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Reviews For: Alinco DR-635

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

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Review Summary For : Alinco DR-635
Reviews: 53MSRP: 375.00
Description:
2M/440 full-duplex capable, remote-able
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.alinco.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00533.6
ZS6STN Rating: 2006-09-28
BAD RECEIVER DESIGN Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I purchased the DR-635 in May of this year, primarily as it had dual receive, which meant that I could have both our club's 2m & 70cm repeaters tuned in simultaenously. The rig also appeared to be good value for money. Wow, what a dissapointment - I should have read page 59 of the manual first! A "feature" of this rig, when certain combination of frequencies (e.g. 145.700 & 438.800) are tuned in creates a carrier on the VHF frequency, making it almost impossible to hear anything on the VHF frequency.

The rig is also prone to intermod big time!!

I would rather pay a bit more a get some descent quality.
ZS6PHD Rating: 2006-09-28
Serious design fault Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The unit creates its own interference between the two receivers.

I first picked this up on our two repeaters, viz 145,700 MHz and 438,800 MHz. The effect is that the unit picks up an unmodulated signal on 145,700 when the 2nd receiver is tuned to 438,800.
The same situation occurs right across the band, eg:

145,600 - 438,500
145,6125 - 438,5375
145,625 - 438,575
145,6375 - 438,6125
145,650 - 438,650
Etc.

The problem remains when the antenna is disconnected.

After reading the manual, I see that this is a "Feature" of the unit. On P.59 there is a note that under 6 different conditions there will be unusual effects. The particular effect is No. 5. For example, for 145,700 / 438,800 the calculation works out at

(UHF - 45.1) - (VHF -21.7) x 3 = 21,7 MHz.

(438.8 - 45.1) - (145,7 - 21.7) x 3 = 21,7 MHz.

I'm sorry but this is simply not acceptable.
KB2FBI Rating: 2006-08-15
Small package - big features Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I was amazed at the physical size of the unit. It is smaller than my 2 meter only rig. It seems almost toy-like because it is tiny. Ergo, it fits almost anyplace. It is also rich with features but you (Well me) had to read the manual a second time. The allocation of channels in memory VHF vs. UHF had me stuck for a while. It hears very well. I have the air bands and I found the Mil. band on like 350-395 by accident. Also FM commercial band. (Why is this needed?) It also packs a big punch on output. So, some of those once fringe 70 cm repeaters I hit easily. It'll also do SSB on 2 meters if you desire.

What's not to like?
Indoors, the tiny unit has a built in fan. So once you start keying up, the fan, quiet though, kicks in. Mobile, it is not heard. No RF noise, I mean audible. In a quiet shack, I first heard it. No biggie.
Also, parameter setting is a bit confusing. But this is only for the initial set up.
Some complain of intermod. I only heard it once on a bit of a 2 meter listen to a dx repeater. So it hears well. And I think the intermod issue may be due to geography, antenna, and band listening. (fringe maybe?)

Overall, it is hard not to like this radio. I am just old school I guess, but I am still amazed and a little uncomfortable with such a small radio. Once installed in the truck, that went away and I enjoy the bonus of a fit-anywhere radio.

PS. Never listen to a radio smaller than your head! (grins)
K2ADC Rating: 2006-07-19
Alinco Dr-635 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought this rig at the dayton Hamvention and I have to send it back. while the sub band scans, the PL transmit cuts out on the main band. This only happens when the 2 meter side is in the sub band scanning. If I have uhf scanning in the sub band and 2 meters in the main band there is no PL transmit issue. Also, myself and three other hams in the area do experience the receiver overload with this unit. Just giving potential buyers a heads up. This rig is good and easy to use but I am a little dissapointed in it.

Art/ K2ADC
N2DCS Rating: 2006-07-11
Not so good! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
After purchasing the Alinco DR-635T I found the receiver to be very sensitive but easily gets overloaded with intermod and cross modulation. PL/CTCSS tones 206.5 (8Z) and 229.1 (9Z) are missing from this radio but included in all other modern amateur dualband transceivers. I would not recommended purchasing this unit.
KC0JBZ Rating: 2006-07-01
Not Very Happy Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is my third Alinco rig, I have two DR-610TQ's
and just purchased this DR-635T in Dayton. I use it as a base station and love the features and it's performance.... BUT, unlike the 610's this rig has NO Attenuator feature and I'm getting IMD like there's no tomorrow. Now I have to spend more money on a filter since I doubt that Alinco will do anything about it and I'm sure AES won't take it back... be warned.
K3SUI Rating: 2006-06-11
Pretty good rig ... Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Let me tell you ... I am not much of a 2 meter operator. A friend just receive his ticket and I needed a rig to chat with him on the way home. I attended the Hagerstown, Md hamfest and there was a dealer there selling this rig. I've always wanted to try Alinco, so picked up the 635. It looked like it had a lot of features and the price was right.

I installed the rig in my car. I am not familiar with 2 meter rig operations, but had the thing up and running with only a glance over the instruction book. I did not need to read the instructions twice. The manual was well writen and the rig seemed simple to operate.

I began chatting it up with others on the local repeaters during my 1.25 hour commute to/from work. The rig got good reports for its audio. I found the receive audio crisp and clear. I did need to put the windows up because the internal speaker could not overcome the wind noise.

My only complaint is cross-mod on the front end. I work in the Reston area and there must be a paging system on top of every building and tower. It puts a hurt on the front end when these fire-up, pretty much eliminating the selected signal. In all fairness, I must say that the receiver seems exceptionally sensitive. I can hear a lot of repeaters that my buddy with his Yeasu 7800 cannot.

In all, a very nice rig. There may be better out there but I am happy enough that I won't be searching them out.
KC7NYI Rating: 2006-02-03
NEEDS HELP WITH INTERMODE Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
INTERMODE WITH THE SQL ON 20 DOES NOT STOP THE INTERMODE.OTHERWISE IT IS OK, PLAN TO INSTALL IT IN A PT. MY ICOM 910 HAS NO INTERMODE PROBLEMS.
KC9FUT Rating: 2005-11-27
Excellent Rig Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Ive owned the 635 now for about three months it has just been a shack rig so far I will be putting it out in my vehicle sometime in the near future,I think its great I first saw it at superfest this spring and said I have get one of those so I did and love it I have several Alincos about 5 of them and for the price of the rigs very reasonable allthough the 635.00 is up there,you get a great rig for the buck built strong they get hot no doubt but have never failed as of yet easy to use see program and the mic cord I have never seen such a long cord my goodness you could talk from the other room with it or hand it to another ham in the next vehicle.Personally couldn't be happier keep it up Alinco.
N7JS Rating: 2005-11-15
All in one Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
So far a great radio with very nice features. Great audio reports (clear and loud)......great receive. I also own Kenwoods and Icom's...it's on par. This radio will stand on it's own for years to come just as the DR-605TQ has except this radio is made for the future w/ the options of adding the built in TNC and the Digital unit. Crossband repeat works great. I've been very happy w/ it. Nice job Alinco on the selectable display color also.