Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Powerwerx DB-750

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

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Powerwerx DB-750
Reviews: 19MSRP: 299.00
Description:
Dual band VHF/UHF, 750 channel commercial transceiver with
10 memory banks. Freq. range: 136-174, 400-490 MHz. 50W VHF,
40W UHF power output, Single Receive or True Dual Receive
(V+V, U+U, V+U), Optional Remote Head Mounting Kit. Part 90
certified.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.powerwerx.com/two-way-radios/mobile-radios/db-750x-dual-band-commercial-mobile.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00193.1
KB1CU Rating: 2014-10-09
Cheap Junk Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this radio just over a year. Just long enough so it is out of warranty. Major programing difficulty, easy to make errors. Display has many colors but none are bright enough to see in daylight. Impossible to program from front panel. However, the main reason I think its crap. The warranty ran out 1 month ago. The VHF transmitter failed at all power levels. I called Powerwerx service, they were very nice but couldn't repair it in the states. Their solution was to have me send the radio back to them with $240 dollars and they would send me another one.
It took me all of 30 seconds to realize that $240 was better spent towards a Kenwood or Icom. But if you do buy one I have the RT systems software and programing cable for $20 (cost $50)
KC9WII Rating: 2014-02-26
2 radios same prob Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I bought one of these radios and the programming software. Everything looks good I liked the radio at the time of un package.When I got all my freq in memory I noticed bleed over from other repeaters I could hear conversations on other freq on my set vfo
freq. So I packed it up sent it back to get a exchange figuring hundreds of radios manufactured there is gonna be one bad one out there. No difference receive bleed over from several other freq. Then it got worse from there the radio locked up asking for a pin code to enter programming mode which was never set up with me from the start. The positive to all this is powerwerx customer service is a AAA+ they worked with me to get this second one returned.
KC2ZKI Rating: 2014-02-25
A lot of radio for the price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the software and cable with this unit directly from Powerwerx. Bottom line, it’s a great radio for the price. Lets see how long it lasts. I’m pretty rough on radios and usually stick to Kenwood because that’s the only brand that takes a beating so far.

Here are my observations for the DB-750 so far:
A. Pro’s
1. I received very good audio reports.
2. I was set up and running with one VHF and one UHF channel within minutes.
3. The software is very intuitive. I finished entering the rest of my stations in about 5 minutes.
4. The radio controls are also very intuitive.
5. Each side has its own volume and power settings.
6. I like the fact that I can toggle between bands with the push of a button on the mic.
7. The blue display is perfect
8. The lighted keypad on the mic is nice and bright.
9. I also like the band indicator on the mic.
10. The PTT function is very crisp.
11. The larger mic fits really well in my hands.
12. Long QSO’s (1 hour) on Med1 power setting (one down from high power) barely gets the radio mildly warm (maybe 85 degrees F). Still cool to the touch.
13. I haven’t done any high powered transmitting yet. Once I get this unit in my truck, I will see how it goes.
14. The built in speaker is plenty loud. Had I known this, I would not have bought the external speaker.

B. Con’s
1. I did get a report of a 60cyc hum using my power supply. This is the same power supply I use for my Kenwood V71 with no issues. The report was that the hum was barely noticeable and it wouldn’t have been mentioned unless I asked. My mobile install has a separate dry cell car battery, so this shouldn’t be an issue in my truck.
2. The radio comes locked. This means all of the controls on the head are locked out until you unlock them. In the software there is a radio button to uncheck which does the trick. You can also do a factory reset without the software. Not really a negative, however this info is not in the manual and a new user may get stuck on this. A simple one line sentence in the manual would prevent any frustration. Luckily I read about this here and knew what to do.
3. The software works fine. I had a little trouble entering my serial number. It seems the software doesn’t want the “-“ between number sets. Once again, a short note on the software popup indicating to enter the serial number without dashes could help a new person from getting discouraged.

4. The letter “A” on the display is really weird looking. Very slanted. For instance my local repeater is AA2QD. At first I didn’t realize it was my repeater call sign. Just a weird font for the letter “A”. All the other letters look fine.
5. In order to use the software, you need to unplug the mic from the jack so you can use the programming cable. Not a major issue, but I got spoiled with my Kenwood having a separate programming port.


73's
--
Joe
kc2zki

AD8DW Rating: 2014-01-31
great find easy to program Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just cant say enough really more bang for the buck the big three well now there,s big 4 in dual band and has wide or narrow bandwidth cool speaker mic built in there three screen choices. Well you got my vote THANKS POWERWERX AD8DW
K0RI Rating: 2014-01-02
Good Plus Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just finished programming NB VHF Public Service channels and WB Ham/WX channels. Nice radio w/good audio rcv/xmit. Some VHF NB intermod, but really can't get away from it. Scan VHF channels on left and monitor dispatch on right channel using dual audio output.
Only complaint I have is the right channel will randomly and momentarily break squelch.
Programming s/w was intuitive, quick, easy and a joy to use. Can't say that for all the programming s/w out there!
N3ZW Rating: 2013-12-29
Don't waste your time or money Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Very poorly wriitten manual.
Couldn't get display bright enough to use in daylight.
Intermod. I have never had an intermod problem at my QTH wtih any other radio.
2 button squelch adjustment would not normaly be a problem except that you have to keep the squelch button pressed while you are turning the main knob. That makes no sense at all.
While manually deleting a memory channel and following the manual a really annoying alarm sounds. It seems whenever you press and hold the right tuning knob the alarm goes off. It does mention that in the manual but, it doesn't say what it is for. It does tell you that in order to silence it you have to turn the radio off.
Took it back to HRO and even though I felt it was defective based on the intermod problem, I had to pay a restocking fee.
K6YXH Rating: 2013-10-26
My new favorite mobile rig! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was a little bewildered about the radio being locked, but read in the manual that I could either program it with software/cable or do a factory reset. I chose to do the reset, and from there found it easy to program and operate. I was surprised by some of the cool features - Powerwerx should advertise them! I like that you can program the radio to put audio on the speaker/mic, and/or the radio! That means I can put the radio in the trunk and don't have to run a speaker line. Also nice are the options to mute the side you're not on if you don't want to listen to the other side, or display the voltage. Just more features than my 8800, and nicely done. It does true dual-receive. I am a little put off by the fact that the audio drops out before the volume control goes all the way down, but I can live with that. I've got it set up very much like my 8800, with the top controls giving me additional one-button access rather than applying to the other side. I was a little surprised to find that there are dual menu settings, so you can set up one side with different options than the other side - really versatile!

I read some reviews that were critical of the 10W power limit specified for the cross-band repeater function - if you leave it on cross-band mode and listen to a repeater, you're going to have the radio at nearly 100% duty cycle when the repeater is busy - that will fry the radio if it's at full power, so it's entirely reasonable for them to ask you to run lower power - my FT-8800 and FTM-350 have the same restriction.
KK4TKF Rating: 2013-10-12
Definitive Review of the DB-750X Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Powerwerx DB-750X VHF-UHF Dual Band Commercial Radio has operated properly with no major issues.

I use this radio as a main base station configuration which includes the following hardware: Power Supply SS-30DV, and the Base Station Radio Enclosure which comes with a DC power adapter MBXRPA for easy quick connect to the radio. This radio does require R-T Systems programming software to unlock.

Transceiver Upsides:
-Solid built casing, good looking all black rig.
-Clear dual display with option to change colors red,green,blue or anything in between.
-Audio is powerful both on top mount speaker and hand mic.
-Programming software is easy with one exception.
-Four title labels on top of display for the rubberized front buttons.
-nice elongated power button glows red
-Microphone has large A/B band switch and displays two green receive and red transsmit lights for each band. Nice added feature of rubberized PTT Button and small white A/B light near bottom of mic. Rubber protective boot provided where mic plugs into side of radio. Good signal voice reports.

Transceiver Downsides:
-Volume Control still loud at lowest setting. With that said, I guess it's all objective, I just wish it was quieter. I do like the sound overall,plenty of volume for inside shack.
-Display color adjustment old school. Uses color wheel and numbers for adjusting mix of red,green,blue. I like amber and still have not figured out to set three colors to get that display. The default blue is the best shade. The red is too dark and the green too bright. You can mix the colors but to me not as good as just picking a set color.
-Mic PTT button set too hard to press for long rag chews. Looking for new mic if that tells you anything.
-Plastic channel and vol. controls. Best to program using software first. Cloning worked well.

RT Programming Software:
-Very nice spreadsheet software...programmed frequencies in no time at all. Caution! I programmed and transferred to radio but radio still locked! Followed RT instructions to the letter. Turns out there is a Radio Control setting that needs to be unchecked called key lock. No mention of it in Manual. I was not happy until finding it. But the software did great after that.

Power Supply by Powerwerx:
Works well, fan runs when unit needs cooling, some may find it a bit loud.

Overall:
The DB-750X has been a solid performer in base station configuration, sound checks are good, easy to program, and a great price point. Even with required programming software/Cable, package is $200.00 less than competition.

I recommend this radio but cannot provide mobile review since I use as VHF/UHF base station along with my IC-706 for HF. Plan to even do a few satellites with it!





KK6DHF Rating: 2013-09-18
Updated review of the DB-750 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After posting my review of the radio, I received an email from another owner who had similar issues and a couple of solutions, so in the interest of fairness, I thought I should update my review.

I purchased the RT Systems programming software and cable with the radio. My squelch issue was easily resolved by manually changing a single setting. In addition to the tone settings, there is an additional "squelch setting" (Menu 16) that provided additional options.

The noise issue is cured with a better shielded cable, however there is no fix the minimum volume issue at this time. Overall, I do like the radio, especially for the price. My signal reports from other stations are very good. I really put it through the wringer on a long haul trip through the Central Valley of California and was able to communicate very clearly with high level repeaters more than 100 miles away on UHF and VHF. They sounded as good as the repeaters that I live near which are less than a dozen miles away.

I'd like to add that customer service at Powerwerx has been well above average as I've tried to sort out my issues. Commencing even before the radio as on the market to today, they have been very responsive to my email inquiries about products and problems and that matters a lot. As with any new product, there will be bugs and I expect that they will have them all iron out soon.