Alinco DJ-G7 Review

[Moleculo]

I think perhaps that you've found another bug with the software. Like I said, this software is pretty poor.

 

[DL4OCH]

Some more (minor) issues I have discovered with my new DJ-G7.

There is no receiption on the 4mtrs band. I can tune the frequencies between 76 - 88 MHz, but nothing tunes in. Comparing this with an old HT from Yaesu shows, that the RX seems to be dead in this frequency range.

Can anybody second that, or is it just my HT ?

Cheers,
Wilm DL4OCH

 

[Moleculo]

If I knew of something to listen to in that frequency range, I could probably answer that... :tongue:.

For kicks, try swapping antennas with another HT that has good RX there to see if it's an antenna or radio design issue and let us know what you find.

 

[DL4OCH]

OK,

had the change to meet the dealer again to compare modified with unmodified Alincos.
The result was quite simple: Mine was broken. No receiption on 4 mtrs and 23cms as well. As here are no repeaters for 23cm, if haven't figured that out.

But, the antenna doesn't work well on 4 mtrs. Compared to an old antenna from a FT-50, it's approx 3 s-meter settings lower.

vy 73s,
Wilm

 

[kf7p]

Thanks for the very helpful information! I've been watching this radio and hoping the software issues would have been fixed by now, but it looks like there is a way around it. I have owned a IC 91AD and still have my VX170. I had a lot of gripes with the 91AD so I sold it.

If you don't mind, can you address the following questions? You have the VX8, and you know how bright the backlight is on the Yaesu's. How does the Alinco compare?
How loud is the audio compared to the VX8?
Have you listened to the AM/FM broadcast bands much, and how is the reception there?
Do the volume knobs "stay put" or are they easily moved when accidentally bumped, requiring constant re-adjusting? (Are they "tight"?)

Thanks

Chris
KF7P

 

[Moleculo]

Thanks for the very helpful information! I've been watching this radio and hoping the software issues would have been fixed by now, but it looks like there is a way around it. I have owned a IC 91AD and still have my VX170. I had a lot of gripes with the 91AD so I sold it.

If you don't mind, can you address the following questions? You have the VX8, and you know how bright the backlight is on the Yaesu's. How does the Alinco compare?

They seem about the same. The VX8 might be a bit brighter, but they're both fine. The display on the DJ-G7 is very easy to read.

How loud is the audio compared to the VX8?

It's louder. It appears that the speaker is much bigger on the DJ-G7

Have you listened to the AM/FM broadcast bands much, and how is the reception there?

FM, yes. AM, not as much. But FM seemed just fine to me. I listen to FM quite often at work.

Do the volume knobs "stay put" or are they easily moved when accidentally bumped, requiring constant re-adjusting? (Are they "tight"?)

They're not bad, but you can bump them. They're definitely easier to bump than the VX8. But you can always just "lock" them...that solves the problem.

 

[kf7p]

Thanks for the answers. I think there is a place in my shack for this radio.

 

[Newshunter]

The other issue, which is a fairly significant one to me, is that 475.750Mhz and up will only allow you to set it to WFM mode. There are so many police and fire agencies that use frequencies in this range that this is a major oversight. It seems to stay in WFM only until you get around 895.000Mhz.

One other thing that I've noticed is that scanning is painfully slow. My other radios can much faster. This isn't a deal-breaker for me since I probably won't scan much with it.

Do you know if any of this, is fixed in the latest firmware-update?

 

[Moleculo]

Well, the Alinco website says that two of the bug fixes are:
"1: RIT/TXIT functions / added."
and
"8: Minor bugs fixed."

It doesn't elaborate, LOL. We'll have to get a report from someone else on what they have noticed about this firmware since I sold the radio. If there had been more 1.2Ghz activity on the repeaters here, would have kept it but I got an offer on the radio, so it has a new home.

 

[Newshunter]

I found something that I'm not crazy about tonight. When you program a memory and assign a name to it, there's no quick way to toggle between the memory name and frequency. To get around this, you just have to hit the FUNC then M->V to send the memory to the VFO. It's not very intuitive, but at least there's a way to do it.

I have an 7GE, and when I have named a chanel, I can see the freq when I hit MONI and opens the squelsh..

 

[Se7en]

Mole, thanks for this review. I can't believe how cheap this radio is @ Universal. :Thumbsup:

 

[Mudfoot]

Just ordered one of these a few minutes ago.

 

[Mudfoot]

I like the unit very much. It's easy to program manually. I agree, the belt clip is a con. The current clip arrangement is beyond stupid. I'll have to fab up something.

 

[omer]

does this dj-g7t transmit on SUB band?