Yaesu VX-6R vs Wouxun KG-Q10H

[KK7RQX]

Wanting to carry a an HT in my edc/get-home bag. The VX-6R has longevity behind it, as well as the Yaesu name, it's tri-band, waterproof, and receives a wide range of bands for information gathering.
The KG-Q10H has more bells and whistles, also waterproof, quad-band (is that really legit considering it's an HT?) 70cm, 1.25m, 2m, and 6m (seems like 6m in particular would be problematic on an HT), dual channel receive/monitoring and the ability to PTT on those dual channels. It's Chinese.

Being new to the amateur radio world, there's info all over (pros/cons) about Chinese radios. Yaesu gets the nod quite often, but their go-to models (VX-6R and FT-60R) are rather dated.

Any thoughts and expertise are greatly appreciated.

 

[AK9R]

I think I'd rather have a "dated" FT-60 than just about any Chinese-branded newer radio. That's just my opinion based on years of experience with an FT-60 and my experience looking at the output of CCRs on a spectrum analyzer.

 

[nd5y]

I had a VX-6R. They are good radios but the battery is too small and expensive. In most cases 6 meters will be useless on a hand held.

 

[kb1fua]

I had a VX-6R. They are good radios but the battery is too small and expensive. In most cases 6 meters will be useless

I still have mine. I've got an alkaline battery pack tho.
It is a great radio, and very reliable.
Mine now has been retired, about 2 years now...until power goes out, and all the other radio batteries are dead, I still have comms.
In CT (Manchester/Hartford area) there were plenty of 6m and 220 repeaters around to talk on. Now...not so much here.

 

[VK3RX]

I had a VX6R for a number of years, and about 6 months ago sold it and bought a KG-Q10H.

I carried a credit card size quick reference guide for the VX6R because I could never remember the keypad combinations to do various things.

The KG-Q10H's color screen is easy to read, bit of a learning curve to use the radio but that's to be expected with a new radio. Once set up with the frequencies I wanted I don't need to fiddle.

I use the respective RT software packages for both the VX6R & KG-Q10H, and within minutes copied my VX6R 2m & 70cm dataset across to the KG-Q10H.

As seen in Youtube videos, the initial release of the KG-Q10H had poor harmonic suppression, but that was rectified shortly after with the second release.

I find the KG-Q10H is a great unit, solid and well made and easy to use.

 

[nd5y]

@VK3RX Does the KG-Q10H scanning work properly on channels with PL or DCS decode?
I had a KG-UV2D, which is just a KG-UVD1P in a different case, and it would stop scanning on any carrier even if you had decode enabled.

 

[VK3RX]

Not something I've tried - sorry - and the few repeaters around here that use PL are very quiet.

 

[sallen07]

Yaesu gets the nod quite often, but their go-to models (VX-6R and FT-60R) are rather dated.

I think we as a culture have been conditioned to think everything should be "upgraded" constantly. Gotta have that new iPhone every year, the twice-a-year 'refresh' of Windows, etc.

2m/70cm analog amateur radio is the same today as it was when the FT-60 was introduced, and that model radio works just as well now as it did when it was released. The fact that Yaesu continues to sell lots of them is a testament to the design. I will conceed that it does use older battery technology (Ni-MH) but additional/replacement batteries are readily available.

 

[ShawnInPaso]

@KK7RQX
I've had a VX6R for many years, having purchased one not long after they were released. It has withstood the test of time and endurance all of these years and I continue to use it everyday. It faithfully works just like new and appears "kind of new" as I give it a good scrubbing every few months as it is waterproof to some extent (can't recall if it's IP66 or 67?).

After all this time my two original batteries still work fine. I have also purchased two other batteries about four years ago from eBay,(not OEM batteries) and they are beginning to fail/not hold a charge. An option (and by default) on the VX6R is it displays the battery voltage when you switch it on. A full charge will show about 8.2 volts and I'll usually swap out the battery when it's down to 7.4 volts or so (it'll still work fine, it's just my routine). My use of the radio is mostly receive for several hours, with maybe a combined TX time of 30 minutes a day. With this usage I change the battery after two or three days.

The thing I like the most about the VX6R is its durability. It's super rugged and has shown it's toughness on a number of falls to the ground over the years (e.g. while hiking). I mostly it a lot on 220 and as you must know it has low power only on that band, but it works fine for me working a repeater about 20 miles from my place.

The comment about needing to have a reference card in the field to make changes is spot on. I can only recall the few frequently used functions to use in the field as the keyboard use to configure the radio seems a bit complex.

I was surprised to see the KGQ10H sells for $220, not much less than the Yaesu. But here's the thing, I recently bought a Radtel RT470X (tri-band TX/RX with more RX bands) as a backup radio. It has a better quality build and function than I expected for $33 from Amazon.

So in summary, after my long winded comment, I'd suggest the Radtel instead of the KGQ10H and save yourself the cash. But if you want a super durable HT that'll last forever and has better specs, buy the VX6R.

Good luck!

​

 

[Brasso]

The VX6R has double and triple superhetrodyne receive and better transmit. How much better is needed is up to you. I'm not into APRS, Ares, group ID'ing, etc and find the VX6R easy to use without a cheat sheet.

 

[tweiss3]

For a 6 meter HT, the VX-6R has about the best antenna you can get without going full quarter wave with a rattail. I bought one and replaced the filters for a total of about $16 + shipping from Yaesu and never looked back. If you want to get over complicated with too many memories, the Yaesu may get cumbersome, but keep it simple and the radio will far exceed the Wouxun. The battery is not terribly large, but I've had ok luck with a cheap off brand, keep 3-4 around and its not an issue. They are small and don't take up much space.

 

[N4KVE]

The VX6R has double and triple superhetrodyne receive and better transmit. How much better is needed is up to you. I'm not into APRS, Ares, group ID'ing, etc and find the VX6R easy to use without a cheat sheet.

Exactly, & I’d bet that CCR uses a ZERO conversion direct receiver intermod sponge. The Yaesu any day wins.

 

[palmerjrusa]

For a 6 meter HT, the VX-6R has about the best antenna you can get without going full quarter wave with a rattail. I bought one and replaced the filters for a total of about $16 + shipping from Yaesu and never looked back. If you want to get over complicated with too many memories, the Yaesu may get cumbersome, but keep it simple and the radio will far exceed the Wouxun. The battery is not terribly large, but I've had ok luck with a cheap off brand, keep 3-4 around and its not an issue. They are small and don't take up much space.

What was wrong with the original filters?

 

[tweiss3]

What was wrong with the original filters?

I looked it up again, the VX7R has 6M, the VX6R does not. Mine was a VX7R. The ceramic filters sometimes leak and go bad after age and the radio is deaf on the main band. The radio is 20ish years old (VX7R released in 2002 and VX6R in 2005), but new filters makes it work like a new radio.

 

[palmerjrusa]

I looked it up again, the VX7R has 6M, the VX6R does not. Mine was a VX7R. The ceramic filters sometimes leak and go bad after age and the radio is deaf on the main band. The radio is 20ish years old (VX7R released in 2002 and VX6R in 2005), but new filters makes it work like a new radio.

Thanks for your response!

Have an old VX6R myself...

 

[k6cpo]

Wanting to carry a an HT in my edc/get-home bag. The VX-6R has longevity behind it, as well as the Yaesu name, it's tri-band, waterproof, and receives a wide range of bands for information gathering.
The KG-Q10H has more bells and whistles, also waterproof, quad-band (is that really legit considering it's an HT?) 70cm, 1.25m, 2m, and 6m (seems like 6m in particular would be problematic on an HT), dual channel receive/monitoring and the ability to PTT on those dual channels. It's Chinese.

Being new to the amateur radio world, there's info all over (pros/cons) about Chinese radios. Yaesu gets the nod quite often, but their go-to models (VX-6R and FT-60R) are rather dated.

Any thoughts and expertise are greatly appreciated.

Define "dated." They still work and work well. One of the reasons they are still around and available in quantity is that they are robust, reliable and easy to use. While the Wouxuns are on the better side for Chinese radios, they still can't stand up to abuse like the VX-6 and FT-60.

 

[prima19rider]

My vx6r is my poorest preforming radio. i have an ft70Dr, a Baofeng uv82hp, a Icom I’d-52 and I’d 51a plus.
the menu on the VW is difficult and hard to remember. The Id 52 is the best HT I have ever used and the receiver is the best.

 

[KD7RJC]

I think we as a culture have been conditioned to think everything should be "upgraded" constantly. Gotta have that new iPhone every year, the twice-a-year 'refresh' of Windows, etc.

2m/70cm analog amateur radio is the same today as it was when the FT-60 was introduced, and that model radio works just as well now as it did when it was released. The fact that Yaesu continues to sell lots of them is a testament to the design. I will conceed that it does use older battery technology (Ni-MH) but additional/replacement batteries are readily available.

Yeah, having dusted-off my old Alinco DJ-195, it works just fine on 2m even being 20+ years old. Kinda wish I could've bought the DJ-196 at that time for the backlit keypad, or even better held out for the DJ-596 for dual-band and NFM, but those are the breaks. All of these support using normal, cheap Alkaline AA batteries so for a radio of last resort there are some battery advantages there for ready replacement.

My vx6r is my poorest preforming radio. i have an ft70Dr, a Baofeng uv82hp, a Icom I’d-52 and I’d 51a plus.
the menu on the VW is difficult and hard to remember. The Id 52 is the best HT I have ever used and the receiver is the best.

The ability to configure the radio without resorting to using software would be pretty high on my own list too, at least for an HT kept as an emergency radio. Even better is if it can be configured without requiring the operator to keep the instruction manual around.


How busy is 1.25m? A buddy of mine was an operator either at the time or just after the time when the FCC took away half of the spectrum for private use that never actually came to fruition, and it sounded like a lot of hams just stopped bothering with the 2MHz wide piece of it that remains for phone use. As much as I've liked the idea of having a tri-bander I have to wonder how beneficial having 222MHz is and if it's just better to consider straight dual-banders, or tri-banders that hit something other than 1.25m.

 

[alcahuete]

How busy is 1.25m? A buddy of mine was an operator either at the time or just after the time when the FCC took away half of the spectrum for private use that never actually came to fruition, and it sounded like a lot of hams just stopped bothering with the 2MHz wide piece of it that remains for phone use. As much as I've liked the idea of having a tri-bander I have to wonder how beneficial having 222MHz is and if it's just better to consider straight dual-banders, or tri-banders that hit something other than 1.25m.

A lot of threads on the forum about it. In most, if not all, places it is dead.

 

[sallen07]

A lot of threads on the forum about it. In most, if not all, places it is dead.

Not all.

On Fridays there is a weekly 220 net on linked repeaters throughout the US. I believe there is one on Wednesday nights too.

OK OK I know that's not a lot of use, but 220 is NOT dead everywhere.

@KD7RJC I would ask around in your area.