I got the VX-7R but it can't do jack shi~
It can barely do 420 - 470 Mhz, I was hoping for a Radio to do 1 Mhz to 999 Mhz, but according to my local radio dealer on the military has access to them.
You won't be able to find a radio that transmits from 1MHz to 999MHz, especially fro only $500... look at the Kenwood TH-F6A, That radio will RX from .1MHz to 1.3GHz... and for only $304! Seems to me that if you paid $500 for a VX-7R, you got taken for a ride! At Ham Radio Outlet, you can get the VX-7R for $299 or the Kenwood for $304.95 and then do the mods yourself for free. If you paid someone $200 to mod that radio you got ripped off!
You CAN get a radio, for about $1500 that will transmit from .1 MHZ right through to 470MHz, and then you go and buy single band radios for cheap for above 470MHz. Example, you can get a radio that transmits from 902MHZ to 928 MHz for only $35! ... and there isn't a whole lot that you can do above 928MHZ anyway, there isn't a whole lot going on in those freqs, and the stuff that is going on you prob won't be able to hear as it's mostly digital. but you'll be taking up a lot of space with radios and you'l need to spend a bunch more on antennas. there isn't one antenna that will be able to cover you for all those freqs. all has to do with resonance. but that's a different subject.
Seems like you should have done a little more research on radios before trusting your "local radio dealer".