Highfields Amateur Radio Club
Reviews Pages.

Review of the Yaesu VX-2.
By Brian, MW0GKX.

Ok, people who 'know' me will ask what I'm doing reviewing a Yaesu radio, when all I tend to have are Icoms.
Well actually the VX2 belongs to my partner Denise, 2W0BDX, but it fell to me to program the memories and set it up ready for her to use (she prefers to use it rather than find out how to use it!).

She liked the size of it (only 47×81×23 mm (1.89×3.19×0.91 inch) without control knob or antenna) when she first saw it on the Yaesu stand at the QSL Communications open day in May 2007, as it would fit in her handbag better than the Icom IC-T3H she already has (more room for junk with a smaller radio!). Well she bought it there and then.

Features.

VX2. Click for a larger picture
Some of the many features 'crammed' into this small box are: (links go to glossary entries).
1750Hz Tone, 2 meters FM, 70 cms FM, APO, ARS, ARTS, BCLO, CTCSS, DCS, DTMF, Over 1300 memories, TOT, Wide frequency range receiver including HF (unfortunately not SSB), WIRES and lots more besides!

First Impressions.

It is small, about the size of 2 match boxes without the antenna, with quite small 'buttons' (rubber pads) quite easy to use with large fingers.

It does fit comfortably in the hand and I find it easy to use left or right handed, but then I am quite ambidextrous.

The display and front buttons illuminate, 'reddish' according to the manual, orange according to my eyes! and the illumination is selectable for brightness (12 levels although 0,1,2,3 & 4 seem to be 'off' and 5 is so dim as to be unusable as a display light) and operation (off, on keypress for five seconds illumination or always on). In regard to the button illumination it is the legend on the button that lights up, as each button has 3 uses (and only 1 is labelled on the button) it's a good idea to sit down and program the memories before using in the dark, either that or a good memory on the part of the operator!

Memories.

There are:
It is quite easy to program the memories, despite the lack of numeric keypad (have I been spoilt with my other radios?), things like CTCSS etc. need to be set from the menu before 'memorising' the frequency data (doesn't work trying to add CTCSS after memory is programmed) but if you forget you can easily overwrite the previously saved data with the new settings. It is also easy to program 'odd split' frequencies.

Standard Memories can be assigned an 'alpha tag' or name (up to 6 characters) for easy recall of what the frequency is for, i.e. you set up the local repeater with CTCSS, TX offset etc. and memorise it, you can then label the memory with the repeaters callsign so you can tell at a glance what it is. The VX2 displays the alpha tag or frequency for each memory depending on how you set the memory, you could have all the simplex channels displaying the frequency and the repeater channels displaying their callsigns. One thing I find lacking is a memory erase? No mention of it in the manual, the closest thing is 'memory mask' which 'hides' them until you unmask them.

In Use.

The received audio is clear, not distorted (unless you have it set at full volume, but then it is a tiny speaker!) and pleasant to listen to, strong signals on adjacent channels do 'break through' but no more than I would expect for a handheld of this size. Transmitted audio is clean and clear. Although the deviation is selectable for 5 or 2.5kHz it seems that the receive filtering does not get any narrower, so adjacent channel interference could be a problem on 2 meters in crowded areas.

Operation is quite straightforward, I set the memories for 2 meter simplex, the 3 'local' repeaters, a couple of local internet gateways and 70cm simplex before I went 'on air'. Unfortunately the 1.5Watt output is not enough to open the 2 meter repeaters from home, even in the garden, but then the Icom IC-T3H can only open one of them with 5.5Watts, so no surprise there. As previously stated the transmitted audio is reported as clean and clear with minimal wind noise when outside.

Using DTMF on an internet gateway to link another gateway is quite difficult, if you use a gateway frequently and connect to the same nodes then setting a DTMF memory beforehand is a lot easier.

Now for the shocker!.

If you like to talk, either do not buy this radio of be prepared to buy a lot of spare batteries! Looking at the specifications below, you can see TX current drain of 1.3 Amps on high power. Look at the battery and it is 1000mAh (or 1Ah). So best time for full transmit is (reaches for calculator) about ¾ of an hour! Then it needs 2½ hours to recharge using the supplied mains charger. OK no-one is going to transmit for 45 minutes, but it does show the limitations of the small size. Low power transmit will save battery power but at 100mW the range is severely reduced unless you are on top of a hill.

The RRP for a Yaesu FNB-82LI battery is around £30 (W&S) so it could get expensive to talk and there is no desktop charger option from Yeasu so the batteries need to be fitted in the radio for charging, however I have discovered that certain Digital Camera batteries are compatable and you can also get a 'desktop charger' (240V and 12V input ideal for in car use) for this battery (under £20 for both, around £9 for the battery if you look hard enough on-line!).

The charger and battery I have purchased are the subject of another review: Digital Camera Battery & Charger.

Conclusion.

For its size it is certainly packed with features, the lack of numeric keypad make setting some things (frequency, DTMF tones) a little difficult but with practice it should get easier. Battery life and range are the main problems that I foresee using the VX2, it would have been better, perhaps, if the low power setting was 500mW (1/2 a Watt) so that range was reasonable, 100mW seems, to me, to be rather too low to be useful on a handheld.
Brian, MW0GKX.

Basic Specifications.

Frequency Ranges:RX:0.504 - 1.8MHz (AM Broadcast).
1.8 - 30MHz (HF Bands).
30 - 88MHz
88 - 108MHz (FM Broadcast Band).
108 - 137MHz (VHF Air, although no 8.33 kHz channel step).
137 - 174 (Covers 2 Meter Amateur Band).
174 - 222MHz
222 - 420
420 - 470MHz (Covers 70 cm Amateur Band).
470 - 800MHz (Covers UHF (analogue) TV).
800 - 999MHz.
TX:144 - 146MHz 2 Meter Amateur Band.
430 - 440MHz 70 cm Amateur Band.
Frequency Steps5, 10, 12.5, 15, 20, 25, 50, 100 kHz (9kHz in AM broadcast band).
Modulation Modes:RX:AM, FM, Wide FM (selectable).
TX:FM (Deviation selectable 5kHz or 2.5kHz).
Power Supply:Internal 3.7volt 1000mAh Lithium-ion battery (supplied).
External 6 volt power supply (optional E-DC-21).
Power Output:
Battery:144MHz 1.5Watts (high) 100mw (low).
430MHz 1.0Watts (high) 100mw (low).
External
(E-DC-21):		144MHz 3.0Watts (high) 300mw (low).
430MHz 2.0Watts (high) 300mw (low).
Power Consumption:
Receive (Battery & External Power):
Receiving Signal150mA.
Muted Power Saver Off58mA.
Muted Power Saver On20mA.
Auto Power Off20µA.
Transmit:
Battery:Max 1.3 Amp on 144MHz.Max 1.2 Amp on 430MHz.
External power:Max 1.8 Amp on 144MHz.Max 1.5 Amp on 430MHz.



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