{"id":126,"date":"2011-05-17T09:48:19","date_gmt":"2011-05-17T16:48:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/preparedblog.com\/?p=126"},"modified":"2011-05-17T09:48:19","modified_gmt":"2011-05-17T16:48:19","slug":"an-amazing-little-radio-the-vx-8r","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/radio\/an-amazing-little-radio-the-vx-8r\/","title":{"rendered":"An amazing little radio – the VX-8R!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Yaesu VX-8R packs a lot of features into a tiny package. How tiny? Take a look! It\u2019s about the size of a deck of cards, if you unscrew the antenna. Take a look at this:<\/span><\/p>\n

\"VX-8R<\/a>
It's the size of a deck of cards!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What can you do with this radio? You can talk on four different amateur radio bands (50\/144\/222\/430 MHz, if you\u2019re interested), while listening to broadcast radio (for example, FM radio) at the same time!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"VX-8R<\/span><\/a><\/dt>\n
This antenna is long, flexible, and very efficient.<\/span><\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

You can use a Bluetooth headset <\/strong>with it, and you can attach a GPS receiver <\/strong>to the radio or to a an attached speaker microphone. When you have GPS installed, you can also use APRS <\/strong>functionality, which means you can transmit your location to other radios, can send and receive simple text messages<\/strong>, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you wanted to get creative, you could even attach an special antenna and talk to an amateur radio satellite<\/strong>! It can receive weather alerts <\/strong>on special weather radio channels, can easily communicate with repeaters<\/strong>, and more. This is an amazing radio.<\/span><\/p>\n

The VX-8R has been replaced by the VX-DR and the VX-GR. They\u2019re all small, powerful, and loaded with features. Take a good look at the specifications, since there are some differences.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can get more information at<\/span> www.Yaesu.com<\/a>, on the VX-8R, the VX-DR, and the VX-GR.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, the antenna adds some size to the radio, but you have many options, from very small (usually inefficient, for short-range communications) to longer (more efficient, if you can conveniently carry it). For example, in the picture directly above you can see the VX-8R with a Diamond whip antenna, which is quite efficient.\u00a0 Soon, I’ll post a picture of my “stealth” antenna.\u00a0 It’s very small, and very inefficient, but very convenient when I need to carry my radio in an inside jacket pocket and only need to communicate short-range.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is the VX-8R the only small radio?\u00a0 Is it the only one that does APRS?\u00a0 Are some easier to use?\u00a0 No, yes, and yes!\u00a0 Some other common, powerful, feature-filled radios are Icom’s IC-91A and Kenwood’s TH-F6A.\u00a0 And there are many more.\u00a0 Do your research and you’ll find a radio that fits you well.\u00a0 73!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Yaesu VX-8R packs a lot of features into a tiny package. How tiny? Take a look! It\u2019s about the size of a deck of cards, if you unscrew the antenna. Take a look at this: What can you do with this radio? You can talk on four different amateur radio bands (50\/144\/222\/430 MHz, if … Continue reading An amazing little radio – the VX-8R!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,30,51,56],"class_list":["post-126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-radio","tag-amateur-radio","tag-emergency-preparedness","tag-tiny-ham-radio","tag-yaesu-vx-8r"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.andrewbaze.com\/wparchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}