[Yaesu] Still amazed by the VX-2R

[David Willmore]

> It works good enough at its power level that I
> was able to sell my FT50 that I was keeping around for
> higher power operations.

5W to 2W is just around 4db.  Big deal. :)

> Also, the audio level out of the speaker is very good.
>  I can hear it fine in all but the noisiest
> environments, and it sounds great on Wide FM.  And the
> receiver with the stock antenna picks up things that
> the Kenwood F6A couldn't.  

I'll avoid comments about the F6A--which several of my
friends have--but I will say that there are few full
sized HTs with better audio.  One thing that it has better
than than the VX-1R.

> Programming and frequency hopping without a keypad is
> also pretty easy.  Very easy to use.  I look at this
> HT a couple of time a day and laugh because I can't
> believe that such a small rig can do so much.

Small HTs and mobile rigs are pretty much in the same
boat.  They don't have a lot of I/O.  I find the lower
button count means that the designer kept their eye
on the design.  Keep in mind I have an FT-8500 with
the 'Mr. Potato' mic.

> Hope others love their VX-2R as much.  Now if they
> would just make a VX-3R that does dual receive...

I have two ears, but I can't listen to different 
things with them.  I'm not such a radio junkey that
I need to listen to two things at once. :)  I've
got an FT-530 if I need to do that.  It does full
duplex.  I can count on one finger how many times that
has come in handy.

But, really, I had a VX-1R before this and the VX-2R
addresses all of the problems I had with it.  It's more
solid--no more battery door problems!.  Longer battery
life--you can get them for $12.  Enough memories that
you don't sit wishing you could remember the key sequence
to switch between group-1 and group-2 memories.  I'd
have been happier if 50 memories could do wierd duplex
and the remaining 200 were simplex.  Who has more than
50 repeaters near them?

If there is a need to make a VX-3R, then I'd say that
someone looked away from the goal and got lost in the
land of 'feature creep'.  Sure, it could put out 1.5KW
and be >100% efficient, but I'm willing to live with 
it as it is.

Years ago, I decided between radios that 'did it all'
and radios that I would actually take with me.  The
VX-[12]R family beat out the the larger HTs.  Sure,
the VX-7R looks cool and it might be handy to have a
mini weather station on my belt, but how much would I
be willing to carry it around?  The VX-2R is smaller
than most pagers/cell phones.  If I need more, there
is always the FT-8500 "kitchen sink" radio.

Cheers,
David n0ymv