djeplett
Member
IMO it's a con.Dubbin said:
YAESU VX 7R 50/144/440 Handheld Tri-Band Radio - Any Good?
- Thread starter hotdjdave
- Start date
- Status
Thanks, but...
ExSmokey,
Thank you for the info, buy I am confused with your information. With some points, I know to which radio you are referring; but other times, I am not sure.
For example, in these two sentences, I have no idea in the second sentence to which radio you are referring (did you mean Kenwood? - see the bold section):
And in this sentence, again I am not sure to which radio your are referring (the bold section):
Again, thanks for the info...forgive me for pointing this out, but I want to be sure I get the facts right.
ExSmokey,
Thank you for the info, buy I am confused with your information. With some points, I know to which radio you are referring; but other times, I am not sure.
For example, in these two sentences, I have no idea in the second sentence to which radio you are referring (did you mean Kenwood? - see the bold section):
ExSmokey said:
And in this sentence, again I am not sure to which radio your are referring (the bold section):
ExSmokey said:
Again, thanks for the info...forgive me for pointing this out, but I want to be sure I get the facts right.
K9GTJ
Member
Hi Dave and all,
Before you waste money on something of very limited use I suggest you listen for repeater activity in your area particularly on 6 and 1.25M. Living in California may be to your advantage however, it's known as "repeater alley" but still your area like many may be devoid of 6M and/or 1.25M FM activity. (6M CW and SSB is where it's at.)
If that's the case obviously you'd be better off with a 2M/70cM dual bander but still an HT has severe limitations. Even a Tech with a vanity callsign should know that, hi. Nice Fu though so play it again Sam, you'll learn more about portables as time goes by. (;->)
Before you waste money on something of very limited use I suggest you listen for repeater activity in your area particularly on 6 and 1.25M. Living in California may be to your advantage however, it's known as "repeater alley" but still your area like many may be devoid of 6M and/or 1.25M FM activity. (6M CW and SSB is where it's at.)
If that's the case obviously you'd be better off with a 2M/70cM dual bander but still an HT has severe limitations. Even a Tech with a vanity callsign should know that, hi. Nice Fu though so play it again Sam, you'll learn more about portables as time goes by. (;->)
Sorry Dave, I should not try to write replies like this when I'm on the road and staying with friends as I was in a hurry trying to sneak in a little RR time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ExSmokey
I often wonder if the Kenwood mobiles would be easier to use than my Yeasu mobiles, but there are things about Yeasu's mobiles that I like better than any other brand. I like the 50 channel banks and the ability to link them together in any combination for scanning, something the Yeasu is not capable of.
I'm referring to the Kenwood TH-F6A's 50 channel banks and the ability to choose any combination of those banks to link together for scanning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ExSmokey
The Yeasu beats the Kenwood when it comes to accessories as Kenwood does not make a desktop charger, the carrying case is worse than worthless, and support for spare parts is not at all as good as Yeasu.
The Yeasu has the superior accessories. The carrying case for the Kenwood is worse than worthless. It is so hard to remove the radio from the case that I damaged and had to replace the jack covers and the light and monitor switch covers. The case is a stretch one that is very tight and it ripped the rubber covers right off the tips of the switches and tore apart the rubber piece that covers the two jacks for the mike and the power jack. The parts for the Yeasu come right from Vertex-Standard and I use a phone number that is provided on their website. There is no phone number listed on Kenwood's site and parts are obtained through Pacific Coast Distributors, where the number of replacement parts is very limited for a radio still in production.
The only company that makes an "after market" desk top charger for the Kenwood is not high on my list of the best customer service organizations I've dealt with, however, once I had the charger in my home, I've really liked how it performs. Kenwood only made provision for charging the radio while the battery is installed on the radio and I find this to be a major inconvenience. Once I found the desktop charger for it from the E.H. Yost battery company (at the time this took several hours of searching the Internet to find) and finally had it shipped to me after considerable delay (caused by the company) I have eliminated this disadvantage.
I noticed that I said I was not a brand loyalist even after admitting I had a measure of bias toward Yeasu radios, which could be read a two contradictory statements. For mobiles I like the non-cluttered displays on the Yeasus and the software that can be ordered for them. The Kenwood handheld's software is more cumbersome to use than the vendor supplied software that is sold along with the Yeasus. Harder to cut and paste, harder to move frequencies around the lists, and the printout of the program is in a harder to read format than the software for the Yeasu.
Even with all those disadvantages I still like the Kenwood better for handheld use. If you want to work the 220 band it is difficult to find a radio to do so. Right now the only other radio with it, I believe, is an Alinco single band mobile, so Kenwood's combination of 220 (or 1.25 meters) with 2m and 70cm is very useful. The 220 band is different than the other bands above HF as the lack of equipment makes it a band that people seek out. Those that do seem to be better operators than a lot of those on 2 meters. Plus it has some of the terrain bending capabilities of two meters with some of the reflective tendencies of UHF so it will often get through in terrain where the other two will not. The terrain of the western U.S. is what I'm referring to where the mountains are more rugged and numerous than those in the east.
Again, sorry for the confusion, and I hope this answers your questions.
I think 6 meters is a great band and one that is great for techs to work DX, especially as we begin the upswing from the sunspot minimum. I don't see 6 meters in a handheld to be all that useful, even with that said.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ExSmokey
I often wonder if the Kenwood mobiles would be easier to use than my Yeasu mobiles, but there are things about Yeasu's mobiles that I like better than any other brand. I like the 50 channel banks and the ability to link them together in any combination for scanning, something the Yeasu is not capable of.
I'm referring to the Kenwood TH-F6A's 50 channel banks and the ability to choose any combination of those banks to link together for scanning.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ExSmokey
The Yeasu beats the Kenwood when it comes to accessories as Kenwood does not make a desktop charger, the carrying case is worse than worthless, and support for spare parts is not at all as good as Yeasu.
The Yeasu has the superior accessories. The carrying case for the Kenwood is worse than worthless. It is so hard to remove the radio from the case that I damaged and had to replace the jack covers and the light and monitor switch covers. The case is a stretch one that is very tight and it ripped the rubber covers right off the tips of the switches and tore apart the rubber piece that covers the two jacks for the mike and the power jack. The parts for the Yeasu come right from Vertex-Standard and I use a phone number that is provided on their website. There is no phone number listed on Kenwood's site and parts are obtained through Pacific Coast Distributors, where the number of replacement parts is very limited for a radio still in production.
The only company that makes an "after market" desk top charger for the Kenwood is not high on my list of the best customer service organizations I've dealt with, however, once I had the charger in my home, I've really liked how it performs. Kenwood only made provision for charging the radio while the battery is installed on the radio and I find this to be a major inconvenience. Once I found the desktop charger for it from the E.H. Yost battery company (at the time this took several hours of searching the Internet to find) and finally had it shipped to me after considerable delay (caused by the company) I have eliminated this disadvantage.
I noticed that I said I was not a brand loyalist even after admitting I had a measure of bias toward Yeasu radios, which could be read a two contradictory statements. For mobiles I like the non-cluttered displays on the Yeasus and the software that can be ordered for them. The Kenwood handheld's software is more cumbersome to use than the vendor supplied software that is sold along with the Yeasus. Harder to cut and paste, harder to move frequencies around the lists, and the printout of the program is in a harder to read format than the software for the Yeasu.
Even with all those disadvantages I still like the Kenwood better for handheld use. If you want to work the 220 band it is difficult to find a radio to do so. Right now the only other radio with it, I believe, is an Alinco single band mobile, so Kenwood's combination of 220 (or 1.25 meters) with 2m and 70cm is very useful. The 220 band is different than the other bands above HF as the lack of equipment makes it a band that people seek out. Those that do seem to be better operators than a lot of those on 2 meters. Plus it has some of the terrain bending capabilities of two meters with some of the reflective tendencies of UHF so it will often get through in terrain where the other two will not. The terrain of the western U.S. is what I'm referring to where the mountains are more rugged and numerous than those in the east.
Again, sorry for the confusion, and I hope this answers your questions.
I think 6 meters is a great band and one that is great for techs to work DX, especially as we begin the upswing from the sunspot minimum. I don't see 6 meters in a handheld to be all that useful, even with that said.
K9GTJ
Member
One word review: sweet!
Short review: I have had the radio in operation for for almost a day. The rapid drop-in charger is nice. The radio fells very solid. The buttons while small are ok for my larger hands. The screen is very readable and I really appreciate the seeing both the frequency and name when in single band mode. (The radio also is dual receive which is great for talking on one frequency and monitoring another frequency.)
I am able to work all the club owned 2 M & 440 MHz repeaters in Kokomo (pop. 46k) with 1 watt from home on the stock antenna. I need a slight boost at work since I am encased in steel. The big plus is my Icom V8 was unuseable due to interference while at my (work) desk. The Yaesu works just fine.
The programing software and cable is back ordered but programming was a breeze.
Overall I give this radio very high marks.
(PS - get the black version.)
Short review: I have had the radio in operation for for almost a day. The rapid drop-in charger is nice. The radio fells very solid. The buttons while small are ok for my larger hands. The screen is very readable and I really appreciate the seeing both the frequency and name when in single band mode. (The radio also is dual receive which is great for talking on one frequency and monitoring another frequency.)
I am able to work all the club owned 2 M & 440 MHz repeaters in Kokomo (pop. 46k) with 1 watt from home on the stock antenna. I need a slight boost at work since I am encased in steel. The big plus is my Icom V8 was unuseable due to interference while at my (work) desk. The Yaesu works just fine.
The programing software and cable is back ordered but programming was a breeze.
Overall I give this radio very high marks.
(PS - get the black version.)
Last edited:
Caesar
Member
Hey, it might of already been mentioned, but my thoughts are yes, go with the vx-7 since used it is in your price range, however i've heard and seen that the silver models sometimes will flake so i would look for the black model... also if you are looking to stay a little cheaper go for the vx-5 or vx-6 both are great just don't have dual vfo and no 220 transmit, but the vx-5 still a tribander and vx-6 dual bander... the vx-2 i've heard you are not going to get much transmit time, it has a much smaller battery that drains quickly even with the low wattage output, i believe yaesu makes the best radios and they are the only ones i buy unless i find another for a great price, the only other radio i would suggest checking out (if it is available yet) is the new Icom IC-91A/D (a for analog unit, which you can upgrade to d-star, or the D unit with is already digital capble, but you won't find these new so you will be looking to spend more, but it looks to have a lot to offer...
usnasa
Member
can you tell me what programming cable to use with that and also does this radio do shortwave book is not clear and i just bought this radio ( older one the newer ones i heard wont work with vx commander i bought it from this guy ? http://ttl2usb.com/ do i need anything else
thanks
thanks
- Status
Similar threads
