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Reviews For: Beltronics, Inc.

Category: Amateur Radio Equipment Repair

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Review Summary For : Beltronics, Inc.
Reviews: 19MSRP: All work @ $75.00 an hour
Description:
Ham Radio repair for East Coast Hams! Run by Hams and located in Hollis, NH.

NOTE: May 2010 - Beltronics no longer repairing amateur radio equipment

Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.beltronics.net/Amateur.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00194.7
K1WVU Rating: 2010-03-08
Repair FT-1000D Great experience Time Owned: N.A.
Took my 15 year old back up FT-1000D to Beltronics. Had an excellent experience. Told me about 2 weeks turned out to be 3 days.

Received an e-mail explaining the circuitry and theory involved, steps taken to find the problem, identity of the part found to be defective, cost of the replacement and bench time to fix it.

For just over 100 dollars the problem was fixed, and a few incidental tweaks were made.

When I picked up the rig, the Tech who had done the work came out and once again reviewed the problem with me as well as the fix.

Excellent service, more then reasonable time and cost. The value added by everyone I dealt with made it a very pleasent experience.
NJ1X Rating: 2009-10-31
Excellent service as usual Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is my second Beltronics review. I sent my Kenwood swr & power meter, SW-2100, to them because I thought I had a problem with it. Turns out there wasn't anything wrong with it and their service charge was much less than their hourly rate.
These are the people to go to for professional service.

----------------------
Earlier 5-star review posted by NJ1X on 2008-05-29

I took my Kenwood TS-940S to Beltronics for an audio problem and they fixed it within a week. I read about the eHam.net reviews about Beltronics and decided to give them a try. Their service was quick and the repair costs were much less than I expected.
If you have equipment that you value, have the professionals at Beltronics repair it.

Bill Kirk, NJ1X
KB1MTS Rating: 2009-06-28
Charged me for a repair, never fixed the real issue Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I had been thinking for a long time whether to write this review or not, but after what I just found I am very upset. In December I lost the CI-V port on my 746Pro (I could send commands, but it would not send anything back to the PC.) I contacted Beltronics to repair the radio, they were backlogged but said they would let me know when they were ready. Couple of weeks later I was able to drop off the radio. A few weeks later they said it was repair and tested, and Q1941 needed to be replaced. I got the radio back, I still had the same problem. I spent a few days testing the RigBlaster, COM port, using multiple PCs and still no luck. I contacted them again and said I was still having problems, and I was going to work with West Mountain to resolve it, however I was concerned about the 30 day warranty so I wanted to make sure they were aware. They responded they understood, and that it was tested before it left their shop. After going back and fourth with West Mountain for several days, they asked me to send it in. A week or so later I received the Rig Blaster back, and they said they tested it and it was working fine (since I got another radio and it does work with the Rig Blaster so it is working fine.) I sent an email again to Beltronics stating it wasn't work still, but after all the troubleshooting it had gone beyond the 30 days but I believed the radio still had the problem and asked if they could look at it again. A month goes by and I received no response. I sent another email thinking it might have been missed, yet again no response. Finally I gave up and got a hold of the service manuals to try to resolve it myself. I saw they did replace Q1941 as they stated when I opened it up. I followed the schematics, and ordered Q1940, Q1941 and IC1940 from Icom as they were the likely problems. I took out the main board to look at IC1940, and noticed a nice pea sized scorch mark by the CI-V connector. It obviously happend some time ago as there was no smell of hardware death. EP760 was burned beyond recognition and no longer any continuity across the CI-V E side. It's pretty obvious they assumed it was the common Q1941 failure, buttoned it up and sent it back to me as there is no way this would have ever worked as they stated. They charged me for labor and parts and never fixed it. I will be writing them a letter directly as I am pretty annoyed and upset at my waste of money and time.
N1JIN Rating: 2008-09-23
Fast turnround fair prices Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had John and company work on several of my rigs when I was too busy to fix my own and/or felt the repair was beyond my skills. They do a excellent job of professionally repairing your radio and with a reasonable turnaround time. Their prices are fair for the caliber of work they do. For example my FT-736R synthesizer went out of lock cost to fix was $150 which was more than fair and they ran the rig on the bench for a week making sure it would not fail again.

If you live in Northern New England this is the shop for you. One tip to speed turnaround email them at hamrepairs at beltronics.net and ask if they have the manual they usually do but if not sending a paper or electronic copy will speed your repairs also describe the problem so they will know what to expect.

Great shop and they have another one of my rigs now being tuned up for those long winter nights.
W1JV Rating: 2007-10-28
Impressive Service Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My Kenwood TS940S had given me many years of excellent service until it blew a few things and went dead. When I contacted repair services at Kenwood Va. and Kenwood Cal. they were very unenthused about my "old radio". A ham repair outfit in nearby Maine said "we don't repair old Kenwoods anymore."
John at Beltronics however was a welcome change
in that regard. He readily accepted the work,
AND it was only an hour drive away!! His cooperation and repair service was excellent.
The radio is now like new and works like a charm.
I highly recommend their work.
KB1R Rating: 2007-08-06
Great Service Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After 2-1/2 years the display backlight on my Icom 746Pro failed. I didn't want to ship the rig via UPS and take a chance on shipping damage. Beltronics was within my driving range so I brought it in for the needed repair. I spoke with John who took time from his busy schedule to explain all about the 746pro's display backlight problem and how he would repair it. He had done a few. Anyhow, the next day John emailed to say it was ready for pick-up. The cost was less than $75.00. The rig is working great and I appreciate the exceptionally quick service, fair price and friendly people at Belroonics.

Harry Alsdorf
KB1R
K1XV Rating: 2007-07-17
Skillful and fast Time Owned: N.A.
Beltronics does amateur radio repairs and legal modifications as a sideline to its commercial two way radio business.

I needed to have an IAC roofing filter installed in my IC-775dsp. Unlike the other roofing filters in their line that IAC describes as easy to install, the 775 one is described as "moderate". I decided it would be better if somebody with more experience did this than me, as this is a radio that I really don't want to screw up.

I brought it in on a Tuesday morning, and by Wednesday afternoon had an e-mail that it was ready. The price was quite fair, and the work expertly done.

This is the place where those from Vermont, New Hampshire and eastern Massachusetts get their expert repairs done. They do not do Handie /Talkies, however. Really can't blame them.
NC1T Rating: 2007-05-24
Great Service Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Beltronics is reasonably close to my house, gas still cheaper than shipping. Dick worked on two of my radios Icom and Kenwood and the service and repair was quick and well done. Highly recommend.

73 Frank
K0KVR Rating: 2007-03-08
Best of the Best Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The receive end of my FT1000MP MKV dropped almost to no signal, so I took it to Beltronics in Hollis, NH for repair Tuesday morning this week. They said they would be back to me within 3 days. Yesterday, Wednesday evening, I picked it up fixed and it works great. They replaced a diode and also soldered a connection that looked stressed on the tuner. They know their business, and they are Hams as well. John was very good at explaining the problem. The best service I have ever seen. I will always return to them for any ham radio repairs.
W3LI Rating: 2006-11-08
Outstanding, Outstanding. The best for my dollar. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Absolutly outstanding from my first phone call to them. The radio was repaired and returned to me within a few days of them receiving the part from Kenwood. Dick emailed me and ask if I wanted them to upgrade the firmware while waiting for parts. I did and they did. I knew that Dick looked the radio over and wanted to make it better than it was.
I would highly recomend Beltronics, inc. I will return to them in the future.
Thanks Dick, John and all the staff.
Check out their web site and follow the diections there. www.beltronics.net
Thanks, W3LI