Posted: 8/10/2013 7:26:44 PM EDT
|
I am new to this and really don't have a good grasp of what's out there. I know that icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu are good radios. What is the general consensus on Alinco and Jetsream? |
|
Alinco's stuff tends to vary in quality - Some models are good radios for the money, and some are pretty bad.
Can't comment on Jetstream. Be sure to check out the product reviews at eham.net - Plenty of opinions there about just about every rig ever manufactured! ETA: You'll probably also want to include Ten-Tec and Elecraft in the 'good radios' category - They both build some VERY nice stuff. |
|
Quoted:
Don't tell them that, they just released a new SDR. Quoted:
Quoted:
Alinco is out of business. I would not buy one of their radios. Don't tell them that, they just released a new SDR. You are correct. As of July 1, they have a new distribution partner in the US. http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php?topic=90772.0 |
|
I own a few Kenwoods, an Alinco, a Motorola, a couple Wouxons and a YouKits.
Each on has its +/-'s there is no way my Alinco DX77 competes with my TS 2000, but when you bring price into it things change. I haven't owned any Icom gear but have used plenty of it. I think Icoms have the best looking displays and the new 7100 shows it. Eham is great for getting an idea about a rig, but don't forget some of them old guys would bitch about a Bentley and others when try to convince you their pinto is the greatest in the world. |
|
Quoted:
You are correct. As of July 1, they have a new distribution partner in the US. http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php?topic=90772.0 Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Alinco is out of business. I would not buy one of their radios. Don't tell them that, they just released a new SDR. You are correct. As of July 1, they have a new distribution partner in the US. http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php?topic=90772.0 You probably heard about GRE who was owned by them. It was sad to hear it because the had the market cornered. Something about government oversight. |
|
I have a Ten-Tec Jupiter with which I am VERY happy. And an Icom IC-7200 which I am also very happy with.
Thus my screen name. The Jupiter has some great filtering and very fine noise reduction. It has other very sophisticated features yet is easy to operate. Most all of the menu items are "set once and forget" type. Definitely add Ten-Tec to your list of gear to consider. |
|
Quoted:
I have a Ten-Tec Jupiter with which I am VERY happy. And an Icom IC-7200 which I am also very happy with. Thus my screen name. The Jupiter has some great filtering and very fine noise reduction. It has other very sophisticated features yet is easy to operate. Most all of the menu items are "set once and forget" type. Definitely add Ten-Tec to your list of gear to consider. I love Ten-Tec gear. It is simple to operate, but loaded with the features that people look for. Plus, they are just great performers. |
|
Quoted:
I am new to this and really don't have a good grasp of what's out there. I know that icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu are good radios. What is the general consensus on Alinco and Jetsream? I've heard nothing but good about the alinco single band 2m and 440 radios. And, I speak from experience with one. I use one for an IRLP system that is rock solid in 2m. Jetstream, I dont know. I have a jetstream power supply that works great. |
|
Quoted:
This, and Elecraft is like Wilson Combat! Quoted:
Quoted:
Icom, Kenwood Yaesu are like Smith & wesson Alinco, jetstream, and Baofeng are like the rossi, Taurus, Hi-point  This, and Elecraft is like Wilson Combat! Yaesu makes some tonka tough radios. The 857/897 series are tonka tough, but do lack some features that the new bling bling rigs have. But i prefer longevity. The more radios of a model that are incirculation the greater aftermarked support will be, Yaesu handhelds are really really great and full functioning pieces. Thats the wealth of my 3 months experiance. Oh and building antennas is geeky fun! |
|
Quoted: I am new to this and really don't have a good grasp of what's out there. I know that icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu are good radios. What is the general consensus on Alinco and Jetsream? I've been into ham radios for a number of years...and I've never seen a radio made by either of those company's 'in the wild'. That doesn't mean they aren't any good...I've just never run across another ham operator who owns one. The 'big 3' seem to be the 'big 3' for a reason. TenTec is great stuff too. 
|
|
Quoted:
No love for Baofeng? VHF and UHF for $45? Baofeng, in my *very* limited experience is an excellent entry radio. It works, makes you learn, and is cheap enough to throw away. the UV-5R is now $35 on Amazon. I have far more in antennas and cables than in the radio. When I upgrade the radio, the rest of the stuff will still be fine with the new radios. And, of course, the manual is so poor in the Baofeng you will never get overwhelmed by it! |
|
Quoted: I've been into ham radios for a number of years...and I've never seen a radio made by either of those company's 'in the wild'. That doesn't mean they aren't any good...I've just never run across another ham operator who owns one. The 'big 3' seem to be the 'big 3' for a reason. TenTec is great stuff too. Quoted: Quoted: I am new to this and really don't have a good grasp of what's out there. I know that icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu are good radios. What is the general consensus on Alinco and Jetsream? I've been into ham radios for a number of years...and I've never seen a radio made by either of those company's 'in the wild'. That doesn't mean they aren't any good...I've just never run across another ham operator who owns one. The 'big 3' seem to be the 'big 3' for a reason. TenTec is great stuff too. I haven't seen any Jetstreams. Aren't they relatively new to the market? Alinco has been around a good while, and I see plenty of them out there. I've had two of their HT's. Functional and typically cheaper than the competition, but lacking the fancy features and some rather old styling(even their new radios look like designs from the early 90's). Some of the mobile rigs are kinda interesting, one of them has an optional internal TNC board - but while it's half the price of, say, a Kenwood D710, the Alinco is only a single band and you need a computer plugged in to do anything. AFAIK it doesn't even do APRS by itself(although that would be fairly cheap to add with a TinyTrak). So on my end, the more expensive rig wins with more features(dual band, APRS while still monitoring a voice channel, etc...). Specific uses, or a very tight budget, and the Alinco stuff is just fine. Until other brands caught up with miniature radios, the credit-card line(older DJ-C1/C4/C5 or the current C7) were pretty popular. I'd probably take a VX-3 over those now though. |
|
Quoted:
You probably heard about GRE who was owned by them. It was sad to hear it because the had the market cornered. Something about government oversight. Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Alinco is out of business. I would not buy one of their radios. Don't tell them that, they just released a new SDR. You are correct. As of July 1, they have a new distribution partner in the US. http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php?topic=90772.0 You probably heard about GRE who was owned by them. It was sad to hear it because the had the market cornered. Something about government oversight. Gre had all of their scanners built at one facility in China. They were told that the facility was going to be demolished for new development and they did not find another facility in time. Fwiw they were given nearly a two year warning. The rumor going around is that they did not believe that they would kill the factory due to the number of people working there. They lost that bet if true. |
|
Think of the little UV-5R as kind of like a Bic pen. It works, but not worth fixing.
Manual, here's a well written English manual written by another ham. Throw away the Baofeng manual and use this instead. http://radiodoc.github.io/ And check out the Manual Programming Flow Chart on this page: http://www.miklor.com/uv5r/ |
|
Think of the little UV-5R as kind of like a Bic pen. It works, but not worth fixing.
Manual, here's a well written English manual written by another ham. Throw away the Baofeng manual and use this instead. http://radiodoc.github.io/ And check out the Manual Programming Flow Chart on this page: http://www.miklor.com/uv5r/ |