I feel your pain!
The 857 is still advertised but the last advert I saw for an 897 was some months ago and neither W&S or ML&S list it.
Brian
Going back to the original title of this thread, none of the still purchasable āshacks in a boxā can be classified as a VHF Handheld in any case.
It will be interesting to see what the ĆV āNew Radioā (combined computer and rig) concept comes up with as that, in one form, being an SDR, could be a multimode 2/70 handheld, but weāll need to wait a couple of years is my guess to see what eventuates.
Ed.
P.S. I hope they find some way to make the screen on the āNew Radioā readable on a mountain top in bright sunshine!
On the topic of handhelds, I have owned a few in my time including Icom, Kenwood and Yaesu. I had a Yaesu VX7R and sold it and bought a Yaesu VX8GE planning to have a mess with APRS. Worst mistake I ever made, the VX7R is without doubt the best handheld I have ever owned. Iāve part exchanged the VX8GE and got a good deal on a new VX7R and this time itās going nowhere. They are getting a little scarce but there is Ā£100 off the price of a new one hereā¦
http://www.radioworld.co.uk/handheld_transceiver/yaesu-c-5126/yaesu_vx-7_silver
The VX7R has 6M FM so it could even help towards the latest challenge.
73 Chris M0RSF
Good to hear in a way Chris, I was also looking at the VX-8GE for the same APRS functionality but others warned me off it.
The VX-7 looks interesting, especially the 6m FM capability, but the review on eHam are very mixed, two common issues suggested were the front-end overloading quite easily and poor battery life. Have you experienced any of these?
Cheers,
James M0JCQ
Front end is very prone to blocking from nearby masts of all sorts on 2m.
Battery life is not bad (especially if running reduced power) but we do carry spares.
Water resistance is excellent.
Range is much improved with an external dipole (waterpipe) or J-pole.
Never made any contacts on 6m.
73,
Rod
Edit
M6BWA has made nearly all her 1652 points using one.
Call me stupid but I just bought a brand-new discontinued radio, a Yaesu FT-270E.
Many of you are partly to blame for singing its praises on various SOTA threads for being a very-rugged, waterproof, no-nonsense, 2m monoband radio and saying you wouldnāt sell yours for love nor money.
With winter approaching in the wettest part of England where I live and mainly activate (G/LD) I didnāt want to restrict my SOTA activations only to dry days. I like my FT1DE a lot but get nervous when it gets rained on so Iām hoping I can relax a bit if both me AND the radio are waterproofed.
I wanted a new unit (and new battery) rather than second-hand with the battery being NiMH rather than LiPo but couldnāt find new ones on eBay or - all but one of - the UK dealers. Suspect the FT-270 is fast becoming a collectorās item.
The FT1 is also waterproof.
Quote from yaesu website
The FT1DR has a very rugged case with a Water Protection IPX5 Rating making it PERFECT for extreme environments, field and outdoor use
So no need to worry
73 Joe
I continue to be very impressed by my Yaesu FT70D. In side-by-side comparison with other handhelds, it wins hands down on issues like RX sensitivity, audio quality (RX and TX), usability and rejection of unwanted signals / QRM.
Thatās good to know but the FT-270E meets the (higher) IPX7 Rating.
- IPX5 : Can resist a sustained, low-pressure water jet spray .
- IPX7 : Can be submerged up to 1 meter in water for 30 minutes.
Iām guessing IPX5 is okay for rain (heavy rain?) but Iām also concerned about dropping the HT in a puddle.
Tom, I just read this in the FT70 UM so, whatever its other good features, it doesnāt appear to compete on waterproofing with the FT270 [which was the main point of my post]
The FT-70DR /FT-70DE is a handheld transceiver for operation in the 144 MHz ā¦ This product is not totally waterproof , and must never be immersed in water.
TBH I have never felt comfortable about putting any of my radios to this test. I did previously have a VX7 (supposedly submersible) and the FT70D is said to be water-resistant.
With both, in heavy rain, theyāve been popped into a drybag to protect them.
Well, me neither but accidents and weather happen. I too carry my stuff in dry bags to the summit but youāve gotta take them out then. And Iāld rather be using the FT270 in the rain and on sodden ground than a āwater resistantā one like my FT1D. Its purpose is to get me out on the hills whatever the weather.
Also purchased a Ft-270 on the same basis - I added a speker microphone but works well when needed.
Paul
One thing that I havenāt seen mentioned is that the Icom IC-V80 or the new IC-V86 has similar specs as the FT-270 but it also has a BNC connector which I like because it is the same as all my other QRP gear. Simple, powerful, robust radio as well as fairly inexpensive.
Paul, Iāve read several FT-270 reviews that say the TX audio is weak due to the waterproof membrane. Is that why you use the external speaker / mic ? And is it the submersible Yaesu MH-73A4B speaker / mic?
The same was said of the predecessor, the vx-170. Just talk it up louder which youāll have to do because of the weather on the hill tops!
F/M0FMF/p
My wife says Iām good at that.
Yeah, other '270 users (on https://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/8272) agree with you and countered the criticism by saying (I paraphrase) āIts a submersible, not a desktop mic, what do you expect!ā.
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If you are half as happy as I have been with my, now 11yr old, VX-170 then itās money well spent. The FT70 is on my list when I need to replace my VX-170 as itās dual band, dual mode and āTom-testedā for durability!
I like that!!
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