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Reviews For: Alinco DR-605TQ

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

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Review Summary For : Alinco DR-605TQ
Reviews: 62MSRP: 339.99
Description:
2 Meter/440 FM Mobile/Base Radio
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
00624.1
N8JTL Rating: 2002-05-20
The second is good Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
The first 605TQ was delivered with the VHF side not working. I returned it to the place of purchase and after a while of bickering, they replaced the radio. The second one is doing fine with no problems at all.
N9KSG Rating: 2002-05-20
yes but Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
True this is a great radio but I swear i'll NEVER get another radio unless it's pc programmable
KB7TBT Rating: 2002-04-12
good radio with a few bugs Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had my radio for years now, it hasnt ever failed me at all, the comments about the audio are very true, for some ass backwards reason Alinco likes to crank up the audio. There is an easy fix for this, since you are going to open the radio anyway to "CUT" the little blue wire, just turn the radio over, look for the "Audio" pot on the board and back it down a 1/4 turn or untill it sounds good to you.

the audio pot controls both boards {440 & 2m} so 1 ajustment will do it all..

i have also read that the radio gets hot, yes it does, just sitting there the lights in it get warm, but i have put a muffin fan on the heat sink of my power supply and i just push the radio back 3 inches so the air flows up past the fins on the back of the radio. 1 fan 2 jobs..

this radio i have used in many service events including the Fiesta Bowl Parade here in phoenix, i took some pix of it if you wish to see them http://www.qsl.net/kb7tbt look for the pix section, there are millions of them to see..

overall the radio for the price is welcomed and i have been known to beat the hell out of equipment and this radio has been moble, portable, based..etc...and still is chugging along..

the other draw back is the standard front end of the alinco's in general, there are times when the intermod just hammers me, but here in phoenix thats common with most radios, my kenwood and yaesu are the only ones that tollerate it to a point.

i dont think the price on the site is right, i know i have seen it cheeper..

for the new ham this is the radio i recomend, the ease of useage and the simplicity is just right for a beginer. not to mention it is cheep compared to many other 2/440 radios.

at least alinco has the user manual and service manual for download and has a good support system, yaesu on the other hand sucks, i will never buy another one..

hope this helps you all out.
W7SAC Rating: 2002-04-12
Bad Audio On Repeater Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is my second -605TQ in a 2 week period, first one went back for bad audio into local repeaters on high power and trebly,tinny audio on low power(and high power). (My old DR-570T sounds a lot better). THIS ONE, #2 has the same problem and can't run more than 5 watts on the repeaters. Sounds like the deviation/audio is set to high, any one got any suggestions for a fix. Thanks
W0IPL Rating: 2002-04-01
Good basic radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Why a 4? Simple, it lacks features common to current dual band radios, such as:
1) 100 memories - per band - (150 on 2M would be optimal
2) Alphameric display
3) Better xmit and rcv audio - many posting make note of how close to distorted the audio is. This is a simple QC situation at manufacture
4) Additional controls on the Mic. - such as band switching and the ability to open the squelch from the Mic. - as produced you must lay hands on the radio while driving to change bands or do other adjustments.

With all of that why a 4? It is a good basic radio that you must remember how to operate. The cross band capability is why I bought it and I am NOT disappointed. On cross band - the one "fly in the ointment" is that when you come in from the "main" band there is a two second "hang time" before the non main transmit drops. Come in the other way and that delay is not there. HELLO ALINCO - make both of them like the "non main" input and it would be perfect!

Would I buy another? Yes, I would. This is a no frills radio that works as advertised. Yes it could be better but none of the "inconveniences" are significant.

Pat,
W0IPL
N7HFK Rating: 2002-03-08
Excellent Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is the best dual band going for the price. Try to find another full duplex crossbander for $330. I bought one for home and one for the base and use it constantly. Only drawback....is this baby runs real hot in crossband mode. I mounted a little 12 volt fan which blows through the heat sink to draw air. Easy to program. Solid little unit. EASY Mars/cap mod.
AA9YF Rating: 2002-03-06
Great rig... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The best dual-band radio I have ever owned. It is a true dual-band radio with the ability to x-band repeat. The key to this radio is the price. Alinco quality and very good feature for $$ factor.
KD5LDW Rating: 2002-03-06
Bad Design Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Alinco seems to have pieced this Radio together, the mic cord was 5 Ft. LONG before it was uncoiled , radio runs so hot (NO FAN) you could heat a can of soup on it , the radio will stop scanning on the band you are not using when you key the microphone ,PLEASE DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS ONE!
DF7JCH Rating: 2002-01-04
Easy to use Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I've got my DR-605E for 3 Weeks now and it works fine. A disadvantage is the poor Modulation: It's too loud and sounds very trebly. There is also some reverb because of the cavity in the Mic. I eliminated these problems with puttig some woole into it.

Other disadvantages:
-only two power settings
-while scanning you can hear a kind of clicking in the Speaker.
-the DR-605 will stopp scanning on one band for the period of time you transmitt on the other band.
-cant't switch to AM

But there are are lot of positive qualties:
-very easy to use
-no overloaded Display
-sensitive Receiver
-true Twinbander
-Crossband Repeater
-nice Price

Overall: A good rig for your car with some little weaknesses.
KC0LPX Rating: 2001-12-20
Unpleasant Suprise. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Well, I am on my third radio trying to find a good one for my needs. The first two were Yaesu (FT-7100M) and this one of course the DR-605TQ. Now for the comments on the 605TQ.

I've had the radio for two days now and am putting it through the hoops. The primary reason I bought it was for x-band repeat capability. My findings are that after about 30 minutes of active x-banding, the unit gets hot and repeated signals (both ways) begin losing quality with lots of "white noise" and fuzzy modulation. One simple fix is to put a fan on the unit but who wants to go to the trouble ? It did much better when I added a fan to the desk to cool it. It would have been nice had Alinco put a cooling fan on the radio but as it is, half the radio is heat-sink and slightly ineffectual under heavy use at full power.

All other features are acceptable. Slightly tinney speaker but very basic programming. As the unit gets some more time under it, I may amend my review. Happy TX'ing !