How good is a radio like this as a means of receiving information during an emergency as opposed to dedicated devices such as a weather radio from oregon scientific, and/or a shortwave radio from eton? I want to be able to receive am/fm/shortwave and weather.

How is it for general listening, like say if I just want to listen to a radio show?

I don't have a radio at all now, except for the am/fm in my car. I've researched models from eton and sony, but the Yaesu seems to have most all of the features I want in one device along with the ability to transmit. Here are some of the other radios I've considered:

Sony ICF-SW7600GR
Eton FR600

I think the sony is the only one with SSB. How important is that?

The Yaesu is a decent enough deal. You should be able to find one for around $400 or so new. Bear in mind that any handheld is going to be a bit more of a compromise, and the little unit will certainly fare much better if you utilize a long wire receiving antenna for the lower end of the coverage spectrum.

Since it is also a transeiver at 2 meter and 70 cm bands, that does add to the desirability, especially for someone with a ham license. This is definitely not a consumer electronics item; it was meant for a bit more wear and tear than the Sony and the Eton. You get what you pay for. Battery life might be an issue, so consider an alternate charging system if you go handheld anyways.

Yaesu looks a bit too pricey for my blood. I'm sure it does everything but tie your shoes but I don't really think i need all that. Not sure about your other questions or variability between products (features, quality, ruggedness, etc) but the Sony looks like the better bet to me for an economical radio.

I have a Yaesu VX-7R, am not familiar with the 8R, but:

- its a ham radio, do you have a ham ticket? Otherwise transmitting on most of the available frequencies would be illegal and unavailable to you.
- if you are a ham, you should find out the frequencies used by responding ham organizations, or organizations that utilize ham comms in their response. Ideally you should get involved with them too.
- the 7R picks up commercial frequencies AM/FM just fine, although I think its a little overkill for listening to talk radio, music etc
- no police scanner frequencies that I'm aware of; I sometimes can catch the Washington State Patrol on a non-emergency frequency
- the 7R also has all the local NOAA weather channels, although it has no SAME or EAS capability (don't know, but the 8R probably doesn't have them either).
- the 7R and 8R are both legitimately waterproof and extremely durable, with good-great battery life from my experience. Get a new antenna and an ARRL frequency directory to hook into the local repeater scene.
- I'm not a ham wonk and Yaesu's are notoriously difficult to program. I barely made it through with the ARRL frequency directory software that programmed most of my frequencies for me. (RANT - why the HELL does ham radio insist on being so difficult for new hams?? I'm not talking about getting my ticket from the FCC. Make programming the things easier, and people may use your friggin frequencies for something other than talking about the weather and whatever ham get togethers you attended in the last week.)
- compared to an oregon scientific weather radio: the thing that aggravates me about the OS handheld is it didn't come with a plug in option, so whatever batteries I put in it started draining from the minute I put them in. I much prefer an ETON style weather radio with the windup and solar options, those you can depend on if you need them. I can't even tell you where my Oregon Scientific radio is these days, not a great purchase.

Net net, $400 is alot for a weather radio - it begins to make sense if you also use the 7R/8R for emergency communications with family, friends, or local organizations.

A Yaesu VX-7R has been a part of my EDC for almost two years now. I've used it as weather receiver during my commutes in both winter weather advisory and tornado warning conditions. It is also handy to pick up CB channel 19 chatter when traffic on I-96 comes to a screeching halt and the traffic reports haven't picked it up yet. Oh yeah, can even listen to the traffic copter's off air updates.

Rugged, water resistant (I've doused mine with no ill effect). Battery life on receive is great and you can get a battery adapter that permits full receive and low power transmit using AAs.

Save some money and get the VX-7R or VX-6R, or better yet the VX-3R, if all you really want is the receive, and don't need the GPS, ARPS (Amateur Radio Positioning System) and other advanced amateur radio capabilities. Both radios have pretty much the same wide-band receive capability and dual-band transmit. Get the Amateur Technician license and you'll be surprised how often you might actually talk as well as listen.

The other recommendation I'd make is an after-market antenna. I have two Diamonds, a dual band I use most of the time and a 19" tri-band that also provides amazing (for a hand-held whip) receive on the short-wave bands. And I have a small mag-mount with 10' cable in the commuter van.

I don't own a VX-3R, but my friend, N8TZQ, does. As a wide-band receiver (with the right antenna) it is very nice and <$150. And like the more expensive VX-8R, it does stereo FM with head-phones. It's transmit capability is more limited, but it does still transmit too.

Doug
AC8BY

My "emergency radio" is a police scanner. The State Patrol and many local agencies even broadcast weather alerts so their people are informed.

When listening to State Patrol and snowplows I'm hearing it straight from the responders in real time. Not wondering how many more commercials before the AM station will get to the weather and traffic report (and not cover my area at all).

(I've been a ham since 1971 and the above is my choice.)

I hadn't thought of a scanner, but that's a good idea. Do you have any recommendations?

The VX-7 or 8R are both fantastic radios IF you are a technical geek. If you can't read the first 50 pages of the manual, buy a high end scanner. The VX will have limited range of reception for what you are wanting to do.

If you want to transmit, list the ten friends that can receive you and ask them about their transceivers.

I have an ICOM-R8500 Scanner running 24/7 with a roof mounted Discone antenna. While mobile, it is truck or Yahama Rhino mounted. I carry a frequency counter in case I see someone on a radio very close. I turn it on and it locks up on the strongest signal in the area. That combinations is excellent for emergencies you are involved in.

A handheld transceiver is overkill if you're not a licensed amateur radio operator. I'd suggest looking into the Icom receiver line.

I have a Yaesu 7R, and my wife has the 5R; we also have the Icom R5 for our receive-only listening pleasure. The R5 seems to be current, but Icom has an RX7 out now, and the R20 which is a scanner. The R5 runs on AAs, which I figure I can scavange anywhere.

Check here:
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/products/receivers/handheld/r5/default.aspx
for the R5 page, but across the top you'll see links to the other two receivers. Each page has links to the manual for that receiver, which I recommend downloading and reading before purchase.

(On my R5, TV channels are the old analogue ones, not current digital frequencies. Ic don't know if they've updated the radios.)

> the Yaesu seems to have most all of the features I want in one device along
> with the ability to transmit.

If you don't have a license, don't transmit. Seriously. Non-hams in Manhattan were screwing up the ham nets used to maintain communications between fire, police, red cross, and shelters. They were trying to help, but they made things very much worse.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I understand the need for a license and I plan to get the Technician license if I get a transceiver. My interest in ham radio is what led me to look at the Yaesu to begin with.

I don't think it's going to be possible to find one device that does everything I want. I'll probably be better off buying separate devices targeted towards specific needs. I usually like tools that are as versatile as possible. I want a hand held device that I can take in the car, camping, biking, where ever. My priorities are information first, communication second.

Yaesu/Vertex/Standard makes good gear. As Philip points out, you're in large part paying for the ability to transmit, but if you're interested in getting your ticket it could be a great idea.

Just my highly biased 2 cents - having a radio to hear what's going on can be very helpful, especially in an urban setting. Having a handheld radio transmitter can be a lifesaver, especially in a wilderness situation.

My current scanner is a Radio Shack Pro-106 digital trunking scanner. Very very capable and astonishingly complicated to program and operate. Software is needed to program it. Or find a scanner geek to do it for you. Not even reading the manual is sufficient.

See the website RadioReference.com for more.

I have a VX7 and think it is an awesome little radio.

If you get a VX7, then you can use VX7-Commander software to program it (Jim Mitchell also provides software for other radios):

http://www.kc8unj.com/

And I also needed this since my computer didn't have a serial port:

http://www.ttl2usb.com/

Regards

Not to hikejack... but does anyone have an experience with the Yaesu VR-500?

It might be something the OP could be interested in if he didn't want to transmit. I'm currently looking at either this radio or the ICOM RX7.

I would only add that while a few people have admonished the original questioner about transmitting without a license, I would point out that the FCC allows transmissions on ANY FREQUENCY at ANY TIME by ANYONE (including unlicensed operators) for a true emergency.

But I would also add that if you did not use the radio regularly, especially for some of the new radios, and not knowing about repeaters, duplex operation, calling frequencies and such, you would be picking a REALLY Bad time to try to mount the learning curve for such things. . .

BTW, yes I am licensed (K0WHH). And I need to sit down and take the pesky General exam!

Regards,
Wesley

Correct. If I was looking for a "survival" radio, I certainly would pick a transceiver over a receiver. As pointed out, there is a learning curve, but well worth the effort.

It is the same in the UK, in an emergency the rules officially go out of the window.

But:
using a transceiver is not as easy as falling off a log, indeed there is a learning curve.

So how will you climb up that curve without a license?

Getting on air legally is easy and cheap, you won't regret it.

MichaelC,

What do you want to do with the radio?

Said another way ... What do you want the radio to do for you?

If you're trying to learn about weather, then a weather radio is far cheaper and provides the emergency warning feature.

If you're trying to get news and local information, then an AM/FM radio would do better than a ham radio or police scanner. Of course, AM/FM radios usually offer weather information too, especially in emergencies.

I have yet to see what I perceive to be a good weather/AM/FM radio combo that provides SAME emergency notification, but I haven't looked too hard. I tend to bring weather radios when I'm outdoors and haven't had much use for AM/FM. At home I rely on weather radios and TV.

If you're trying to broadcast to get help, then a cell phone and/or a PLB does much MUCH better than a ham radio. Of course the PLB isn't the same as a local 911 service through land lines or the cell phone.

I understand what you're saying in the first paragraph, but that's not the problem. You cover only a part of it in the second paragraph.

I have no idea how anyone with a new transceiver would learn how to use it, even with the manual. I remember by first HT and reading the manual - I had no clue what those words meant. I talked to many hams about what th' heck tones were and whether I needed SQL or Tone-SQL, what VFO was, and much, much more. Among other issues are what frequencies do you call to get help on? If the non-ham has his radio programmed for local repeaters, I pity the poor real hams who get their controlled nets totally screwed up by some guy who has no clue how to use a radio to get help.

And I'm serious on this last point. Our repeaters in the Bay Area are often tied to the local police and sheriff's departments, and they're used as resource and tactical networks in emergencies. Having some knucklehead interrupt search and rescue or traffic for Red Cross or Salvation Army services would be obstructive and damaging to the community's need for help and ability to provide it. I would not be happy that some jerk bought a radio with the plan of getting his personal help if he ever needed it and who then screwed up coordinated relief efforts with his personal emergency.

I encourage you to get your general. As you know, there's no morse requirement now. My wife and I studied online and took the free online sample tests, and we passed with flying colors. With an HF radio, you can then participate in health and welfare nets from the various hurricane, earthquake, and tsunami disaster sites. It's a very valuable hobby in times of need.

As an update, I ended up getting the VX-7R. It was a little less expensive than the 8R and I don't think I needed any of the extra features anyway. I also picked up the AA battery pack so I can run it off AA batteries if the power is out. And although the manual doesn't say so, it does work with NIMH rechargeables too.

I took the Tech and General tests in January and passed both, so I'm good to go with the license. I bought a pocket repeater directory and programmed in all the local repeaters.

So far it works great for AM/FM, Weather, and VHF ham bands. I've programmed in the CB frequencies, but it only picks up signals from very close by. The antenna is just not designed for the lower frequencies. And unfortunately, our law enforcement here uses a digital trunking system, so I can't pick up any of that. All in all, it's a great little radio. Though, I may look into getting a mobile rig for my vehicle since the handheld doesn't have much range.

Thanks again for all the advice.

Congrats on getting your license, ditch the battery holder and get the power cord and build your own battery pack/holder, you'll be better off.

73's
Lee

Congratulations on your General.

A VX-7R is central in my long distance commuter EDC. I carry a Diamond SRH320A antenna, for better receive and transmit.

We put a cheap mag-mount with SMA connector in our commuter van because AM and CB are pretty weak inside a vehicle. It is nice to be able to listen to the truckers and find out what is going on when we suddenly find the Interstate becoming a parking lot.

I've also got a Diamond SRH999 which is nice for listening to AM and the HF bands.

AAs are almost always available no matter what the disaster, so that's a good move. NiMHs are good for rechargeable if there's still power. The problem is that the radio won't transmit at 5W; it drops to 0.5W or less.

I bought some 7.2V 1.2Amp Hour batteries from a toy store that sells R/C model airplanes and made a connection with a Radio Shack plug that lets me plug the battery into my DC-in socket on the radio. The radio still works at 5W, and the external battery charges the FNB-80LI if you leave it in.