Big Red Bee GPS Tracking Rig

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Thanks for posting this info on your Yaesu VX-8GR. This is exactly the info I was looking for.

Now I have to decide on the VX-8GR for Father's Day now, or wait until Christmas when (maybe) the Kenwood TH-D72 is released!

The Kenwood looks like it will have everything the Yaesu has and more (e.g. USB interface for field firmware updating and downloading KML files for Google Earth of tracks or beacons of your movement history) plus a name I can remember how to spell.

Dayton_0067.jpg

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A couple points on the VX-8GR, based on experience over the past two days...

1) In the field, it's more clear than my VX-150
2) As advertised, it's waterproof. I just knocked over a glass of water on it; after drying the radio off, it's still working just fine (thank goodness).

-Kevin
 

I own 3 handhelds, all Yaesu. VX-2r, VX-150, and the VX-8GR.

The VX-150 has always worked well, and I've never had issues with it. Yesterday, I took the 8GR to the launch with me, and was surprised by how incredibly clear it was.

-Kevin
 
I guess I'm being dense today, but I'm not sure what you mean by clear? Are you meaning that the sound is better (crisper? louder?) than the others? Same size speaker? Have you tried them side by side to see if you just had the junk knocked out of your auditory canal? ;)

(grinning, ducking and runing for cover!)
 
Hey Troj,

You wanna part with your VX-2?

Pete
 
So, at AirFest I got my first opportunity to try out the extended capacity battery pack on the VX-8GR. I love it! I was able to use the radio all day without the battery dying, with the GPS turned on for the entire time.

The radio I normally use for talking is my VX-150, and its battery crapped out on me on Saturday. So, I moved the antenna over to the -8GR and started using it for talking as well as tracking and it just kept going....

Twice this weekend, the radio took us literally right to the rocket.

-Kevin
 
So, at AirFest I got my first opportunity to try out the extended capacity battery pack on the VX-8GR. I love it! I was able to use the radio all day without the battery dying, with the GPS turned on for the entire time.

The radio I normally use for talking is my VX-150, and its battery crapped out on me on Saturday. So, I moved the antenna over to the -8GR and started using it for talking as well as tracking and it just kept going....

Twice this weekend, the radio took us literally right to the rocket.

-Kevin

Is the extended battery pack a pack that uses AA batteries?

Bob
 
Is the extended battery pack a pack that uses AA batteries?

No; that's another option.

The stock battery on the radio is 1100MAh; the extended pack is 1800MAh.

The pack that uses AAs will provide a third option, but the run time won't be long, I don't think.

-Kevin
 
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