Yaesu VX-3R HT Review
Purchased from: R&L Electronics on March 5, 2008
Price: $169
After a brief break from the radio hobby, I decided that is was time to update some of my equipment. Looking for a dual band HT in the $175 range, I found that the VX-3R seemed to fill the bill as far as features I was looking for. Not only did I want to be able to operate on the 2M and 70cm bands, but also wanted to have general coverage receive. This would help with testing and troubleshooting of radio equipment, and to listen to the local yokels on the 220 MHz and CB band.
The size of this HT was just about the size of a credit card (actually just under). I believe that this makes the unit desirable in some cases where portability is important. Due to the small size, this HT does not have a DTMF keypad. It also does not have some of the useful features such as a belt clip or dual band monitoring/watch. However, I managed to squeeze the HT into my cell phone belt clip holder, this made up for the missing belt clip. Nevertheless the radio makes up for these missing features by adding useful features such as AM/FM radio, WIRES, Paging, Channel Counter, Character Messaging, ARTS, and CW learning and training.
The audio is robust for such a small package, and the TX performance seems comparable to most other larger HT’s (on low power). This particular unit has 1.5W of power on 2M, and 1W on the 70CM band, which is enough power to reach all the local repeaters in my area. The reception was good on the 2M and 70cm side, but frequencies such as WX were not able to be heard (typical of some HT’s). The AM/FM reception was good when using the ANT/Earphone setting. I was able to tune all local stations without a problem, in stereo. I only wish the unit had an audio equalizer, but I guess you can’t have it all.
This unit boasts 1000 memories, which is more than enough in most cases. With the absent keypad I figured it would be a challenge to program, but that wasn’t the case at all, using the F/W button I was able to vary the VFO via MHz or KHz settings. Programming was fairly simple, and adding memory channels was a matter of pushing and holding one button (F/W). Tuning is dependant upon the band the steps are 5, 8.33(on the Air Band), 9(BC Band), 10, 12.5, 15, 20, 25, 50, 100 KHz (see page 21 of manual for limitations). The most difficult task seemed to be pulling the VFO knob upwards to tune the frequencies. To make programming quick and easy, towards the end of the manual is a set menu (quick chart) that lets you look for functions that you need. All features are listed in alphabetical order on the HT and the list.
The battery is a 1000mAH Lithium Ion battery. The battery life seems average to most other HT’s that I have owned in the past. I didn’t have any issues with the back cover or battery being loose. On a side note, make sure to fully insert the DC barrel jack when charging. I noticed that on my initial charge, I did not have the barrel fully inserted and the battery did not charge (seemed intermittent). I liked the battery charging meter that displayed full-charge status in text and a green light.
I would give this radio 4 out of 5 stars for the rating. If the radio had an audio equalizer, and the WX bands had better reception, I would have given 5 stars. I do not believe you could go wrong on purchasing one of these HT’s. If it were lost or broken, I would replace it with the same model.
