There isn't much information available online about the VGC VR-N75. The manufacturer's
specifications are thin, most distributors carry the dual-band
VR-N76 instead, and I
haven't found a thorough independent review. Without one to test and measure, what
I can tell you is limited to what I pieced together from manufacturer pages and a handful of
retailer listings. I've left many of my fields empty because of this lack of information.
About the APRS Claim
VGC's marketing mentions a KISS TNC and APRS support, and that's worth a closer look. The
VR-N75 transmits only on UHF (the 70cm band). In North America, APRS almost universally lives
on 144.390 MHz, which is in the 2m band. A radio that can't transmit on 2m can't put a packet
on the frequency where the APRS network is actually listening.
APRS isn't strictly tied to 144.390 MHz - you can run it on other frequencies - but you won't
find the digipeaters and iGates that make APRS useful sitting on a UHF simplex channel. So even
if the radio does have a usable TNC, its practical value for the APRS network most hams care
about is questionable on a UHF-only handheld. If APRS is what you're after, the dual-band
VR-N76 is the sibling
that can actually transmit on 144.390 MHz.
No Keypad, So You Need the App
The VR-N75 doesn't have a number keypad. There's no way to punch in a frequency, set a tone,
or build a memory on the radio itself. All of that configuration happens in VGC's smartphone
app, which connects over Bluetooth and runs on Android and iOS. That makes the app less of a
convenience and more of a requirement: without it you can't set the radio up in the first
place, and you're limited to whatever has already been programmed in. If you don't want a
radio that depends on a phone to be usable, this isn't the one for you.
