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Reviews For: Alinco DR-135TP

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

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Review Summary For : Alinco DR-135TP
Reviews: 39MSRP: 320.00
Description:
2M Mobile FM Radio with built-in 1200/9600 bps TNC
Product is not in production
More Info: http://alinco.com/Products/DR-135/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00393.7
W8AKR Rating: 2006-09-07
JUNK ! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought this rig (DR135MkII) as a "APRS tracker". No other use was in mind, as the ads were clear you could use the included TNC as a "stand alone" tracker. Well we all know what fools we are to listen to the Ads now! I will use it as a plane APRS station radio, as it has OK performance on 2M. But as GWB says..."fool me once"
KR4XN Rating: 2006-03-03
Not Up To Alinco Standards Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased the DR-135TP as a Christmas present form myself in November. When the radio arrived, I hooked it up and was very, very disappointed with the results. I found a number of faults with the radio setup and concluded that my radio had a serious firmware problem. By the time the radio was shipped to me and tested, the time to return for a refund had expired so I packed it up and sent it to the warranty repair facility with a long list of faults. Sometime later I received the radio back with a letter explaining that all the faults I found were normal for the radio even tho some of them were opposite to procedures described in the manual. I have two other Alinco radios and both are very good in my opinion. Needless to say I am sorry I purchased this model and I feel it is about $100.00 overpriced with the built in TNC.
KE4EAO Rating: 2006-02-13
Great Rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I actually own the DR-135MKII which is the same rig without the TNC. I basically bought it for and echolink radio to interface with my PC. I have had ZERO problems with this radio. It does run a little hot on high power but what rig doesn't? I don't have much to say about use in the mobile, but I did use it quickly on the local machine to test and found that the audio is quite hot (adjusted internally via VR106 I believe) but as an echolink radio for my simplex link, the audio is great, quite comparable to a maxtrac which is the rig I was considering for the link originally. The data jack makes it very easy to interface with a rigblaster, U-link board or VE3TO interface. I built my own for it and taylored it to my needs. 5 Stars as a link radio!
W5ZZQ Rating: 2005-11-09
Great 2meter rig Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
One of the best 2meter mobiles thatb I have used. Does everything I want it to do. No intermod at all. I would buy another one anytime..........
KQ6EH Rating: 2005-06-21
Modem Memory Failure Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned my ALINCO DR-135TP for a couple years now. I purchased it new and decided to use it as a hidden APRS transmitter within my personal vehicle from day one. I customized a watertight Pelican enclosure, ran all the cabling through my vehicle chassis, configured the radio/modem, tested it, and then hid it within the structure of the car. Thanks to the Modem repetitively dumping the configuration at intermittent intervals (MY CALL, LPATH, UNPROTO etc). I had to tear my car apart every weekend to re-configure the modem. My neighbors must have thought I was nuts. The amount of time and effort this radio has cost me is insane. This radio has been in my junk pile here for over a year and a half. I have read other emails as well documenting this MEMORY FAILURE. Apparently, others have noted the failure lies with the voltage drop upon the initial start up of the vehicle. You might consider this if you plan on using it as an APRS mobile transmitter. I have spoken with other owners which state they never had a problem with it, and yet others that have. Are you feeling lucky enough to consider one?
SM6VTT Rating: 2005-03-12
Very nice! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Its a great radio. Very good audio and a great display. The only thing that I dont like is the dtmf microphone. It doesn't fell like a quality mic. Compared to ICOM IC-2100h - this is a better radio but ICOMs microphone is much better...
PU2VGA Rating: 2005-02-28
Nice VHF radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
For somebody looking for a correctly priced radio, with decent features, good audio both received and sent, this Alinco model is the one.

Well designed, good aspect, though impression, and very nice display.

I have never enjoyed Alinco microphones, but I must say that this one (at least for me) works perfectly well. The PTT button is of nice feel and the cable long enough for decent mobile operation.

I have not tried it in mobile, but in base station it works perfectly well and would recommend it.

This impression is based on the other current VHF radios (other brands) available which I have or had and therefore could play with.

Bravo Alinco ! Show the big guys you are here to stay.
KF4ZUX Rating: 2004-10-13
not a great radio Time Owned: N.A.
microphone not good stand alone tracker ok but tnc loses memory will work with pc good but i wanted tracker
N2TID Rating: 2004-08-05
out standing !! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I recently purchased alinco's new DR-135T MK2. what a great rig !!. this radio has a hot reciever, as good or better than the FT-2500M! selectivity is top notch !.tx / rx audio is super also. very user friendly rig. a very well built radio. am aircraft recieve is a nice option too. would highly recomend this rig !! I rate the DR-135T mk2 an A plus !!
WB2AZE Rating: 2004-04-20
good radio, lousy microphones !!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The radio itself is fairly good, however i have had lots of problems with the microphones. I have gone thru several of them, and the replacements only last a few months before they die out. replacement mikes are hard to come by, i had to wait 3 months while they were on back order from Alinco/Atoc. I ended up taking the mike off their 220 rig to use on the 2 meter version, now even that one is going. If you are going to buy this radio, do yourself a favor and order at least 2 extra mikes with it.