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write your own review of the Alinco DJ-580.
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KB7UYR
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 1, 2003 16:54
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Great Radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Have had my DJ-580 since 1994. Radio has been dropped, torn apart (I can pull it apart blind folded), modified (air band and 800MHz mods made), ran off of 12v on high power with packet and voice, stored for years and was recently pulled out of storage. The radio has been run for hours in cross band repeat mode. The rubber accessory jack cover is long gone and the print on the front control buttons have worn off. I have purchased the larger battery (EBP-28N) which is only the second battery ever on this radio. The original small battery lasted about four years and this one is still going strong, even after years of storage. Taken care of, this radio is strong and will last a long time. I enjoy using it and just recently jumped back on the bands.
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W4BDG
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Rating: 1/5
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Oct 13, 2002 23:27
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Poor reliability
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought this radio in 1996 and other than using up batteries, rapidly, I had no trouble until recently. Now the push to talk will not unkey and ALINCO says it cannot be fixed so I will have to scrap it. I won't buy another Alinco product.
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KD4AMG
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Rating: 4/5
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Sep 9, 2002 11:03
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4 out of 5 rating
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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bought it NEW in 1996, have NO problems with operation ( easy to go from memory channels to vfo is some times a slight problem ). Always use the big batteries, sold the small one that came with the rig, ( ran out of power in less than one hour with small pack )....the radio does not get consistent useage, some times sits on shelf for months at a time before use, always ready to go, batteries stay charged while sitting unused for months ( 3 of the BIG batteries)..very easy to program ( dont have to drag out the owners manual to do that)...would rate it a 9 out of 10 if possible and if the price was right would buy another USED one !!
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KD4JJQ
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Rating: 2/5
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Apr 1, 2002 02:12
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Subpar Durability, Great Receiver
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Radio has great receive allowing one to operate in close proximty to another xmiter in the same band. Descent audio out on rcv . But if dropped , a interal xtal oscillator is easily damaged, & into repair she goes, to the tune of $ 150.00. I should know it happened to two 580's I owned & a DJ 160. Also the finals will burnout quick if operated from a 12v source for extended amt. of time esp @ hi power.
Too bad , otherwise it is a great radio,a far better rcvr than my Yaesu FT-530, but the 530 on the other hand is much more durable & has never given me problem & yes has been dropped on the pavement , rocks, etc. & continously ran on ext. 12v.
All my Alincos now rest in a parts bin.
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VU3SCD
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Rating: 5/5
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Mar 8, 2002 06:40
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2 band in one Price
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Hello Everyone,
Well I am a late commer in this rig, but to be clear It have brought at 210USD and I think it is the best in dual band. I am very much happy and I have so far not encountered any problem execpt that due to my mistake I lost the handi original dual band antenna.
With Cross band on its self I don't think it so band.
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N2CTZ
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Rating: 1/5
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Feb 3, 2002 13:17
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poor quality
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought this radio for the low price new. The battery after a month kept falling out and the metal contact on the back of the battery fell off. The selectivity is awful and dont waster your money on this radio. I hope alinco has fixed the poor plastic quality of this model
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KE4RWS
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 10, 2002 00:53
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Good Radio!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've owned a couple of these radio's over the years. One brand new and one used. I still have the used model and it works very well. In fact, I originally sold it to a local amateur and recently bought it back to find it still works very well. The receive appears to be very good on both VHF and UHF bands. Although I've never hooked a scope up to it, it does seem to be sensitive to even weak signals, respectively speaking. I must note that even on low power it warms the back of the radio very quickly. This appears to be the case with all DJ-580's in general though. The wide receive ability of this radio makes it a nice addition to my collection of "useful" radios. I haven't had any of the power connection problems others have spoke about, but my PTT button sometimes doesn't want to work. The tone-burst button just below the PTT also keys the radio, so I've been using that for PTT instead. The PTT will be replaced soon enough though. Another issue which seems to be generalized to the DJ-580 is the fact that the numerical keypad seems to wear out prematurely. I replaced the keypad in my used model and thusfar it has held up after 2 years of use. Alinco appears to have priced their replacement parts (at least for the 580) reasonably. This is something other manufacturers could learn from. I see no benefit in gouging people with high-priced replacement parts, and Alinco seems to have a grip on this issue. The batteries also appear to be well built and are reasonably long-lasting. There are some very high rated, long lasting aftermarket batteries available for this model in both 7.2 & 12 volt varieties. Last, I think overall the DJ-580T is a good buy if you find one that hasn't been abused. They appear to be well designed, well built radios. I would buy another one if the need arose.
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WY7D
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Rating: 3/5
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Dec 22, 2001 12:50
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Problems with buttons, pwr jack, etc.
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I am a little amazed by the other reviews. I have had two Alinco DJ-580 handhelds for over 5 years. From the first year I began to have problems. The power jack on both radios quit functioning. I had trouble with an antenna connection on one of the radios. The function button on one radio became intermittent and the PTT button also. On both radios the writing on the buttons has worn so that some buttons are illegible. On one of the rigs you can no longer read Alinco DJ-580. It has worn off. I don't feel that I used the rigs so much that they should loose their markings like this. I have sent the rigs in a few times to Alinco for repair, twice to get the power jacks repaired. Neither power jack is working reliably at this time. Overall, I have not been very pleased with the radios. On the positive side, when the problems I mentioned were not present, the rigs were great and did what they are supposed to do. Recently I called Alinco about repairing them again and was told that just to replace the internal lithium batteries would cost $70 for each radio.
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31337
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 17, 2001 22:01
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Excellent, durable, easy mod, overall high quality
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've owned this radio for around 8 years or so. I originally paid roughly $400 for it. It came with a 7.2v 600mah(I believe) battery. This allows for 2.5 watt max transmit. I later added a 12v 800mah for 5 watt handheld use and a 7.2v 1500mah, which I use the most. The 7.2v 1500mah is the EBP-20NS and the 12v 800mah is the EBP-22NS. I get solid battery life in all cases. I use the Alinco vinyl case.
Pros for this radio include :
1> Good build quality. The buttons are firm and don't feel sloppy. The silk screening is in great shape even after all this time. Knobs feel good, volume control isn't scratchy when adjusting, etc etc. Good belt clip.
2> Speaking of Volume. Good solid speaker, good bass, not tinny like a lot of radios. Two speaker out jacks (1/8") plus mini-mic jack. Radio shack hand-held universal speaker mic works well.
3> Easy to use. This radio has a much smaller learning curve and doesn't use crazy menu based systems. Hold one FUNC key and press a DTMF key(which are labeled for function) and then twist dial to adjust. I haven't forgot how to use it even after 6 months of non-usage.
4> Easy to modify. Literally cut the blue wire and the red wire and you have opened up all the mars/cap, extended tx/rx, including am aircraft receive, and cellular receive. Certainly verify my colors before modding. No goofy software mods, no messy diodes or resisters, no smt stuff.
5> Reliability. Absolutely no problems with this radio since I've bought it.
6> Good intermod rejection. Unlike several of my other radios, this guy really does well in downtown areas. I've travelled all over and this one consistently outperforms my Kenwood which is considerably newer.
Good features, good parts, good assembly, and good performance make this a really great radio. Although I have several others, I find myself always going back to this one.
To be fair, there are some cons, though :
1> No alphanumeric. At the time this radio was made, alphanumeric was almost unheard of --- but the new radios have it.
2> Only 40 memories. With Police Call and Percon databases data available, there are tons more frequencies to be listened to. No computer control.
3> The scanner portion is just plain SLOW. There's no two ways about it. Don't buy this to replace your bearcat.
4> Some goofy problem which doesn't show its face much, but it's there. When one band has CTCSS squelch set, the other band's receive is automatically squelched to same tone. ie, If you are listening to two different frequencies on two different bands, simultaneously, and have CTCSS enabled on both, you'll get mixed results. I may not be characterizing this correctly, but there is some related problem here.
This radio has really held its value over the years, and I still see them listed in the $250 range used online.
Be aware that the newer DJ-582T does NOT have the same capabilities when modded!
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KE1L
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Rating: 4/5
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Sep 6, 2001 10:21
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Nice rig - but not crunchproof
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had the DJ-580 for many years now. (I bought it new, and don't remember exactly when. But it was before 1994. I have the original version with the 800MHz sub-receiver.) Once I replaced the poor excuse for an antenna that came with the radio with a Diamond RH77CA, and bought an EBP-20NX battery pack from W&W associates for longer battery life, I was set - the Alinco has served me very well. Enough memories for me, good transmit and receive audio, 5W on external power - I can't think of anything else I'd ask of it, except...
Its one shortcoming is strong-signal handling. It completely folds up in downtown Boston. To be fair, the majority of dual-band HTs do nearly as badly in the same environment. (The old Icom IC-32AT is one exception.)
The DJ-580T is a bit large and heavy by modern standards, though you can cut down the bulk by adding a compact NiMH battery pack; they're now available.
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