Re: New member, undecided but tempted!

Mike,

Thanks for this info. Yes I have one of the Grove Active Ducks, I have  
mixed results on it from one receiver to the next. It is useful overall.

I might have to give in to my temptation for a VR-500. I like the  
looks of the Icom RX-7, but no SSB on that one.

The Miracle Ducker tuner helps a great deal on HF receive, but doesn't  
reach down into the MW band. It's expensive, but I don't regret buying  
it. It helps a great deal on the Icom R1 for example, I can listen to  
SW broadcasts using 18 inches or so of wire.

Back to the archives...

Chuck


Quoting Mike Lehman <[email protected]>:

> Garry,
> The only time I ever needed service, due to breaking one of the decoder
> knobs when I sat on it by accident, I contacted Yaesu via the "Contact
> Us" link at the website:
> http://www.yaesu.com/
>
> They gave me an estimate, stuck to it, and returned my repaired VR-500
> quickly, out to California and back in about two weeks, IIRC. I've never
> needed to order parts, but I imagine that parts service is equally
> efficacious.
>
> Chuck,
> I own two VR-500s. I like having a small receiver that I can pack along
> wherever I go. Due to much of my local monitoring going digital, they
> don't see much use anymore, except on vacation.
>
> I have used the VR-500 for shortwave broadcast and utility monitoring.
> Grove Enterprises used to sell an amplified duck antenna that worked
> well. I tended to use it for AM broadcast band of the
> university-affiliated NPR when I was deep inside buildings on campus
> that had too much steel for good reception. I also was able to do mobile
> monitoring of utility band and was even able to receive a pirate SW
> broadcaster -- before he disappeared from the airwaves!
>
> Grove no longer sells the amplified duck antenna. Anyone know of another
> source for such an item?
>
> The stock antenna is somewhat infamous for poor reception on many bands.
> It seems to be cut for best reception on the US weather alert channels.
> I usually use a stubby duck instead and it works great and is a vast
> improvement over the stock antenna. Be sure to give a different antenna
> a try if the stock one doesn't give you what it needs.
>
> One thing you will want to do for utility SW reception is to enable the
> narrow AM mode. This is an undocumented feature, but you can find
> instructions in the Files area of the VR-500 Yahoo group homepage. It a
> matter of a few keypresses to enable it.
> Mike Lehman
> Urbana, IL
>
> [email protected] wrote:
>> I have a 500 an need a new back case and battery door as mine is   
>> cracked. Any idea of where to get one. I tried the company an they   
>> certainly don't have good customer service.
>>
>> Garry
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: <[email protected]>
>>
>> Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 7:39:37
>> To: <[email protected]>
>> Cc: Chuck<[email protected]>
>> Subject: Re: [VR-500] New member, undecided but tempted!
>>
>>
>> I don't care about or necessarily agree with the negatives.  It's a  
>>  great little radio and if something happened to it I'd buy another  
>>  one. I listen to the Coast Guard and SSB aero HF frequencies as   
>> well as UHF military aircraft and it works well for me.
>> P.
>> ---- Chuck <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Just signing onboard, my name is Chuck, hi all.
>>>
>>> Most of the reviews I've been reading about the VR-500 have had a   
>>> lot of negatives, but frequently I end up liking radios that many   
>>> others don't. I'm easy on my radios physically, so if I do get a   
>>> 500 it'll be carefully handled.
>>>
>>> I'm hoping for usable HF performance using a Miracle Antenna tuner  
>>>  with about 18" of wire. None of my present wideband handhelds is   
>>> perfect, so the VR-500 doesn't have to be either. Looking forward   
>>> to researching the archives...
>>>
>>> Chuck
>
>



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