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Radio => Equipment Reviews => Topic started by: spacecase0 on October 14, 2016, 03:39:21 AM

Title: yasue vx3
Post by: spacecase0 on October 14, 2016, 03:39:21 AM
I have 2 of these radios
the one has a seemingly permanent attenuator on it's front end
and the other broke a few days ago,
it seems to have lost it's selectivity entirely,
a signal right on frequency is at about 1/5 volume, and one 10mhz off (at less than 10 miliwats(my weather station)) blocks everything else

the VX-3  is one of my favorite radios,
but the failure to this point bothers me
2 of them with about a year of run time,
should offer more service life than that

so, I am looking for a good simplex radio
ideally I would want a 220 band SSB radio that is handheld and good on batteries,
but know that is not going to happen (unless I build them)
 
440 works ok, 2M does not work that well for what I am doing ...
any ideas of what to get ?
any solid 2M 440 radios out there ?
my vx-7r is really only for right handed use, but I always use my left had for the radio
not going to get another vx-whatever ?
any idea what radio to get ?
Title: Re: yasue vx3
Post by: Tempstar on October 15, 2016, 04:55:32 AM
My first amateur radio was a Kenwood TH-F6a and I still have it. It does 3 bands and is well built. I gave away a 3X and sold my 5x, both bought to try and better the Kenwood. I use cheap radios, but when I know I need reliability, I grab the Kenwood.
Title: Re: yasue vx3
Post by: ghrit on October 15, 2016, 07:16:04 AM
220 is unusual in h/t land, but there is at least one, the Kenwood.  There may be others, dunno.  But the battery life is quite good, I can easily get more than a day of "on" time if I don't get too awful stupid about yakking my head off.  I've hooked it up to the base antenna with fair success, as well as using an aftermarket rubber duck that does not seem to be any better than the OE item.  Programming it is a first class PIA for those of us brought up in the rotary dial phone era, but there is aftermarket programming software that is EZ to use.  You won't buy the TH F6 for Dunkin' Donuts change, but I think you might like it.
Title: Re: yasue vx3
Post by: BTPost on October 17, 2016, 07:10:42 PM
We run mostly Kenwood Gear.... I have 4 ea. TM-D710a Radios... One for a Base, in the Cabin, one in the White Toyota 4X4 Pickup, one in the Rhino 660, and a spare in the EMP Proof Storage... These are dual Band Vhf/Uhf Mobiles w/APRS... Our HTs, both are TH-72a... Basically duplicates of the Mobiles w/APRS.... We also have a pair of cheap Chinese DualBand HTs to loan to guests, from Comms around the Cabin....

I have never seen a 220Mhz SSB Ham Radio, marketed in the USA.... There was an commercial ACSB System, built by SEA, in Lynwood, Washington, USA.... Before they went Bankrupt... It was a TOTAL BUST, as a Marketing Idea, but actually worked pretty well. Kenwood Gear is expensive but 100% QUALITY Gear....
Title: Re: yasue vx3
Post by: spacecase0 on October 17, 2016, 11:44:43 PM
I looked at the good hardware,
can't afford 2 of them...
also thought about the neighbors that have a scanner and may use radio traffic they over here for less than ideal reasons
so decided to go with a digital capable radio
only one I could afford a set of is the tytera md-380,
have used that radio before and it works fantastic for analog
going to start saving money for a Kenwood set in the future for when the new radios quit
Title: Re: yasue vx3
Post by: Tempstar on October 27, 2016, 04:08:16 AM
Just a side note, Kenwood Amateur software is all free to download on their website.