Yaesu VR5000

[jgd511]

I'm a newbie at scanning and I have 3 questions that are probably stupid about the Yaesu VR5000....
1. Is it able to pick up local police?
2. Is it able to pick up trunked radio systems?
3. Does it have alpha tags?

I've looked everywhere I can on the internet and I can't find a clear answer. Thanks for any help.

 

[jack103]

1 yes
2 no
3yes
check out reviews on e ham net and google !!

 

[jgd511]

Thanks a bunch!

 

[K2KOH]

The only stupid question is the unasked question. As jack103 said, make sure you read the reviews on eham.net. There were a lot of reviews that trashed the VR5000. Maybe you know someone who has one, or you're friendly with a radio dealer who can let you check it out in the store before buying it.

If you get one that works as it should, it's a good deal for the money.

 

[EricCottrell]

Hello,

I bought a VR-5000 and was disappointed.

The dual receive is neat and I was able to modify the trunker program to use the main receiver to pick up the control channel and use the sub receiver for the voice frequencies. However in the Eastern Mass area a local TV station puts a carrier right on a main voice frequency for the Mass State Police trunked system.
I realize the wide-band receivers have image problems but it just seemed like it was worse on the VR5000 compared to my other wide-band receivers. Air band has a bunch and a NOAA weather station 10 miles away would pop up on other frequencies.

The audio scope and the ability to watch for active frequencies using a 2 dimensional matrix of squares are unique features and can be useful.

Some of the problems with the receiver have been fixed. I have an early version where the receiver will crash and everything will freeze. The radio will not tune or even turn off. So you need to unplug it for 10 minutes or more and wait until the capacitor discharges. You also loose all settings. It seemed to lose the clock and memory if you looked at it the wrong way.

I found the menuing system to be about the worse I have used. I also own the Yaesu FT-817 and Yaesu FT-100D ham rigs. The menus on the ham rigs are much better. It seems like they hired an outside consultant fresh out of high school to design the VR-5000 menus. I have not really used the memories as they are a pain to program and I would just loose them when the radio crashed.

Yaesu tends not to put alot of functionality in the serial communications. The "C.A.T." control really only tunes the radio and reads signal strength. So no chance to overcome the menuing system by using a computer program. Maybe someone now has a clone program that will do it.

If you want a receiver that does not do trunking I would look at the AOR 8600. A little more expensive but it works good. The menuing and keys can be confusing but you have a choice of several external programs for programming and control. I bought one to replace the VR-5000 and I am happier with the AOR. I do not miss the dual receive as I have a multicoupler and use a Uniden scanner. The AOR already has a discriminator output and can be easily controlled by the PC.

73 Eric

 

[Dubbin]

1 yes
2 no
3yes
check out reviews on e ham net and google !!

Jack, it WILL pick up a trunked system, it just wont follow it.

 

[jgd511]

Where's a good place to find an AOR 8600 for sale. Most of the sites I see are from the UK.