you, I just think the Ft-60 is simpler to operate. The best thing,which I recently discovered, is the availability of a 7.2 Volt 2500 Ma battery. Thats more than some commercial batteries. The radio will do 144/440 MHZ. amateur bands at 5 watts, as well as allowing you to monitor aircraft and the public safety bands on the 150/450/800 MHZ bands. CTCSS/DCS encode/decode standard. The price for the radio is a very respectable $189 new shipped from dealers like HRO or less than that for a good used one . The radio comes with the usual battery,charger, manual( very well written), antenna, and 10 hour wall charger.That is enough to get one started. Thats just my opinion on the subject. Good luck with whatever you get.

Manny

 

[N8IAA]

FT-60. Hands down for the money. Free software (commander). http://www.kc8unj.com

Larry

 

[cpuerror]

I just ordered one myself a few days ago, can't wait to get my hands on it.

 

[freqhunter]

Welcome to ham radio! Have several FT-60's and love them. Had a 6R but sold it in favor of a 7R. For every day carry the FT-60R is the way to go. As mentioned no where near as complicated as the 6R. You can often pick them up used for $100-150.

 

[kh6idf]

I can also recommend the FT-60

I have the FT-60 too, and really like it.

There is a Yahoo group for the FT-60, lots of information there.

 

[fireant]

The VX-6 is better to me plus don't have to deal with the numbers rubbing off the keys like you do on the FT-60R.

fireant

 

[cpuerror]

I've been playing around with the FT-60 for a couple days now so I can offer some initial impressions.

The overall build quality seems very good. The plastic is tough and rugged, its not the paper thin plastic most consumer electronics are made from. The keypad is also lighted with a reddish/orange backlight which is a nice bonus. Screen is easy to read even from far angles. Overall I really like the extenal design.

This radio is packed with features. Its not the easiest thing to program but you get 1000 channels and they linked to 10 bands. Wideband receive is nice, I had a birdy come up on 278.5 which is a frequency I want to monitor, but Yaesu includes a neat feature to shift the CPU frequency and doing that cleared up the birdie. Rx performance is very good overall, it will pick up a weak signal with the best of them.

The only thing I noticed is that Yaesu cheaped out big time on battery charging. The included charger dumps broadband noise into the radio, its too weak to allow the radio to key with it connected and there is no intelligent charging of the battery. Not even a built-in timer. If you leave the charger on for too long it will cook the battery. Thankfully though batteries for this radio are cheap and plentiful.

Thats what my impression is so far. Overall I do like it alot. I'm looking forward to taking it outdoors, its compact and rugged, so it should be fun.

 

[icom1020]

I've been playing around with the FT-60 for a couple days now so I can offer some initial impressions.

The overall build quality seems very good. The plastic is tough and rugged, its not the paper thin plastic most consumer electronics are made from. The keypad is also lighted with a reddish/orange backlight which is a nice bonus. Screen is easy to read even from far angles. Overall I really like the extenal design.

This radio is packed with features. Its not the easiest thing to program but you get 1000 channels and they linked to 10 bands. Wideband receive is nice, I had a birdy come up on 278.5 which is a frequency I want to monitor, but Yaesu includes a neat feature to shift the CPU frequency and doing that cleared up the birdie. Rx performance is very good overall, it will pick up a weak signal with the best of them.

The only thing I noticed is that Yaesu cheaped out big time on battery charging. The included charger dumps broadband noise into the radio, its too weak to allow the radio to key with it connected and there is no intelligent charging of the battery. Not even a built-in timer. If you leave the charger on for too long it will cook the battery. Thankfully though batteries for this radio are cheap and plentiful.

Thats what my impression is so far. Overall I do like it alot. I'm looking forward to taking it outdoors, its compact and rugged, so it should be fun.

All of the wall warts are cheap-- ok for traveling but long term not a good idea.

I wouldn't receive with the charger plugged in, I had to send back a VX300 commercial radio a long time ago when this happened. Most wall warts don't have the oomph to use in TX let alone the AC hum is bad. Get a good after market drop in smart charger, one that allows for charging at 900mA or less--maybe 2-3 hours for a 1400mA battery or larger. Your batteries will last for years.
I got one from Battery Zone that has individual charging cups. It works on my VX 150/FT60 batteries and I just ordered a cup for my MTS2000