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Reviews For: Radio Shack HTX-252

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Base/Mobile (non hand-held)

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Review Summary For : Radio Shack HTX-252
Reviews: 107MSRP: 179.95 plus tax
Description:
2 meter FM moble tranceiver, mini size. 10 memories, 10/25 watts, DTMF mic, 144-148 tx, 136-174 rx
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.radioshack.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
141073.1
KC9DGM Rating: 2003-04-19
Best bang for the buck! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
So far, so good. I bought this radio on clearance (They are discontinuing them reportedly)for 89.00, which makes up for why my rating is so high. For a mere 90$, this radio performs well for a radio of its size and caliber. The rig itself is very small, and was easy to mount in my Chevy Malibu. I have to admit I wasn't crazy about purchasing any RS ham gear, but this radio made me change my mind.

First off, the radio is very simple to use, unlike my FT-2600 which has a lot of features and buttons. Then again, it really doesn't have many features so this is something you deal with. Simplicity is the key word here, folks. And small.

Looking at the rig from a distance, you might have trouble believing this radio is capable of 25 watts. Well it can, and it does it well! I was able to hit the Antioch repeater from Cicero on 25 W mobile. I received good signal and voice clarity reports at both power settings. These radios are almost completely gone here in the Chicago area, so snag one if you can!

I'd recommend this radio to a new ham or someone who needs a single-band 2 meter rig for their car. This is my primary mobile rig and I have yet to enounter any problems with it yet.

KC0ORP Rating: 2003-04-07
Good, but limited. Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've had my HTX-252 since December 2002. Very simple decision to buy at $99.00. Went on air with 5/8 wave mag mount (RS)on filing cabinet, started hitting repeaters at 25 miles (40 km). Very low power consumption (3A). Attached it to my Diamond V2000 tri-band ant, got good audio reports out to 27 miles/43 km on the surface, and hit repeaters at 82 mi/132 km. No problems with audio quality. All of these were at 25W output.

Negatives:

The mic comes with a DTMF keypad, but you can't enter freq's directly. RRRRRR!

The memory channels can only be reset/replaced by resetting the entire radio, including the mem's.

Birdies as described. Some intermod (pager) occasionally. NB: I live 3 mi/5km from 2 major TV stations, and a boatload of other sticks. It coould have been a LOT worse.

For the money, and low power consumption and size, the unit delivers a good, basic level of performance. Choose your memory channels with care...

Wally, KC0ORP
KD5UJX Rating: 2003-03-28
No frills way to talk Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
If you have had a problem with this unit, I can understand why you would give it a low rating. 25 watts, 4" wide and 1" tall, and you have pl encode & decode. This is my first ham rig. So as a new ham, I have little to compare it to. It got me on the air and has kept me there since November of 2002 with NO problems. Sure it only has 10 memories and it't hard for my fat fingers to work the controls, but for $89.00! Keeper...
KT4HT Rating: 2003-03-17
The worst 2 meter rig I have ever used. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Given the $89 current price tag, and my need for a very small 2 meter rig, I figured I'd give it a try My mistake...awful transmit audio reports, awful receive audio, backward and convoluted programming. This rig is a nightmare, even at $89. Returned it and got my money back.
N3PM Rating: 2003-03-10
Needs help Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I had mine 6 months. You can now hear noise thru the speaker when transmitting, but only on low power. It also puts out a wide noisy signal with no audio. High power works OK, but the transmit audio is low. It was the last unit the store had, and a "floor model". I suspect it was a return.
My warning should have been the additional 10% off.
W7BB Rating: 2003-03-07
Not worth the money! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
All the comments you have read up till now are true. I bought this rig for $99. Currently having problems with the squelch opening for no reason. Have to thump on it to get it to close. Scans slow. Stays on busy channel for 5 secs. then continues scanning. No option to change this. Only has 10 memories. No direct entry of frequencies. Programming and use requires both the keys on the mike, and buttons on the radio. As many reveiws have stated, it is a good basic, radio. But for another 40 bucks you can get the Yaesu 1500 (which I also have) and get 10 times the radio. More options, and easier to use. Save up the other $40 and get the Yaesu (or anything else)
DB4KN Rating: 2003-02-17
Good Radio for the money Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Basically good radio for the money. Good radio at the entry level, OK for the advanced ham. If you want more, pay more!
Anyone has a mod. for this radio to expand the tx from 136-174 MHz (similar to the HTx 242)?
K9UNA Rating: 2003-02-04
Just for the fun of it Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
On a trip to my local RS (to buy their very cheap 25 amp PS)I came upon this radio for the low, low price of $89.00. Being a person who typically would not be called lucky (except for having a beautiful and wife and great kids) I leaped at the chance to buy it at half-off. Wow, I'm typically the guy who is just behind the person who gets the last of something. I rushed home and read the e-ham reviews....GADS, no luck again! Many reviewers hated the radio commenting on the terrible audio. I ripped open the instructions and I got onto a local repeater and joy of joys....good audio reports!!! I have to admit that I did make the RV2 adjustment prior to my initial transmission. Anyways, this is a very small, bare bones VHF transceiver. I don't think that it is worth $160 bucks, but if you have $90 kicking around (burning a hole in your pocket) you might want to give it a try. On the plus side it is very tiny and doesn't draw a lot of current so you could use it off your cigar lighter. It puts out 25 watts which may be sub-par compared to most mobile radios but typically enough for many uses. Overall construction (especially the mic) is a bit on the cheap side.
AA1ZO Rating: 2003-01-22
Great Radio Time Owned: N.A.
I have owned this radio for two years. It works great. I replaced it with a ic-2100H. What a mistake. The Icom has had problems but not my HTX-252. It doesn't have allot of features or memory but it quietly goes about it's intented business. No fuss, no muss. I'm glad I kept my HTX-252. If I had sold it I would have regretted it. I would have bought it all over again.
KC8QOY Rating: 2003-01-22
A Good Radio For The Cheap Price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got this radio cheap on clearence at Radio Shack and was impressed by the size. I have a small car so I needed something compact. The first radio I got from them was defective. It transmitted a loud tone with my audio. It also didn't have the back light display.

After returning it, I got their floor model and it has worked great since. I had to do the RV2 mod but it was easy to do. I still get the tone still but its not as loud, you can't hear it unless I don't speak. It has only 10 presets, which doesn't bother me since I only talk on a couple of repeaters anyway.

For the price I paid, it is a good deal. I am sure a Yaesu FT-1500 would be nicer but it would have cost me twice as much. Its not really fair to compaire this radio to more expensive rigs. At the retail price, its not worth it. At the clearence price, its well worth it.