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Reviews For: Alinco DR-610TQ

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

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Review Summary For : Alinco DR-610TQ
Reviews: 16MSRP: 699.95
Description:
VHF/UHF FM Twin Bander Mobile Transceiver
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.alinco.com/usa.html
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00164.6
KC0JBZ Rating: 2019-09-17
Great Radio... But Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have three of these radios and really like them but one developed a problem. It's the one that I keep in the shack. It stopped receiving and transmitting on VHF but works fine on 440. The radio's TX led turns red when I key the mic but no output and the receive doesn't pick up anything. A friend thinks it may be a problem with the VCO circuit. Has anyone experienced this problem?
F4FAP Rating: 2017-07-05
Nice and trusting Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have one for more than 6 years. It stays OFF during winter's months and back to life every summer : always healthy (stocked in a sealed box with dessicant).
In some ways, better than the Kenwood TMV7. Very easy to activate the transponder (no need to go to a tricky memorizing procedure). Also easy access to menus and sub-menus.
Goes up to 900 MHz (to listen what ?).
The mic connector is a real connector not a RJ.

What would be better :
- Push buttons are so small (I guess that a dedicated DTMF microphone is mandatory if using mobile).
- According to the output power used, it goes rapidly very hot (mine never gone to fire !). Fitted a tight mesh size instead of the plain top cover + added a fan on the top side with variable speed.
- Mounted fan really does the job in cooling the rig but stay alive all the time from the first keying (I added an ON/OFF switch).

Except these minor inconveniences which can be easily managed, I can listen/scan to ham V/U, marine, aviation and others, at low expense (180 euros).
PA1PDB Rating: 2013-03-28
Great radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Bought this radio brand new in 1997.
The second half of the Display Backlighting was failing. One LED needed a little solder.
Now I'm going to build this radio into the 5th Car.

Regards,

PA1PDB
THEDESERTTORTOISE Rating: 2012-08-12
NR7J hit it on the head, "Simply the Best" Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've had this radio about a month. I needed a feature that it didn't have so decided to buy the radio with that feature (a Kenwood) and was going to sell this radio. Well, over a month now and I still have it... and it's not going anywhere. This radio is full dual band receive, full duplex, will cross band, and does all of these things with a minimum of programming fuss. To set up a new repeater takes about 4 steps off the front panel and to save it to memory is a 3 button experience.. all off the front panel. It's really hard to not like this radio. I need the ID feature off the Kenwood (why doesn't someone build a module for this) for cross band operation but unless I'm cross banding this will be my main go to radio.....
NR7J Rating: 2012-02-29
Simply the Best ! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is one of the best radio ever made. I have an extra EJ-24U CTCSS decoder if anyone needs it.
NR7J at yahoo dot com
N9EGM Rating: 2007-12-16
great radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have one of these and love it, only thing is I don't have the short cable to mount the face place to the radio body. anyone have one they don't need? I also have the dr 599 and the dr 600.
Jim n9egm
KD5UDE Rating: 2007-01-11
excellent radio Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
very good dual band radio,built like a tank,easy to program,small,compact,light,very easy to see display. the best radio i have owned to date!!! alinco needs to bring back this good old radio,i would personaly give more money for this rig than any outher out there!!! if you find one out there for a reasonable price buy it you won't go wrong!!!
W4EV Rating: 2006-11-25
One of my Favorites! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have a Yaesu FT-7800 in my car--I travel and the 1000 memory positions with alpha tags are needed there to keep things simple while on the road. I love the 7800 for all that it offers and while I consider it very reasonably priced, I was looking for something a little more streamlined and lower cost for my basic 2M & 440 needs when operating at home.

I stumbled into an Alinco DR-610TQ for sale here on the eHam classifieds, checked out the existing reviews of the rig, and jumped at the opportunity to purchase one myself for a very reasonable price.

The DR610 was exactly what I was looking for. It offers me plenty of memory for my local repeaters, excellent sensitivity with even my *marginal* antenna at my apartment, true dual-band operation, and all at a very reasonable cost for a used rig with so many features.

I really have no true complaints about the rig itself, but the owners manual was a little fuzzy about how to turn crossband on-off (I did figure it out) and I find it quirky that once you key the mic, the cooling fan will stay on non-stop until the rig is shut down.

If you are looking for a solid dual-band rig that I feel was built well ahead of others at it's time, keep your eyes open for a clean used DR610. I have been very pleased with mine and plan to keep it long-term.
M3MZS Rating: 2006-03-26
It does what it says it will Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After some time looking round for a dual band - wanting something that would give me the same performance as mono band rigs, but with the convienience of being in one package - I chanced upon this, never used and still in the box.
One of the deciding factors in my decision to buy was the reports already posted on here about this rig, and I have not been disappointed.
OK - it doesn't have some of the features that are on newer designs, but what its got are things most people will use most of the time.
It is easy to use - no scrolling through endless menus - even though the controls are quite small they are easy to locate and use even in a vehicle at night.
Performance is excelent - I live very close to a powerful repeater and its rejection of signals from this on adjacent channels is very good. You might expect to pay a penalty for this in terms of sensitivity, but I can't complain about this either.
Only time will give a verdict on its reliability, but so far this seems like a real little gem of a radio - I will certainly keep it for as long as it keeps working, and as the build quality looks pretty good this hopefully will be a long time
N7OXL Rating: 2006-02-20
Simply The Best Dual Band Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is the BEST DUALBANDER ever made. Why did they replace it with the 620? If you can find a used one for around $250 get it.