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Reviews For: ADI AR-447

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

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Review Summary For : ADI AR-447
Reviews: 10MSRP: 299.99
Description:
70cm UHF Mobile with 81 memories, PL & DCS encode/decode
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.adi-radio.com/amateurradio/mobiles/Default.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00103.5
W9MT Rating: 2020-10-01
Great, basic 440 FM-only radio, but not without its quirks... Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought mine used w/o microphone about 10 years ago on eBay. I also owned two AR-247's so I knew about the family's quirks.

The LCD display does not scramble on my AR-447, so I've escaped that gremlin so far.

I got a used backlit DTMF button Up/Down ADI hand mike for mine. This is the larger of the two available ADI hand mikes. I saw that its coil cord had the black insulation crumbling problem at the mike's connector and near the funnel strain relief at the mike end of the cord, so I got another 8 pin coil cord that did not (and will not) have the same problem and did the surgery inside the mike body (8 nasty splices to the wires on the white connector...open it up...you'll see what I mean). That mike now works great and its cord will not crumble in the future.

Tip: any 8 pin Kenwood or Alinco mobile radio hand mike can be used as a direct substitute if you are mike-less. They are pin for pin compatible.

I tend to be long winded in rag chews...and yes, these radios do tend to run hot. I was dropped off the air twice recently by my radio during QSO's as its thermal protection circuitry cut back my power and then "screamed" (with a harsh beep tone) before cutting off the transmit RF completely. Cutting back from high power (H) to medium (M) doesn't fix the issue. It only delays the inevitable unless the QSO is truncated.

Opening the radio, I also found the black plastic "Y" support for the speaker had crumbled into several pieces from the internal heat over years of transmitting. So, I taped the pieces down to a piece of cardboard and put a "schmear" of fast-setting JB Weld on the sheared pieces to rebuild it before replacing the speaker and top/bottom covers. Watch out for this problem.

Even the heat from the LCD back lights (not even at full brightness) makes the radio's cabinet feel warm (near the front panel, especially) even when only doing 100% receive monitoring.

So, I decided to splice a small but fast 12VDC computer fan to the red DC lead and the heatsink as a power source and ty-wrapped the fan to continuously blow vertically up through the heatsink. A bit noisy, but...

Problem solved, and the radio runs as cool as a cucumber. Only around the front panel backlighting bezel area does one feel a little bit of warmth, but the transmit RF no longer cuts off no matter the length of the QSO or output transmit power level setting.

If I wanted to, I could have found tap points to run the fan only when the radio is turned on, but I was in a hurry and ADI does not supply a schematic diagram.

So, I'm good going forward.

Now to replace the crumbling coil cord on the backlit mike of the ADI-247 I bought new from AES in 2004. It doesn't matter whether the thing was stretched a lot or not, nor mobile or living its full life in my basement shack. ADI's coil cord insulation simply dry rots and crumbles from age (like old tires on a car) and would do the same in the box and plastic bag of a NOS, never opened radio from the AR-147/247/447 family.

Four stars, rather than five, for the quirks.
W2GIW Rating: 2020-08-12
Well.....It finally quit!! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I read the info on display problems quite a while ago and this one, after 20 years, finally quit today!
Yeah, it hung on for 20 years, not bad I guess. May take it apart and check solder joints as others mentioned.
Ken
AB6MH Rating: 2005-03-06
OK, but does have problems. Time Owned: more than 12 months.
As someone else mentioned ... the rig did not show any signs of problems until months after purchasing it. It does get hot just sitting idle ... and, as with other rigs that heat-up inside considerably ... you start to get solder points that crack, crumble, ..., depending on the type of solder used, how they were soldered in the first place, etc. If you start to experience the display problem (and the rig is no longer under warranty) get out the jewelers glasses and start inspecting the solder connections for problems. If you don't know how to do that, or don't feel comfortable going into the rig ... get someone else to help/show you how to do this and what to look for. Mine had numerous solder points (specifically, near the display board) that were not all that good. I reheated them with the soldering iron and that seems to have stopped the problem. (Check all of the solder points while you're in there.)
VE5NAT Rating: 2005-02-22
awesome Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I love htis radio a lot I use it quite often and it does run a little warm considering the display lights, shortly after i dimmed them down it helped some but i still hooked a fan up to it. I had mine for at least 4 months now on nearly 18 hours a day if not more and see no problems with the display.
KA9VZD Rating: 2003-10-28
Cheap Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I’ve had my AR-447 for almost a year. Though it offers a lot of bells & whistles, that also makes it harder to program and operate. Soft keys are nice if you care to remember every function. My biggest complaint…..the display goes out to lunch after 7 or 8 months in the car. Another ham friend has the VHF brother to this radio and he experienced the same exact thing. Turn the radio on and you get hieroglyphics. Obviously poor connections or solder points. You get what you pay for. If they would correct that problem I could recommend this radio to others.I'm sure when you pay for I-Com,Kenwood,Vertex, your not just paying for the name, you get a better degree of craftsmenship.


KA9VZD
W5UX Rating: 2002-06-27
Suits my needs Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I bought mine for $209. I use it as a base station to access an IRLP system about 30 miles away. I am using an external radio shack speaker. No microphonics at all. No feedback. It does run rather hot on high power. A 7 inch fan next to it keeps the temperature down.
KE4PJW Rating: 2002-05-25
Good rig, but it has one problem. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I like all the features that are packed into this radio. DCS is nice because we have a few repeaters here in town that use it. The main thing that caused me to purchase the radio was the fact it had tone decode.

There is one problem I have with my rig. It is microphonic.
Tap on the side of it while the RX is open, you can hear the tapping out of the speaker. Turn the volume most of the way up, it feeds back on itself.

I have not been able to get any service manual information from ADI's website. When I figure out the fix to the microphonic problem, I will attempt update this review.

All in all, it's not a bad rig for the $150 I plunked down for it.
K5VX Rating: 2001-02-01
Good For Ham, Bad Out of Band Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I like this radio, for the most part. It is a solid single-band 70cm radio with an easy-to-read display and a bunch of bells and whistles built-in, without having to pay extra for upgrade modules, like PL-decode. I disagree with the review from the fellow below - it's not of poor quality. But there are a couple of things I'd like to see changed on the next model, including the microphone (it's a bit too large, and its green backlighting clashes with the radio's amber backlight display!), and its out-of-band receive (it is deaf after 455MHz).

If you operate on commercial radio systems on daily basis, don't let the fact that the AR-447 has DCS encode/decode make you think you can use it on your business repeater. Although this radio works and sounds great in the ham bands, its modified operation (clipped wire) in the commercial band gets bad quickly as you pass 450, and is dead past 462, which begs me to ask the question "why have the DCS feature anyway?" since I know of no open amateur repeaters that use DCS instead of CTCSS. This is definitely a radio which operates in its published specs -- no more, no less -- so don't give up your Motorola mobile for commercial operation (unless you are comfortable re-tuning the VCO and receiver and voiding your warranty).

This is a good radio for the 70cm amateur band and I enjoy using it. Look elsewhere if you're looking for a radio with expanded coverage.
WB4DX Rating: 2000-12-08
Never again Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Your typical bottom basment entry level radio.
Mine squeeled when I had the audio turned up to hear it! cheap display, mike and quality control.
Soldering, wire layout terrible.
Here, you get what you pay for..Looks like a typical piece of Chinese workmanship.
K6DLX Rating: 2000-04-22
My first choice for a signle band UHF mobile Time Owned: unknown months.
I found everything satisfactory, or better with the AR-447. It features CTCSS, and DPL, for both encode and decode. You can also just encode the tone, if you wish. It features extra front panel controls, eliminating the necessity to get into "function" or a "menu" mode. Also, the extra, easy to use front panel controls, eliminated my need to use the manual. It also has built in phone dialing, and about everything else you may need.

The microphone is similar "But not the same" as the Kenwood. ADI's microphone is slightly larger - BUT - uses a quality feeling micro switch for PTT. The Kenwood uses an unacceptable PTT switch.

The radio, is also a bargain, at a price of round $250/275. It easily does everything my commercial Kenwood 805D does, plus has a lot more channels, and is a easier to program. For a new UHF single band radio, this one would my first choice. I think someone at ADI did their homework.

ADI is the Only Radio on the market, that offers DPL encode, with an open (no decode) option for receive. The only "ham" radio on the market to offer this feature. Having seen this radio, I am no longer searching for another Kenwood 805 radio. Remember all encode and decode operations are included. There is nothing else to buy, and try to install yourself.