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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
AG4ET Rating: 2001-05-21
Fine rig at sale price Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Like this rig, especially the small size. Have mine running off the DC outlet in the car, since it only takes 4 amps on transmit. Easy to set up, even without the manual. Wish it had more than 10 memories and scanned on power-up, but knew what I was getting before buying it (unlike many who have reviewed the rig.) Best buys are at a hamfest ($130), OK on sale at $150, but forget it at list price. Not as full featured as my IC-2100H, but fine as a second rig.
KC8RFC Rating: 2001-05-21
Bare Radio! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well last month I bought one of these radios from RS the radio seems to be operating alright except for a low audio problem. It is a good backup radio it just contains the minimum it could include better audio (transmit) 50w out, run cooler, and have more memmories. But if you really dont need the 50w the radio is a good cheap radio (even though I wouldn't even attempt packet).
KF9NF Rating: 2001-05-21
Good Price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Bought my HTX 252 last weekend at Dayton Hamvention for $129.95. I'm using it for a backup base. It was easy programming the 10 memories, the audio reports so far are good, the incoming audio is good. A basic, simple radio - I don't miss all the accessories that come on a full-featured radio. No direct entry of frequencies, but you can do all the necessary entry work directly through the mike. Altogether, not a bad radio for the price.
KC5JHW Rating: 2001-05-09
So far So good Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was going for an ICOM or Kenwood until I saw the sale for $149 (no S&H charges). That tipped the scales to the HTX-252.

The radio was very easy to install and everything worked as advertised. Over the air signal reports have all been fine. The Rx audio isn't as strong as my Icom IC-280 before it died but was plenty good.

I would have appreciated a schematic and pin-out.

The lack of direct entry is irritating.

I would not have purchased it at the regular price but for $149.00, I am quite pleased.
KD7CJO Rating: 2001-05-01
nice, but could be better Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought rig new and soon after started to have problems with the radio losing trans. audio during qsos. it would just stop talking but, would still show output on bargraph. had good audio when it would talk. I also had to replace the lights with l.e.d.s after about a year of use(left on all time) I also have had probems with a bad power ground. works fine with a battery but not off a power supply. not supplys fault as it ran another radio just fine(no hum) nice radio but could use some improvments. opened up for RACES use
KK4RF Rating: 2001-04-30
BAD NEWS Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the HTX-252 yesterday on sale for 149.99. I took it home and tried it out using a well-filtered 12 volt power supply and an indoor antenna. My first contact----reports of terrible transmit audio. I took it outside and hooked it up to my Ford F-150, engine off, and hooked it to my 5/8 wave mag mount antenna on the roof of the F-150. Made several contacts through 2 different repeaters. Everyone I talked to gave me terrible audio reports. I figured the rig had to be defective so I took it back to RS today. They swapped me for their floor model (on display.) I happily took it home and hooked it up again. Again, everyone gave me terrible audio reports. And then some other poor slob got on the repeater. He sounded as if he were talking with a mouthful of mashed potatoes. I was told he was using an HTX-252! I'm quite depressed at this point. I'm hoping that I can get a refund when I take it back later this week. I wish I had been given good advice ahead of time. I had read the ARRL QST review some time ago and it seemed they had given the radio a good review. Anyway, I would have to say I would never buy another Radio Shack ham rig again(except that I had bought their 10 meter rig 10 years ago and it's been a fine performer. Also my old RS 2 meter HT has been a good rig too.) CAVEAT EMPTOR!
KF6HFC Rating: 2001-04-24
Missing Major Feature Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got this for nothing more than a small 2M mobile for my commuter car. While it does perform suitably for the bare minimums the major thing that has made me detest this radio is the lack of direct entry.

At first it didn't seem important as I just wanted my simplex and repeater freqs in the thing. Now that I want to add some freqs from the extended receive I waste more time going up and down the dial than it is worth. Not to mention that in some places the down stops working causing me to actually have to use the dial.

Their choosing to skip such a simple feature really reflects on how they cut corners on this model. I guess maybe I should learn... "you get what you pay for".
KC8NTP Rating: 2001-03-11
A little pricey Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have hade my 252 since January.At first I thought that I had bought a lemon.I had a problem with low audio.I found out this is common with these radios.The problem is they didn`t set the deviation wide enough at the factory my was only +/-3.8khz.The deviation is set by rv2.I like the radio a lot more now than when bought it,But I still think it`s a little over priced and needs more memories.
WH6LR Rating: 2001-03-11
Not worth buying!!!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought the radio for it's price , but after returning 2 of them and now the third one has gone bad. I feel RS needs to rethink the radio. Better yet trash the idea!!! the Audio output is gone. only lasted 2 hours on packet !!! just ordered the MFJ8621 all my other radio's work great but I will NEVER BUY RS again.
ND7K Rating: 2001-03-10
Small and inexpensive. That's what I wanted for the shack. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I didn't want a lot of features, just a small and inexpensive ($149.95 on sale) 2 meter rig for the ham shack. I will not change memories and use only 9, so a good choice for me. If you want a fancy big radio, don't buy this one.