Callsign	Required
Password

If you've forgotten and/or need to reset your password, please enter your Callsign and use the button below.

If you are not a member of the eHam community

Please consider registering to e-Ham.

Manager

Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Alinco DR-600T

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

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.

Review Summary For : Alinco DR-600T
	Reviews: 7	MSRP:
	Description: Dual-Band VHF/UHF mobile w/ optional separation kit.
	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
0	0	7	4.6

KC4YLV	Rating:	2015-11-14
Pretty nice and solid dual bander with toys			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Peak 90s Alinco right here, boys. 40, 50, however many watts on 2m and 70cm, dozen and a half memories for either side give or take, remote head, crossband. I picked mine up with an Icom W32A for $100 for both. What a cool rig! The interface is weird and if you aren't used to Alinco UI's you might think this radio is awful. However you get the hang of it, you program in some memories, add a few DTMF strings to your HT and suddenly you have a pretty freakin' sweet crossband rig! The dual antenna pigtail setup is a boon for crossbanding, IMO. The fact that you can't set independent power settings on each band isn't, however. Either you're squeaking out low power on the 2m link, or you're blasting your HT with full juice on the 70 side when you're only 1000 feet away. Still, despite its rough edges, this thing is great. Very, very good transmit audio, and the RX audio, though Alinco-ey, is great as well. Front ends do not seem to be too awful, and the hospital pagers 1800 feet away don't shred it. It's got PL encode and various goofy 90s FM VHF/UHF toys. But it's got that crossband and that's what matters. These days, if you are in a metro area with a bunch of repeaters, might want to look for something with more memory space. By the way, if you find one cheap that 'doesn't hold memory', grab it. Then open the control head, replace the battery and enjoy your fully functional radio after a CPU reset. Half a point for the lack of independent power settings, half a point for the lack of a front panel on the radio when it's remoted (there's a plastic sheet, but it's right there over a pcb and I don't trust). Paying attention to the caveats, a definite $75-125 hamfest grab.

KX6G	Rating:	2013-02-11
Still good after all these years!			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
It's amazing that this radio has become my go-to 2m rig. I own an Icom ic-901 with all but the 6m module, and I still prefer this radio over the Icom, which I think has one of the nicest control heads going [IC-901]. The Alinco has been in the truck, in my boat, and on the desktop, which is where it is now. I just seem to always go to this radio. It has been in repair once for a tune-up with battery replacement and an element replaced in the mic. Thats it! It has been so abused, and still preforms wonderfully. Audio reports are always excellent. For about a year I used the x-band repeat function as a range extender for my HT while at work. Never missed a beat, even when the inside temp of the truck during the summer would melt your face. 73 KX6G

K5JIL	Rating:	2011-07-25
Alinco DR-600T battery replacement			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Love this radio. When bought it would not retain memories. After google research I found out location on memory battery was in the detachable head. 3 Volt round type battery. I called Batteries Plus and they built me(on location) an exact type with necessary solder tabs for the Alinco DR-600t for $4.99. WOW!! 73s

W9WZJ	Rating:	2011-01-31
Good old rig			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had a few dual banders in my time, and I can tell you, for the money and ease of operation, the DR-600T is a fine rig, if it works 100%. The 2 meter final is a M57726R - R meaning reverse design and $81.80 from RF Parts. Dual volume and squelch controls right on the front. No fiddling with the microphone buttons to find the menu to turn the squelch back while driving and listening to the other band. It is a TON safer. They are still holding their value at near $200.

W9OE	Rating:	2009-04-18
old reliable			Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I purchased my DR 600 new in 1993 in think? I tested it the other day and it only showed 10 watts out on high in UHF. Then I tested my Ts 2000 at the same power level and it showed 10 watts out. I replaced my meter and the old DR 600 is putting out full power. :-} The radio has been used in the shack and Mobile for many years and still performs like new. It is on it's third memory battery, no other repairs have been needed since new!

KI2U	Rating:	2007-11-01
A great radio			Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I am rating this as a used radio. I purchased mine from an SK sale. It is true that the internal battery was dead and would not hold memory. It took some looking to find it. It is in the control head/front panel. Once I located it, cost to repair was $3 and some solder. I have this radio as part of a portable emergency station in a box. I actually like hearing the fan running as it lets me know it is working. I will agree that it would be nice to have the ability to make the panel even dimmer, but with age, my eyesight is going to need all it can get. My watt meter shows full power out and there is lots of good information on these radios available. I have both the dtmf microphone and also a heil headset that I use with it. It is designed to do the cross-band repeat work though I have not tried it yet. I like that it will monitor both UHF and VHF at the same time...even has separate speaker jacks for it. Mine is used and other than replacing the battery, it has performed flawlessly!!

N0VA	Rating:	2007-08-20
Pretty good old dual-band			Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I noticed this radio had not been reviewed here on eHam. There must be quite a number of them still in use and I would like to see what others have to say. The DR-600T replaced the DR-599T and was in turn replaced by the DR-605T. I have owned this one a short time and use it strictly at home with a power supply. This model is out-of-production. Mine will not retain memory channel data when switched off, even with the power supply left on. Hopefully, a battery replacement will correct this problem. It does have a cooling fan and the fan turns at a high rate making more noise than I would like to hear. The display backlight has two setting, bright and too bright. I would prefer a few more steps down in brightness. The key press/function "Beep" volume is selectable between too loud or not at all. Separate UHF/VHF pigtails require an external duplexer for use with a dual-band antenna. The size is good for a home base radio, about 2H x 6W x 7D. Programming is fairly simple and a user's manual is available in the Alinco.com archives. The rig has received good TX audio reports on local a repeater and the audio output (2.5W) is good from external speakers. I heard 1 complaint about the DTMF tones being a bit too loud. The only mods I've found on-line are to extend the TX and RX range. What I would have prefered were mods to lower the "beep" volume, more dimmer steps for the backlight, and continuous fan operation at a much lower and quieter RPM. With a new memory battery and those modifications I would rate this one a "4."

Category:

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

Product:

Alinco DR-600T

Summary:

Rating:	Time Owned:
Great! Good OK Needs Help Poor Awful!	0 - 3 Months 3 - 6 Months 6 - 12 Months More than 12 Months

Remarks:

Describe your experience with the Alinco DR-600T and tell us why you give it the rating you did (required). Other useful information would include your experience with similar products, infomation on a product that you would purchase instead of this one, and so on.