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write your own review of the ADI AR-247.
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KD8BIW
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Rating: 3/5
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Oct 19, 2009 22:22
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Not to bad...
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've had this rig now for 3 years, got it used. Had to send it back to Pryme for no audio from speaker. Audio amp was bad, no replacement available. This only affected the internal speaker, not the external jack on back. Using it in mobile so have an external speaker on it, works good. Pryme tuned it up while they had it, a nice touch. It is working great now! Have an intermittent problem with display, I just turn it off/on again and it is good for awhile. All-in-all, not to bad.
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N6HBJ
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Rating: 4/5
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Jun 19, 2009 13:41
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Display Going wacko - still a good radio
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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It's been 3 years since my last review. I've had this radio for 6 years now and it seems it's developing the same intermittant display issues that others have complained about.
Overall I've been happy with this radio. If you can find one super cheap I say buy it. I'm not sure how much longer mine will last but so far 6 years of solid service (up until now) without issue other than replacing the microphone (cord problem) is a success to me.
Looking at Jetsream's new 220 rig to replace this when it goes...
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AB4D
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Rating: 2/5
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Dec 5, 2007 18:36
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Not too good, easy to see why ADI left the amateur market
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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A friend gave me one of these transceivers a while ago because it had the well known intermittent problem with the display and he did not want to bother with it. I was going to repair the rig, but it appears that Pryme/ADI no longer makes any transceivers for the amateur market, thus lack of support. Some have commented that this radio and it's brothern the ADI-147 are identical to FM monobanders made by Kenwood, in this case the TM221a. However, although it appears that the chassis are identical, the control boards behind the display do not appear to be identical. Because of the noted problems with this line of transcievers and now that ADI/PRYME appears to have left the amateur business, I would not recommend purchasing any of these rigs.
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N8WWM
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Rating: 2/5
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Nov 7, 2006 13:04
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TX Audio noise problems-HELP!!!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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ON TX can hear a scratching and crackling noise from internal speaker. This happened immediately after purchase. (used at a hamfest, silly me!)Other people say the noise is audible on transmitted signal. I have tried everything I know of...touching up solder joints, checking into a dummy load to see if something was wrong with antenna, replace speaker, using external speaker, all kinds of things besides these. Talked to ADI and they tried to sell me a 30 dollar service manual that they admitted was inadequate to fully troubleshoot the rig. They also said that this was the first they ever heard of such a problem happening. Anybody else had this happen and discovered a fix? ADI is useless as far as getting help is concerned. Don't buy this rig unless it is in kit form...that way you can be sure it is assembled right!
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KA3NXN
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Rating: 1/5
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Sep 5, 2006 07:17
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Ongoing problems
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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This is my 2nd one that has had display issues. The diaplay goes completely whacko and the only way to get it back is to reset the unit several times. This unit is only 6 months old. Also the microphone quit working. Lucky for me I had a friend who had a Kenwood hand mic that is a direct replacement for the ADI unit. I also had another friend who had one that is only 3 month old that suffered from the "no power out" problem. Stay Away. When will one of the big 3 step up and start making a 220 rig again? ADI & Alinco are junk at best.
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N6TZ
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Rating: 5/5
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May 20, 2006 21:32
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Many Years of Great Service
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I guess I have had mine for 6 or more years now. I will rate it a full 5 as it is still working away with no breakdowns and I am happy.
Once or twice I have had the read-out scramble on me. I thumped it and turned it off and on and it was fine for another year or more.
I guess I could take it apart and do the "tighten and reseat" procedure to cure the problem, but it has not been enough of a problem.
I use it as a base unit on simplex mostly, but also for repeaters, with a copper pipe J pole at 25 feet. The receive sensitivity is very good, and yes, the S-meter is a bit generous, but what do S-meters mean anyway - - ho-hum - - "your 599 good buddy"!!
- - - For a signal report, just tell them what percent of quieting they are.....does anyone remember this valuable report anymore?
So I recommend the rig, easy to program and use.
Hal, N6TZ
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W1SWR
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Rating: 2/5
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Mar 31, 2006 07:32
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Not smart
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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My new AR-247 lost it's output power.
Sent it back to factory for repair.
It was 3 months old. They send me another radio with
scratches on case and face. It was an older radio that they had fixed. I kind of like to keep my equipment clean and no marks or scratches just in case of resale. Not happy with them and for the most part as the saying goes ( you get what you pay for )
73
Steve
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WA9ENA
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Rating: 4/5
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Mar 29, 2006 11:52
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Solid rig, but details lacking
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I put my new AR-247 on the air in late December, 2005. I immediately noticed that the "Down" buton on the mic was intermittant, but that has improved with usage. I also had a few QSOs during which it seemed as if there was a loose connection in the receiver, but that issue cleared up with usage, too. Then, just one month after putting it on the air, the final apparently died. The rig would transmit for a few seconds and then drop to zero output power, but drawing lots of 13.6VDC current.
The good news is that Pryme stood behind the product. I shipped the rig to them and they sent me another rig in return. I have had the replacement rig for a few weeks, so I am in hopes that it will keep on running. I believe that the replacement rig was another that had been returned. I suspect that repairs may take awhile, so Pryme rotates rigs in order to provide fast service. That's OK with me, as long as the rig keeps going.
Other than the final failure and mic button incident, I am real happy with this rig. Receive audio is good and there's plenty of it, even with the internal speaker. The LCD panel is easy to read and the rig has produced reports of great xmit audio by those folks who know my "live" voice. We have a fair amount of 223.500 activity around my area, so the rig gets plenty of use.
I only have 2 negatives: I find the use of the Memory button to both start and stop memory scanning to be a pain. It might be OK to start scanning, but scanning should stop (and stay stopped) when you hit the mic PTT button. The other appears to be a receiver design problem: Several times, I have copied stations that were half to full scale on the relative signal meter, but which were NOT "full quieting" to the ears. That tells me the receiver has a very weird quieting slope that differs from all other FM receivers in my shack (and I have lots of them).
All in all, I gave the AR-247 a "4" because of the early final failure, the intermittant internal connection (that "cured" itself), the non-standard way to stop scanning, and the intermittant mic button right out of the box. These are balanced by excellent audio, great support service from Pryme, adequate memories, and a mic, that although it is large, is easy for me to hold and is comfortable to use. A few other hams in my area have the AR-247 and their comments have been mixed. One fellow said that his has spent more time on the repair bench than on the air. The others have had no problems. I am enjoying the rig and hope to do so for a very long time.
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N6HBJ
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Rating: 4/5
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Jan 6, 2006 18:21
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Very Good
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I really like this radio. I would have given it a 5 but the microphone cord went bad after a few months and it appears this is not an uncommon problem.
But other than that it has been a reliable performer for about 3 years now in a base installation. Easy to program.
I recommend it.
~Mike
N6HBJ
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N0MUD
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 2, 2006 23:06
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Still a great rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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Per my Feb 05 edit, I still give this radio a perfect five. I've had no problems at all. I program the radio just like I do all my other radios, enter the freq, the tone and put in memory. So what's so hard about that, it works just like my Yaesu's do and my Kenwood's do. So what if the mic lights stay on, if that's all you have to moan and groan about then sheesh get a life. I use mine as base unit for now but in time I will shift it to the truck. The only problem I've ever had with ADI they fixed immediately for me. I had a AR-147 and it quit working after two years so I sent it back to Pryme/ADI and they sent me a brand new one, even tho it was way out of warranty. To me this was great service. I was treated with respect on the phone and one thing I had mentioned to the tech on the phone was I needed the radio back in time for hunting season and I had it well within the time frame to program the new one and reinstall it back into my truck. Great service and great radios. Buy one you won't go wrong.
73's Mike N0mud
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