52 June 1998
Product Review
Edited by Rick Lindquist, N1RL• Senior Assistant Technical Editor
Reviewed by Joe Bottiglieri, AA1GW
ARRL Technical Information Service
Coordinator
With improvements in propagation on
the HF bands over the last few months, sto-
ries of wide-open bands and easy DX are
rapidly spreading. If you’re a newcomer
looking to join the fun without cleaning out
the bank account, upgrading from “hollow
state,” or are just considering a new or sec-
ond HF radio for your shack (or at that sec-
ond QTH in the woods), the Alinco DX-77T
may be just the ticket. Here’s an economical
HF box in the $1000 price category that
won’t take up a lot of space on the operating
desk but still has plenty to offer.
Already known for its VHF and UHF
products, Alinco entered the HF market in
1995 with the release of the DX-70T. This
compact HF-plus-6 meters transceiver
proved to be a popular choice for mobile,
home station, and portable operation. A sub-
sequent model, the DX-70TH, offered 100
W on 6 meters. With the introduction of the
DX-77T, Alinco now adds a somewhat
larger HF-only transceiver to their lineup.
What’s it Got?
The DX-77T is a 100 W output SSB,
CW, FM and 40 W AM transceiver that
covers 160 through 10 meters and includes
0.5 to 30 MHz general-coverage receiving
capability. It features dual VFOs, split op-
eration, 100 memory channels, band stack-
ing registers, a speech processor, IF shift,
multiple scan options, computer controlla-
bility, and a front-facing speaker. But wait!
A built-in CW keyer, 500Hz CW filter, and
menu selectable CTCSS encode for 10-
meter FM repeater operation also are all
standard features (in the US version). In
comparison, setting CTCSS tones in the
DX-70T required setting DIP switches, and
the earlier radio had no CW keyer.
While Alinco has managed to pack in
some very nice capabilities, they’ve also
kept the front panel surprisingly simple and
functional, with just a few large buttons and
knobs and bold, bright labels. Physically
larger than the current crop of subcompact
base/mobile type HF transceivers on the
market the DX-77T is a more convenient
size for desktop or portable operation.
Many users will welcome the generous di-
mensions. You could almost operate this
radio with oven mitts on!
Although it’s on the small side, the busy
LCD display offers good contrast and easy
readability. Backlighting is adjustable to
Alinco DX-77T MF/HF Transceiver
BOTTOM LINE
A $1000-class desktop radio, the
DX-77T is easy to use and a moder-
ately good performer with some nice
features you wouldn’t typically expect
at this price.
five brightness levels (or off altogether). In
addition to the operating frequency, the win-
dow displays icons for mode, noise blanker,
AGC slow or fast (AGC cannot be disabled),
memory number, VFO A and B, split, nar-
row CW filter, CTCSS tone state, RIT offset
and low power. A four-section readout indi-
cates the state of the two-stage attenuator/
normal/or 10-dB preamplifier RF gain level.
An LCD bargraph-type S meter indicates
relative power output on transmit.
Up Front
The front panel sports 14 buttons and
four knobs, with one concentric control.
The all-mode
SQUELCH and AF GAIN con-
trols are huge by today’s standards,
almost
5
/8 inch in diameter! The RIT and IF
shift knobs are a concentric pair, mounted
in the upper right corner. Center detents in
their travel indicate zero settings, with RIT
adjustable to approximately ±1.0 kHz. The
RIT function is always available—there’s
no way to clear it or turn it off. Some users
might find this a disadvantage.
The large main tuning knob spins
smoothly (some users thought a little too
easily, however), is lightly weighted, and
includes a finger dimple. The tuning rate is
fixed at 2 kHz per knob revolution for
SSB/CW and 10 kHz per revolution for FM/
AM. A
DIAL LOCK button is located to the
lower right of the main knob. For large
changes in frequency, the
SELECT button
used in conjunction with the front panel
UP
and DOWN buttons allows stepping through
the band registers and memory channels, or
frequency changes in 1 MHz or 100 kHz
steps. Smaller mode-related step sizes are
selectable in the set mode. A small front-
facing speaker sends the audio in the right
direction, a very nice arrangement. A jack
for an 8-pin microphone connection and
3.5-mm jacks for an external key or
paddles, an external speaker, and head-
phones are mounted along the bottom of
the speaker grille.
The
POWER ON/OFF switch is a large
yellow push button located in the top left
corner. Side-by-side green and red LEDs
just to the left of the display window indi-
cate transmit or receive, with the green
LED showing received signal, and the red
showing transmit, with increasing bright-
ness on ALC peaks. Four large, black,
rectangular buttons form a vertical row to
the left of the main tuning knob. Side-by-
side white and light green legends above
each button indicate their primary and sec-
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