Yaesu VX-8r Review

[bads197]

As I said in my pm, this review is very good and the reason I ordered a VX8R.

I was looking for something to get into Ham and two way comms and it's nice to see a helpfull review of a device.

I know nothing aside from motorola walkie-talkie style radios in the civilian world. Everything I know about radios comes from military aircraft from my Navy days.

Excellent review.

 

[Moleculo]

Thanks for all of the great info guys! I've been looking for a new HT to replace my old FT-470. The 470 is a workhorse. I used it recently at Thunder Over Louisville with my RACES group. It was quite bulky to carry around (mostly battery size). It looks as though the vx-8r would be a great choice.
Thanks again!

I think it's a good choice for RACES, especially if you guys use APRS to coordinate stations. You will definately want to get the better battery, though.

 

[Hutch]

+1 on the higher cap batteries. Hong Kong Digital Radio has good deals on them on Ebay.

 

[n8fgb]

Thanks Moleculo!!! Now I can transmit and receive on the FCC approved frequencies for Paragliding and Hangliding Pilots. In case you are curious I have attached the document referring to the frequencies.

4. Each transmitter utilized for operation under this part "must be of a type which is included in the Commission's current
Radio Equipment List as type accepted for use under this part".
This list includes crystal -controlled or EPROM programmable synthesized radios but does not include user-prograrnmable​

radios that are type accepted for two meters.

 

[bads197]

4. Each transmitter utilized for operation under this part "must be of a type which is included in the Commission's current
Radio Equipment List as type accepted for use under this part".
This list includes crystal -controlled or EPROM programmable synthesized radios but does not include user-prograrnmable​

radios that are type accepted for two meters.

In English that means?

Can use it?
Can't use it?

 

[Moleculo]

It means you're not supposed to use a ham radio for other services (like aviation, paragliding, etc.)

A lot of people do it anyway.

 

[bads197]

Do I need to unsolder that resister int he back in order to use this to talk to my motorola radios? How would I know what frequency they are on given a particular channel?

Is there a list of them somewhere?

I think mine are on 16,1...

 

[Moleculo]

Do I need to unsolder that resister int he back in order to use this to talk to my motorola radios?

...probably

How would I know what frequency they are on given a particular channel?

The motorolla radio is programmed by a shop with the right software and cables. If you don't know which frequencies they programmed, you have to use a frequency counter or take it to someone that can program the radio to tell you.

The VX-8r has a "channel counter" function (that's what they call it) which is basically a simplistic frequency counter. The problem is that it only scans within +-5Mhz of the VFO frequency. You might be able to figure out what frequency your Motorolla radio is using by using that function, although it will be a little time consuming. Check page 98 of the user manual.

 

[skymad]

HI, I'm a military in Portugal and I'm looking for a handytalk that can work betwin 41 mhz and 51 mhz, anda after I read all abougth Yaesu VX-8r, this is one of my choice... but can anyone tel me if there are any thing (hardware or software) that cam put Yaesu VX-8r transmiting on that freqency?

thanks

 

[wildwest46]

RT Software for VX 8R

I received the RT Systems software and cable yesterday and got it all set up ahead of time with the freqs that I wanted in the banks of my Yause VX 8r. The radio came today and in under 60 seconds, Bada Bing ! I had it all set up.

I'm very impressed with both, I ordered the GPS unit, speaker mike, drop in charger, soft case, and the big battery. I wanted an HT that would also make a good scanner. It has exceeded my expectations. Those guys on QRZ that say it can't hear need to turn up their hearing aids, I'm hearing repeaters and public service freqs from a long ways off.

That's about as technical as I get, one good radio and as far as the RT software, worth the $65.00. If I was to put in everything that I need and want in a hand held scanner/transceiver I would wear out the keypad and my thumb.

A few years ago I sold all my HT's because I wasn't happy carrying around several of them to do what I wanted. I told myself that I would wait until someone came up with everything I wanted and needed in one smart package, that day has arrived and it's name is Yaesu.

73's
W6SOL

 

[VA3xxx]

RACES folks - see the VX-8 and Garmin Thread.

If you want to use APRS, do it with mapping. Get a cheap HT, put in an opentracker SMT and hey pronto you get the waypoints into your Mapping GPS. Only setup for SAR that makes sense imho.

Yaesu haven't figured that out yet, unfortunately.

 

[Moleculo]

I just got the extended 1800mAh battery. I started another thread that has a little more info and size comparisons with pictures here:

http://www.worldwidedx.com/handital...r-extended-battery-comparison.html#post146866

 

[KC7IBT]

Can the APRS frequency be set to any band the radio can transmit on?

 

[Moleculo]

Can the APRS frequency be set to any band the radio can transmit on?

Yes...it just uses whatever frequency you set VFO B to while the APRS modem is on.

 

[KC7IBT]

I'd imagine that VFO B has the full 6/2/220/440 tuning range? The specs didn't quite say.

If so, this is great news and I'm sold on this ht!