Sleep Is For The Weak

The Yaesu VX-7R is the handheld to end all handhelds.  Where else can you get the 6m band, 2m band, 1.25m band, and 70cm band all in one hand sized package.  Add to that the fact the radio is water resistant up to three feet for an operating time of thirty minutes and you’ve got a serious radio for hiking, backpacking, kayaking, or emergency communications.

The VX-7R has two receivers that operate independantly of one another.  This allowed you to monitor two frequencies at the same time, and toggle between them for transmitting at the touch of either the Main or Sub button.  The Receiver in the VX-7R does not desense as easily as the VX-5R did which is a huge improvement.  It is a wide band receiver, working from 1MHz -> 999MHz but is cellular blocked.

There is a quick toggle to the National Weather Service band, with the standard NOAA weather radio frequencies pre-programmed.  This allows you to hit a key combination, and turn the knob at the top of the radio to tune the closest NOAA weather radio station and then toggle back to your previous two frequencies quickly.  Ther is also a high intensity multi-color LED on the front of the radio.  This displays whether you are transmitting on Main, or Sub, receiving on Main, Sub, or Both.  Which is good if the radio is across the room you can tell which receiver is active at a glance.  Also when the radio is put into “Emergency” mode the LED flashes intense white light.  This acts as a beacon.  Highly useful if you are on the side of the road to alert cars coming at you, or if you find yourself wounded somewhere and have called for help to assist rescue workers in locating you.

All in all I’d say the VX-7R is one of the Ham Radio purchases I have made that has far exceded my expectations.  It not only does a LOT of things, but it does most of them well.

First off….  I’d like to say that operating the FT-817, FT-857, and FT-897 is almost identical across all three platforms.  All three Radios are 160M –> 10M, 6M, 2M, and 70CM all Mode transceivers.

The FT-817 is QRP (5w max output) and contains internal batteries offering portable use in a package about the size of a soft cover book.  Pretty cool stuff.

The FT-857 is a 100w Mobile rig.  It competes directly with the Icom IC-706 Mk.II G.   Because of it’s price new (around $650) this makes a fantastic first radio.  It’s much more advanced technologically than the Icom IC-718 and a little bit less expensive.  I stand by the thought that this radio is something every new ham should own.  As you determine what you like/dislike in terms of operating you can move into a more specialized piece of equipment with some first hand knowledge about the hobby.  Also you didn’t waste that $650 as you can now put your FT-857 in your car and go HF Mobile.

The FT-897 is the model I’m most familiar with as I own one.  This radio operates IDENTICALLY to the FT-857 with the exception of a single rocker switch on the top.  This switch is used to choose which of two optional internal battery packs is being used.  If no internal batteries are installed the switch obviously does nothing.  Like the FT-857 the FT-897 is a 100w all band/mode Hf transceiver.   The exception to this would be while running on battery power.  While powered on the internal batteries the FT-897 has a max power output of 20w making it 4 times more powerful than the much smaller FT-817, but still not as powerful as it would be on external power (a car battery, powersupply, etc.)  The format of the FT-897 is much larger than either of the other two.  It isn’t as large as a full desktop set radio like the FT-950 or Icom IC-746pro  But it’s not nowhere near as small as the mobile radios like the FT-857, IC-706, or IC-7000.  The place the FT-897 excels is camping, and possibly backpacking.  Field day with my FT-897 in 2007 was a blast!  It’s nice to be able to easily carry the radio to a location,  toss your antenna into a tree or hook up a buddipole and you’re ready to call CQ.

I’d have a hard time suggesting the FT-817 to anyone who’s new to the hobby.  5w is awfully crippling, and the cost of the radio isn’t much better than the FT-857.

I’m sure I’ll add more to this in follow up posts.  PLEASE feel free to post questions about any of the above models.  I have access to an FT-817 and an FT-857 at a moments notice.

This Radio for the money is a fantastic investment.  Especially if you also own a dual band HT.
Being able to crossband from a 440mhz input to a 2M output is something I use with some frequency.  I can set my VX-7R on the .5W setting while sitting at my desk at work and transmit simplex to my car, which then retransmits my signal out to the 2M repeater in town I listen to most frequently.

Controls on this radio are easy to understand.  It is fully featured.  And in my opinion very easy to use.

The only two complaints I have about the Yaesu FT-8800R are the following:
1) The buttons on the control head are not back lit.
2) the vol and sql knobs are nested one on the other. which makes adjustments more difficult while wearing gloves.

I’d certainly buy another.