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Reviews For: Alinco DJ-S11

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Hand-held

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Review Summary For : Alinco DJ-S11
Reviews: 15MSRP: 79.95 (current retail)
Description:
2 meter .6 watt hand held transceiver
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.alinco.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00153.9
K2DMV Rating: 2019-03-06
Cute? Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It is a cute little transceiver that is hardly useful but I still have. Beyond cuteness I really don't recall what inspired the purchase???
N7INO Rating: 2010-12-29
A 4.5 Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have mine for about 4 years and made a mod. I cut off the folding whip and installed a 19.4 inch stainless whip.I can access all the repeaters in the area. The Ant. does not move or bend but really increases the range. A great rig since the mod.Jim N7INO
WB6CSH Rating: 2010-08-10
An Okay low-power HT Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I had one of these HTs - or was it the DJ-S11T? It fulfilled my very local communication needs with its 340 mW (0.34 watts!) of QRPP power!

I could work the local repeater in Fort Bragg, CA if I wasn't too far away or blocked by the coastal hills.

[OFF TOPIC REMARK:]
I made the mistake of running it off of a 4.5 v dc wall power supply without removing the alkaline batteries. That caused the Duracells to leak and cause damage. I sent the radio back to Procter and Gamble and they refused to fix it and refused to return it.

I won't buy anything made by P&G anymore, and that includes a lot of detergent products (Tide, etc.).

It's not as if I demanded they fix it, but they rudely refused to fix or return.

Cheers,
Mike
wb6csh
KD5UPL Rating: 2008-01-03
Good Transceiver Time Owned: more than 12 months.
On the Alinco website, MSRP is $149.95, the store where I purchased this listed it for $84.95. When I got to the check-out, it "bar-coded" for $19.95 plus tax. What a deal.

I use the radio to verify that other 2-meter transceivers transmit and receive. It is great for short distance communication (less than a mile) and doesn't "overload" during testing.

I also use it to talk to another HAM who is located a short distance from my location; that way the whole city doesn't get to be disturbed.

This unit is great for my needs. I have other units I can use for "distance" or more "sophisticated communication". What say you?
KC8HXO Rating: 2007-03-30
outstanding! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I own 3 of them. left one on top of the car overnight, for a good SOAKING rain!! (duh!) Poured the water out, fired up the wife's hair dryer, and dried her out. That was over 3 years ago. still hasn't missed a beat. My antennas all seem to work well. I don't doubt the folks that say they had problems with the, though. I must be lucky.
AF6WI Rating: 2006-09-20
Works fine for a .3W radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My wife and I have had a pair of these for just over a year, and keeping firmly in mind that this is a .340W radio with a fold-over antenna, it's a good radio. As has been said often, this is not a radio for your only radio or your primary radio; it's too underpowered. But if you have a mobile radio that doubles as a dual-band receiver/repeater, you can use the DJ-S11 as a mobile microphone; if you are wandering around at some small event, you can use this radio as a _very_ handly little radio to keep in touch without having to use small FRS radios that have been overrun with kids and such.

The radio is small enough that it gets taken and used, and running on AAs means we can keep it powered when we're off on a camping trip for a week or two where we can't recharge stuff.

Yes, it is a limited radio; but within those limitations, it's a good radio. My suggestion is to think of it as an FRS radio with no traffic congestion, small enough you'll actually bring it along.
AA2YS Rating: 2006-04-06
Works perfectly well Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I agree totally with the previous poster. I picked up the DJ-S11 for about $30 a couple of years ago from a local ham who wasn't happy that he couldn't hit repeaters 30 miles away.

This HT is perfect for cases like car-to-car simplex when you're traveling with others.

Or chatting between boats when you're out fishing with your buddies.

Or when you're up on the roof adjusting your antenna, and your XYL is inside the house helping you at the rig.

But to anyone who thinks that this tiny rig is going to replace a full-size HT with the attendent power, well, let's just say you probably didn't score 100% on your written exam, did you?

I'd buy another one in a heartbeat, if I was in more situations where the rig's capabilities are required and *appropriate*.
W2MSK Rating: 2006-04-06
Good little HT! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Unfortunately, those who have given this little
HT a zero rating don't understand the design limitations necessary for it's low power and compact size. Sure, it would be nice if it had a full size antenna but the rig would not be as compact nor would it conveniently fit in your shirt pocket. Sure, it would also be nice if it had 5W but then it would not run on 3 AA's. etc., etc....My unit gets into all of the local repeaters necessary as well as a neat little simplex rig for keeping in touch at hamfests, etc. I've used it for 5 years now and it still works great.
N1RIK Rating: 2006-04-06
Most horrible HT ever!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a **MUST READ** for ANYONE that's attempting to buy this radio. The radio isn't very bad at all in fact, ONCE YOU HOOK UP A QUARTER WAVE ANTENNA!! You would think that the supplied antenna would be electrically matched to 2-meters internally, but that is not the case. I had a horrible time getting into ANYTHING with this radio, intil I used some drinking straws and slid them over the antenna, and connected wire to the antenna, extending it to 19 inches. WALLA!! Now I'm actually getting into some wide coverage repeaters over 30 miles away with just the 50mW setting. The 50mW setting with the funky looking juryriged antenna is working better than the regular antenna running 340mW. In conclusion, the radio is decent, but the antenna is not electrically tuned for 2-meters, just like the old 49 Mhz cordless phones. I would expect for the price that they could atleast include an "electrical 1/4 wave" duck antenna, which would of made this radio ATLEAST a 4. God forbid if you could actually check SWR on this radio. I owned it back around 1997 ish. After I figured out what's up with this radio, I quickly traded it. Great radio if you want to do an antenna modification, but at todays priced HTs, just go get something different. Alinco, you get a much deserved F for this radio! Shame on you! (And I'm an Alinco fan)
NZ8X Rating: 2005-10-07
Perfect little radio! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned the DJ-S11 and the DJ-S41 since they were introduced, I think, in 1997. Great radios for what they are designed for. I use these to access my remote base, hamfests, around the lake on weekends etc. Never have had any complaints, just need to know the limitations of the radio. I have modified the DJ-S11, replacing the whip antenna with an SMA mount, and using a comet whip.
Helped, a lot on tx and rx. Neat feature, if it breaks, can be replaced without breaking the bank!