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Reviews For: Arcom RC210

Category: Ham Repeater Controllers

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Review Summary For : Arcom RC210
Reviews: 36MSRP: 349
Description:
3 port repeater controller with natural speech and very reasonably priced
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.ah6le.net
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
15364.4
WA2ZPX Rating: 2023-03-12
Great Controller Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was gifted this controller in early 2023. It was purchased new in 2018 and never put into service. It came with the the programming software, real time clock, and delay board. I contacted Ken at Arcom and explained that I had the receipt but did not have the programming software. After giving him the invoice number, he quickly sent me the software link and key. He also gave me the link for upgrading the controller to the latest firmware. I followed the link and instructions, and the upgrade came off without a hitch.

After reading through the manuals, I was able to digest most of the information. I sent an email to Ken with a few questions. My email was answered within minutes.

The RC210 has many great features such as being able to control and program the controller from any port. I have it running on the bench controlling 2 Repeaters and a link radio, and it is working flawlessly. Quite simple to program and use compared to some of the early controllers and their complicated macro's. The programming software is a must. All in all, great little package, with great support.
K1NRA Rating: 2019-09-05
Good controller - Unless you use Wires-X Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this controller with the hopes of using it with my Yaesu DR2-X repeater. They advertised that it would work in digital with the appropriate interface which I also purchased.

Upon installation I was surprised to see the repeater would not key when it was receiving FM in the Wires-X mode.
Mind you - this was not connected to a node or even to Wires-X itself but just sitting in mixed mode waiting for a signal.

When you have the repeater sitting in it's normal mode it will control it in both FM/C4FM but if you have an HRI-200 interface connected it will not control the repeater unless it is not in with Wires enabled state.

This was not stated at all in their website and a phone call to the owner did not resolve the situation. Unfortunately I have to say I can not recommend this controller for many DR2-X users as you lose you ability to use it in the Wires mode.

Probably good for other repeaters but unless you want to neuter your DR-2X dont waste your money like I did.
KD8RYP Rating: 2017-01-15
Works Great for my requirements Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I ordered the RC-210 in kit form. The instructions were pretty clear (I could pick around at a few things) and I managed to get all the components installed in about 6 hours solder time. I am very cautious and use a multimeter to check for shorts and traces as I solder to avoid issues when complete.

Upon trying to program by DTMF, it became apparent that I needed to use the windows software. Doing small programming changes by DTMF is easy and no big deal but if you are wanting to set the controller up from scratch, the windows software is a must.

There is a lot of features that makes this controller very flexible. It's very well priced for all the capabilities it has. I'm currently running it on 2 motorola CDM series radio's and an Alinco DR-235 220MHz link radio. All the connections were very straightforward and easy.

I would recommend this controller. Pro's and Con's are listed below:

Pro's -
- Highly flexible.
- Windows Programming Software makes programming very easy.
- Voice speech is very smooth and sounds great.
- Great customer service/support.

Con's -
- The three voice ID's rotate. This makes it difficult to designate one as a welcome message on the repeater. This could be a programming issue on my end but I haven't found a solution yet. Anyways, not really a big deal for me.
- Real Time Clock is external. The clock function relies on an external chip to keep the time. This doesn't really bother me but I'd like to see it already added on the original RC-210 board.
AA8HS Rating: 2016-08-06
Great but be careful of ADR interface Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The controller is great but I must caution users about the ADR interface for the Yaesu DR-1 Fusion repeater. There is a yellow wire that is a PTT sensing wire that must be added to a cable in the DR-1 repeater. Our wire was installed to a custom cable at the factory but not insulated. Thus, it intermittently shorted to the exposed ground in the cable and caused the controller to fail. If you use the ADR interface, inspect Arcom's work first!
N2XPM Rating: 2016-02-17
Still Going Strong! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Since my last post in 2005, the Controller is still going strong and has been updated to the latest firmware. I am extremely happy with the performance so far and I can't see why anyone would rate this controller anything less then a FIVE. Still cheaper then most controllers, but delivers a huge value compared to the other more expensive devices on the Market. Besides, Customer Service is second to none....All calls and emails are answered in a timely fashion....KUDOS

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Earlier 5-star review posted by N2XPM on 2005-11-06

I recently purchased the Arcom RC210 controler for my repeater. After spending time researching a controler for my machine, I am very happy that I made the right purchase. The controler is easy to program and has lots of flexibility. The manuals are straight forward and easy to understand. If in doubt you can always call Ken and he is very helpful.

I am having lots of FUN playing with this controler, simple to use, simple to program and it does so many things that those other controlers do for far less money!
AB3PJ Rating: 2014-11-14
Great Controller!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Only in service a month, but by far the easiest to work with. Setting it up, getting cable made up, no question it is easy to do. Programming via laptop the best. We also set up a PC with remote desktop function to make changes from the comfort of home. Ken and the Yahoo Group the best to work with. As far as the price, very competitive.
VE3GRW Rating: 2014-01-10
GO ARCOM RC-210 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just a few words to say I have had many controllers over the years, but the RC-210 is the Ultimate controller for serious repeater owners.

This controller is quality built and I love all the features it presently has.
Previous comments made here have all been addressed. This controller is Rock Solid.

This controller can be bought in kit form or already assembled and tested. Some of the true hams enjoy building the kit and also learn about their controller at the same time. The price for the RC-210 are the most reasonable there is.

What makes this controller stand out is the real human speech for the word list. None of that synthesized speech like old controllers use. This is a modern and up to date controller for the discerning repeater owner and user.

No more sending in long strings of dtmf to program the controller. All programming is done from the comfort of a laptop that I use. The computer software to program this is great. There is no better. Even though this controller has everything you could possibly want, Arcom is always working on something new to add to their controller for the repeater owner. I would think that they will come out with new goodies in 2014 for this controller.

The RC-210 has a dvr that can be used for custom ID’s or courtesy tones etc. Programming the dvr with audio tracks is very simple and the audio tracks sound perfect. The dvr can also be set up to use like a echo to record yourself going in and then it will play you back. Great for checking your signal both in and out.

If you have a Doug Hall RBI-1, then this is the controller for you. Lots of flexibility. I like the memory channels that can be setup. Other controllers do not have this feature.
The audio going through this controller is perfect. The audio that goes in is what comes out. The tail on the 210 is quiet and perfect. I mention this as other controller builders audio does not sound as good and they have noisy tails. The Rc-210 excels at the best audio in the business.

The support with the RC-210 is the Best there is. Ken provides a Yahoo Group forum where he answers any questions quickly. He is also just a phone call away and will provide any assistance with a Smile. Ken is a great guy who is always willing to help. I say that Arcom provides the Best customer service in this industry.

If you’re looking for a Rock Solid controller with the Best support then Go Arcom.
K7DAA Rating: 2013-11-01
Very Powerful Controller That's Easy to Work With Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've been very pleased with this controller. Based on my experiences, I believe that all of N5UWY's comments from more than two years ago have been addressed. This controller has lots of flexibility, and a good set of defaults, including a nice set of courtesy tones that are already there.

We get very good support via a very active Yahoo Group, and Ken at Arcom is super at dealing with any questions people have. He is very upbeat and positive, and very easy to work with. There are regular firmware updates with improvements and bug fixes. On my last site visit, I updated my controller to version 6.01 in about 3 minutes with my laptop computer plugged in to the built-in serial port. Nothing to it!

I have my Arcom 210 set up with the following configuration at a site with no commercial power, so it is running as a full-time solar-charged battery system:

Port 1: 40 watt UHF repeater
Port 2: Full-duplex 2 watt RF link to my VHF repeater and IRLP computer 4 miles away
Port 3: 5 or 25 watt VHF remote base using a Kenwood TM-271A transceiver (yes, I dialed the power down a bit)

Support for all of this stuff is built in. The controller does a great job of handling a number of VHF/UHF/HF transceivers for remote base operation. My users love our frequency-agile 2 meter remote operation.

I decided to have some Halloween fun this year, so using the RC-210's DVR, I recorded a witch's cackle and a ghost howl. It was easy to program the controller to randomly insert these sounds. The witch did her thing as part of every third time the repeater ID'ed (about every 30 minutes), and the ghost made his appearance every 11 times the repeater transmitter dropped out. To most users, it appeared pretty random, not overly intrusive, and sparked a number of laughs during the evening commute!

I'm planning to buy another one soon so that I can have all of this flexibility on my 2 meter repeater as well. There is just no competition for this controller in the same price range. I own four other controllers, and none of them come close.

Reliability has been great, with no problems whatsoever. My RC-210 is running my full-time solar-powered UHF system, and just keeps on ticking. What more can I say?

73,

Dave - K7DAA
WA3GIN Rating: 2013-02-24
Robust Audio / Reliable Time Owned: more than 12 months.
If you can understand what you read you can easily set-up the RC-210 for most applications. The option selections are relatively easy to understand and easy to verify. We got four of these units. They've been on-line for over 6 years w/o any faults or failures.

I've read some reviews of this product that were less than glowing. Not sure what the issues were but we've found ARCOM to be very helpful with questions. The product is rock solid! We operate the units in dense RF environments with a mix of VHF, UHF, Public Safety 800 and Cell transmitters w/o issue. If you are having an issue you did something wrong -- read the manual again ;-) and apply common sense installation best practices for intense RF environments.
W4MAA Rating: 2012-04-22
Great controller for price Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
We purchased the controller to replace a blown up CAT-400 controller that is no longer supported, thank goodness. We have had the new controller supporting 2 repeaters and 1 frequency agile remote base and have had no problems. Programming is somewhat simple and if you read the manuals or use the RCP software its a snap. Lots of powerful tools and features are used in the RC-210 controller. When ordered we got all three delay boards and the 19 inch rack mount. Lots of support is available online and makes it a win win.