ALINCO DX-70TH

Impressions

I was using the President HR-2510 in the car for over 18 months. This was great when the band was open, but when 10m was quiet, it was a boring trip home from work. So the decision was made to replace the President with something a little more all band.

The President was sold, and I put the feelers out for a good second hand HF radio. I had no idea what I wanted, but I knew it had to be compact and working. It did not have to have 2m or 70cm as I already had that capability. I didn't want an expensive radio as I would cry if I lost a AU$1500 or AU$2000 radio to some light fingered individual.

Within a few weeks I had a call from a friend who said he knew of an Alinco for sale at a reasonable price. As the radio was located in Ipswich, my friend offered to bring it around to his place so that I could put it through it's paces. Just as well, because Ipswich is around 80km from my home and my friend was about half way.

I hadn't heard much about Alinco. I mean, I knew they existed, but I'd never seen one before. To be honest, I though they were a cheap and nasty radio which was a sort of copy of the Kenwood TS-50. I came to that conclusion because I had heard that the Kenwood ATU worked without modification with the DX-70 and that the Alinco was built in the same factory.

So here I was, putting the Alinco through its paces. All of the buttons worked, it received well enough, and it transmitted.

Judging by the serial number it was an early model so it would be at least 15 years old, and it looked it too. Some of the lettering is worn away and the clips that held the head unit to the main body were dodgy. Although I wasn't to concerned about that because the head was to be remotely mounted.

My friend had tested the radio prior to me seeing it, and aligned it as well, although he said it didn't need it. The thing that struck me most was the weight of the thing, this was one solid radio!

Suffice to say, money changed hands, and I was the owner of a new (second hand) Alinco DX-70TH

When I got the radio home I put it on the bench and started to read the manual and program some of the memories. I was curious to see how the radio performed beside my IC-706 MKIIG, so I hooked it to an antenna via a switch so that I could flick between radios.

Wow, what a surprise that turned out to be!

Tuning to 40m, I singled out a station that had a stable signal with no QSB. Switching between radios, there was absolutely no difference in the received signal strength. Yeah I know what you are going to say, all signal meters are liars. I thought this too, so I closed my eyes and listened.

Both radios had clear audio, with a similar tone and loudness. What was different was the noise floor on the two radios. The Alinco noise floor was low, around S3 or S4, but the Icom noise floor was S8 to S9. At first I thought that the Alinco might have been deaf, but finding another station elsewhere on 40m and then later 80m and then 20m yielded similar results. I have no idea why this may be occurring, perhaps its all the whiz-bang micro-processing within the Icom that is the culprit. I can't be sure, but I know what I heard.

How about in the car?

I mounted the radio in the car without the separation cable. The intention was to mount the head unit somewhere on the dash of my car, but as I didn't have the separation cable I would have to make do for the moment. `

There are a multitude of antennas available for mobile use; mono-banders, screw driver antennas, tapped whips. You name it, they are all available. In the end I decided on the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula Amateur Radio Club (FAMPARC) tapped whip. There were several reasons for my decision:

• Having eight (8) mono-band antennas was impractical.
• I reasoned that the screw driver antenna, although convenient, had too many moving parts, and would be difficult to repair if something failed on it.
• The Terlin variety of tapped whips were very good, but expensive.
• The FAMPARC antenna was significantly cheaper.
• I would be supporting a club that was trying to better Amateur Radio.

The FAMPARC tapped whip is a well made, rugged antenna; mine is #1004, so they have certainly sold a few over the years. I have had mine now for around 18 months or more. It has copped quite a beating with low slung branches in the bush and even low bridges not damaging it.

Note that I didn't hit these obstacles at 80km/h. More like a jogging pace. Still it stands up well to a bit of abuse. I'd certainly recommend them and wouldn't hesitate to but another should the need arise.

In the first week coming home from work, I made contacts up and down the east coast and southern Australia. VK1, VK2, VK3, VK4, VK5 and VK7. I even made a few contacts into ZL in the following weeks. The highlight was when I had a brief contact with a KH6 on 40m who gave me a 5 by 8 report.

The built in speech processor works flawlessly and I quite often receive unsolicited reports on the audio quality thought the standard hand mic. that came with the radio.

This radio was quickly dispelling any misconceptions I had about Alinco products.

Within a month or so I had acquired a separation cable and mounted the head unit in a more visible location on the dash of the car. This is much safer, as I no longer have to look down near my left knee to give a signal report.

Modifications

Although my radio is unmodified, there are several modifications available for this radio. Everything from general coverage transmit though to improving the noise blanker, although I don't see the need to do the latter one as the radio works great just the way it is.

Conclusion

The Alinco DX-70Th is a very capable radio, simple to operate with fantastic transmitted audio and a low noise floor when compared to the IC-706 MKIIG. It has dispelled every myth I had thought or heard about Alinco. So much so that I would consider buying another if the need ever arose.

My Alinco is in regular use around 0730 UTC most days on the trip home from work, it's rare that I can't find someone to talk to.

BCNU