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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
KC2JGA Rating: 2002-05-18
Not too bad for $160 Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Kinda small for the price tag. Though after having to replace the volume and squelch control pots (due to cheap material) $18! I have had no problems other than that. Could use more memory, easy to setup for packet too!
W1NRA Rating: 2002-04-19
Would not buy this one Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well I have to say I am not impressed by this radio. I have had three htx-202's and have a htx-404 and they are much better radios than this afterthought of a mobile. What's wrong with it? Let me list them. Price, there are many mobiles available for less money. Power, almost ALL other mobiles put out at least 50 watts whereas this one (252) puts out much less. Memories, most mobile radios have at least 100 memories and some as high as 150. The HTX-202 has more memories than this imatation radio. The audio is usually poor quality also. There is a fix for it but why should you need to "fix" a new radio? I have several friends who bought them and wish they had been told of the problems before hand.
Seems Radio Shack moved in a backwards direction when they dropped the HTX-202 and came up with this one. I use one of the 202's every day and used one on packet for 3 or 4 years with no problems. Any of the following radios are a much better deal these include the Kenwood TM-261A, Yaesu FT-1500M, Icom IC-2100H and there are some others too. All of the above radios have three power levels up to 50 watts. Icom has 113 mems, Yaesu has 130 mems and the Kenwood has 62 mems. The Icom and Kenwood will show you what tone to use with the repeaters and the Yaesu will give you the power supply voltage. The Icom has two display colors and three brightness levels.The Icom and Kenwood are PC programmable also. It's your money so spend it where you will but think about it before you spend your hard earned bucks on less than a good radio. Get a great radio and enjoy ham radio to the fullest. Good luck and 73 from Jerry / W1NRA
W8MMQ Rating: 2002-02-05
Re: Good little radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am amending my previous review. After several days of using the HTX-252, I have determined that the audio output of this radio is terrible. Much like previous posts, the audio quality was far from perfect. I did the adjustment to RV2, and that raised the audio level as expected, but it still had a muffled, distorted sound. I bought one of these, then took it back and got another one. It had the exact same problems. I do like the radio. It is really small and fits nicely in a vehicle. I definately think there needs to be some work done by Radio Shack to improve audio performance, on transmit, and also on receive.

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Earlier 4-star review posted by W8MMQ on 2002-02-01

The HTX-252 is a great little radio for the money. I do wish it had some more memory channels (it only has 10). The audio is a bit low on transmit, but it works great from the moment I plugged it in. And the small size makes it nice for mobile operation. Would definately pick up another one, and recommend it to others. I paid around $160.00 for it. It's true there are other, more powerful radios for the same price (I own both an ADI and a Kenwood). But I like the fact that I went right down to my local Radio Shack and picked it up the very day I decided I needed an extra rig for the car.
KG4RBS Rating: 2002-01-21
A great radio for the money Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this Radio as a spare, And it was the lowist price one I could find. The only thing the Shack should of done is Add more memories to it it only has 10. And the biggest thing is trying to change the offset,,, You have to fumble the func and the lock buttons at the same time to get it to go back into Simplex.Other than that this little rig (And I mean its the smallest 2 meter mobile I,ve ever seen)Talks and recieves as good as the big boys home on the bench!!! I would surely buy another one!!! 73 KG4RBS Denny
KB9TJJ Rating: 2002-01-02
Great Radio / Some assembly required Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Paid 129.95

Great Audio Out on simplex. Packet works well after this mod

http://www.mods.dk/select.php3?id=2233&radio=Radio Shack&model=HTX-252

Few features, blah blah blah, I knew that when I bought it. If I wanted more I would have found a 242 at a hamfest. Great second radio in the skywarn Car. Use no smaller than a 5/8, Excellent for portable use with beam, 27 watts actual @ 14V
KE6NFZ Rating: 2001-12-29
Total Junk Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought one with Christmas money yesterday. Today I will be returning it. I tried two units. Both had a problem, not with the audio level, but with a hum that I did not have with the same setup with an HTX-242 or an Icom IC-2000H. On transmit there is a high pitched hum, regardless of whether my engine is running. If I extend the microphone cable to it's full length then the hum goes away. It is also a pain in the *** to have to push the memory button every time this thing is turned on. It is also a pain to not have the MR/VFO selectors on the MIC. It is also a pain to have to slide a switch to activate the DTMF tones and then not be able to hear them. Something more that bothers me is that even when squelch is not broken the speaker is on all the time with a very slight hum. I want no audio at all if squelch is not broken. As far as comments I have read about price and if you want more features then pay more I have the following opinion to spout off. I would have paid up to $259 to have had this radio have the same sound quality and ease of operation as an HTX-202. This radio is in no way comparable to the quality of an HTX-202. For about the same price you can get a Kenwood, Yaesu, Icom or ADI radio with better features and more power. I wanted a little radio without lots of features but with good audio and ease of operation. I got a junky little thing that has a hum and is awkward to use while driving. For shame Radio Shack!
KC5SZO Rating: 2001-12-16
Pretty good radio overall Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Good radio for the price ($159), I've read the reviews of others complaining about lack of extra functions, If you want more then pay more! I did the deviation modification right away with instructions from QRZ.com and recieved good audio reports from other hams. I turned up the variable on mine slightly more than 1/8 of a turn.
73's to all, Dave
KC0IOP Rating: 2001-12-08
A little flakey Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought two of these radios at the same time. They both have the exact problems. One is the transmit audio was louzy. I fixed that by removing the felt in front of the mike and adjusting the mike gain inside. The other problem that I can't fix is that there is a birdie on 146.805 That is the repeater I use most. I can't squelch it out. Anyone that can help me would be appreciated. rcarmack@misn.com
KB8DNS Rating: 2001-11-18
2nd review on replacement HTX-252 Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
This is my second HTX-252 and it does not have the problems of my first. I had returned that one for a refund and waited for a few months for early "bugs" to be worked out.
This new one worked well with some critical responses on my audio but adjusting the way I talked into the mic helped.
I then noticed a funny problem when I transmitted. About every four or five keyups the radio let out white noise in the speaker and did not transmit, it did not do this all the time. RF getting into the PLL? I sent it in under warrenty and it was returned in about a week. No real explaination of what they did on the invoice and no charge!
Well it seemed to work better and the audio was better on transmit, BUT! now it did the keyup problem every tenth time or so. After a couple of months of this I returned it again, five days short of warrenty ending, I received it back in about ten days. The invoice stated that the front panel PC with it's microprocessor was replaced, no charge but the total was about 89 dollars!
Now the rig works just fine! Even receives better! No keyup problem! Audio reports were good!
In summary I feel this is a neat rig for the money and I know for a few dollars more I could buy a Kenwood, Icom or Yaesu with more features. The size is great and simplicity is super. But the quality of the rig is only marginal.
**** Produced by Maycom in Korea for Radio Shack as well as Shack's current hts and HTX-10. I believe Radio Shack is giving us an alternative choice. Their service is fine! I give them a five of five for effort.

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Earlier 4-star review posted by KB8DNS on 2000-07-30

I bought this radio on a whim as I had seen a similar radio that is sold in Europe. I believe it is made by the same people who currently make Radio Shack's HTX-10 and also the magnum series of ten meter mobiles. The HTX-252 is a well put together rig, I think it could sell for less, say about $149 and if it goes on sale for that price it is worth it. Quality is good as it is solid and quite small. About the size of two cigarette packs side by side. S meter seemed a bit off in comparison to my Icom 746 and the increments could be more defined. It has many segments but it works only in groups of four. Easy to program but not intuitively for me, I had to read the book!
UHF connector is right on the back of the radio next to the heat sink. It seemed to run warm at both power levels. My power meter showed 10 watts on low, (as specified) and 28 watts on high, (a bit more than specified). The big three (four?) have radios in this price range with more quality and features but this is better than the old 2 meter mobiles that the Shack sold.
Two negatives about the example I have.... The small screw is missing on the mic connector and the VFO knob, (switch) is flakey, that is it malfunctioned and started to scan at times. I had to tweek and twiddle it to work right. It will be returned for another one as I do not think this is a common problem.
Good signal and audio reports on my tranmissions and the receive is nice with only a hint of hiss. Small size makes it nice for small spaces.
73 Rod KB8DNS
KG4KRW Rating: 2001-11-18
A good unit overall Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Like others have said, the only drawbacks to this unit are the lack of direct frequency entry with the keypad and I had to send the unit in to get the deviation adjusted. I would have done it myself, but I have the extended warranty so I let them do it and I had it back in a week. I am also experiency problems with chirping on certain frequencies that I use often. I can't get it to squelch out the background noise on those frequencies but I can with my other radios. A good radio though.