Alinco - WTF

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shepjackson
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Alinco - WTF

Post by shepjackson »

Does anyone know WTF is up with Alinco. Back in the 90s they had a decent rep as being the Hyundai of the ham radio world, not the prettiest or best working model, but it fucking got the job done. Today they have priced their shit above Icom and Yaesu prices and my latest Alinco (HT) is Ajunko. Also -- why are they not onshore anymore with repairs or marketing? What in the flying is up with them? They had some nuts back in the day and were a nice alternative to the big three. I wish they got back to that old school way of thinking they had in the 90s -- damn -- they had something there and were blazin' a new trail -- then suddenly it is all fucked up. Oh well -- I hope they come around -- get some decent on shore support and start lowering those prices for their second-tier rigs.

Also -- how about a new HF rig Alinco??
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Post by KC8RYW »

But their HTs have the mosquito repell feature... :baby:

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n3jfw
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Re: Alinco - WTF

Post by n3jfw »

shepjackson wrote:Does anyone know WTF is up with Alinco. Back in the 90s they had a decent rep as being the Hyundai of the ham radio world, not the prettiest or best working model, but it fucking got the job done. Today they have priced their shit above Icom and Yaesu prices and my latest Alinco (HT) is Ajunko. Also -- why are they not onshore anymore with repairs or marketing? What in the flying is up with them? They had some nuts back in the day and were a nice alternative to the big three. I wish they got back to that old school way of thinking they had in the 90s -- damn -- they had something there and were blazin' a new trail -- then suddenly it is all fucked up. Oh well -- I hope they come around -- get some decent on shore support and start lowering those prices for their second-tier rigs.

Also -- how about a new HF rig Alinco??
did you have review of an actual product?
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Post by va3wxm »

Here's mine:

Alinco DJ-180. Good, basic 2m handie. Great audio, easy to use. I liked mine but sold it for something sexier.

Alinco DM-330MV. I've only owned this one for a few months but it's the cat's ass! Small footprint. Lightweight (not a hernia inducer like my Astron linear). No RF hash. Love the cigarette lighter and spring posts on the front. Just gives amp after amp of solid 13.8 V DC. :ham:
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Post by grem467 »

i had the DJ-580 back in the day, one of the best twin bands around.. hell i still use one from time to time.
nessman

Post by nessman »

Shep, you're way off the mark brother. Alinco is a great brand. My only HT is a DJ-580 - and works clear as a bell to this day. If I wanted a teenie-tiny HT, I'd get an FRS radio and troll for kids.
shepjackson
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Alinco

Post by shepjackson »

No, I am not reviwing a specific product but simply raging at the brand and my dismay at their changes over the years.

Nessman, I used to worship your well-placed words, photos and such -- but now I wonder if in fact you are a proponent of CW, Take Your HT to Work Day and assorted nonsense, because you sir, are not making sense with your brand loyalty to a product that is MORE expensive than better, more advanced products from let's say, Yaesu.

Alinco was the Dollar Store, the Chevy Cavalier, the cheap, easy and dirty way to get on the air -- today they are trying to act all up in my face with these crazed prices. I want the Alinco of 1995 back. Back when Alinco meant something in my heart. When my heart was whole, and not torn by this new era put forth by the company. Nessman, come to the altar and ask forgiveness for your sins, and maybe the gods of Alinco will shine brightly once again.
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Post by KC8RYW »

Geez. Don't get all emo on us... :baby:
nessman

Re: Alinco

Post by nessman »

shepjackson wrote:No, I am not reviwing a specific product but simply raging at the brand and my dismay at their changes over the years.
I think you need to drop your college radio jazz DJ dropout mentality and come to terms with the fact that Alinco is a far superior brand to anything on the market today. My $600 Alinco HF rig will perform as well as your $2000 Yaesu wonder. I don't know where you get the notion that Alinco is now a "premium big bucks" radio line when it's still a good value in ham radio.
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Getting emotional

Post by shepjackson »

I will hold back the tears and be strong as I continue. Nessman, check the price fo the Yaesu 2800 versus the price of the Alinco 620. Now tell me good sir, likely a fellow member of the Elks or Moose, what conclusion you come to.

As for college radio, I dislike the format -- jazz in particular. Sure it is a major influence and American-born and bred, but unlike GM or Ten Tec, is is an imposter put forth in dimly lit clubs and on the airwaves well below 92 mHz on low wattage wonders spun by fat, wierd-hat wearing dudes with gotees. So there Nessman, take your Jazz lovin mentality and your over-priced Alinco and come back to the reality of what awaits in the Icom and Yaesu and Kenwood world. You sicko.
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Post by VE9MP »

KC8RYW wrote:Geez. Don't get all emo on us... :baby:
emo?

ImageEmergency Measures Organization? Image
Nick
nessman

Post by nessman »

Screw this - I can't win... I'm going /\/\.
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Post by KC8RYW »

The baby sez: Image
shepjackson
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Easy Nessie

Post by shepjackson »

Nessie -- I was joking wit ya -- calm thyself my friend. In fact, I give up and will allow you to win. We American's love a winner.
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Post by shepjackson »

I take it back -- I love Alinco -- we all fixed. My previous rant was uncalled for and I was an asshole. Fuck me and that shit -- I am sorry to have defamed Alinco before they could fix my shit.
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Post by Wardriver »

Bring back Standard.
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Post by k3who »

I have an Alinco DJ-G5 ht which was my first radio. Granted this is a late 90's model but I really like it. It's dual band and it receives airband. I think it's greatest feature is the spectrum scope which makes satellite work a cinch. My only complaints are the speaker audio is a little on the quiet side and the receiver is a little too sensitive. I'm always picking up random interference but then again the sensitivity also makes it good for satellite work. I haven't had much experience with their other products though.
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Post by va3wxm »

I've been using a DJ-596 for several months now and it does the job.

Can't beat the price for a dual-band handy.
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Post by WTF »

I have a new alinco 220 mobile and it works great.
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Post by ka8ypy »

KG4FOY wrote:I have a new alinco 220 mobile and it works great.
At the moment Alinco is the only one making/selling a 220 mobile.

I like mine as well, just need to get it off of the desk and into the truck.

DB
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Post by ke4mcl »

i'm quite happy with my astinko credit card radios. all work (i have too many of the things) and they all hold charge for a long time. i have one of those flip up antenna radios they made that got chewed by a dog and it still works fine despite the nice deep teeth indentations. the dj605 in my car though is crapping out. bad cap or something in thr audio amp makes it sound like crap after it warms up no matter what band or freq you are on.
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Post by w4wtf »

I have a DX-70T, it is a nice, no frills HF rig. Small fotprint, easy to operate, and I have always gotten decent reports on my audio.

Soon it may become my mobile HF rig.
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Post by webdoc »

Tom, a friend of mine has a DX-70T, as well as a Kenwood TS-50, He loves the DX-70T for his mobile rig. I have to say it is a nice rig, although I have more experiance with the TS-50. used it on field day 2 years ago.

One HF rig I would love to get is the kenwood 440S/AT, have used it during field day also, easy to use. Color me old fasioned I hate having to go through menus, I prefer knobs/dials to tweak the radios performance.

Next HF rig I would prefer is the FT-847.
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Post by jonny290 »

I have an ANCIENT alinco 119 that i half-plan to get on packet, i agree - Alinco used to be dirt cheap badass stuff (I paid 125 bucks for this alinco 6 weeks old - the original buyer paid 139), I don't even know any more.
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Post by jdh »

Wardriver wrote:Bring back Standard.
They are called Yaesu now in the amateur products division, Standard Horizon in marine, and Vertex Standard in LMR.

See Standard is still here.
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Post by webdoc »

the ony thing I have heard negative about the new dual band alinco mobile radio is from a friend of mine locally, he has ran Alinco rigs for years.

He said the new dual band will not let you scan both banks (bands) at the same time, you can either scan 2m or 70cm but can not scan both. That is what he misses from the previous version.

The only thing I have from Alinco is a mouse pad I picked up at a hamfest 4 years ago.

Someone mentioned the ADI 2m HTs, I have one that has actually done prety good for me until the BNC connection shorted.

My first HT (a christmas present from some hams I workled with on the 9-11 operation, as incentive to get off my ass and take the test) was a rat shack 2m HT 500 mW. I was suprised how well that thing did, I could get into both the Henry County and Fulton county repeaters on 500 mW sitting inside my bedroom in McClure.
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Post by KE5GEL »

webdoc wrote:the ony thing I have heard negative about the new dual band alinco mobile radio is from a friend of mine locally, he has ran Alinco rigs for years.

He said the new dual band will not let you scan both banks (bands) at the same time, you can either scan 2m or 70cm but can not scan both. That is what he misses from the previous version.
My Dr-635 will scan both VFO's whether they're in memory or not. I also have a DJ-196 and a DJ-596 HT. I liked the Yaesu FT-857D so I bought it instead of the DX-70.
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Post by motorola_otaku »

My one foray into Alinco-land was a DJ-X10T receiver in 1998, right after they came out. Now, don't mistake this for Motosnobbery, because I wasn't into Motorola at the time, but.. that thing was terrible out of the box. Popular Communications hyped it up, saying it had no receive preamp because it was sensitive enough to not need one, but that translated into horrible intermod susceptibility and weak image rejection (I could spin it up into the 1450 MHz range and get the 869-894 cellular band). Admittedly though, it did okay in the HF band, but for a 30MHz+ receiver it sucked balls.
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Post by va3wxm »

motorola_otaku wrote:... Popular Communications hyped it up...
Well, there's yer problem right there! :baby:
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Post by RESCUE161 »

I bought a DJ-580T brand new back in 1994 and it was THE biggest POS radio that I have ever owned. VFO knob broke off in my hand while turning it - brand new out of the box. I then had to use the keypad for everything. I remember if I wanted to shift UHF and VHF memories, I had to use a small screw driver to turn the broken knob inside the radio. I was in Japan at the time and the company had a problem with that; something about me not being in the US and the warranty didn't cover that???

Anyway, it started acting real flaky on me and was basically off frequency on every band. I am tickled that I finally got rid of it. I think I gave it away with a box of MT500s and HT90s.

I vowed that I would NEVER own another "A-Jinx-O" / "Ajunko" radio again.
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Alincos

Post by N7UBO »

I have several, including a DR-570, DR-600, DJ-580, DJ-582, and even a DJ-S11. All have seen a lot of use with nary a problem, except for the 582's battery-holder clip doesn't want to keep the battery latched on. I guess I got really lucky ;)
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Post by KD8CPX »

Honestly the only reason I can see buying an Alinco is for a 220mHz rig to connect into the InterCounty Weather Net if im not at my Emergency Management Division.
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