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| Reviews Summary for Radio Shack HTX-252 |
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Reviews: 112
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Average rating: 3.1/5
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MSRP: $179.95 plus tax
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Description: 2 meter FM moble tranceiver, mini size. 10 memories, 10/25 watts, DTMF mic, 144-148 tx, 136-174 rx
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Product is not in production.
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More info: http://www.radioshack.com/
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WA7TGT
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Rating: 0/5
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Apr 30, 2012 11:01
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Worthless
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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The mic cord deteriorated and needed replacing. Of course being the Rat Shack product, it is not available. Now the radio is worthless because of bad products used in the mic cord and NO product support. I'll never buy a Rat Shack radio again. My advice is: Stick to Icom, Kenwood, Yaesu, etc.
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KB3UWC
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Rating: 4/5
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Nov 26, 2011 04:51
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A Good Inexpensive Radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have owned this radio about 2 years. I picked it up cheap on ebay, in like new condition. I wanted a low cost 2 meter rig to put in the car. incase it got stolen. With a hustler 5/8 wave trunk mnt, i can get into most of the repeaters here in Pittsburgh, Even in the valleys. nothing but good transmit audio reports. The receiver is ok but nothing great it seems susceptible to ignition noise. I think i'll keep it
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K4TB
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Rating: 3/5
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Feb 23, 2011 19:12
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Still Working
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Had this rig in my car since 2003. The radio was very inexpensive yet still works well. Its small size and 25 watts made it easy to mount under the plastic dash and to hook up to a 12v accessory outlet without having to drill through the firewall for power. A couple of ferrite chokes on the power cord and loops of the coax cable cured a slight hum on TX. The only other problem has been having to repair with electrical tape some splits along the microphone cable due to heat rot.
I would give it a higher rating but the ergonomics leave a little to be desired. For example, I like to scan repeaters and listen while I drive but I have to press the VFO/M button on the radio, then the scan/pause button on the microphone, each time you turn it on. The mic scan/pause button isn't easy to find without looking closely at the microphone - quite distracting when driving. All-in-all however, the radio has served me well.
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N4KXO
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Rating: 3/5
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Aug 24, 2010 06:16
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Not bad
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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For the price it's a good 2M rig. No bells and whistles. Just a 25 watt radio that works well with local repeaters. Fairly easy to program. A very good entry level rig.
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KD7QZW
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Rating: 2/5
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Mar 18, 2010 07:22
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good enough to stell
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Time owned: 6 to 12 months
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One of the first radios I got when I got my ticket just like everybody in 2002 lights burnt out the first 6 months but still worked fine with no completes. .then I'm not a digi-guy I'm a talker. story short everybody bad mouths the rig but ya know, some jerk for short of a word to keep this a post stole it out of my van. Hope crack-head’s likening it
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RADIO_RANDY
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Rating: 3/5
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Oct 6, 2009 15:02
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Okay for the price.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I paid $159 for mine about 5 or 6 years ago. It's size made for an easy install in my Toyota. I never noticed the audio output problem because I had to use an external speaker from the start because of the location.
This radio has given me good service in all the years I've had it in my mobile. If low transmit audio is a problem, I simply speak up. RF output has been sufficient even with a 1/2 wave fender mounted vertical. Since I generally only operate on one local repeater, channel memories have never been an issue. Lastly, it's relatively uncomplicated operation makes it a cinch for anyone to operate the radio, however...
My first gripe is that the radio always comes up in VFO mode when turned on. The simple solution was to leave our local repeater pair on the VFO. My second gripe is that even with all the buttons on the mike, you cannot program frequencies with it. It is strictly for DTMF use (and we don't even have a "patch" on our repeater). My third gripe is that there are no replacement parts for the mike. I lost the PTT rubber within the first 2 weeks I owned the radio. The replacement mike cost me $50 (1/3 the cost of the entire radio)!
Overall, this radio is (was) a decent buy if:
a. You generally frequent a single local repeater
b. You don't need lots of power
c. You are cramped for space
d. You truly dislike "complicated" radios
All in all, if I didn't already own this radio, I wouldn't buy it now. However, it works well enough that I'll probably keep it until it dies.
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KG4ZPN
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Rating: 4/5
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Sep 30, 2009 12:53
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5 Year Review
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Still going after 5 years.
Pros: Tiny!
Doesn't get near as warm as my FT-5100
Can be had super-cheap (very) used.
Cons: Low TX Audio! (see narrative)
MUST use Mic for programming functions
TINY speaker yields insufficient RX Audio.
BULBS difficult to replace. (see narr.)
I've had this little dude since 2004. It is still running as or better than new. Only fear now is that the mic is going to break, rendering the rig useless. A great rig to put in your go kit and use portable with a small battery, due to its diminuitive size. The small backlight bulbs tend to die often. And, as is the case with many rigs of this vintage, the bulbs ARE NOT LED (meaning don't last)and are relatively difficult to replace. I ended up wiring up 3 LEDs that have lasted for years. I repair radios as a hobby, and TX audio is low on every one of these I encounter. RV2 is the pot for same. Remove the lid, and point the knobs on the face of the radio away from you, heatsink pointing at your belly. Locate RV2. From the factory, it will be "pointing' at the 5 o'clock or 5:30 position. Turn RV2 clockwise until it points to approximately 7 o'clock. (This, of course, assuming you do not service/monitoring equip.) Voila! Audio problem solved. Also find a decent external speaker, because the 1-1/4" number built in the unit just doesn't do a good job.
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KB9WWL
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Rating: 3/5
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May 26, 2009 11:26
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A few years later...
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought this radio in 2000 just after getting my ticket. Since then it's been used for local repeater work and a bit of packet, and it's spent a fair amount of time just sitting in its box while I'm away at school.
I have a few issues with it. It developed a problem where the squelch knob did not work at all and the receive signal strength indicator stopped working; this was easily and quickly fixed by touching up the solder joints between the display board and the main board. The problem is that I've had to do this twice now. After taking it out of storage for a bit of "playing radio" a few days ago, the main frequency knob and its shaft fell out of the case... a drop of super glue fixed that.
I've heard nothing but good reports on transmit audio, and receive audio is OK. After figuring out its goofy PTT circuit, I got the radio to work with my TNC which works quite well.
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KD4TWJ
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Rating: 3/5
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Jan 21, 2008 07:58
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OK for basic repeater work, but not packet / digital
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I purchased this radio on e-bay for about 60 dollars (US) with the intent of using it for mobile APRS. It seemed like it would be a good fit, both physically and in it's general level of technology (or lack of). I also wanted something that would be fairly efficient on battery power, if there is a need to use it in an Emcomm situation, and it does well in this respect.
However, I do not recommend using this radio for packet / digital modes, especially in a mobile configuration. It does work and I am using it that way, but I pulled some hair in the process of getting it there. The big issue is the floating ground on the Mic circuit. If your antenna ground plane and the radio chassis are isolated from common ground... no problem. Of course, generally that is not an optimal configuration!
Otherwise, you must be very careful about how you interface to a TNC, a tracker (TinyTrak, etc...), or even a sound card interface with isolation transformers.
Of course, plastic Radio Shack microphones are no problem.
I am shopping for another VHF mobile for some other digital projects. I will NOT purchase another HTX-252 for that purpose.
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W2ZXN
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Rating: 4/5
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Oct 5, 2007 14:03
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HTX-252 has been good 2 me
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I have only owned this radio for about 60 days now, but before I purchased it, I had been borrowing for some time. I have enjoyed this radio, at first as a base and now as a permanent mobile in my car. It's very compact size is great for smaller cars or even large cars packed with too much else. It's 10/25W selectable output is more than enough for most mobile applications. The radio is easy to use and is perfect for new hams! It's only downfalls are it's inability to input a VFO frequency directly from the keypad and the fact that it's audio is quite tin-like. The VFO issue cannot be resolved but the audio can be easily fixed with an available MOD or by connecting an external speaker, which I have done anyway. 4 out of 5 STARS in my book. The RS HTX-252 is my little tank. 73
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