I have a friend, Joe KJ4JIO, who is looking for his first HT to use for FM satellites. He is looking at the Kenwood TH-F6A and the Yaesu VX7R. Would anyone who has used these care to share some comments on them that I can share with him? I'm sure he would welcome comments about any other rigs you are fond of.
Dave, AA4KN
Dave and all,
I've owned both, although my experience and familiarity with the VX-7R is much better than with the TH-F6A. I bought the latter in May 2007 from the Ham Radio Outlet store in Atlanta, which is about an hour from me. At that point, I had been totally off the air and inactive since January 1992.
I returned the TH-F6A after less than a week because of what I considered to be significant battery drain. I have since come to believe (through talking to the folks at HRO and to other owners of the HT) that I likely had either a bad battery pack or a bad radio. I decided to exchange it for a VX-7R because it (the Yaesu) also offered operation on 50 mHz. I thought that would be neat. I have never used it.
The Yaesu has served me extremely well on the satellites and the ISS. I worked my 100th grid with the VX-7R on the 28th day after I worked my first - all with that radio and an Arrow handheld yagi. I have since upgraded from the Arrow to an Elk log periodic, which performs much better for me at this location.
Both HTs are easy to program, although both are very sophisticated. As a ham who'd been away from things for more than 15 years, I had quite a learning curve to get through JUST with these two HTs.
The VX-7R will be at least slightly less expensive than the TH-F6A. However, I suspect we'll all start seeing "really good buys" on the VX-7R because of the VX-8R.
In terms of satellite operation, there is one featuer of the TH-F6A that most hams wouldn't even think of as an advantage if they were just starting out with satellites. Specifically, it's general coverage receiver includes CW/SSB modes for reception. Here's why that is an advantage.
If, like me, your friend gets really hooked on operating "in orbit," he may want to at least experiment a little with the linear satellites (AO-7, FO-29, VO-52). Full-suplex capability is really necessary on these satellites, and the TH-F6A could, indeed, serve as the receive radio for them because it will receive the downlink frequencies of all three satellites in either CW or SSB. If your friend owns another all-band, all-mode radio, the TH-F6A would provide the receive radio necessary for a two-rig full-duplex setup, which is what I use here. If he doesn't, but still wanted to try the satellites, he could shop for a deal on a used Yaesu FT-817ND to use for the transmit side. I have a confirmed contact on AO-7 Mode B at roughly 10 degrees elevation to my west using an 817 at 5 watts for transmit. Since it is our highest-orbiting satellite, working the others definitely is possible, and I have confirmed contacts on all of them using an 817 for transmit.
Both radios offer similar accessories, although I see another advantage to the TH-F6A that I wish my VX-7R offered - that is, the ability to use earphones while still using the HT's internal mic. The speaker/mic jack on the VX-7R is special, and doesn't permit that. I wish it did.
Finally ... I have PDF versions of both radios' owners' manuals. Email me off the board, and I'll email the PDFs to you or him for a chance to do a more detailed comparison of features and ease of setup and operation.
I hope this helps.
73 to all,
Tim - N3TL Athens, Ga. - EM84ha -------------- Original message from "David J" [email protected]: --------------
I have a friend, Joe KJ4JIO, who is looking for his first HT to use for FM satellites. He is looking at the Kenwood TH-F6A and the Yaesu VX7R. Would anyone who has used these care to share some comments on them that I can share with
him? I'm sure he would welcome comments about any other rigs you are fond of.
Dave, AA4KN
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Hi Tim,
I have the Kenwood TH-F6A, and am very pleased with the battery life, both in terms of how long it runs the rig, and also that being Li-ion, it holds its charge for a long time. My other HTs all have NiCd or NiMh, and both are essentially dead if left in storage for a few months.
The wide-band receive is also wider than all of the other radios I've had. It goes up to 1.3 ghz, and so covers the 23cm band, and even down lower, the coverage is better. My daughter was in a high school musical production a few years ago, and the radio literally saved the show when the wireless mikes kept cutting out. The F6 was able to pick up the 180mhz signals, and I could tell the crew which mikes were working and which weren't, before the kids were on stage.
The F6 does not impress me in one way; the "B" side, where the wide-band receive and SSB/CW modes reside, is kind of deaf. If you have any dreams of listening to Shortwave on it as an HT, forget it. You need an external antenna to pick up anything, even WWV. Even the local AM/FM stations are fuzzy and scratchy. It was handy to listen to TV audio, but the digital "transition" killed that.
Still, I'm keeping the radio. Maybe if I had to do things over I'd replace my F6 and D7 for the new Yaesu ARPS HT, but it's not worth the money to swap, and I'd lose the little things like the F6's SSB/CW receive and the D7's Full Duplex.
Greg KO6TH
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected] Date: Sat, 7 Mar 2009 22:26:02 +0000 Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: TH-F6A vs VX7R
Dave and all,
I've owned both, although my experience and familiarity with the VX-7R is much better than with the TH-F6A. I bought the latter in May 2007 from the Ham Radio Outlet store in Atlanta, which is about an hour from me. At that point, I had been totally off the air and inactive since January 1992.
I returned the TH-F6A after less than a week because of what I considered to be significant battery drain. I have since come to believe (through talking to the folks at HRO and to other owners of the HT) that I likely had either a bad battery pack or a bad radio. I decided to exchange it for a VX-7R because it (the Yaesu) also offered operation on 50 mHz. I thought that would be neat. I have never used it.
The Yaesu has served me extremely well on the satellites and the ISS. I worked my 100th grid with the VX-7R on the 28th day after I worked my first - all with that radio and an Arrow handheld yagi. I have since upgraded from the Arrow to an Elk log periodic, which performs much better for me at this location.
Both HTs are easy to program, although both are very sophisticated. As a ham who'd been away from things for more than 15 years, I had quite a learning curve to get through JUST with these two HTs.
The VX-7R will be at least slightly less expensive than the TH-F6A. However, I suspect we'll all start seeing "really good buys" on the VX-7R because of the VX-8R.
In terms of satellite operation, there is one featuer of the TH-F6A that most hams wouldn't even think of as an advantage if they were just starting out with satellites. Specifically, it's general coverage receiver includes CW/SSB modes for reception. Here's why that is an advantage.
If, like me, your friend gets really hooked on operating "in orbit," he may want to at least experiment a little with the linear satellites (AO-7, FO-29, VO-52). Full-suplex capability is really necessary on these satellites, and the TH-F6A could, indeed, serve as the receive radio for them because it will receive the downlink frequencies of all three satellites in either CW or SSB. If your friend owns another all-band, all-mode radio, the TH-F6A would provide the receive radio necessary for a two-rig full-duplex setup, which is what I use here. If he doesn't, but still wanted to try the satellites, he could shop for a deal on a used Yaesu FT-817ND to use for the transmit side. I have a confirmed contact on AO-7 Mode B at roughly 10 degrees elevation to my west using an 817 at 5 watts for transmit. Since it is our highest-orbiting satellite, working the others definitely is possible, and I have confirmed contacts on all of them using an 817 for transmit.
Both radios offer similar accessories, although I see another advantage to the TH-F6A that I wish my VX-7R offered - that is, the ability to use earphones while still using the HT's internal mic. The speaker/mic jack on the VX-7R is special, and doesn't permit that. I wish it did.
Finally ... I have PDF versions of both radios' owners' manuals. Email me off the board, and I'll email the PDFs to you or him for a chance to do a more detailed comparison of features and ease of setup and operation.
I hope this helps.
73 to all,
Tim - N3TL Athens, Ga. - EM84ha -------------- Original message from "David J" [email protected]: --------------
I have a friend, Joe KJ4JIO, who is looking for his first HT to use for FM satellites. He is looking at the Kenwood TH-F6A and the Yaesu VX7R. Would anyone who has used these care to share some comments on them that I can share with
him? I'm sure he would welcome comments about any other rigs you are fond of.
Dave, AA4KN
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
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Hi Dave,
I have a TH-F6A and have worked several of the FM satellites using a hand-held 70cm beam with my HT for downlink and using a 2m mobile hooked to a groundplane vertical for uplink.
I use my TH-F6A for a variety of other things also like tracking high-power rockets, transmitter fox-hunting, packet radio, APRS, etc. It's an amazing little radio and I have no regrets about the purchase and use of it. It has exeeded all of my expectations with room to spare! Can't speak to the VX7R, but I do know several people with them and they like it just fine.
Jeff Moore -- KE7ACY CN94
----- Original Message ----- From: "David J" [email protected] To: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] TH-F6A vs VX7R
I have a friend, Joe KJ4JIO, who is looking for his first HT to use for FM satellites. He is looking at the Kenwood TH-F6A and the Yaesu VX7R. Would anyone who has used these care to share some comments on them that I can share with him? I'm sure he would welcome comments about any other rigs you are fond of.
Dave, AA4KN
I´ve used the F6 to work the SSB birds (including the AO-40) as a receiver from a mobile station:
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Videos%20AMSAT/VIDEO_EB4DKA%20via%20FO29%2...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Videos%20AMSAT/VIDEO_Kenwood%20THF7%20reci...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Amateur%20Satellite%20Articles/FO29_MOBILE...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Imagenes/EB4DKA_AO40_MOBILE.jpg
73,
Pedro EB4DKA http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com
----- Original Message ----- From: "David J" [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 9:49 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] TH-F6A vs VX7R
I have a friend, Joe KJ4JIO, who is looking for his first HT to use for FM satellites. He is looking at the Kenwood TH-F6A and the Yaesu VX7R. Would anyone who has used these care to share some comments on them that I can share with him? I'm sure he would welcome comments about any other rigs you are fond of.
Dave, AA4KN
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Pedro,
What is that nice little 70cm antenna that you have mounted on your TH-F6? It looks like a square loop with a reflector, or something like that. Is it commercial, or did you make it? Any diagrams for construction?
Greg KO6TH
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected] Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 10:32:49 +0100 Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: TH-F6A vs VX7R
I´ve used the F6 to work the SSB birds (including the AO-40) as a receiver from a mobile station:
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Videos%20AMSAT/VIDEO_EB4DKA%20via%20FO29%2...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Videos%20AMSAT/VIDEO_Kenwood%20THF7%20reci...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Amateur%20Satellite%20Articles/FO29_MOBILE...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Imagenes/EB4DKA_AO40_MOBILE.jpg
73,
Pedro EB4DKA http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com
----- Original Message ----- From: "David J" [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 9:49 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] TH-F6A vs VX7R
I have a friend, Joe KJ4JIO, who is looking for his first HT to use for FM satellites. He is looking at the Kenwood TH-F6A and the Yaesu VX7R. Would anyone who has used these care to share some comments on them that I can share with him? I'm sure he would welcome comments about any other rigs you are fond of.
Dave, AA4KN
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
_________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™ Contacts: Organize your contact list. http://windowslive.com/connect/post/marcusatmicrosoft.spaces.live.com-Blog-c...
Found it! http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Amateur%20Satellite%20Articles/CJU%20anten...
Greg KO6TH
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 12:04:14 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: TH-F6A vs VX7R
Pedro,
What is that nice little 70cm antenna that you have mounted on your TH-F6? It looks like a square loop with a reflector, or something like that. Is it commercial, or did you make it? Any diagrams for construction?
Greg KO6TH
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected] Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 10:32:49 +0100 Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: TH-F6A vs VX7R
I´ve used the F6 to work the SSB birds (including the AO-40) as a receiver from a mobile station:
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Videos%20AMSAT/VIDEO_EB4DKA%20via%20FO29%2...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Videos%20AMSAT/VIDEO_Kenwood%20THF7%20reci...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Amateur%20Satellite%20Articles/FO29_MOBILE...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Imagenes/EB4DKA_AO40_MOBILE.jpg
73,
Pedro EB4DKA http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com
----- Original Message ----- From: "David J" [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 9:49 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] TH-F6A vs VX7R
I have a friend, Joe KJ4JIO, who is looking for his first HT to use for FM satellites. He is looking at the Kenwood TH-F6A and the Yaesu VX7R. Would anyone who has used these care to share some comments on them that I can share with him? I'm sure he would welcome comments about any other rigs you are fond of.
Dave, AA4KN
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Windows Live™ Contacts: Organize your contact list. http://windowslive.com/connect/post/marcusatmicrosoft.spaces.live.com-Blog-c... _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
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Everyone,
David put out the initial email on my behalf. I soon after registered for some of the various Amsat mailing lists and followed along. Thank you all very much for your insight. I'm probably going to head off this Saturday to snatch the TH-F6A, my first handheld.
Cheers! Joseph Armbruster, KJ4JIO
Greg D. wrote:
Found it! http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Amateur%20Satellite%20Articles/CJU%20anten...
Greg KO6TH
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 12:04:14 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: TH-F6A vs VX7R
Pedro,
What is that nice little 70cm antenna that you have mounted on your TH-F6? It looks like a square loop with a reflector, or something like that. Is it commercial, or did you make it? Any diagrams for construction?
Greg KO6TH
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected] Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 10:32:49 +0100 Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: TH-F6A vs VX7R
I´ve used the F6 to work the SSB birds (including the AO-40) as a receiver from a mobile station:
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Videos%20AMSAT/VIDEO_EB4DKA%20via%20FO29%2...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Videos%20AMSAT/VIDEO_Kenwood%20THF7%20reci...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Amateur%20Satellite%20Articles/FO29_MOBILE...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Imagenes/EB4DKA_AO40_MOBILE.jpg
73,
Pedro EB4DKA http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com
----- Original Message ----- From: "David J" [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 9:49 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] TH-F6A vs VX7R
I have a friend, Joe KJ4JIO, who is looking for his first HT to use for FM satellites. He is looking at the Kenwood TH-F6A and the Yaesu VX7R. Would anyone who has used these care to share some comments on them that I can share with him? I'm sure he would welcome comments about any other rigs you are fond of.
Dave, AA4KN
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Windows Live™ Contacts: Organize your contact list. http://windowslive.com/connect/post/marcusatmicrosoft.spaces.live.com-Blog-c... _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Hotmail® is up to 70% faster. Now good news travels really fast. http://windowslive.com/online/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_70faster_032009 _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
All,
I picked up my TH-F6A and arrow antenna today!! I am doing the preliminary charge of the radio right now (should be operational in 6 hours). I have my arrow antenna all assembled as well. I'm looking forward to making my first contact :-)
Keep in touch!
Joe, KJ4JIO
Greg D. wrote:
Found it! http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Amateur%20Satellite%20Articles/CJU%20anten...
Greg KO6TH
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 12:04:14 -0700 Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: TH-F6A vs VX7R
Pedro,
What is that nice little 70cm antenna that you have mounted on your TH-F6? It looks like a square loop with a reflector, or something like that. Is it commercial, or did you make it? Any diagrams for construction?
Greg KO6TH
From: [email protected] To: [email protected]; [email protected] Date: Sun, 8 Mar 2009 10:32:49 +0100 Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: TH-F6A vs VX7R
I´ve used the F6 to work the SSB birds (including the AO-40) as a receiver from a mobile station:
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Videos%20AMSAT/VIDEO_EB4DKA%20via%20FO29%2...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Videos%20AMSAT/VIDEO_Kenwood%20THF7%20reci...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Amateur%20Satellite%20Articles/FO29_MOBILE...
http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com/Imagenes/EB4DKA_AO40_MOBILE.jpg
73,
Pedro EB4DKA http://eb4dka.laserenadigital.com
----- Original Message ----- From: "David J" [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 9:49 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] TH-F6A vs VX7R
I have a friend, Joe KJ4JIO, who is looking for his first HT to use for FM satellites. He is looking at the Kenwood TH-F6A and the Yaesu VX7R. Would anyone who has used these care to share some comments on them that I can share with him? I'm sure he would welcome comments about any other rigs you are fond of.
Dave, AA4KN
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Windows Live™ Contacts: Organize your contact list. http://windowslive.com/connect/post/marcusatmicrosoft.spaces.live.com-Blog-c... _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Hotmail® is up to 70% faster. Now good news travels really fast. http://windowslive.com/online/hotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_70faster_032009 _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
David J wrote:
I have a friend, Joe KJ4JIO, who is looking for his first HT to use for FM satellites. He is looking at the Kenwood TH-F6A and the Yaesu VX7R. Would anyone who has used these care to share some comments on them that I can share with him? I'm sure he would welcome comments about any other rigs you are fond of.
I use the TH-F7E which is the UK/EU version of the TH-F6A (no 220MHz). It works pretty well for the mode v/u sats.
Gordon
participants (7)
-
David J -
Gordon JC Pearce -
Greg D. -
Jeff Moore -
Joseph Armbruster -
n3tl＠bellsouth.net -
Pedro A. Perez