Good choice on the GPS and speaker mic, but it's also a must for the high capacity battery and if you can afford it the drop in charger. You'll regret not having the high capacity battery when using the speaker mic and gps, plus the drop in charger will keep you up and running when you need to change batteries. Having to tie up the radio to charge the battery is a real drag.
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Yaesu VX-8r Review
- Thread starter Moleculo
- Start date
I looked into the D-star thing and was really interested in the digital voice however no repeaters exist in this area for D-star with the nearest one being 128 miles a way and a UHF machine to boot. No way was I going to be able to hit that even on a good day with my base antennas.
The VX-8R on the other hand is going to be very useful as I already am into the APRS end of it and we definitely have plenty of I-gates, digipeaters, 2/70cm/222 and even some 6 meter machines in my area. It was no contest after I weighed all those factors in. The Icom 91/92 and even the IC-80 (the new supposed low cost HT, 420.00 still) were all to expensive to justify waiting for a D-star machine to be put up in my area. And the accessories, OH MY GOD......you can buy a new mobile unit or even a nice dual band HT for the price of the speaker mic GPS attachment. And then the DV dongle, again no. Where is the fun if take the main components out ie: Transceiver and antenna system.
I have been reading the VX-8R manual online via PDf. file and find the instructions pretty simple as I am used to Yaesu's format and menu system having owned many of there rigs in the past. I like the fact that you can in theory monitor three different stations at one with one being the broadcast band.....pretty cool. That being said don't be surprised if I come back here begging you guys for shortcuts and more advice. Thanks a lot and look for my pictures that I will be providing very soon. I wish to start an album as others did on here and will have to figure that out. UPS needs to get here quick so I can start figuring this thing out before work tonight. Take Care, Mike KC2PLJ
The VX-8R on the other hand is going to be very useful as I already am into the APRS end of it and we definitely have plenty of I-gates, digipeaters, 2/70cm/222 and even some 6 meter machines in my area. It was no contest after I weighed all those factors in. The Icom 91/92 and even the IC-80 (the new supposed low cost HT, 420.00 still) were all to expensive to justify waiting for a D-star machine to be put up in my area. And the accessories, OH MY GOD......you can buy a new mobile unit or even a nice dual band HT for the price of the speaker mic GPS attachment. And then the DV dongle, again no. Where is the fun if take the main components out ie: Transceiver and antenna system.
I have been reading the VX-8R manual online via PDf. file and find the instructions pretty simple as I am used to Yaesu's format and menu system having owned many of there rigs in the past. I like the fact that you can in theory monitor three different stations at one with one being the broadcast band.....pretty cool. That being said don't be surprised if I come back here begging you guys for shortcuts and more advice. Thanks a lot and look for my pictures that I will be providing very soon. I wish to start an album as others did on here and will have to figure that out. UPS needs to get here quick so I can start figuring this thing out before work tonight. Take Care, Mike KC2PLJ
Mars mods
Hello all. I don't know much about "MARS" and the mods hence the question. Are any of the MARS frequencies located between 230- 350 I don't want to know exact frequencies just if there are what is rx performance like? I had a VX8 UK version and it was really deaf.
Regards
Hello all. I don't know much about "MARS" and the mods hence the question. Are any of the MARS frequencies located between 230- 350 I don't want to know exact frequencies just if there are what is rx performance like? I had a VX8 UK version and it was really deaf.
Regards
The TX range in the 220 band after mod is 222-225 Mhz. Within the Ham band, the RX performance seems about the same as the Kenwood TH-F6a to me. When I first got the radio, I did an on air comparison on 220Mhz with the TH-F6a. The VX-8 really benefits from a better antenna in that range, if I recall correctly. I'm not really sure how sensitive the RX is outside of the ham band in that range because I've never really listened to much else in that band.
mh74 hacking potential?
Just got a MH74 microphone and the GPS module. While installing the GPS in the mic, I noticed the GPS module has only 5 pins on it, but the connector inside the mic has got like 14 pins. Wondering if this is because they simply used a convenient connector that was available, or if there is potential for doing other fun things through there.
Just got a MH74 microphone and the GPS module. While installing the GPS in the mic, I noticed the GPS module has only 5 pins on it, but the connector inside the mic has got like 14 pins. Wondering if this is because they simply used a convenient connector that was available, or if there is potential for doing other fun things through there.
Moleculo,
First of all, thanks for doing such a great job with the VX-8R review, info and pics. This thread definitely influenced my decision to purchase this radio.
I have a question about the software "mod" you refer to in this post. Is this mod only for the European version of the radio or will it also work with the U.S. version? If it does work with the U.S. version, has anyone documented what the differences are between the resistor mod and the software mod?
I'm not quite sold on removing that resistor yet although being able to communicate with FRS/GMRS in an emergency is definitely an option I'd like to have.
73's!
Greg
KJ6EBT
I had already done the resistor mod on mine before I found the info on the software mod, so I couldn't compare the two. I believe that the software version is for the EU version, however. If I recall, there are a few other threads here where people reported that the software mod did not work on their U.S. version.
Thanks, moleculo. Interesting how the software mod works with the EU version and not the U.S version. I wonder if there's an alternate software mod that does work with the U.S. version.
Thanks to the reviews on this forum I'm getting my VX-8R tomorrow from HRO Atlanta . Out of all the info I've gone over the last few days, I have yet to find a clear answer on the software mod on the US version. Will it allow me to transmit on FRS/GMRS/MURS bands with software mod only? What bands does the software mod open without me removing the resistor.
Thanks
Dan
. Out of all the info I've gone over the last few days, I have yet to find a clear answer on the software mod on the US version. Will it allow me to transmit on FRS/GMRS/MURS bands with software mod only? What bands does the software mod open without me removing the resistor. Thanks
Dan
I think the hardware mod comes from the "not easily modifiable" clause in the FCC regs. it's really not hard to do these mods, but if you don't have a proper iron with a fine point to get in there and out cleanly...don't do it.
It should be a very fine tip 1mm or so and a nice hot iron so you are in and out quickly without heating up everything else within a 1/2" of where you're working in there.
For the SMD packs, just put the iron right on the component pack itself, heat it enough and both ends will flow and you can knock it off the board.
Do yourself a favor and don't try to mash the pack or cut it out....with these thin multilayer boards, you can cut down through a layered trace...then you're screwed.
It should be a very fine tip 1mm or so and a nice hot iron so you are in and out quickly without heating up everything else within a 1/2" of where you're working in there.
For the SMD packs, just put the iron right on the component pack itself, heat it enough and both ends will flow and you can knock it off the board.
Do yourself a favor and don't try to mash the pack or cut it out....with these thin multilayer boards, you can cut down through a layered trace...then you're screwed.