Q: "shirtpocket" VHF Xcvr + Gen Coverage Rcvr - which one?

[WBear2GCR]

Ok, there are a number of "shirtpocket" sized VHF xcvrs that also have receiver coverage into HF.

Someone around here had one, I think it was a Yaseu, fwiw... royal PIA to get it to do anything because of the way the menu system and scrolling was set up...

so wondering if anyone has had a positive experience with a new or recent model of these things - including battery life, ease of operation, and quality of reception on other than VHF hambands??

In other words are these things worth a darn, or what?

                       _-_-bear

[n2ffl]

I have a Yaesu VX-5R and a Kenwood TH-F6, both have general coverage receivers. Neither will receive HF worth a damn with the supplied rubber duck antennas. A short piece of wire connected in place of the duckie greatly improves reception on both. The Kenwood does have a built in "bar" antenna which works ok on the AM broadcast band but on the HF bands, not so much. The Kenwood will receive AM, SSB and AM, the Yaesu VX-5R only receives AM. 

Battery life? That really depends on how you're using it. If you're doing a lot of yacking on the local repeater you may be good for a couple of hours. I can get about 10 hours of just monitoring the local repeater out of a good battery. Of course if you have access to an external power source that helps. Yeah the menus are a pain in the a** but you get used to them after a while.

Ron
N2FFL

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Although there are others as mentioned, and some that haven't been mentioned, the VX-6R(typical selling price $275) covers 2M, 220 and 440 MHz and provides wide receiver coverage at 504 kHz ~ 998.99 MHz (cellular blocked), and puts out 5 Watts of power on the 144 and 430 MHz bands (1.5 W on 222 MHz). The standard memory has 900 channels with 6-digit alpha numeric tag, and 24 memory banks for channel allocation. Specs: http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/ht/0666spec.html



For decent HF reception, something better then a rubber duck type antenna should be used.
If menus and sub-menus are confusing to you and/or you don't want to carry around a 60 to 100 page manual (depending on model), I carry all the Nifty guides and mini-manuals for all these models.

[Steve - K4HX]

I snagged a VX-2 on sale at Dayton about 10 years ago. The performance on the BC and HF bands won't spin your hear around but I have listend to some AM QSOs with it and local AM BC is received OK. The VX-6 is a better radio and has the keyboard, something the VX-2 does and the lack thereof is a PIA. With the mods (two diodes/jumpers removed) you should be able to transmit on 6 and 2 meters and 440 MHz, as well as the FRS/GMRS freqs too.

[Opcom]

I have an Alinco DJ-X2E. It was bought in the UK and can cover the 'forbidden' cell band.

0.5 to 1000MHz, 700 memories. Its entire band plan (spacing, memory linking, definition of TV and am-fm entertainment bands, etc) is editable as text and there is afree program to do this and load it. I was easily able to figure out how to convert it from UK am/fm/TV spacings and the like, to USA operations.

The model is no longer made, but there is a replacement, specs unknown. It is the size of a pack of short smokes, has its own internal battery, and is only about 10mm thick, plus has an AA battery holder + charger for the internal cells that fits on the back making it 1.25" thick..

Tinny sound via internal speaker, but a headphone sounds great. I love it and have use it to find interference at home. If you find a used one, or the US version, for a good price, you won't regret it.

info:
http://www.thiecom.de/english/alinco/djx2/index.htm

svc manual is free here.
http://elektrotanya.com/alinco_dj-x2e_dj-x2t_sm.pdf/download.html

[Pete, WA2CWA]

You missed the title of the thread: Re: Q: "shirtpocket" VHF Xcvr + Gen Coverage Rcvr - which one? Your gismo is just a receiver. Alinco now has the DJ-X11T http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/widerxvr/4011.html Santa may be bringing one of these this year.

[kb3ouk]

I'm not sure which one it was, but one of those Yaesu 6m/2m/220mhz/70cm handhelds also supposedly had 6m AM transmit capability.

[W1AEX]

Bear,

To answer your last question, mine is not worth a darn for BCB and SWL coverage. I own a Yaesu VX7R-B that I bought shortly after they came out. It covers 6M, 2M, 220MHz with reduced power, and 440MHz very nicely. As Shelby indicated, it also has AM transmit capability, but I've never bothered to make a contact on 6 meter AM with it. With free programming software it's a breeze to program and serves very nicely as a broadband public service scanner. It also covers the BCB and SW on receive, but it totally sucks for that purpose. My little Grundig Mini-300 that I bought brand new at Radio Shack for $30 bucks runs circles around it for the AM BCB and SW listening. As you mentioned, the biggest PIA is navigating on-the-fly through the HF bands and frequencies with the multi-level menus. For me, the investment in time and effort wasn't worth the return for casual listening on HF and it's definitely not up to the task for any serious listening on HF.

Rob W1AEX

[Pete, WA2CWA]

The Vaesu VX-8R and 8DR also cover the 6M, 2M, 220MHz, and 440MHz bands. On my IC-R10 all band HT-size receiver, when I want to listen to HF bands, I replace the antenna with an extended length telescoping antenna that has a BNC connector on the end to attach to the IC-R10. Makes a world of difference over the rubber duck antenna. Hamfest dealers sell these things for a few bucks or you fabricate one from a discarded portable radio with your own type of needed connector.

Or just go out and buy the ultimate HF short wave receiving and transmitting hat:

[w1zzz]

I have a VX5 and I hate  it. It is extremely difficult to progam. It sometimes takes 30 steps to program and requires the pptience and faith of an alchemist to bring uip what you want. Mattery life is about as long asan eleevator ride. One particuarly annoying feature is that the VX5 is that it controls power output,  not the user.If you key up a local repeater, the VX5 will determine whether you should drop down to one watt ofpower or not. There is a workaround to this maddening setting and that is to program the feature to be off. Now, aghain, this will take the programming acumen of Aan Turning. It  does sport some cool bragging features. To wit, the optional altimeter/barometer. I lioke knowing how high I am at all times.
In summary, if you are a soctware engineeer or a fractal mathematician, t this may be the rig for you.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

For the VX-5R, if you don't already have one of these, you should get one at any of the several upcoming hamfests in New England. Takes the mystery out of the manual and head-scratching programming.

[WBear2GCR]

well at this point they should have something akin to one of these smart phones, iphone, android, etc... big color screen, touch, etc... yeah I know they don't have the economy of scale, but I'd bet that they could make some sort of deal to get the front end, and strap on the hardware to the the ham/general coverage RF part... these tiny LCD screens are really antiquated, especially with the silly multilevel menus designed by folks who probably never used the gear... I'd be perfectly happy with something three times thicker than one of these phones that did the job smoothly and without needing a cheat sheet to make it do what you want! can you say "software defined radio?"

                      _-_-bear

[K5WLF]

can you say "software defined radio?"

                      _-_-bear

Seems to me that a software defined radio is what makes you need all the nested menus. A "real" radio  would just have knobs and switches for everything. But then it wouldn't fit in your pocket, so we have to compromise. Just giving you a ration, Bear. Don't take offense over it. ;-)

[Pete, WA2CWA]

How many smart phones have several multiwatt transmitters in them; how many can receive DC to daylight and a host of other radio features. The choice is simple; you can play radio or play phone geek.

If you're not in any hurry, the Icom ID-51 is coming soon. Bigger screen and less buttons but I bet the menus will be a head banger.

[WBear2GCR]

Sure, these are software driven radios, of course.

But I was speaking of "vanilla" platforms that have a real OS, better display and a decent GUI to work with - not an attempt to emulate a mini version of a WWII "walkie talkie". In other words, take it to the next level... think of it this way - if you took an iphone (or equivalent) and used its I/O interface to operate a module that "slapped" on the back side of it (disabled the internal cell phone transmitter) that did the ham radio part. That is what a "modern" version of these shirtpocket radios might look like.

Sooner or later they will, no doubt.

                                                    _-_-bear

[kb3ouk]

You know, that might be the perfect thing for Flex Radio to take up next, a SDR handheld. Surely you could build a small computer into the radio, have a touch screen on the front, and what would really sell would be to make it 6m/2m/70cm capable with AM/FM/SSB/CW modes, 5 watt output. Remove the antenna and hook up an exernal one, and you would have a nice QRP rig too.

[ke7trp]

I have the VX5.  I almost threw it out the window at 80 mph on a Road trip. 

You cannot operate this radio without the manual.  At minimim you need the Nifty brand cheat sheet.  If you do not enter the menu correctly, the radio WILL lock up and be completely useless until a Microprocessor reset is done.  If you dont have the manual, you cant do the reset. 

If you leave it on 2 meters, its fine.  If you try to move it around alot or try to use the WB receiver, and make a button mistake, your in trouble.  I like to scan bands to see what I can here, This radio requires many button pushes to get that scanning to work right.

The best shack on the belt type radio I had was an alinco Dual bander.  It worked perfectly, had good batt life and was very simple to operate, tone button, offset button ect.. 

Unless you are the "shack on the belt" type of guy, Just get a simple radio.
C

[David, K3TUE]

[...]
I have an Alinco DJ-X2E. [...]
[...]
The model is no longer made, but there is a replacement, [...]
[...]

Is this the replacement you were referring to?

Alinco DJ-X11T:
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/widerxvr/4011.html

[Pete, WA2CWA]

[...]
I have an Alinco DJ-X2E. [...]
[...]
The model is no longer made, but there is a replacement, [...]
[...]

Is this the replacement you were referring to?

Alinco DJ-X11T:
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/widerxvr/4011.html

After the X2T , there was the X3T, X10T, X2000T, and the current X7T and X11T. But again, the thread topic query is "shirtpocket" VHF Xcvr + Gen Coverage Rcvr