If you’ve done any research into amateur radio then you’ll have come across the term VFO mode.
When I encountered this for the first time I had no idea what it meant and struggled to find any references or other information about VFO mode to help me to understand it.
There are often two modes on an amateur radio – VFO mode and memory mode. The memory mode allows you to select among saved frequencies or channels, whereas the VFO mode allows you to tune the radio to find or select other frequencies. In other words VFO mode acts like the tuner allowing you to tune the radio.
What does VFO stand for?
VFO means Variable Frequency Oscillator.
In layman terms it simply means a mode which allows you to manually adjust the frequencies that the radio transmits and receives on.
This is just like when you tune your car radio or home stereo system, you may turn a dial or key in a frequency.
This is the basic principle of VFO mode – it allows you to manually tune in to the station or frequency that you need.
What is VFO A and VFO B?
A neat feature of many amateur radios is VFO A and VFO B.
This allows the user to transmit on one frequency and receive on another.
Although this might seem like a strange thing to want to do it can have advantages when you are operating in times of noise or high traffic levels – such as during a radio competition.
By receiving incoming signals on frequency or VFO A you can control the ‘traffic’ and responses and keep the transmit frequency clear of incoming traffic.
This can make it easier for distant stations to hear you more clearly as they will be listening to you on your transmit frequency ( VFO B ) and will thus not be subject to the noise of people trying to reach you on VFO A.
This manner of working is also called Split Mode – listening on one frequency and transmitting on another.
What does VFO/MR mean?
You may find a setting or button that allows you to toggle between these two modes.
This is simply a way to toggle between VFO ( or tuner mode ) to memory mode ( where you have saved your channels).
Final Words
VFO mode simply means that you have the ability to manually tune your ham radio set – just as you can tune your car radio and similar.
Many sets have multiple VFOs that allow to operate across separate frequencies and these can be beneficial in certain circumstances.
Read Next
- Will a CB antenna work for a ham radio?
- Why do you need a ham radio license?
- What’s better ham radio or CB radio?
- What’s an affordable ham radio for beginners?
- What kind of range can I get with a 10W ham radio?
- What kind of antenna do you need for ham radio?
