Railfan Technology > A possible bargain for a railfanning portable radio

Snooping around on the internet today I found what might be a possible good railfanning analog amateur radio. It is the SECOND GENERATION Alinco DJ-500T amateur radio. Now, I do not own this radio, nor have I used one, so this information is based on what I've read in tech specs, along with some user reviews. First, it appears that this radio will indeed tune the AAR splinter analog channels (again, I haven't personally verified it). Second, it has 200 channel memory, and has received good reviews on selectivity, sensitivity and audio output. Best of all, TODAY (4/30/17), this radio, including an AC drop-in charger, can be bought from several online amateur radio dealers for $99! That's a pretty smokin' deal, if the radio lives up to what it says it can do. The $99 price may not last very long, possibly not beyond today, but even at regular price of around $130, this might be a pretty good deal. If anyone is using this radio, it would be useful to hear about how they like it.

By the way, Alinco, oddly, makes an NXDN commercial portable, but only in the 440 mHz UHF band. You would think that they would make one in the VHF band that would be useful for railroad (and railfan) use. Maybe someday.

Like the receive band and the 1w audio. claims to be rugged, nice size as well.

Noticed the manufacturer has downloads to the radio, can it be updated for NXDN? Or maybe that is simply for frequency programming?

The utility software for the DJ-500T is for programming only--no NXDN.

I should add that Alinco may not be a familiar brand for many prospective radio buyers. For years, Alinco was considered sort of a lower-tier Japanese radio manufacturer, at a level somewhat below the "biggie" Japanese producers--Kenwood, Yaesu, and Icom--in quality and performance, but also in price. The only Alinco radio that I owned, a number of years ago, pretty much fit that profile--not a bad radio, but not great. Alinco's radio models still get pretty mixed reviews, but the DJ-500T is getting pretty good reviews. This may be because the DJ-500T is a "cousin" model to some of Alinco's commercial models (probably why the 2.5 kHz tuning step necessary to hear the splinter channels is available in the DJ-500T, but not in the other Alinco amateur portables).

Also, when I refer to a "Japanese" radio manufacturer, that means that the company is headquartered in Japan and that, presumably, the radios are deigned there. Like most any other electronics, the actual product may be manufactured just about anywhere in Asia, often in China.

WW Wrote:
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>
>
> By the way, Alinco, oddly, makes an NXDN
> commercial portable, but only in the 440 mHz UHF
> band. You would think that they would make one in
> the VHF band that would be useful for railroad
> (and railfan) use. Maybe someday.

Alinco has had the 440 mHz version NXDN for at least 2 years. I talked to factory reps at that time about a 2 meter version (covering AAR frequencies) and they said it was in the mill and had to be reviewed by the FCC. That was 2 years ago and I've heard nothing since. I'll prob ably have the opportunity to talk to them in about 3 weeks. I'll update the info on this forum when I know something, good or bad news.

John

I was aware of the Alinco NXDN 440 mHz model when it came out and I heard the same thing at the time--they were "looking at" doing a VHF NXDN model at some point, but had no firm plan in place. I suspect that Kenwood/Icom may be reluctant to license a VHF commercial NXDN version to Alinco because they could potentially pirate sales in the railroad market--the railroads being the biggest single NXDN market out there right now. I seriously doubt that NXDN will be any major player in the amateur radio world, simply because Icom is already pushing its D-Star digital system and Yaesu is pushing Fusion in the amateur market. I noticed that there are some amateur models coming out that will inter-operate between those two digital platforms.

None of this is germane to the discussion of the Alinco DJ-500T radio--it is an analog model. It is a good point to always keep in mind, though--analog-only radios for railfanning are only useful to the extent that railroads are using analog channels. Once the railroads start cutting over to NXDN, railfans will lose the ability to monitor NXDN communications if they have a radio that is analog only. Personally, I wouldn't be spending anything more than around $100+/- for an analog portable or $140+/- for an analog mobile radio for railfanning. As others have noted, too, amateur analog models will continue to have at least some resale value in the used market, though, like any electronic equipment, older model radios will eventually become obsolete.

Ham Radio Outlet has the DJ 500T 2mt./440 for $129.99
...............Swede............Albany,OR................

GN_X838 Wrote:
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> Ham Radio Outlet has the DJ 500T 2mt./440 for
> $129.99
> ...............Swede............Albany,OR.........
> .......


It was on sale for $94.99 until midnight last night . . . I did see one for $99.99 plus shipping at another radio vendor website this morning. If one is wanting one of these radios, I would just keep checking online--most any of the amateur radios go on sale pretty regularly.

Something to consider:

The "Dayton" (actually in Xenia, OH) "Hamvention" runs from 19 to 21 May this year.

It is customary for the vendors there to offer special "hamfest" discounts on their
wares. These discounts may even extend to phone orders if requested.

I suspect that if you mention whilst placing a phone order that you have seen the
item at a lower price, the vendor will match it.

Be Well,

Tim Colbert K3HX