[Icom] Love the VX150 (so far)

[John Geiger]

A couple of weeks ago I posted a message asking for
comparisons between the Yaesu VX150 and the Icom V8,
as I was trying to decide between the two.  Well, I
finally went with the VX150, and while I don't know
what I am missing with the V8, the VX150 is a
fantastic HT.  Here are the reasons I chose the VX150:

1. 3 power levels.  The 2 watt level has worked good
so far.  Icom was either 5 watts or 500 mw.  ALso, if
you look at the current draw, the Icom is very high
for 5 watts, which means very short battery life

2. The VX150 is a smaller size.  About the size of my
T81, which I had become very accustommed to.  I will
have to take the battery clip off the VX150 so it fits
in pockets better.

3. The VX150 is 12 volt ready.  The V8 required a
battery eliminator.

4. The VX150 was cheaper.  Found a demo at AES for
$94.95.  The V8 Demo was $106.95.

On the downside, the battery case for the Yaesu is
extremely overpriced.  That is why I almost went with
the Icom (plus I have had good luck with Icom). 
Luckily, www.batteriesamerica.com has the Yaesu 6 cell
case on sale right now for $29.95.  Still 10 dollars
more than the Icom case, but 20 dollars less than the
Yaesu case.

My impressions so far for the VX150 are that this is
one great HT.  Took it to our weekly club breakfast,
and everyone commented on how solid and rugged it is. 
IT also puts out very nice receiver audio, easy to
hear in noisy environment.  Reports so far on my
signal are pretty good.  Generally better than I got
with the T81.  I use the HT mostly when bicycling back
and forth to work, and there is a bad spot or two, but
it seems to make the repeater better than my T81 did. 


The features on the HT are incredible.  Never had an
HT before with 2 VFOs where you could run split.  I
have 4 whole memories programmed in it, so don't need
the alpha tags yet!  I also really like the
programmable keys.  I programmed one to show me the
battery voltage whenever I press it-nice touch.  That
is a very useful feature.

ALso, the battery saving functions are great!  The
ability to turn off the transmit and receive LED is
wonderful.  How often do we need those anyway?  And it
will save on the battery life.  The battery at first
seemed a little short lived, but I guess that Nicads
take a few cycles to reach full charge.  It is doing
much better now.  I just wish that Yaesu would have
included a NIMH battery instead as standard.  Can
charge the battery with my Radio Shack C777 clone.  

All in all this HT is incredible.  If you are looking
for a 2 meter single band HT,  this is probably it. 
Would still like to try the Icom V8 sometime just for
the heck of it, but wish that Icom would get with it
and include a mid power setting.  They probably lost
at least one customer due to their failure to do so.

73s JOhn NE0P

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