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Technical Topics => Equipment => Topic started by: L Cee on December 23, 2011, 0013 UTC

Title: Alinco DX-R8T
Post by: L Cee on December 23, 2011, 0013 UTC
Does anyone have any experience with the new tabletop worldband receiver from Alinco, the DX-R8T? I've read a couple of good reviews online and for the price of $479, it seems a good buy.
Title: Re: Alinco DX-R8T
Post by: Zoidberg on January 10, 2012, 0341 UTC
First I've heard of the Alinco.  After reading some reviews, it sounds like a really good alternative to the Palstar, which has jumped up significantly in price since I got mine a few years ago.
Title: Re: Alinco DX-R8T
Post by: acl12 on January 16, 2012, 1121 UTC
Does this model and alinco r8e cover everything in lw,mw and all sw. Does it also cover the entire fm spectrum and allow for fm Dx ? Can communications reciever be used as standard radios. I've got to decide whether to buy the alinco or eton 750.
Title: Re: Alinco DX-R8T
Post by: Beerus Maximus on January 16, 2012, 1735 UTC
The DX-R8T does cover longwave down to 150 KHz and shortwave up to 35 MHz, according to the Alinco website. The radio seems well regarded in eHam reviews.
Title: Re: Alinco DX-R8T
Post by: Token on January 19, 2012, 2047 UTC
I talked myself into wanting the DX-R8T.  So my wife and I drove 160 miles one way to the closest store with one in stock so I could bring it home.  When I got there I took a few minutes to set down and play with the rig.  They had it on a desk right next to the Icom R-75.

Now, I already had an R-75, I was looking for another radio and thought the SDR feature of the Alinco might be a positive for the shack.

After about 30 minutes of playing with the Alinco I ended up buying another Icom R-75 instead.

The Alinco was not a bad radio.  The tuning knob felt surprisingly heavy and weighty, and the tuning was smooth and well controlled.  However, the other knobs on the front of the radio felt cheap and flimsy.  The radio, on the same antenna and side-by-side with the R-75, did receive pretty much everything the Icom did, but sometimes the Icom seemed to do it "better", and that was probably because of the audio.  The audio from the Alinco speaker was even worse than the poor audio from the Icoms built in speaker...and that is a known weak point of the Icom.  I never did find a contrast/brightness setting for the LCD on the Alinco that I liked, it just looked “cheap” and not as nice as the Icom.

The sound card SDR feature of the radio (and thus the filter advantage of the SDR application) can only be used when you are NOT listening to audio from the radios own detector, selecting SDR output disables the audio from the radio.  The SDR feature is also VERY narrow banded, essentially it is meant for use with digital modes like DRM that require 12 kHz or slightly more of bandwidth, and so I think the SDR is limited to about 24 kHz or so (that is off the top of my head, and might need to be checked).

My opinion here; if the $100+ difference between the two is the difference between getting a radio and not getting one go for the Alinco.  If you can afford the Icom get it instead.  I know that after using them side by side in an admittedly unscientific 30 minutes of tuning I opted for the Icom myself.

T!
Title: Re: Alinco DX-R8T
Post by: L Cee on January 20, 2012, 0018 UTC
Thanks for your review Token !  I agree the R-75 is hard to beat. I had one for several years and I wish I still had it. I was thinking the price difference (for a new radio) being about $150 less for the Alinco (even with the cost of the power supply), would make it a good buy for someone wanting to upgrade from a portable. But yes, if one can afford the extra cost - you can't beat the R-75 for SW DXing. I thought some of the Alinco's features like the DRM capability sounded interesting.....but again, I agree for hardcore SW DXing - for a radio costing less than four figures......the R-75 is at the top of the list.
Title: Re: Alinco DX-R8T
Post by: ErnieTech on May 10, 2012, 0217 UTC
I'll most likely get a DX-SR8T shortly after doing some soul-searching about how I play radio. Now I can't fault Icon, Kenwood or Yaesu for thinking we have deep pockets, but anything under $700 is too much for my current skinny wallet. Too many other things in life to buy, like a Roku box, new golf clubs, or that set of 60's Flinstones grape jelly juice glasses I saw on eBay. I know some lab somewhere said the Alinco has some issues with image rejection, but I'm bald, so I'm used to rejection.

I'll let you know what I think after I get it on the desk and it comes alive. If it works as well as my old Kenwood TS-440S, I'll be happy.
Title: Re: Alinco DX-R8T
Post by: Zoidberg on May 11, 2012, 0149 UTC
Token's very helpful review made me realize the main reason I'm still satisfied with the Palstar.  The audio quality and AGC really help sort out signals when conditions are poor - which is pretty much always since I'm limited to an indoor antenna.  It's a pretty basic receiver, not many bells and whistles, but it works well and sounds good.

For what it's worth, my next choice would be the Ten-Tec R320 or RX 320D.  While not an SDR it's a good value and looks like it'll run on any low end PC or laptop.  I tried one via a web tuner last year and it was excellent far better than any Icom PCR-1000 or PCR-1500.  Excellent filters, AGC and none of the problems with intermod and images that plague the Icom PCR-1000/1500.
Title: Re: Alinco DX-R8T
Post by: Turbo on May 12, 2012, 2011 UTC
Hi got 2 of the Alinco Dx-R8 hf receivers also run a Bhi dsp speaker antenna Wellbrook-ALA1530 Active loop mainly monitor hf aero performance is as excellent as my 2 Icom-R75 receivers in fact have tested the Alinco against other receivers from Aor,Drake,Nrd,Racal,Ten Tec,Winradio,Watkins Johnson and is as good comes down to what antenna u are using not an expert when it comes to specs also share another radio room with dad with 45 receivers and 8 active antennas lots of equipment to compare..

Regards Lino..