Big, very "tech-looking" radio but versatile and sensitive!I have owned the radio for more than 3 years and I sold it... Again, like with my FT-857D, this radio is back in my shack after passing a few fellow hams.
First, I have to say that the original stock antenna is one of the worst I have ever seen! But with a real dual band antenna, the things are changing! I used a Diamond RH771S and now I use a Kathrein K7151219 GainFlex antenna.
What I like
Is a real dual bander! This means that you can listen simultaneous on two different frequencies! The possible combinations are: V/U (reccomended), V/V, U/V, U/U. Add to this the two VFO's per receiver and you have a lot of possibilities!
Feeling. When you keep it in your hand, it feels very solid. The back-case is real-metal.
Cross band repeater. This radio performs a cross band repeater and it does well! This is usefull when in mobile operations, and emergency communications when a external antenna will be a plus! And a nice feature is that you can monitor the communications directly in the radio's speaker. Can work as one way repeater or two way cross repeater. Also is full duplex capable!
Battery life. The radio have a extended range of operating voltage. Somewhere between 4V-13V. So, a 9,6V EBP-36N will last about a week on a moderate receiving operation.
Simplicity in operation. The radio isn't "menu driven". The functions are very easy accesed from F+Key.
Good audio reports. On both receiving and transmitting!
BNC connector for antenna. Is very easy to connect a external antenna for mobile use. Also very easy to replace broken connector.
Good locking mechanism for battery.
Good place for external PTT Microphone/Speaker.
Front end attenuator. This can improve the IMD figure when the radio is use with a mobile external antenna.
Good AM receiving. I often monitor the Airband and the radio is good on this. But not with the stock antenna!
Normal 3.5mm jack for headphones. Is easy to use regular headphone, for one ear, to monitor when walking... No expensive accessory for listners!
I don't like
The radio becomes very hot. Even the power is set to M, the radio will be hot on about 5 minutes of transmission, so if you plan to use it as a cross band repeater, you have to put a fan on the radio!
The keypad inscriptions will be erased in months of moderate usage though the inscriptions above de key (the one on the case) will last for years!
Poor PTT, MON and secondary PTT switches and rubber. The rubber will break. I changed the PTT microswitch after 2 years.
Volume and Squelch controls. I wish I have knobs for volume and squelch for the two sections!
No alpha tags on memory. This can be annoying when you are a "listener" like I am. Hard to remember what frequency is!
No CAT. Can't programm with a cable tough there is a way to save the channels by Air Cloning. You have to record the DTMF's which are sent by the radio with another radio.
Other things about this radio
Is very solid, the screen light can be set on continuous by pushing F+LAMP, the radio have a lot of paging options. Is slow on scanning so I use it to monitor two frequencies instead of scanning. Also a nice feature is the band scope which works OK because it used the other receiver to "take the picture".
By default, the number of memory channels alocated for the two sections is equal but You can change this very easy. (by default 80+80 memory channels).
The radio use in the final stage hybrid modules and the measurements show around 7W on VHF and 6 in UHF when use 12V. Again, the radio will be really hot!
I am searching for a new case for the radio, new keypad and rubbers for PTT.
Overall, the radio is a "power-horse". Is best for backpacking but to heavy for pants! Alinco did a good job. This may be "the last true dual bander" from Alinco!
Here are the specifications from Alinco:
VHF/UHF FM Twin Bander
DJ-G5T/TY/TH
73! de yo3hjvFirst, I have to say that the original stock antenna is one of the worst I have ever seen! But with a real dual band antenna, the things are changing! I used a Diamond RH771S and now I use a Kathrein K7151219 GainFlex antenna.
What I like
Is a real dual bander! This means that you can listen simultaneous on two different frequencies! The possible combinations are: V/U (reccomended), V/V, U/V, U/U. Add to this the two VFO's per receiver and you have a lot of possibilities!
Feeling. When you keep it in your hand, it feels very solid. The back-case is real-metal.
Cross band repeater. This radio performs a cross band repeater and it does well! This is usefull when in mobile operations, and emergency communications when a external antenna will be a plus! And a nice feature is that you can monitor the communications directly in the radio's speaker. Can work as one way repeater or two way cross repeater. Also is full duplex capable!
Battery life. The radio have a extended range of operating voltage. Somewhere between 4V-13V. So, a 9,6V EBP-36N will last about a week on a moderate receiving operation.
Simplicity in operation. The radio isn't "menu driven". The functions are very easy accesed from F+Key.
Good audio reports. On both receiving and transmitting!
BNC connector for antenna. Is very easy to connect a external antenna for mobile use. Also very easy to replace broken connector.
Good locking mechanism for battery.
Good place for external PTT Microphone/Speaker.
Front end attenuator. This can improve the IMD figure when the radio is use with a mobile external antenna.
Good AM receiving. I often monitor the Airband and the radio is good on this. But not with the stock antenna!
Normal 3.5mm jack for headphones. Is easy to use regular headphone, for one ear, to monitor when walking... No expensive accessory for listners!
I don't like
The radio becomes very hot. Even the power is set to M, the radio will be hot on about 5 minutes of transmission, so if you plan to use it as a cross band repeater, you have to put a fan on the radio!
The keypad inscriptions will be erased in months of moderate usage though the inscriptions above de key (the one on the case) will last for years!
Poor PTT, MON and secondary PTT switches and rubber. The rubber will break. I changed the PTT microswitch after 2 years.
Volume and Squelch controls. I wish I have knobs for volume and squelch for the two sections!
No alpha tags on memory. This can be annoying when you are a "listener" like I am. Hard to remember what frequency is!
No CAT. Can't programm with a cable tough there is a way to save the channels by Air Cloning. You have to record the DTMF's which are sent by the radio with another radio.
Other things about this radio
Is very solid, the screen light can be set on continuous by pushing F+LAMP, the radio have a lot of paging options. Is slow on scanning so I use it to monitor two frequencies instead of scanning. Also a nice feature is the band scope which works OK because it used the other receiver to "take the picture".
By default, the number of memory channels alocated for the two sections is equal but You can change this very easy. (by default 80+80 memory channels).
The radio use in the final stage hybrid modules and the measurements show around 7W on VHF and 6 in UHF when use 12V. Again, the radio will be really hot!
I am searching for a new case for the radio, new keypad and rubbers for PTT.
Overall, the radio is a "power-horse". Is best for backpacking but to heavy for pants! Alinco did a good job. This may be "the last true dual bander" from Alinco!
Here are the specifications from Alinco:
VHF/UHF FM Twin Bander
DJ-G5T/TY/TH
Tx: 144.000-147.995/438.000-449.995 MHz
Rx: 108.000-173.995 AM/FM /438.000-449.995 MHz
- Channel Scope
- Full duplex between VHF & UHF
- CTCSS Tone Squelch
- Memory channels VHF 80 + UHF 80
- DSQ selective call
- 20 auto-dialers
- 2W output or 5W with the optional EBP-36N battery
- U x U/V x V
- Compact 57 x 139 x 27.5 mm body
- Sweep Scan
- X-band repeater
- Direct freq. entry through keypad
I can't attach here the user and service manual but you can ask me to send by e-mail in pdf. format.
Below, the schematics in gif format:
5 comentarii:
Hello dear friend,
Im also qwner of DJ-G5 and Im looking for windows software to manage the memories of raadio.
If you have any can you pse send it to me at sv5byr@hol.gr ????
Tanks in advance.
SV5BYR
Mike
Soory, there is NO such software!
Although posted in 2007 I like the post as I have one as well. Had some problems with the earth connection inside but reparing was easy. Nice info here and indeed, you don't want to hold this HT in your hands on high power. So, I mostly have it in my car when I want to operate VHF/UHF. It's also a great radio for working sats. Manage to make some contacts even from my car. 73, Bas
Great Bas! Meanwhile, I transformed mine in a cross band repeater and after a while ended in the junkbox. Somehow, I don't feel too sorry about that radio when comparing with the FT530, FT51 or Kenwood TH-79. These are exposed on a shelf at my office as part of the portable history... 73 de Adrian
Hi, I would like to ask one technical question about this rig. I have owned this radio a while and used it for HAM satelite QSOs. But only right VFO works fine. The left one is deaf - I normaly transmit on this VFO but can't recive any signal. It's fine for me couse I can set uplink freq on left VFO and downlink freq on right VFO but tried to solve problem with no luck. Did reset few times so it's not a software problem I guess. If someone have any idea what is the problam please contact me via e-mail sq5rtk@wp.pl.
73! de SQ5RTK Michal
Trimiteți un comentariu