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Reviews For: Alinco DR-130T

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

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Review Summary For : Alinco DR-130T
Reviews: 17MSRP: Alinco DR-130T
Description:
2-meter transceiver
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
00174.5
SWLCHRIS Rating: 2020-10-04
Nice compact rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
First off, I got this at a good price. Less expensive used than a barely operable Chinese dual-band mobile from the QYT, TYT, Talk-Coop rebadging crew new from various dealers or Ebay.
Second, the size is great. Easy to fit into smaller SUV consoles than most other rigs out today.It fits perfectly in the center console right under the CD unit and is easy to see.This replaced a Kenwood TM281 that was really in the way of using in the vehicle due to not wanting to drill holes to mount under dash.
It does have a bit of a intermod issue at times with overly strong signals. That's where the manual squelch comes in handy . On a modern rig you have a menu to deal with . Now,I don't have to deal with a menu going down the road.. just adjust the squelch. Same with low power switch. No menu.
Before there was a really strong chance I wouldn't hear a station on the radio if the volume was turned down . That's not an issue anymore. The receive audio is very clear and sharp and loud.No problems hearing anyone no matter how far the mic is away from them.
Signal and audio reports are consistently good with comments like punch in the audio , great audio , nice signal. It does use an electret condenser mic which might explain the reports.
I can't complain. For the price I paid it's a great deal
The programming is easy once you get the hang of it . Not much of a menu in this radio ! Just the basics. I got 12 repeaters entered fairly quickly. Just have to remember not to hit the button twice. Otherwise it deletes it.Not a lot of repeaters that I use so 20 memories is just fine.
Overall it looks to be a great little radio. Output is at 35 to 40 watts on a tuned 5/8 wave antenna on a nmo mount on the hatch.
I would buy another one.
G7MRV Rating: 2010-01-16
Small, easy, effective Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought one of these 2nd hand off ebay some 5years ago as i needed a mobile for my long commute to work. Its given me no real problems at all and is rock solid! The controls are so simple i can operate it without looking at the front panel, so i dont have to take my eyes off the road. That said, this unit is not without a few troubles. The CTCSS doesnt change when another repeater is selected from memory and needs reactivating. Not a problem i hardly use the repeaters, and its just a job for when i have it on the bench.

Mine is turned down to 25w as thats all i require. I use it with a proper through roof pro mounted 5/8whip. The downside of this rig is, as noted, the IMD. I also need to find a proper DTMF mic, im using an old yaesu standard mic at the moment.

I drive a very small car with little space for radios. This was mounted down by the drivers door on the fascia above the gas pedal! really not the safest as a couple inches from my knee! So, its now on the bench undergoing MAJOR surgery to turn it into a remote head radio!
ADAMCLUTHA Rating: 2008-06-15
New mobile rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a great little rig to use mobile

I have borrowed a DR130T since I got my callsign, ZL4ASC in january 2008 and its exellent to opperate mobile hardely need to take my eyes off the road.
I was running with a mag mount antenna but now I have bought myself a VHF set and it just by chance happens to be a DR130T.

I have it Mounted down beside the Gear shift and a dual band antenna on a boot lip mount works great.

The one I bought has 20 memorys and the one I was lending has 100 and mine has a dtmf microphone.

The radio gets very hot on 50 watts and warm on 5 watts (pray for my passengers leg!)

next thing is to find a dualband radio for the car I like the look of the 2720 Icom or 8800 Yaesu but we'll see what happens

Adam Campbell, 16 years old
ZL4ASC
JDWYER Rating: 2008-05-06
nice radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Just received the DR130 on Ebay. The radio has great transmit and receive audio, it's easy to program, and I can access all repeaters within forty miles with my 5/8 wave antenna. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles which is fine by me but I wish it had the capability to skip memory channels in scan - my only nit pick.

AOK
KF6NBF Rating: 2007-07-30
Good simple rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this rig for 4 years now (got it used). It's so simple to program and use, sound quality is great for TX and RX. The only things I wish were better:

A)I wish it had auto-repeater offset
B)Better intermod rejection.
N0WYO Rating: 2007-03-31
Good little radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've had this radio for about two years now. It was installed in a 1984 F-150. The only problem I have with it is that the mic is too sensitive and picks up everything in the background. This radio would be a good choice in a packet installation or echolink under low power, as the high setting causes the radio to get extremely hot after a while. This radio DOES need more than average ventilation on either setting. Even so, it's a rugged little radio.
KC9JUM Rating: 2007-02-21
Another Alinco Classic! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have used this Radio for 8 YEARS, and I bought it used. This is the quintessential Alinco classic radio. No frills, just great performance. Yes I have from time to time had to repair it. The radio had blown finals when I purchased it. No clue if that was the fault of the radio or the owner, so I won't mark it down there. After 6 years of use the MIC stopped working. No big deal, the MIC looked well used even when I got it. A search on Ebay netted a EMS-11 cast off from an DR-M06 user. One of the backlights went out for a while, but it later came back on. I love this radio. It's currently mobile mounted with a DR-430T.

A couple knocks, These come with only 20 memories and no tone decoder. You can add a decoder and 80 more memories for a total of 100. Mine came with these goodies added on.

Ohh yeah, some Bonehead on here put a DR-135T picture up there...
KE5MBX Rating: 2007-01-31
Good radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This radio does nearly everything I need. It has more power than I need (50 watts) and is extremely durable. I bought mine for $20 at a pawn shop as a kid. The radio came with a CITIZENS BAND magmount antenna, but still works great (now that it's on a proper antenna)... that's durability. The only problem with this radio is the mere 20 channels of memory. CTCSS tones, repeater offset, and DTMF tones make this a robust mobile with everything I need.
The DR-130 can be easily modified to transmit 130-173.99, which is only legal to use in an emergency.
KD6JDM Rating: 2005-12-13
reliable mobile/base rig Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought mine used in 2001 for $120, including an Astron power supply that is adequate for my SG 2020 HF rig, but not for the DR-130 running 50 watts.
Brought it into the house when I shifted the 2-meter rigs around.
My only complaint is minor: there seems to be no way to defeat the automatic off-set on repeater frequencies. In order to transmit simplex on a repeater frequency one must set the off-set to zero.
Upshot is that I have one memory channel for the local repeater and one for the repeater output with zero off-set.
The 100 memory channel upgrade would be nice. May look into it.
KC4TDM Rating: 2005-05-23
Nice radio! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I've owned mine since 1994..no problems. The picture above is not the DR-130T.