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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
N1NGN Rating: 2003-11-14
To Be Avoided Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned an ADI AR-147+ (60 watt version) for about 2 years. Up until the warranty ran out, it worked fine, then the display started screwing up. I took the radio apart and tightened every screw on the boards, and that seemed to help. (it was mounted in a car)
Too bad, as I like the mike and the rig has good features for the price.
When it worked, it worked great!
I am further disapointed to hear my display problem was not mine alone, but seems many other folks suffered through it too.
Unacceptable for a mobile.
KD4AMG Rating: 2003-08-31
not for a beginner Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
this radio was bought used, and was in decent physical condition, but I would NOT recommend it for a beginning amateur operator. It is not easy to program, and can be very trying on the nerves. I am not fond of the microphone being so LARGE compared to the mike sizes of other mobile 2 meter radios. I am not real sure what the light beside the power switch is for, but no big deal. I would buy another used one, but not expect to pay a new price.
KF4WSN Rating: 2003-07-01
Needs help Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The radio will not work when cold.
the price was ok for the features it came with and when the radio works it works great. I use a astatic 636l Mic on mine to get the audio to sound good (lots of background noise without it)
Can anyone help me to get a owners manual for my AR 147+ if so my e-mail is KF4WSN@cox.net
N7ZZF Rating: 2003-06-23
Lack Of Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Ar147+ I have had mine some time now and love it.
The radio has good rx & tx with a slight rejection problem. The parent Co. PRYME advertises PC programiable software and when questioned about it will not reply to Email or does not know what you are talking about!!
KK6NJ Rating: 2002-12-06
not as good as ar-146 Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.

I purchased two adi-147 two meter mobiles i
experienced problems with both radios the first
radio the receiver went bad after an month of
service.it also ran hot on receive!!

i returned the radio to adi and they replaced
the radio and it also failed on me too!! the
tramsmitter on low power after several minutes
of transmission the radio gets very hot and
quits transmitting! altogether! i checked the
swr it is ok within the radio operating
standards of transmitting.The ar-147 runs
very hot at idle or receive only.

I also checked another adi-ar-147 i bought
used and it runs cool and transmits without
getting hot ad continues to transmit.

I checked an kenwood tm-241-a also worked fine.
the swr is below 1:51 with my mfj meter.

I also had an microphone quit working from the
heat on the mic plug is my guess.obviously
the adi-ar-147 is not as reliable as the ar-146
i had better luck with the ar-146.Also worth
mentioning one of the ar-147 has an black heat
sink instead of silver cast iron:73,s de kk6nj:

W9NLA Rating: 2002-08-29
HAVE QUESTIONS Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had the radio for a few days and find that it has a great receiver, it programmed as it should and I put in memory channels for Amateur, Weather, and Public Service. All is fine and with my base power supply it sure has the output power. Have taken some suggestions to heart on that so run LOW and it still makes all the local repeaters and most SIMPLEX used. Can any one tell me if there is a way to put the Air Band frequencies into a memory mode? If it says how in that manual, it escaped me. I access the Air Band and can SCAN it or SELECT a certain frequency but am limited to ONE that way. Any help out there? So far I think it does what I expected of it aside from that one thing. It has good audio receive, get good reports on XMIT, has a man-sized microphone that might be a chore if it was used mobile, and power levels are good with the 3 options. Can't see a problem and the price sure was right.
KC8NIC Rating: 2002-08-27
Very nice paperweight! Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Another thumb down for the cold weather problem! I live in a place where summer is described as being "3 months of bad sledding"...it's always cold here and I can NEVER get out on the radio due to the lovely DTMF tones that come out of it.

I've gone through 3 of them...sending them back and forth to ADI AND the place where I got it. Every time they tell me that they found the problem and they fixed it. Not yet!

Also, we have several repeaters here...it's definitely a SLOW scanning radio. When someone calls out on a repeater, by the time the radio gets around to the channel, the only thing left for me to hear is the repeater ID. I'm gonna stick this one on the shelf and stick with my Yeasu 2600!
KC0LCW Rating: 2002-01-14
it's been a good rig for me! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
After reviewing thr reviews for this rig, I must say that when I first baught this radio in July of 2001 the display pixles would go crazy, I returned it to the store where I baught it, they replaced it with a new one, and have used it since with out any problems whatsoever, both in mobile and base setups. I plan to buy a couple more later on. It has done everything I've asked it to do.
KB1GYQ Rating: 2001-12-21
Bad QC & slow service Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Basicly I'de like the features and usability of the radio, BUT mine also has the o-so-common problem with generating DTMF tones when transmitting with a PL when cold. It is currently back to the factory for warranty repair, but it has been over 6 weeks! It does not take that long to swap out a board. If I had put it in the shack, not the car, I'd probably not have noticed the problem, in which case it would have gotten a 4.
K5LDL Rating: 2001-12-15
Not buying this rig again... Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I have owned my 147 for a bit over 9 months now... I just can't seem to figure it out. It can't seem to keep its memory intact! Fortunately, I mostly used my 706MK-II G for all my needs. Although I never took the rig out of the truck, I couldn't see myself using it on long trips, especially with its bad memory. Well, after much soul searching, I decided to use the 706 as a base until I could get a 746. I started using the 147 again, with MUCH trepidation. Boy was I disappointed... The display goes haywire, showing EVERY LCD segment on it, the the mike will not work when this happens and there is no incoming audio. If I just leave it on while mobile, I hope for self correction and it happens, although not faithfully. Other times, I just have to cut my contacts short because the rig just goes haywire all over again, while in use. I've tried to re-set the memory, punched every button combination known... and nothing. I give up. My next rig will be a dual bander, but I can ASSURE you that it will NOT be an ADI product. As for this radio? I'll keep it until I get my other rig, after that? I may sell it off for parts... Anyone interested? I wish ADI would improve its QC....

73,

Luis KD5KJD