[Icom] HT dilemma-HELP!

[Roy Smith]

I am an Icom person, but like my KW F6A.  Audio is a little low.  It has 
3 power settings.  5 watts, 500 mw and almost nothing on the 3rd 
setting.  I use the vlp seeting to cross band.

John Geiger wrote:

>Thinking about getting myself a multiband HT as a
>Father's day present (now a late one-due to the
>dilemma) since it is my first father's day as an
>actual father, and with a new baby in the house it
>might be awhile before I get to buy any other
>equipment.  I currently own an Icom T2H, which is a
>great performer, and has very long battery life.  Like
>it, but would like something with a couple of other
>bands, and something a little smaller.  I will be
>using this HT mainly for bicycle mobile work to and
>from work, and around town.  I don't use a
>speaker/mic, or portable antenna or anything like
>that.  Just hold the HT and talk on it.
>
>I am looking for an HT that does 2, 440, and at least
>1 other band.  I also want it to at least receive on 6
>so I can monitor for band openings from work.  I want
>AM broadcast receive, FM broadcast, and TV receive.  
>So far, I have narrowed down my choices to 3 HTs: The
>Kenwood F6A, The Yaesu VX7R, and the Yaesu VX5R.  I
>ruled out all Alinco HTs due to lack of 6 or 222
>coverage, and broadcast AM  receive.  I ruled out the
>Radio Shack HTX420 due to narrow receive, although it
>is a pretty good HT.  I had one for a few days.  I am
>ruling out the Icom T90 because according to the QST
>review, it looks like it has very low speaker output. 
>I need something loud enough to hear over traffic,
>barking dogs, etc. Maybe somebody with a T90 can
>convince me that this isn't the case.  The Yaesu VX2R
>looks promising, but am waiting on that one to get a
>little more feedback. It would be nice to have 5 or 6
>watts as an option at times also, although the T2H
>does OK on 1 watt while mobile and sometimes in the
>house (have steel siding).
>
>So, between those three, here are the faults of each,
>as I see them:
>
>Kenwood F6A-no 6 meter transmit, terrible stock
>antenna, possible low transmit audio (according to
>eham), only 2 power settings-5 watts, which drains the
>battery, and 500mw, which can be useless
>
>Yaesu VX7R-AM broadcast receive not as good as F6A,
>due to lack of ferrite bar antenna, low power on
>222-but doable during contesting from the Mountain top
>here, possible transmit audio problems (per eham), no
>SSB/CW receive
>
>VX5R-only single receive, AM broadcast receive not
>good, no 222, possible transmit and receive audio
>problems (per eham).  I have thown this one in because
>there are some good deals on used ones now.
>
>So, I am sure others have faced this dilemma, how did
>you resolve it?  Did you like your choice, or do you
>now wish you went with the other HT instead?  Any
>comments good or bad about any of them.  I kind of
>miss having 6 on the F6A,but at least it can be used
>for monitoring band openings.  Wish some company would
>combine the VX7R and the F6A into one HT, and put a
>real antenna on it, I would get it.  
>
>Also, I don't consider the 817 an HT for my purposes,
>and can't afford one right now anyway, so that is not
>an option. Thanks for reading through this long winded
>message
>
>73s John NE0P
>  
>
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>  
>