Vertex-Standard-Yaesu's VX-3R "micro" dual band handheld transceiver.
Sadly it appears that Yaesu's quality control continues to be downright poor.
Good news is that the CTCSS "Delay Bug" has now been fixed.
Receive audio while OK, but not up to the VX-2R's standards.
(Photo: N9EWO)

Approx. Serial Numbers Tested :
First "Dud" Sample : 7G02003x,
Second "Properly Working" Sample : 7H0311xx

Country of Manufacture : VX-3R Transceiver: Japan, FNB-82LI Lithium-Ion Battery: Japan, NC-85 wall charger: Taiwan , CSC-92 Case: Japan, FBA-37 3 AA Battery Case: Japan.

This model is the follow up to the Yaesu VX-2R, and for those who you have not been on my review page for this model it would be a good idea that you read that page first.

These of course are MY views and yours may not be the same. The test samples were both early versions from the first and third lots imported into the USA (July 2007). It was tested in a area of about 80,000 total population, so I may not experience intermodulation or other issues that may happen in a larger city.

I No Longer Own This Model

First Sample Was A No Go.

With the first sample we received, the internal microphone was totally dead. If we slightly squeezed the cabinet it would crackle in a bit, but that was it. When any external microphone was plugged in, it worked fine. Serial number approx : 7G02003x (from the second lot). This is a sad state of affairs for Vertex-Standard-Yaesu. This shows that quality control does not exist at all. Simply no excuse for this and it shows that it was not tested before it left the factory. With all of the quality control and hardware / firmware bug issues that the VX-2R had, you would think that they would have learned something ?

My second sample was OK (thank goodness), but appears that quality control is just lacking big time ?

[ UPDATES : I have received a report of ANOTHER VX-3R with this same "Dead Internal Mic" issue. Approx serial number : 7H0309xx. This is from the 3rd lot and was not a very early one. Another out of the box dud VX-3R had his CTCSS not holding stored frequencies. Approx serial number here was : 7G0100xx. As I was saying, where is your quality control Yaesu ?? ]

Feel, Looks and Construction. CSC-92 Soft Case and FBA-37 AA Battery Case.

The size and solid feeling are pretty much a dead ringer to the elder VX-2 model, but the corners are less rounded. However, once I had both in my hands the VX-3R seems to be just a tad larger ? We still have the weird lock switch on the bottom, but I still like this system over the plastic "snap" bar that is used with the Yaesu VX-5, Icom IC-T90A, IC-Q7A and others.

Left side views.
The elder VX-2R on the left, VX-3R on the right.
(Photo: N9EWO)

All buttons on the front are of a hard plastic type, the VX-2R used soft plastic-rubber ones. These take a much more "push" to make happen over the VX-1R or VX-2R. These have a spongy "click" feeling when pushed. You need to push a good ways in to make them work. To make it worse are more recessed over the older VX2R. This does get a bit painful if you are programming "mucho" channels. Here is the first MAJOR strike for me with the VX-3R. Out of the case it's not so bad, however when trying to poke these over the plastic when in the case .....forget it !!!

The side mounted PTT, squelch and power buttons continue to be of a soft rubber type. With the PTT being a slight slight step backward over the VX-2R , as it's a more mushy. The VX-2R's PTT is a more solid feeling. But it is not curved and does has a slightly larger surface to poke at. The orange on-off button takes the same (if not worse) "finger breaker" pressure to make happen however. The squelch "break" button is even much mushy on the VX-3R to me over the 2. Overall I do not care for the PTT button on the VX-3R.

The locking top knob is the strangest part of the VX-3R. It pulls out for use and to do this operation is a bit stiff (takes 2 hands). When pushed in it becomes locked and cannot be rotated. This knob has a rubber "cover" over it for better grab. It actually works quite well even if it's a bit on the ugly side to me. Actual knob operation has a fair amount of "giggle" play to it (when pulled out), also has a fair amount of "rotational play" when turned (going from click to click). It feels cheap to me in any event. This is still is better over the Icom IC-P7A's sloppy feeling encoder, but the VX-2R wins on this once again (excellent feel).

LCD looks great with the proper contrast (it is not adjustable). It is slightly larger over the VX-2's display but this is for the added volume icon on the far left. Display backlighting being a yellow color (VX-2R is red). I do like the VX-3R's backlight color a bit better.

In a pinch the old VX-2R's CSC-90 soft case will work with the VX-3R OK. However, it fits a bit more tight and also not all of the windows will match up (like the rx/tx LED), but it can work unless you are using the FBA-37 AA battery case.

The proper CSC-92 case has a back on it that allows for the rear of it to move around slightly between the 2 battery sources using Velcro. There is a belt loop on the case, but I did not care for this. In fact I don't use belt clips with a small POCKET radio like the VX-2 and 3 are (why bother). Also there are 2 hard snaps that need to be used, that need to be pressed up against the body of the radio every time it's attached to the belt. This was not for me, so I removed the loop part of the case. I cut the 4 snaps very CAREFULLY with a larger pair of side cutters (marked with pink dots, see photo below). Otherwise it's good and provides protection of the transceivers buttons. Here is another one that Icom totally blew with the open front IC-P7A "LC-161 case".

CSC-92 soft case for the Vertex-Standard-Yaesu VX-3R.
It includes a belt loop, but I did not care for that part of it.
(Photos : N9EWO)

I hated the "Belt Loop" on the VX-3R's CSC-92 case,
So I CAREFULLY removed the 4 rivets holding it (marked with the pink dots)
using a larger pair of side cutters. Much better this way to me.
(Photo's : N9EWO)

Uses the same FNB-82LI battery pack, and the RF power is a dead ringer to the VX-2R. The standard battery cover is still a pretty thin piece of plastic and tends to fish (slide) around slightly even when locked. A bit more in fact over the old VX-2R. But this I did not find to be a drawback.

A new FBA-37 case option allows one to use 3 AA batteries instead of the FNB-82LI battery. It replaces the rear cover entirely. So you have to keep track of the standard cover as not to loose it. It fits and works well. There is a disclaimer in the owners manual that states that rechargeable batteries should not be used. This is because if it ever did short (on or off the radio), could indeed give you a hot pocket and very nasty burns (let alone killing the radio). But I did this anyway and worked just fine (but see the update "tight fit" note below), but being extremely careful as well. Again, I can see this could be a disaster if it ever shorted out with no protection in this case. So you have been warned.

Don't get any idea's of using this FBA-37 with your old VX-2R. It will not fit....sorry.

[ UPDATE: One major bug with the FBA-37 battery case I have found is that some brands of batteries fit VERY tight if not impossible to make work. This is even more true with rechargables. Is not as great as I was thinking at first, more of a pain in the rump in fact. ]

Also watch out for the small plastic pin inside the VX-3R's battery cavity. This is used for switching the charger circuit off if one accidentally plugs in the charger when the FBA-37 is in use. It looks very fragile.

Front and rear views of the FBA-37 three AA battery holder, also when attached to the radio.
Sorry , it will NOT work with the VX-2R. As it should , makes the VX-3R much more "chubby".
I found that it can fit VERY tight (if at all) with some brands of rechargable batteries.
(Photo : N9EWO)

Has the "No Power" Bug Been Cleared Up ??

As of me typing this text, the "no power bug" that hit many mid-later VX-2R's , this did not happen with my VX-3R sample.

With some later samples of the VX-2R, after a random number of power on's and off's, it would fail to come on. When this happened you were forced to remove and replace the battery. Then it was OK for awhile until it does it all over again. A royal pain in the rump it is.

LCD Display, and Bugs Here ?

Again as of me typing this text , the LCD bleed issue at power up with many VX-2R's was not present on my properly working sample of the VX-3R. My sample number 2 did have this strange quirk (it was fixed in repair).

However, with my "last sample" number three of the VX-2R (very near the last production run), it was also clear of this and the no power bug.

Dreaded Electronic Volume Control, Set Menu, Can Now Adjust The Mic Level

A feature that was on the VX-1R but not on the 2R that has been restored with the 3R , is a "electronic volume" control. But unlike the VX-1R, there is no up down buttons and one is forced to push in and HOLD a "Vol" button and THEN use the knob on top to make volume adjustments. This is good in some ways, bad in others. No wear not using a old style volume control, but is a chore to adjust the volume now being forced to use the tuning encoder to turn it up or down. The "volume control" set up on the VX-2R is MUCH better in my view. So a huge step backwards I'm afraid here for me. I like the VX-2R's volume control set up MUCH better.

Plus side (as minor as it is) to this is that you can change the way the VOL button works in the set menu. This allows just one poke of the VOL button and then for a couple of seconds the encoder on top becomes the volume control , and just like the function button it reverts back to tuning mode automatically. This is a much better way to use this and for me it was the FIRST item I changed in the set menu.

Or if one wishes, you can switch the top encoder to become the "volume control" all the time.

Speaking of the "Set" menu, there are now a 94 selections (compare to only 46 on the VX-2R). You can now adjust the microphone level and even turn off the blasted "Beep" every time the squelch breaks when scanning the memory channels (but still keep the keyboard beep on, this now has a separate toggle).

Audio Quality Receive and Transmit, Not as Good As the VX-2R's Receive Audio, Squelch Settings Improved.

After additional testing in various outdoor situations, the VX-2R is the clear winner for receive/speaker quality. There is a hint of bass response and is more hissy with the VX-3R (you cant push bass out of a micro sized speaker if at all from a Handheld Transceiver). Mind you it's still MUCH better over the Icom IC-P7A lousy receive audio. But I have a harder time hearing what's said in a outdoor situation with the VX-3R. The older VX-2R rules here with the more crisp and cleaner audio from the speaker.

Transmit quality is very good, loud and crisp (excellent). And again you able to adjust the mic level as well.

The squelch settings are seperate for the AM mode, FM mode, Wide FM mode and AM broadcast. The VX-2R has only 2, one for FM Wide and the other one for the everything else. Much better idea here with the VX-3R's squelch setings and works great.

MW Broadcast now features a internal bar antenna. Dual Receive With MW or FM Stations.

Here we have a slight improvement. Yaesu has added a internal loop-bar antenna for the MW band. Now don't get too excited for any DX here. It does help with LOCAL signals as compared to just using the short rubber antenna. For any distant stations, it's still going to disappoint.

There is a way to listen to a MW or FM broadcast station while also monitoring a local repeater (it can cut in), but this is not too useful as we will cover next.

FM Broadcast Performance Bad News, Stereo via a separate headphone jack, also a FM Broadcast cord antenna.

The FM Broadcast (88 to 108 Mhz) performance on the VX-3R is just about totally useless at my location. Very deaf if almost unacceptable, no sensitivity at all to speak of. Why did Yaesu go to all of this trouble to add FM stereo and have such a lousy receiver here ?? In a large city it may be more useable, but if you are out in the boonies (like me) at all "forget it". Here the VX-2R's FM performance blew the it into the next universe.

If one compares CURRENT printed specifications on the 2 radios , you can easily see that the listed VX-3R specs show much worse sensitivity. The VX-2R at 1.5 µv , the VX-3R is marked 3.0 µv in the FM Broadcast Band. Important note on this : Info via the owners manual marked as 0706W-BE on rear cover. It WAS marked as 1.5 µv in earlier manuals and ads. This shows the real story, Vertex-Standard is well aware of the much less sensitive FMBC section.

The AM, FM broadcast sections are marked as only "Single Conversion".

Yes, one can toggle to use the side mounted 1/8 inch headphone jack as the FM antenna in the set menu (but this did not help sensitivity for me). Good news is it was not all for nothing, as the rest of the radio's audio also comes out of this jack too. So you don't have to use the speaker/ mic's earphone jack (if your speaker/mic has a earphone jack) to use common lightweight headphones anymore. The speaker/mic jack on top uses the same weird 4 conductor ones that the VX-1, VX-2 and the Icom IC-Q7A use, so no change here. I still feel that speaker/mic jacks belong on the top of a handheld transceiver, and the VX-3R provides this.

From left to right, Icom IC-Q7A, Yaesu VX-2R and VX-3R.
(Photo : N9EWO)

Overall Sensitivity , 800 Mhz and SW / HF Bands Reception Any More Useful ?

Other than with the AM and FM broadcast bands , overall VHF/UHF sensitivity is pretty much a dead ringer to my ears when comparing to the VX-2R. But with one very important exception. The 800 Mhz band sensitivity has been MUCH improved. I can use this handheld for 800 Mhz public service monitoring now , whereas with the VX-2R it was pretty much a washout.

SW broadcast sensitivity is another dead ringer, in other words it's not too useful (see my VX-2R page for more information on this).

Included Antenna is the Same One That Came With the VX-2R.

Once again we have the same YHA-66 gem that came with the VX-2R. It's actually a very nice size antenna, but it does not do well outside the 2 meter and 70 cm amateur bands. But as it usually is, for many only a aftermarket antenna will satisfy, including me. We used a Diamond SRH-519 (8 inch thin whip) and worked very well, but is not made for rough handling / use. I still use a couple of the old VX-1R short antenna's that work a bit better over the YHA-66.

I was told that the latest versions of the Diamond SRH-519 provides a slightly longer "center stinger" for proper contact for the VX-2R and VX-3R's. Not sure how true this really is, however my later Diamond sample has a nice long center pin and easily makes proper connection to either radio. Have a good look before you buy any aftermarket antenna if you are able to.

CTCSS Delay Bug Is Gone, Finally !!

For those of you where the CTCSS delay bug (this is noticed more when scanning CTCSS memory channels) bothered you to no end as it did me with the VX-1R, VX-2R and even with the VX-5R, here it is very good news.

If you entered a channel with a CTCSS decode, when scanning and stopped on this memory entry, it would take a good second for the audio to come through, missing the first part of a message. Well with the VX-3R, Vertex-Standard-Yaesu has "finally" cleared this issue up. So tone decode is now useful for use with public service frequencies.

As I type this text, there was a report of the CTCSS values not taking (that is not storing). I'm crossing my fingers that I don't see this one ??

No Schematics or Block Diagrams Included

This may sound like a broken record, but once again the VX-3R does not include any schematics or even a lousy block diagram.

The Older VX-2R is Much Better To Me For My Uses, But Is Still a Worthy "Micro" Handheld Transceiver Overall.

Even with the bugs and quality control issues, the Vertex-Standard-Yaesu VX-3R is still a good micro transceiver with great extended receive (FM broadcast band is a very sour pill however). It still beats out the Icom IC-P7A to my ears with it's nasty poor receive audio. But watch out for what appears to be an above average dud rate ? For many a GOOD used VX-2R may still be the better way to go if you want it as small as you can get.

In fact I have let my VX-3R go and went for another new VX-2R before they were sold out. Even with the bugs I find the older model to be much more worthy for my uses and desires.

I No Longer Own This Model

Dave N9EWO
© 2008 N9EWO
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