Looks like our Prayers have been answer! 160 – 10, 5 Watts, single side band using a new transmitting technique , no more DSB!
All for 80 bucks (includes 3 band modules)
The v. III version debuts a novel firmware scheme for our Si5351A/MS5351M VFO which allows a move away from DSB transmission to SSB, by a new process we are calling AFP-FSK (Audio Frequency Processed-FSK).
Many thanks to Don (W7SSB) who notes that the TX-500 has now received CE certification. Lab599’s European distributor, PileUpDX has posted the following message on their website:
We are happy to announce that the long process with CE certification of the TX-500 transceiver from Lab599 has finally been completed. This week the notified body contracted to do testing and evaluation issued their certificate proving that the TX-500 meets the requirements to be sold on the EU market.
Now the next step is to complete the necessary documentation and marking including CE labelling of the radio itself and its packaging. Meanwhile the production of the first batch of transceivers for the EU market is ongoing and estimated to be completed in middle of June. If everything goes according to plan we should be able to start fill first batch preorders sometime during the end of June or beginning of July.
If you are in the first batch of deliveries and have not prepaid your TX-500 we will shortly contact you with payment information.
I’ve gotten so many messages from readers and viewers in the EU and UK who have been eagerly awaiting TX-500 availability.
While this doesn’t mean immediate availability–obviously with an estimated first batch shipping end of June or early July 2021–it’s my understanding that CE certification has been a frustratingly slow process due to C-19 and a complete bottleneck for the manufacturer and distributor.
I learn a lot about a radio the first time I take it to the field. I’m not sure if it’s because being out of the shack helps me give it my full attention, or if it’s because field conditions vary and this allows me to see how flexible and adaptable the radio is.
On Monday (May 17, 2021), I was eager to hit the field with a new-to-me radio.
The previous week I didn’t log even one park or summit activation. Typically I’d hit at least two. There were a couple of reasons for this…
First, we had a fuel shortage in western NC and I didn’t want to burn any extra fuel for activations knowing we had some important family errands that week.
Secondly, I needed to hunker down and finish a number of projects I’d been working on including a lengthy two-part field radio kit feature for The Spectrum Monitor magazine, and a new in-depth TX-500 review for RadCom. FYI: Part one of my feature for TSM will appear as the cover article in the June 2021 issue.
We also had a number of family projects to sort out. So a week at home perfectly timed with the fuel shortage.
The new radio
I collect reader and viewer suggestions and when I see that there’s a radio or product, in particular, folks would like to see tested, I try to obtain one.
One of the most requested radios lately has been the Xiegu X5105.
A number of readers have asked me to obtain an X5105 and take it to the field. Many are considering purchasing this (incredibly) affordable full-featured QRP transceiver, others own it, love it, and want to see how I like it compared with my other radios.
Last year, I came very close to purchasing the X5105 for review, but opted for the Xiegu G90 instead (here’s my review of the G90).
Even though the X5105 is only $550 US, I really didn’t want to make a purchase at this point because I’m budgeting for a new MacBook, new video camera, and I just purchased the TX-500.
So I reached out to Radioddity who is a sponsor over at the SWLing Post. I’d been in touch with Radioddity a lot as of late because I’ve been evaluating and testing the Xiegu GSOC for the past few months. They lent me the GSOC (and a G90 because I sold after my review) and I was in the process of packing up both units to send back to them.
I asked if they could lend me an X5105 for a few weeks. They were quite happy to do so and dispatched one in short order.
A clear relationship
Side story…
Back when I decided to place ads on the SWLing Post and QRPer.com, I worried about any inherent conflicts of interest. I read magazines that review products and can tell that they’re being gentle in their criticism because there’s a two page ad of the product immediately following the review. I don’t like that.
This conflict is something that’s almost inevitable with any radio publication that grows to the point of needing monetization to support it.
I made a few Golden Rules up front:
1.) I would only place radio-relevant ads on my sites. Period.
2.) My ads and sponsorships would be hand-picked and by invite only. I choose who can be a sponsor.
3.) I’m up-front with sponsors that my reviews call it like it is. If they send me product to review, I will give it an honest evaluation based on real-life use. If I don’t like it or can’t recommend one of their products, I’ll let my community know.
I’ve lost a couple of sponsors over Golden Rule #3 over the years. I’m okay with that because I’d rather not allow an advertiser on my site that can’t take customer criticism.
I invited Radioddity to be a sponsor of the SWLing Post last year after I had some positive interactions with them.
The Xiegu GSOC
Radioddity sent me the new GSOC to review in November 2020. I discovered in short order that the GSOC had some major issues and, frankly, I didn’t like it and certainly couldn’t recommend it. I communicated my concerns about this product with detailed notes and suggestions for improvement. I was open and honest about the GSOC on the SWLing Post (read the thread here).
Radioddity not only embraced my criticisms but sent them to the manufacturer and thanked me.
Impressive.
Blue Ridge Parkway (K-3378)
But back to the activation!
So on Monday, May 17, I had an errand in town that took me right past the Blue Ridge Parkway Folk Arts Center. The detour to do an activation was maybe two minutes, so there was no “fuel-shortage” guilt! 🙂
Also, I had a good hour to burn before I needed to go home and pack for a quick trip to visit my folks.
I deployed the PackTenna 9:1 random wire antenna specifically because I wanted to see how easily the X5105’s internal ATU could match it.
I hopped on 40 meters first, hit the ATU button and it quickly found a 1:1 match–good sign!
This turned out to be a pretty easy and simple activation.
I started calling CQ and within 12 minutes I logged 11 stations.
I moved up to 20 meters knowing it would be a tougher band, but worked one more station–KG5OWB at K-0756–pretty quickly.
I was quite happy with logging 12 stations in short order. A nice contrast to recent activations where conditions were so poor it’s been a struggle to get even 10 contacts within an hour.
I would have stayed on the air longer but (as I mention in the video) I wasted a good 20-25 minutes waiting on the landscape crew to finish mowing on/around the site before I set up my station. I didn’t want to be in their way.
Here’s my log sheet from the POTA website:
Video
Of course, I made one of my real-time, real-life videos of the entire activation. I’ve quite a long preamble in this one, so if you’re interested in skipping straight to the on-the-air time, go to 16:24.
X5105 initial thoughts?
So far, I like the X5105. It certainly accomplishes its goal of being an all-in-one “shack in a box.”
I performed this activation only using the X5105 internal battery. In addition, the ATU worked perfectly with the random wire antenna.
I like the size–it’s much smaller than I imagined. It’s also fairly lightweight.
It feels rugged, too–I wouldn’t be concerned about it getting easily damaged in the field.
The speaker works pretty well, but if the volume level is pushed too hard, it starts to splatter. I wish it could handle a little more volume before the splattering kicks in.
The ergonomics are pretty good. It didn’t take long to sort out how to use most of the functions.
One area for improvement? The owner’s manual. It’s poorly written and (frankly) reads as if it was rushed to print.
For example, I wanted to set up CW memory keying prior to hitting the field. Unfortunately, the owner’s manual was no help.
There’s actually a dedicated page regarding CW memory keying, but the first thing it does is reference a different section of the manual (without giving a page number). I followed the procedure, but it didn’t work. In fact, it didn’t make sense as it seemed lead me down the path of digital mode macros. I think the manual may be referencing a procedure before the last firmware update (which, it appears, changed the menu structure significantly).
If you can help guide me through setting up CW memory keying, please comment! I’m sure it’s a simple process, but I haven’t sorted it out yet.
Overall, though? I see why the X5105 is so popular. It appears to compete with a loaded Elecraft KX2. It’s a bit larger, heavier, and less “refined” but it’s also half the price of a loaded KX2.
I also think it’s a great radio for CW operators. The keying feels natural and responsive. It uses relays instead of pin diode switching, so QSK includes a little relay clicking. I don’t find it to be too loud, though.
I’ll be taking the X5105 out again very soon. I’ve got it for 6 weeks, so it will get plenty of park and summit time. If you own the X5105, I’d love to hear your comments on this portable rig.
On the morning of May 10, 2021, I had a hankering to head to the Blue Ridge Parkway for a quick park activation.
I had a particular spot in mind–one that’s only two miles or so from my QTH as the crow flies. The only wrinkle in my plan was that we were expecting rain all morning and at our house we were in thick fog and light, steady rain.
Normally when I have these conditions, I look for a sheltered site, but I thought it might be a great time to take out the TX-500 since it’s weather-resistant. Why not, right?
I packed the lab599 Discovery TX-500, my Chameleon MPAS 2.0 vertical, and my Elecraft T1 antenna tuner to pair the two. I also brought along some rain gear.
Although the activation site is close to home as the crow flies, it actually takes about 30 minutes to drive there. By the time I reached the site, the skies were mostly clear and the sun was shining! This time of year, it reminds me of living in the UK: if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes.
This was very much a road side activation. The spot I chose isn’t an overlook–although it did provide amazing views–it was simple a pull-off.
This is where antennas like the MPAS 2.0 are so useful: they are self-supporting and very quick to deploy. Since I was set up right off the road, I also appreciate using verticals rather than wire antennas since the antenna and throw line aren’t in the way of others who might choose to park in the same pull-off. I can easily deploy the counterpoise and feedline so that it’s out of the way.
As with most park activations, I started on 40 meters CW and only operated 5 watts.
I quickly racked up five contacts on 40 meters, then the band fell silent.
I moved up to 30, then 20, down to 80, back to 60 and 40 again.
About 30 minutes had passed since I was last on 40 meters, so new hunters were checking the bands. I snagged a total of seven more contacts in about eleven minutes.
Obviously, 40 meters was the only band open that morning!
A quick note about 80 meters
I get a lot of questions from readers and YouTube subscribers about my use of the 80 meter band during the daytime.
I go into more detail about this in the video, but contrary to what many think, 80 meters can be a very useful daytime band for POTA activators.
While it’s true that you’re not going to work DX on 80 meters during the daylight hours (else, highly unlikely), you can still work local and regional stations.
Keep in mind that POTA, WWFF, and SOTA activations aren’t about working DX. DX is fun and perhaps a personal goal, but it has nothing to do with success in achieving a valid activation.
Basically, any contacts–DX or local–will get you what is needed for a valid activation.
If, like me, you live in a part of the country where there are a concentration of park and summit hunters/chasers within a daytime 80 meter footprint, then hop on that band and give it a go!
I’m not sure how useful this might be for activations in sparsely populated areas like Montana or the Dakotas, for example, but along the east and west coast, 80 meters is your friend.
At this particular activation, I didn’t didn’t employ an efficient antenna for 80 meters. While I’ve made numerous 80 meter contacts on the CHA MPAS 2.0 in the past, it’s just not physically large enough to be efficient on that band. The CHA Emcomm III Portable or another long wire antenna would have provided better results. But I knew that 40 meters and possibly 30 meters would be my best bet that day, so the MPAS 2.0 was a great choice.
Again: don’t forget about 80 meters. It’s helped me snag many an activation!
Video
Here’s my real-time, leal-life, no-edit video of the entire activation:
You might hear an audio pop when I’m keying on the TX-500. This is happening because I have the audio gain cranked up all the way for the video. While the speaker/mic can get quite loud, when I’ve got it located so far from the camera mic, I run it at 100% volume to be heard. I recently changed my CW T/R recovery time from 100ms to 400s which eliminated most of the audio popping.
Thank you for reading this field report! I hope you’re getting an opportunity to take your radios outdoors this week!
By request, I’ve just posted another transceiver comparison video. This time, we take a look at the lab599 Discovery TX-500 and Icom IC-705 to determine which radio might better suit your needs.
As I mention in the video, I see these portable QRP radios as being in two different classes:
the TX-500 for operators who want the most rugged, efficient, and weather-resistant general coverage transceiver currently on the market and
the IC-705 for operators who want the most feature-packed high-performance portable transceiver on the market
Both radios are excellent options for hams who, like me, prefer playing radio outdoors.
As I mentioned in the video, I knew I’d forget some important points while making the live recording. Here are some extra notes I wish I would have included:
SSB operation: Both radios have excellent features for the SSB operator including EQ settings for both transmit and receive which is a major plus for a QRP radio. I wouldn’t make a purchase decision based on SSB operation–both are excellent.
CW operation: CW operators will be pleased with both rigs. It’s important to note, though, that the TX-500 doesn’t have full break-in QSK like the IC-705. The TX-500 has at minimum a 100ms recovery time after keying a character. That’s a quick recovery, but not fast enough so that an operator can hear between characters formed; especially at high speeds. The IC-705 has full break-in QSK and it sounds great. Note that both the TX-500 and IC-705 use relays, not pin diode switching, so you can hear relays clicking inside the radio, but both are pretty quiet.
Protecting the IC-705: There are a number of IC-705 3rd party cages appearing on the market. These can be used to help protect the IC-705 in the field. Numerous readers and YouTube channel viewers have recommended the IC-705 Carry Cage by Peovi. From what I’ve seen, it looks to be the best of the bunch, but it doesn’t do a lot to protect the lower back portion of the radio–the part of the chassis that meets a surface. I feel like it’s not quite what I’d want, thus hard to justify $135 for it. Other aluminum and 3D printed cages seem to add too much bulk to the radio or obstruct some of the most common connection points on the sides (antenna, key, ATU control cable, speaker/mic, etc.).
TX-500 connectors and cables: The TX-500 uses GX12 mm connectors that are widely used in aviation, commercial and military applications. They’re easy to find online, but the price per each with shipping is typically around $7.00-8.00 US. You get a better deal if you buy in bulk, but often bulk packages of 5 or more are of the same pin count/configuration. W2ENY has posted a number of accessory cables, spare connectors and even a military-style handset on his eBay store and website. The Icom IC-705 uses more standard 1/8″ and smaller two and three conductor plugs.
Receiver Performance: Based on Rob Sherwood’s receiver test data table, the IC-705 has a performance edge over the TX-500. In the field, this difference is not noticeable. Indeed, both radios have very respectable numbers. If I had to choose one radio over the other if operating in a CW contest, for example, I’d give slight preference to the IC-705. I’ve used the TX-500 during a CW contest before, however, and found it did a brilliant job blocking tightly-spaced signals–click here to watch the short video.
As I was packing up my radio gear at the last activation I posted (click here for that field report), I paused to make a quick video and talk about my rucksack, my accessories pouches, and a winder I like to use with the MFJ-1984LP antenna.
Here are the products I mentioned:
GoRuck GR1 USA
This is one of my favorite rucksacks for SOTA activations. I like the fact that it’s low-profile, structured, and feels great on the back even during extended hiking sessions.
It’s also insanely rugged, weatherproof, and (frankly) over-engineered.
My GR1 was made in the USA by GoRuck. This company specializes in packs that are essentially designed to be used and abused. They’re all backed by a lifetime warranty. You pay for this kind of quality, though.
I purchased mine perhaps 3 years ago during a closeout sale on this particular color variant. When combined with my educator’s discount I think I paid around $210-220 US for it.
I originally bought it because I’m a huge fan of one-bag travel (read an article where I mention this on the SWLing Post). I discovered that the GR1 meets most airline regulations as a “personal carry on.” This means even with discount airlines and regional “puddle jumper” aircraft, I know I can always take it on board and never need to check it. I can easily travel one or two weeks out of this pack.
The TX-500, clipboard, and my logging pads all tuck away nicely in the GR1’s slip-in rucking plate pocket.
But in the field, the GR1 has the perfect amount of capacity for any of my QRP transceivers along with antennas, ATU, cables, and other accessories.
Being a one-bag traveller (and certified pack geek) I’m also a massive fan of US pack designer and manufacturer, Tom Bihn.
I have a number of their packs, pouches, and organizers.
Without a doubt, one of my favorite TB items is the Travel Tray. It’s a brilliant concept: take this with you on a trip, open it up as a tray in your hotel room, and place all of your valuables in it. By doing this, you don’t have to search your room for your watch, keys, wallet, glasses, phone, etc. When you leave the room, all of those easy-to-lose items will be in one place. If you’re in a rush to catch a flight, grab the whole pack by the drawstring, secure it, and throw it in your carry on! It’s a simple, genius little sack/tray!
I also use these to organize radio accessories in my field pack. For example, I have one now dedicated to the TX-500. In the Travel Tray, I store all of the TX-500 adapters and cords, the speaker mic, a set of CW Morse Pocket paddles, a PackTenna EFHW, some RG-316, and a 3 aH LiFePo4 battery. I even carry a spare Muji notepad in it in case I forget my logging pad. With this little bag and the TX-500, I have everything I need to hit the air!
Note that I much prefer the large TB Travel Tray. My wife has both a large and small travel tray, but I find that the small one is just a little too small for most everything I wish to put in it. The large one’s outer diameter is large enough that you can also store a short coil of RG-58 coaxial cable/feed line in it.
I love these so much, I purchased two more this week: one in black and one in coyote.
Thingiverse Wire Winder
This particular winder is red because that’s the filament my daughters had loaded in the printer at the time!
Before we purchased a 3D printer (an Ender 3 Pro) I would make wire winders out of anything I could find. With a 3D printer, however, it’s so easy to make a winder sized perfectly for your application.
You may have seen winders in various colors in my video field reports–they all come from a simple project file on Thingiverse.
This winder is super easy to print and to enlarge or shrink. If you don’t have a 3D printer, likely someone you know does! Ask them to print this for you. They’re incredible useful.
The Blue Ridge Parkway is a massive national park.
This stretch of scenic road spans 469 miles (755 km) from North Carolina into Virginia and crossing 29 counties along the way.
I could activate the BRP every day for the rest of my life and find a new activation spot every single day.
But at the end of the day, I return to reliable spots that I love in particular because of the solitude, the access to trails, and of course the trees.
There are trees along the parkway I know so well, I should name them. They’re always there when I’m ready to deploy a wire antenna.
On Wednesday, May 5, 2021, I visited one of my favorite BRP activations sites that I used during the year-long National Parks On The Air (NPOTA) program in 2016.
This particular site is simply a small hill on the side of the road and at the top, there some excellent trees. There’s also a short path leading to the for the Mountains To Sea trail.
This particular spot also overlooks a valley and has a wee bit of altitude. I’m not sure how meaningful that is for an HF op, but it always seems to help.
Blue Ridge Parkway, NC (K-3378)
Of course, since the lab599 Discovery TX-500 was still so new to me, it had to come out to play.
I decided to skip using an ATU, keep things simple, and pair the TX-500 with my MFJ-1984LP EFHW (above).
I started on 40 meters where I very quickly snagged my good friend, Eric (WD8RIF) who most likely saw my callsign on the RBN and kindly took a break from work to hop on the air work me 5 watts both ways. I’m willing to bet Eric was even a bit envious and wished he could have been outdoors putting parks on the air that morning. It’s fair play, though, because he’s often out doing multi-park runs while I’m working from home.
We must live vicariously through each other, right? Right.
Where was I?
Oh yes, the contacts started rolling in on 40 meters.
I worked K4NAN, KD8IE, K8RAT, N4EX, NE4TN, N9UNX, KB4PY, KC5F, KN3A, and NS4J on 40 meters in the span of about eleven minutes. I really enjoy that kind of cadence.
Next, I moved to 20 meters knowing it might not be an ideal band. I called CQ for nearly 10 minutes, then logged N6GR in New Mexico.
This activation reminded me that POTA often feels like a little impromptu family reunion as so many of the ops I logged that day were POTA friends and also enthusiastic activators.
I decided that 12 logged was a great number, so I called QRT and packed up. I most enjoyable activation!
The TX-500, clipboard, and my logging pads all tuck away nicely in the GR1’s slip-in rucking plate pocket.
Many thanks to Mark Hirst, who shares the following guest post:
Pick and Pluck Foam
The old adage of ‘measure twice and cut once’ is very apt when using pick and pluck foam. The inserts are not cheap and mistakes are hard to rectify.
Whether you are preparing a large case with several items in a shared insert, or focussing around a single item, planning the layout is key.
Item weight is also a factor to consider, as this will affect decisions on wall thickness between items and the case.
Finally, how hostile is the environment likely to be? Is the case going in your backpack or car where you’re in careful control, or is going to be subject to careless handling by others?
Planning the layout
Once you’ve settled on a case size and how much padding you need, a non-destructive way of planning the layout is to use cocktail sticks.
These can be inserted into the corners of the foam segments to trace the outline of the radio and any items such as controls and ports that may extend from the body.
Since the size of the segments is in fixed increments, matching the exact dimensions of the radio is down to pure luck. I would go for a slight squeeze on the radio body if feasible to make sure it’s always in contact with the foam, but give some breathing room around the controls and ports.
The example below is a case I use for backpack transport. It has rather thin but adequate side walls for that purpose. I prioritised wall thickness facing the front and back of the radio, and also on the side opposite the carry handle. Note how the foam comes right up against the body of the radio, but leaves the front controls with some clearance.
Outlining using cocktail sticks
This has the benefit of keeping any sudden shocks away from the controls, and also reduces the number of places where foam is subject to tearing and compression when the radio is inserted and removed.
The completed insert
Separating the foam
The best place to start is along the planned route of a long side wall. Use your thumbs to separate the surface of two segments on one side from two segments on the other.
Once the surface tear has got going, you should be able push a finger down between the four segments, extending the tear till it reaches the bottom of the foam. At this point, you have a cut all the way through.
Separating the foam
Now you can peel the foam apart at the upper surface in each direction, using your forefinger to again push down between the segments to complete the separation down to the lower surface.
Work carefully around the cutouts and protrusions accommodating the controls. The protrusions are potential weak points at this stage, so be sure to proceed slowly.
If you need to practice, you can always start by separating segments deep within the section that will be removed till you get the hang of it.
Reinforcement
While pick and pluck means you don’t need special tools or templates to cut the foam, the remaining material in your insert is inherently weaker than a solid structure.
The solution I’ve used is to fill the residual cuts with a solvent free adhesive. Solvent free adhesives are often aimed at children for safety reasons, and while there are solvent based adhesives for foam, the one I used dries clear with a resilient flexible bond that is stronger than the foam itself.
I run a finger gently along the exposed walls, edges, and around the protrusions. This makes the potential weak points and stress areas immediately apparent as segments naturally separate along the pick and pluck cuts.
Armed with a tube of adhesive and a finger (usually a thumb), you can gently open the weak point and then run the nozzle of the tube down the cut, dispensing generous amounts of adhesive as you go. The two sections of foam close up as the nozzle passes by, with the adhesive soaking into both sides. As long as you don’t go overboard, the adhesive will stay within the join and you won’t have to wipe away any excess.
Reinforcing corners
Side walls are not subject to the same stress as protrusions, but you will probably still spot sections with deeper cuts that need attention, and you will definitely want to reinforce the corners.
Reinforcing sidewalls
I’ve allowed at least a day to be sure the adhesive has set. It’s worth going over the insert again to see if you missed anything the first time round.
The Adhesive
The Bostik solvent free adhesive resembles runny white toothpaste when dispensed from the tube, but dries clear when set.
Inevitably, when I tried to find more of it recently, I discovered that the easily recognisable colour and branding had made way to a confusingly generic scheme shared across a variety of different adhesive types from the manufacturer.
I found this old listing for Bostik 80518 on Amazon UK, and another here on Amazon US. Based on the product number, a modern equivalent seems to be here.
I’m sure there’s nothing unique about this particular product, other than I’ve found it to be foam friendly over the years. Aside from being solvent free, its ability to seep into the foam is a key asset.
Since the first step of creating an insert leaves you with a potentially discardable piece of foam anyway, you have plenty of raw material to experiment with if in doubt.
Additional Reinforcement
Even if you have been generous with the side walls of your foam insert, a heavy radio might demand some additional work to ensure the longevity of the foam.
While the example case shown above worked OK to start with, I noticed that the floor of the case and the side wall facing the back of the radio were taking a beating.
The problem was caused by the feet of the radio, cooling fins, power and antenna connectors. During transport, these were pushing into the foam with the full weight of the radio behind them. Subject to such concentrated point forces, I could see that the foam wasn’t going to last.
Using very thin and very cheap flexible plastic cutting boards from my local food market, I cut out panels which spread the point compression across a much wider area.
Additional Reinforcement
Now when I put the case into a backpack, I ensure that the radio is sitting on its tail with the cooling fins against the rear panel.
Conclusion
While it’s possible to create ad-hoc transport solutions for radios, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a sturdy padded case that is made to measure. The cases are forever, but the foam needs care and attention, so I hope these tips help you build a lasting solution for safely transporting your pride and joy.
The new RF Exposure regulations for the UK (only) have been brought into force on time, today 2021-05-18. Compliance dates for the new regs vary from service to service. For the full details try going to my RF Exposure Help page (UK version):
which contains links to Ofcom and the RSGB, the timeline and how to install LibreOffice in order to run the spreadsheets provided by Ofcom and the RSGB.
The spreadsheets are currently at v0.1.2. When they expect to be at full release (v1.0) is unknown.
Remember, the new regs apply to all installations which exceed 10 W EIRP, including mobile/portable. Other help pages exist for the USA (FCC) and EU (a sub-set of the 27 States) which follow the new FCC regs [already in place] and the speculation that the EU regs will change from existing ICNIRP 1998 to ICNIRP 2020 guidelines.
Lately, I’ve had quite the backlog of reviews and evaluations building up. Family life has been active–and it always comes first–but also I’ve a number of projects on the table (two kit builds, one repair, two antenna projects), four articles for various publications, two new transceivers (the TX-500 and now an X5105 on loan), and a number of family business projects. ‘Tis the season, I reckon.
Normally, I’d be in Dayton, Ohio right now enjoying a weekend of fellowship and Hamvention/FDIM insanity, but all that was cancelled this year due to the pandemic.
I’ve had a number of projects that sort of force me indoors, but I haven’t felt like doing them. Spring in the mountains of western North Carolina is truly a thing to enjoy (save the allergies)–and it’s an incredible distraction.
On Saturday afternoon, May 8, 2021, my whole family wanted a little outdoor distraction time, so we hopped in the car and drove to a nearby spot in Pisgah National Forest.
The drive takes nearly 50 minutes even though the actual site isn’t even 5 miles from the QTH as the crow flies. The weather was beautiful, but a front was moving through bringing strong wind gusts.
I had planned to set up my activation next to our car along the forest service road, but to shelter myself from some of the winds, I decided instead to set up next to the nearby creek, down the hill a bit.
This particular site is actually located in both Pisgah National Forest and Pisgah Game Land–they overlap, which makes this a Parks On The Air “Two-Fer”.
While setting up next to a creek makes for a beautiful little activation spot, it also adds a lot of extra background noise. Normally, I would have used some in-ear earphones with the TX-500 for sound isolation, but (after twenty minutes on the air and against my better judgement) I decided to make an activation video at this site, so used the speaker/mic instead.
I’ve activated this site numerous times in the past and while it has tall trees and loads of spots to set up, it’s also in a pretty deep ravine, surrounded by tall ridge lines. While this is less a problem with HF as it would certainly be for line-of-site frequencies, history has proven that it makes for a challenging activation.
I deployed my new PackTenna 9:1 UNUN random wire antenna as a vertical. I’m glad I chose the PackTenna because it’s such a low-profile antenna, I knew it would be less affected by the strong wind gusts.
I also decided to employ my Emtech ZM-2 manual antenna tuner during this activation. Why? Because I had never used it with the PackTenna before. So why not?
On The Air
I hopped on 40 meters and started calling CQ. Thankfully, the Reverse Beacon Network found me and the POTA website automatically created a spot from the RBN information.
I worked four stations in four minutes! This was a much better start than I’d ever had at this site before.
Then, nothing…
About 20 minutes passed as I called CQ on 40 meters. This was going to be a challenging activation after all.
I decided to move up to the 30 meter band. I thought there might be some value in showing how to tune the ZM-2, so I started recording one of my real-time, real-life activation videos knowing that the audio might not be ideal with the rushing creek.
On 30 meters, I was able to pick up three more contacts in fairly short order, giving me a total of seven contacts. Only three more needed to validate my activation!
At least 20 minutes had passed since I was on 40 meters, so I decided to hop back down there hoping some new hunters might be monitoring the POTA spots.
Sure enough, I was able to add five more contacts in ten minutes!
My 12th contact is on the back of this log sheet: KF4YEY in FL.
I likely spent a total of one hour on the air. By the time it was over, my wife and daughters were ready to hit the road again: temps had dropped pretty quickly in that one hour time frame and the gusts were strong enough my wife was concerned it could knock some branches loose. (I was less concerned because I always check a site for widow-makers and power lines before setting up.
With such a simple radio kit, packing up was very quick.
This was my second activation with the new TX-500. I really do love this radio.
A number of folks noted in my last TX-500 video that there was an audio pop present as I keyed the radio either with my paddles or with the built-in memory keyer. I had never noticed this before, but I think I know why it’s happening. In my videos, I crank the speaker/mic volume up all the way so the audio can be heard. When I do this, the T/R relay audio pop/recovery is quite noticeable.
I think I may slow the relay recovery to something like 400ms so the audio doesn’t try recovering between characters. The TX-500 isn’t capable of full break-in QSK anyway, so there’s really no need for a 100ms recovery. I’ll also share this feedback with the engineers at lab599 as I suspect this can be sorted out in firmware. In the shack, it’s not an issue because audio levels are in the normal range, but in the field when the audio is cranked up, it’s pronounced. This also would not be an issue if using earphones, of course.
I do love this TX-500 and am very happy I’ve officially purchased it from lab599 and added it to my transceiver arsenal! Now to give it a name and make it official…
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Many thanks to Pete (WB9FLW) who writes:
