Many thanks to Dale (BA4TB), who reached out this morning to announce that he’s working on a new product, the Venus SW-6B.
Dale gave me permission to share the following photo:
This will be a six band radio with a built-in rechargeable battery and small speaker.
The front panel reveals some other features:
- Dedicated CW speed control
- Dedicated AF and RF gain controls
- Separate charging and external power ports
- Two dedicated CW message memory buttons
- It also appears to be enclosed in a case with lid
It’s still in the early stages of development, so some details may change, but I think this looks quite promising! I’m very impressed with the Venus SW-3B, so I suspect this will be a great little radio.
Just take my money, Dale!
Speaking of which, this radio is still in development, so I don’t have pricing or availability information yet. When those details are available, you’ll hear it here first! Follow the tag: Venus SW-6B
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: there’s never been a better time to be a CW operator!
I have been thinking about the 3b, but the 6b sounds great. I will be looking for it when it comes out.
Thanks Thomas!
Dave KN4OK
Hi Tom, you missed an important feature! I see an OP/TUNE switch! If this includes a Tuner it may just be the perfect rig…
The enclosure in a box looks great; I hope it stays that way.
Thanks for sharing!
I saw that to, Romain, but am waiting for Dale to share details! 🙂
Based on a some talk in similar thread on QRZ, it sounds like the “tune” function will be a Tayloe N7VE style SWR bridge with an LED tuning indicator. It will measure how well your antenna is matched to 50 Ohms, but not actually perform any matching onboard…
Very true, it is! Last night at work about 9PM, I used a 15 minute break to walk to a little park across the street from my job in NYC (CBS TV) and brought my KH1. I stuck the KH1, the counter poise and earbuds in one pocket and the whip and 40 meter adapter in the other and messed around on 40/30 meters for about 10 mins. Didn’t find any POTA guys or hear any DX at that hour, sadly, but it was still fun to fit a bit of ham radio into my workday. I also just finished building a QMX+. Since there is some extra space inside, I predict someone will work out an auto tuner and battery to fit. Poor man’s KX2 anyone?
73, Kevin K3OX
What a great looking radio. Like the Pentek line it has a button for every function and a cover to protect it all. Perfect for POTA and SOTA. When my friends read this they’ll think “bet Pete will buy this. “ and they’ll be right! They know I like to try any new QRP radio.
Pete WK8S
Hopefully, the SW6B will have the “right” bands. I would go 40/30/20/17/15 and either 80 or 12 meters. I would choose 12, but you could make an argument for 80 despite the antenna problems. I suspect the “tune” switch is just to key the radio for external tuning, but I would love to be surprised. Internal battery is a nice touch. Hopefully, it will retain the general coverage/ SSB reception/ bandwidth feature of the SW3B.
73, Kevin K3OX
Looks like a good POTA rig. I only see five positions on the band switch
Oops, the prototype radio only has 5 bands on the band switch. But it is only a prototype…
Hope the VFO frequency comes up first with power ON. My SW-3B drives me nuts always coming up with the Memory Frequency. The SW-6B looks like another winner for Dale, can’t wait
Looks fabulous. Is it me, or does this look like a cross between the existing SW-3B, the Penntek TR-35 and the WW2 Paraset?
Very neat! Reminds me of the Penntek TR-45L that I’ve been oogling.
I really like the idea of an all-built-into-a-hard-case radio!
All it needs is a built-in key to be a 21st century Paraset!
I have SW3B…it’s my favorite portable radio (low consumption, very robust…light…perfect for sota/hiking)…I have luck that a friend was able to mod the rig…and instead of pwr is displaying the swr when you transmit. This is more usefull info (true, the rig is very robust,…but is all about efficiency). I just hope that SW-6B will have a swr bridge …is more useful than pwr metter. Any way…I will take one
Very cool!
I have enjoyed my SW-3B for a couple of years now and if Dale is making the SW-6B as good as the SW-3B, he’s going to have some great sales!
72 / 73 and God bless you!
Even more reasons to spend my money! Sounds like something I’d be into!
My Venus 3B is by far one of the best QRP rigs I have ever owned. I can’t wait to see what Dale does with this!!!
I currently have ft818nd, hs-1b. They are all very good equipment. Although I joined qrp for a short time and rarely succeed in pota and sota, this does not affect my enthusiasm, and the communication and antenna adjustment may be the problem, not the machine problem. I will find a way to find the contact information of ba4tb. In China, they are respected as “teachers”. I will communicate with him with such a respectful attitude and find a way to buy this equipment.
Just purchased the Penntec 45L and I love it. Somewhat similar. Mine has tuner and internal battery.