In late December, I received a much-anticipated package from LnR Precision: my new MTR-3B V4 “Currahee.”

Life has been hectic, so I didn’t get the opportunity to take it to the field until Thursday, January 9, 2025, when I carved out some time in my schedule.

It was a chilly morning, with temperatures hovering around 20°F (-7°C). Still, I wanted the full field portable experience with the new Currahee, so I bundled up in my winter gear and headed out.

Pisgah National Forest

Rather than doing another activation on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I checked the Pisgah National Forest website and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Lake Powhatan recreational area was open.

When I arrived, the park employee at the entrance gate informed me that I was the only guest that morning. And what a morning it was! Despite the cold, the clear skies and full sunshine made it a glorious day.

The best part? No competition for picnic tables! Woo hoo! (We must embrace the positives, right?)

Quick field kit

About 10 minutes before leaving the house, I hastily put together a quick field kit for the Currahee in my Pelican Micro M50 waterproof case.

This was a trial run to see how I might organize a fully self-contained kit for the Currahee, similar to what I’ve done for my other MTR-3B radios. While I didn’t have time to finalize all the kit components, I wanted to gauge the space available and determine what antenna, throw line, and other accessories would fit best.

Tufteln Cover

Joshua (N5FY), a good friend, sent me a package over the holidays containing some of his latest Tufteln protective radio covers. To clarify, these were gifts; I didn’t pay for them. Among the covers was a brand-new design specifically for the Currahee.

Like all of his covers (you’ve probably seen the ones I use for my KX2, KX1, CFT1, QMX, and others), this one fits brilliantly. In fact, it might be my favorite! The Currahee cover provides a durable, low-profile solution that complements the radio perfectly. Makes it a very durable little package.

Break-In Activation

In the near future, I plan to create a more in-depth video about the Currahee, but my goal for this outing was to get it on the air and give it a solid break-in.

Although the Currahee features built-in capacitive touch paddles, they require contact with bare skin. I wasn’t keen on exposing my fingers to the cold, so I opted to use my trusty TP-III paddles instead. By the end of the activation, my fingers were still getting sluggish, but I managed to log plenty of QSOs.

For audio, I paired the Currahee with my Anker Soundcore Mini speaker and connected it to a 40-meter End-Fed Half-Wave antenna. This antenna is an ideal match for the Currahee since all three of its bands—40, 20, and 15 meters—are resonant. Kudos to LnR and Steve for these excellent band choices!

For power, I used my 9V Bioenno battery. While the Currahee can handle over 13VDC (making it compatible with a “12V” LiFePO4 battery), I prefer running my Mountain Toppers with 9V, which yields about three watts of output power.

Gear:

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Radio

• LnR Precision MTR-3B V4 “Currahee” and Tufteln Protective cover

Key and Accessories

• BaMaKeY TP-III Ultra-Compact Twin Paddle and Senrog Bench Block TP-III base
• Tufteln TP-III Magnetic Protective Cover
• Key cable: Cable Matters 2-Pack Gold-Plated Retractable Aux Cable – 2.5 Feet

Antenna, Throw Line, and Cable Assembly

• MW0SAW’s Homebrew End-Fed Half-Wave
• Tufteln BNC to BNC RG-316 Cable Assembly
• Weaver arborist throw line/weight and storage bag

Battery

• Bioenno 3 aH (9V) LiFePo Battery (Model BLF-0903W)

Case and Pack

• NEMO Resolve 25L Backpack
• Pelican M50 Watertight Case

Logging

• GraphGear 0.9mm 1000 Automatic Drafting Pencil
• Rite In The Rain Top Spiral Notebook

Camera, Mics, Speaker, Gloves and Other Accessories

• DJI OSMO 4 action camera with Joby Telepod Sport Tripod
• DJI Wireless Microphones
• Anker Soundcore Mini Speaker
• My fingerless gloves
• Leatherman Signal Multitool

On The Air

I started the activation on 20 meters, which turned out to be a fantastic choice.

Whether it was the scarcity of field activators that morning, favorable propagation, or both, I experienced a steady pileup.

In just 29 minutes, I logged 32 hunters. I didn’t even get a chance to QSY to other bands before running out of time, as the pileup was still going strong when I signed off.

This was a proper trial-by-fire for the Currahee, and it performed admirably!

QSO Map

Here’s what this three-watt activation looked like when plotted out on a QSO Map (Note that Paul WA1VEI was not in California as the map implies.):

Activation Video

Here’s my real-time, real-life video of the entire activation.  As with all of my videos, I don’t edit out any parts of the on-air activation time. In addition, I have monetization turned off on YouTube, although that doesn’t stop them from inserting ads before and after my videos.

Note that Patreon supporters can watch and even download this video 100% ad-free through Vimeo on my Patreon page:

Click here to view on YouTube.

So Far, So Good!

I’m thrilled with the Currahee! At first blush, its audio and receiver performance are on par with previous Mountain Topper models, which is a high compliment.

Next time I take it to the field, I hope it’s warm enough to try out the built-in capacitive touch paddles. They could streamline my field kit by eliminating the need for an external key. This would especially be welcome for my SOTA excursions!

Post-Activation Warm-Up

After the activation, I treated myself to a Café Latte at Dynamite Roasting, using some of your generous Patreon and Coffee Fund contributions. It was the perfect way to warm up!

Thank you

Thank you for joining me on this activation! I hope you enjoyed the field report and video as much as I enjoyed creating them.

A special thanks to everyone who supports the site and channel through Patreon, and the Coffee Fund.

Your generosity is deeply appreciated, though never a requirement—my content will always remain free.

Thanks for spending part of your day with me. Have a fantastic weekend!

Cheers & 72,
Thomas (K4SWL)

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