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Reviews For: Motorola Spectra

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

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Review Summary For : Motorola Spectra
Reviews: 16MSRP: 2,500
Description:
High quality commercial grade transceiver.
Product is in production
More Info: http://
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00164.8
NH7CY Rating: 2006-08-05
best mobile i've used Time Owned: N.A.
i have 6 spectras, 2 vhf, 2 uhf, 1 800mhz, and 1 33cm.

basically, i love these radios. they have rock solid recievers and are more than functional. everything is where it needs to be, and the buttons can be programmed to do what you want.

the only problem with these radios would be their "time bomb" capacitors which seem to leak and ruin the whole controller board if you dont replace them in time, and the fact that you need the cables, the software, and a decent understanding of it to get this radio up and running.

other than that, they're great radios, and i'd reccomend them to basically anybody looking to get their hands on a good quality unit that will never let them down.
KC2OBK Rating: 2006-06-13
Faultless Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I own an Astro Spectra W7 VHF rig; I agree with the other reviewers about the solidness and quality of the radio. The audio is beautiful and the control head is very easy to navigate (the actual buttons can be programmed to do different tasks with the RSS/CPS software).

The radio was clearly built to last by Motorola and looks like it would survive a lot of abuse in day to day vehicle use. I use the radio for 2 meter amateur as well as MURS, constantly get fantastic audio reports, and the MDC squawk is always a talking point on the repeaters.

Very satisfied;if you can find a good condition VHF or UHF rig, snap it up, you wont be disappointed!

Jim/KC2OBK.
KQ6EH Rating: 2005-03-20
Great Radio !!!! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I'm an Amateur Radio operator (16 years now) who has worked on Motorola Radio's for the past 4.5 years as a profession. I personally know how dependable and durable these radio’s are. I have also worked on ICOM, VERTEX and KENWOOD. I chose to purchase and use High Power Spectra’s for my family’s Amateur Radio Communication mobile needs. I’ve had it with the poor receive filtering, tiny heat-sinks/fans, flimsly cabling, and low audio from the tiny speakers they somehow jam into their “Amateur” line of equipment. I sleep soundly in knowing that my family's mobile communication equipment is what it is.
N1OFJ Rating: 2004-07-02
consistant Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
use this mobile to access our 900 meg repeater, it is basically bulletproof, outstanding receiver, a highly recommended radio. Mine has the A5 head, and it user friendly. Love the hefty audio amp, can hear over ANY road noise.
N3IVK Rating: 2003-08-17
Awesome Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Spectras Rock. I have 2 UHF A9 40 watt units, a 800 MHZ B7 and a 800 MHZ B5. Wanna get a VHF A7 or A9. Just watch the current limiting on the DC, will heat up quick at full power.

KC8QDR Rating: 2003-01-16
What an awesome radio. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well, I can't say enough good thing about this radio. I got the 110w trunk mount version with the A4 control head. The spectra has 128 channels, and zones so you can group your channels into categories. Receive and transmit audio are the best I've ever heard. 110 watts on transmit cuts down on repeater "dead" spots and is great for simplex. If you are into using commercial gear on the ham bands, then it doesn't get much better than this!