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Reviews For: ADI AR-147

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

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Review Summary For : ADI AR-147
Reviews: 43MSRP: 169.99
Description:
High power (60W) two meter mobile
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.adi-radio.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00432.6
KC2FTN Rating: 2006-03-09
Not too shabby ! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I've had this rig in my vehicle for about five months now and it has performed flawlessly. It has even made it through the brutal -25/30 degree Winter here in Northern New York with absolutely NO problems whatsoever.
W4FJF Rating: 2006-01-23
JUNK! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The ADI AR-147 is a liability in the mobile or the shack. The displays fail or scramble, the mic is an engineering failure, and the internal speaker is a joke. In my 25 years as a ham, I have never seen a radio more prone to failure when you need it the most. I am not usually so critical of any manufacturer, but I have two useless AR-147's that lasted just long enough to get out of warranty, then fail miserably. I can't try to fix them myself, as my hands are not steady anymore, and I'm disabled so I cannot afford to have them fixed. I dare the manufacturer to replace my useless AR-147's with new equipment. That is the only way that will change my opinion of ADI.
DDD4D Rating: 2005-09-25
Frequency Read Out Problems Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have three ADI AR-147 radios and I like the radios a lot, but they have problems with the frequency read out like several have talked about. I took the front off of each radio and soldered a wire on one of the grounds one the back of the read out screen and took it to a ground inside the radio. I also soldered where the metal frame touched each grounding pad. I have had NOT one problem since these mods in any of the radios. I was having a lot of problems with all of them before this. N0LOG
AA2HA Rating: 2005-05-08
Junk radio and no tech support Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I should have known better. The radio, out of the box, had distorted audio. It had been set too high at the factory. Repeaters couldn't even decode DTMF with the audio this high. No schematic is provided with this radio. I called ADI twice to speak to tech support. I just wanted to know which pot was for the audio level. They never called me back. I sent several E mails to them which were never answered. I cant believe they care so little about their customers to not so much as return a phone call or e mail about a brand new radio.
The receive is horrific also. I have performed side by side tests camparing the ADI to my Icom and Kenwood. It is between 6 and 9 Db lower in receive( as compared my other radios) Some repeaters That I use (around S-3 or so) arent even received at all on the ADI!
The VCO is a lousey design. ADI has a momolithic receiver and if the volume is turned high, feedback can be heard through the speaker. This can be corrected by using an external speaker, but you shouldnt have to. And with the single conversion receive, the radio will receive plenty of intermod from pagers and the such. This isnt a problem in rural areas, but here in the NY City area its almost not usable.
KD7EZE Rating: 2005-04-15
No Problems Time Owned: more than 12 months.
First off, the radio in the pic is the 146, as the 147 has a more rectangular mic with larger, easier to use backlit buttons. I own a dozen or so of these fine radios, and have yet to have ANY problems with them. They are being used in repeater service, as base stations, and mobile on some of the worst (roughest) roads in the country. I've had no problems with extreme heat (over 100), or cold (below zero). I made a couple of modifications: I installed a microswitch in the radio to completely disable the backlighting, and rewired the mic so the button backlighting only comes on when the switch on the back is in the unlock position.

I have made the same mods to both the 247 (220 MHz), and the 447 (440 MHz) rigs, and use them in the same ways mentioned above. I can't comment on the computer programming software, as I've seen no need for it, being that the radio is just too easy to program manually. I have gotten the best bang-for-the-buck out of the ADI radios, and would recommend them to anyone. :)
VE5NAT Rating: 2005-02-22
great Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Well I'm not to sure what some kind of drugs most of you guys are on but I have no problems with this radio, hot or cold, long transmit or no transmit. Just like the rest of the ADI's I have it runs a little warm, but the lowest dim and a fan fix the problem. I have this radio on at least 18 hours a day and had no problems for the past 4 months. When I don't talk on it I use it for scanning and it does well enough for trains/taxi's/weather and RCMP.
W5LJM Rating: 2004-12-05
Receive Audio and Mic Problems Time Owned: more than 12 months.
In the previous posting, I mentioned the mic crapping out. Well, I have borrowed a fellow hams' mic and it transmits OK, but the receive audio is now being intermittent. It'll shut down during a conversation without warning. The other party will be talking away and I don't hear a thing. The only way I know he's talking is that the S-meter is lit up. Then suddenly the audio will come back again. Something has evidently became loose somewhere I suppose.
The borrowed mic will not allow any buttons to function except the PTT and the DOWN select button. This is a "heads up" to anyone contemplating purchasing an ADI AR-147+. They are a great inexpensive first tme radio, but may develope serious operating problems after a short period of use. PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

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Earlier 2-star review posted by W5LJM on 2004-09-12

The ADI 147+ I bought brand new from AES started out as a great radio, with the exception of being hot to the touch within an hour of turning it on. I thought no biggie, I'll just put a 12 volt PC fan behind it to help dissipate the heat and dim the display lamp which seemed to put off alot of the heat because the face got hot too. It helped a little. Then, a few weeks later the display began to show problems. "Strange" characters began showing up. I turned it off to cool, but that didn't help. This problem became intermittent and happened every other day or so.
Now the mic has crapped out for no apparent reason. The power output and excellent receive capabilities are a plus, but it needs help in all other aspects of operation.
K7SUB Rating: 2004-09-12
Forget the Display Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my 147+ new also and have had it more than a year. The display went early and sometimes shows up, sometimes not. Fortunatly there are only a few repeaters in Northern WY so the rig gets returned to the normal monitor channel before it's turned off and the channels changed by feel when the display disappears. You would think ADI could come up with a fix to offer us, but that would probably cost them a bundle!
N9KSG Rating: 2004-08-28
crapped out Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Bought a new 147 in 10/02. Worked okay in the truck for about 9 months. 1 day, I powered up and the display looked like Chinese - totally unrecognizeable charecters/images on the display.
I turned it on/off a few times and it worked okay for a day or 2. Now, it shows the totally screwed-up hyroglyphics(?) all the time. Strange thing is, I can go to my local rptr and transmit/receive fine. Only the display seems to be malfunctioning.

One other related flaw - the software for this radio sucks !

By the way, clipping that red wire DOES permit programming your local vhf pd repeaters.
K1JBP Rating: 2004-01-03
Terrible Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I got this radio from a friend who decided not to get his ham license. He was orginally going to get the 146, but HRO told him that the 147 was much better. After reading the reviews, I disagree.

It was working fine but I had so many radios I put it away in the closet. Last month I took it out, and powered it up. The display was totally dark. I found it strange since the radio was not used very much. Also I have noticed the receive is terrible on it. Either you hear something at full scale, or you don't hear it at all. I had a Yaesu FT2400 hooked up and the receive was very different than the this radio.

I would not recommend this radio at all, one of the worst radio I have ever used.