yaesu portable off-road radio

[mcheck]

i was wondering if any one has used the yaesu vx-170 portable radios for off-road use? if so how is the distance you are able to talk and hear. i purchased some a few months back and was told that they were good radios but that does not seem to be the case...

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[Kartman]

I use one sometimes when out of the truck. For the price a good little radio but changing the antenna can double your range.

[Waldo]

That's a 5w radio. Rule of thumb is 1 mile per watt, line of site...mountains, hills, buildings, and any other structuer will affect your range as well.

[mcheck]

is there another radio yall would recommend...i am gonna start racing my quad and have plans to use it for that...

[summerinmaine]

That's a 5w radio. Rule of thumb is 1 mile per watt, line of site...mountains, hills, buildings, and any other structuer will affect your range as well.

Yep, I easily get 5+ miles off of mine, even with some terrain. But I use a mag mount antenna when I have in in my truck, so that helps a lot.

[summerinmaine]

i was wondering if any one has used the yaesu vx-170 portable radios for off-road use? if so how is the distance you are able to talk and hear. i purchased some a few months back and was told that they were good radios but that does not seem to be the case...

The transmit distance is largely power dependent. How far you can "hear" depends more on the strength of the "other guy's" signal. I've had clear reception of Weatherman signals from a long way off, but can't talk back.

At the 2006 Baja1000, during an emergency rescue situation, we were just upcourse from Gonzaga Bay, and I was transmitting to SCORE Ops San Felipe, with just a mag mount antenna on my roof.

But if you're transmitting on 145.000, nobody's listening to you anyway!

[summerinmaine]

is there another radio yall would recommend...i am gonna start racing my quad and have plans to use it for that...

Check with PCI (http://www.pciraceradios.com/). I'm sure they'll steer you straight. But don't expect good radios to be super cheap.

[mcheck]

that is just a pic i found online of the same radio......and generally you get what you pay for.....just looking for a comfort there ya know, somewhat affordable, yet useful!

[TreyP]

The Vx 170 is a great radio, I have 2 of them and use them for bike comms and pit comms. HRO has a whip ant that works great. On a recent ride in Baja I was the only one that could contact the chase vehicles when everyone else had the more expensive radios.

[summerinmaine]

that is just a pic i found online of the same radio!

Knew that, but just had to woof ya!


As Trey said, we both have the same radios, and they work great for us.