Dave,
Those of us who bought it early on, including me, were very disappointed in its satellite performance, and in some cases general quality. At least two people I know had theirs brick for things like battery or transmitter failure. Upgrading the firmware did result in some significant improvements, but it never was more than marginally useful according to most. If you look back in the archives, there were some quantitative reports using lab equipment which compared it with the standards such as the D-7. The performance issues were clear, even on the bench. I finally sold mine to someone locally who is very pleased with it for terrestrial use. Even with the latest firmware, is was demonstrably less sensitive than other rigs with identical specs, and with poor full duplex performance. My own experience, and some of the regular satellite rovers, was negative.
That having been said, I had seen a few reports from people who were VERY pleased. That may be based on different levels of expectation, or the traditional process where manufacturers make running changes in production to address problems. Also, the iffy quality control may be a factor. I see that Alinco has changed their US distributor, which may or may not be relevant, and the rig has been on sale recently.
My suggestion is to see if you get any reports from people with recent production.
Alan WA4SCA
-----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 2:08 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [amsat-bb] Alinco DJ-G7T as a full-duplex FM Sat rig?
It's been a while now since I've heard any discussion about this Alinco HT since its debut just over a year ago. The first reviews were fairly negative, with most comments pointing towards immature firmware. I know that Alinco has sent out a number of updates of this HT's operating system since then, but I don't know how important or effective these improvements were.
A ham friend of mine bought one about six months ago, and tells me he is very pleased with his, enjoying some 1.2 Gig SF Bay Area repeater systems. He has never used the satellites, though, (yep, it's a pity!) so could not tell me anything about how well this HT accomplishes full-duplex FM sat operation.
So, my question to those of you that own this HT and have kept up with the updates: Is this product worth another look? Has it matured sufficiently? I'm probably most interested in how well it performs in full-duplex mode for FM satellites, hence my reason for posting this question here.
So what say ye, DJ-G7T owners? Worth it, or not? Is the full-duplex sensitivity and functionality good, or do you have to accept some degradation or other compromises?
73 es tnx in advance,
Dave - K7DAA
_______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb