Icom: Mobile Radio Question!

[N1SQB]

Hello everyone!

I am trying to decide between an

ICOM IC-2730A and an ALINCO DR-735T​

Can anyone tell me which is the better of the 2? I am not personally familiar with either one. I am going to put one of them in my car for the summer travel season.
I have read some reviews but the choice is not so obvious. I do not need digital voice or anything, just analog Ham stuff and some local ERS stuff. I LOVE the true dual RX on both.
Any help will be appreciated.

Manny

 

[AK9R]

The IC-2730 control head appears to be smaller than the DR-735 control head. That might play into whatever installation issues you may have with your car.

I'd be concerned about the contrast and clarity of the displays. The photos of the DR-735 display all seem to be a bit washed out compared to the IC-2730.

 

[N1SQB]

The IC-2730 control head appears to be smaller than the DR-735 control head. That might play into whatever installation issues you may have with your car.

I'd be concerned about the contrast and clarity of the displays. The photos of the DR-735 display all seem to be a bit washed out compared to the IC-2730.

HMM, I didn't think about that, good point, thank you.

 

[k6cpo]

Checking prices at HRO leads me to believe that, all other factors being equal, the Alinco is the better value. The iCom doesn't include mounting brackets for either the head or the radio body nor a separation kit. By the time you add in those items, theiCom is appreciably more expensive than the Alinco, even with the added cost of a separation kit for it.

 

[N1SQB]

Checking prices at HRO leads me to believe that, all other factors being equal, the Alinco is the better value. The iCom doesn't include mounting brackets for either the head or the radio body nor a separation kit. By the time you add in those items, theiCom is appreciably more expensive than the Alinco, even with the added cost of a separation kit for it.

Yes, I did notice that. After my OP, I did a little more digging. The display is another win for Alinco. It has the ability to be customized in multiple color combos and even 2 different colors on the same screen at the same time. The ease of just cutting a wire to do the MARS/CAP mod is nice, no soldering. I think given HRO's current sale price on it, I am going to go with the Alinco.

Manny

 

[wd9ewk]

Hi!

If you are looking to work repeaters or simplex, the DR-735 would probably work fine for those purposes, and be cheaper than the IC-2730 with the two options (mobile bracket for the radio "box", and kit to mount front panel to "box") to make it roughly equivalent to what you get with the DR-735. In terms of performance, especially on UHF, the IC-2730 is a better option.

One good test for an FM transceiver is to see how it works with FM satellites. We have a few, some with 2m uplinks and others with 70cm uplinks, with the downlink in the opposite band. Both radios are capable of cross-band full-duplex operation for the FM satellites, but the DR-735 has issues when transmitting on 2m and trying to simultaneously receive a 70cm downlink (ISS cross-band repeater, SO-50, TEVEL satellites). When the uplink is on 70cm and the downlink is on 2m (AO-91, PO-101), both radios are able to handle this configuration. I have posted a few videos of using these radios for working satellites, and in particular the DR-735, at:

http://www.youtube.com/va7ewk

In 2022, I worked NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren through the ISS cross-band repeater a few times, with different radios. One time, I used the DR-735. I never heard myself on the 70cm downlink while transmitting on the 2m uplink. Video from that pass is at:

With other radios, this was not an issue. The ISS cross-band repeater transmits at 5W, at least 10 times the transmit power of our current FM satellites, yet the DR-735's 70cm receiver could not reject my transmitted signals on 2m.

Other ISS repeater contacts in 2022 and 2023, using other radios, are at:

(using a Kenwood TM-D710GA)

NA1SS on the ISS cross-band repeater - 29 May 2023 @ 2112-2121 UTC (using an Icom ID-5100A)

(among other videos with ISS crewmember contacts)

Good luck, and 73!

Hello everyone!

I am trying to decide between an

ICOM IC-2730A and an ALINCO DR-735T​

Can anyone tell me which is the better of the 2? I am not personally familiar with either one. I am going to put one of them in my car for the summer travel season.
I have read some reviews but the choice is not so obvious. I do not need digital voice or anything, just analog Ham stuff and some local ERS stuff. I LOVE the true dual RX on both.
Any help will be appreciated.

Manny

 

[rf_patriot200]

Hello everyone!

I am trying to decide between an

ICOM IC-2730A and an ALINCO DR-735T​

Can anyone tell me which is the better of the 2? I am not personally familiar with either one. I am going to put one of them in my car for the summer travel season.
I have read some reviews but the choice is not so obvious. I do not need digital voice or anything, just analog Ham stuff and some local ERS stuff. I LOVE the true dual RX on both.
Any help will be appreciated.

Manny

If you have any vision issues with small characters , then it's a Plus for the DR-735, but then I'm biased since I own one ! Both are 50 watts on vhf/uhf and as Mentioned, independent receivers.

 

[rf_patriot200]

The IC-2730 control head appears to be smaller than the DR-735 control head. That might play into whatever installation issues you may have with your car.

I'd be concerned about the contrast and clarity of the displays. The photos of the DR-735 display all seem to be a bit washed out compared to the IC-2730.

Contrast on the 735 is adjustable, solving that problem.

 

[rf_patriot200]

With the DR-735 you can also have your own semi-private brand of digital IF you can find the EJ47U board which seems to have dried up and is no longer offered by Alinco. The Digi format is Not compatible with DSTAR, C4FM Fusion, or DMR. it's something Alinco came up with on their own.

 

[N5WMT]

I have 2 Alinco 735's they run flawlessly. Couple with RT Software very easy to program.

 

[N1SQB]

Update:
Purchased the Alinco 735. All I can say is I’m impressed so far. Everything seems to be as the online reviews have stated as well as you guys on here. The contrast is adjustable as stated. The audio is clear and booming. Custom adjustments are plenty.
The separate color ability on either side of the display is incredible.
So far just 2 issues. It does not have a 7.5 kHz step size which is proper for 150-174 band. I don’t have to have it since I own plenty of scanners, but since it does cover outside the Ham bands, and they did include the 6.25khz UHF step size, it would have been nice. It rounds off which is fine. Second, is the squelch. I plan to use this mobile mainly for Ham. I do want to occasionally listen to the local town action on the VHF hi / UHF hi public service bands. No matter how high I set the squelch, there is an annoying squelch tail. I turned on the ATT function and set it to VFO so it works with the squelch. That still did not quiet the tail. I used the proper PL/DPL tones as well.
I have dedicated Moto stuff so this is not a deal breaker but it’s annoying at high volumes.
But overall, I love this little rig. I plan on getting the “kit” to mount it in my car.
So far, so good….Im not sorry I got it.
The air band RX is a nice touch and very sensitive. I was able to hear Boston Air Center on 125.575. Nice touch….