Spring is coming to EU and many of us want to get out and operate the bands off grid. The Discovery TX-500 Adventure HF Transceiver from Lab599 will be the perfect companion on the islands, in the parks and on the hill tops for many off grid operators. It is built by outdoor and expedition enthusiasts to be taken to places never possible before.

Latest Preorder Update

The latest news about the CE certification process is that the TX-500 has undergone the testing required by a certified lab and the results are now being reviewed and verified by a “Notified Body” authorised to issue the certificates needed for CE marking. The timeline provided by the notified body to complete this task is around 3-4 weeks. This means that sometime in the second half of may we expect to have the TX-500 CE marked.

While waiting for the CE certification process to to be completed Lab599 has planned and started production in April of the first batch of transceivers for the EU market. Lab599 told us this week that they expect the first shipment will coincide with the receipt of the certificate, approximately at the end of May.

Being conservative we are therefore updating our delivery date of first batch preorders to June 15 and will start collecting pending payments in a few weeks. Another two batches to fill preorders will follow as soon as possible, but we have not received delivery confirmation on these yet.

We said it many times, once you receive your shipment and hold the TX-500 in your hand for the first time, we are certain you will agree – it has been worth waiting for! But don’t take our word for it, read the first user reviews at eham.net! There is a link at the end of this page.

Spring 2021 TX-500 Firmware Updates

29.04.2021 TX-500 Firmware v1.07.00

• Added a new Notch filter mode: Notch Filter Type 1 — standard mode, provides high quality filtration. Notch Filter Type 2 — high performance filtering mode, provides lower latency in signal processing.
• Fixes to improve stability.

The post TX-500 News, Preorder Update & New Video appeared first on PileupDX.com.

– I’ve spent nearly three weeks with this radio now, and it has been an absolute blast! It is extremely refreshing to finally have a ham radio manufacturer, come up with a rugged radio we can actually use in the field.

More information on the Discovery TX-500 can be found at the TX-500 product page.

Whatch more of Julian’s portable survival tech fun? Explore the Survivaltech Nord channel on YouTube.

Survivaltech Nord webpage.

The post OH8STN’s Video Review of Discovery TX-500 appeared first on PileupDX.com.

– It has a pragmatic, green radio approach to its design. This is the radio operators radio!

Read the full story here.

More information on the Discovery TX-500 can be found at the TX-500 product page.

Whatch more of Julian’s portable survival tech fun? Explore the Survivaltech Nord channel on YouTube.

Survivaltech Nord webpage.

The post OH8STN’s 1st Look at the NEW Discovery TX-500 appeared first on PileupDX.com.

More information on the Xiegu G90 can be found at the Xiegu G90 product page.

Whatch Julian’s first look at Xiegu G90 and power consumption measurements here.

Whatch more of Julian’s portable survival fun? Explore the SurvivalTech North channel on YouTube.

SurvivalTech North webpage.

The post Xiegu G90 Deep Walk Through by OH8STN appeared first on PileupDX.com.

3B7A had five HF stations running pileups simultaneously. Each station was built around the SunSDR2 PRO HF, 6m and 2m direct sampling SDR transceiver with E-Coder hardware controller, an SPE 1.3K-FA amplifier, and a ModMic microphone. PerfoBox band pass filters from Low Band Systems where used to keep signal interference at minimum between the five stations. All stations where set up to be able to operate CW, SSB or RTTY.

On high bands VDA, the very efficient Vertical Dipole Arrays developed by Vincent F4BKV was used, and on low bands vertical arrays.

In the words of 3B7A team member Diégo F4HAU, below is the feedback using SunSDR2 PRO at Saint Brandon;

– “The SunSDR2 PRO works marvelously well, what a powerful product in a small box. The settings configuration settings done prior to the expedition works well. All team members where comfortable using the new SDR technology. The hardware controller, E-Coder, is very flexible and had been configured to provide access to the main functions needed”.

– “Visualisation of the pile-up via the spectrum displayed on the laptop is impressive and extremely useful to manage the pileup. Operating the SunSDR2 PRO felt great and allowed us to do our absolutely best to full-fill the need of the amateur radio community”

– “Furthermore the SunSDR2 PRO is perfect match with the lightweight Expert SPE 1.3K-FA amplifier providing high power for all modes”.

–  “Sometimes, the rhythm dropped a little bit. This is because we were searching for weaker signals in the pileup. Honestly, we can tell you that many have been logged because we saw the signal peak on the spectral visualization of the SDR. Using a classic VFO their signals would not been detected so easily.”

Read the full report from the 3B7A team here.

Links;

• SunSDR2 PRO HF+6m+2m SDR transceiver
• E-Coder hard water controller
• ModMic attachable boom microphone
• PerfoBox Band Pass Filters from LBS
• Expert 1.3K-FA 1.3 kW solid state amplifier

The post 3B7A Experience of SunSDR2 PRO appeared first on PileupDX.com.

Read RM2D’s review of the ModMic >>

The post RM2D: ModMic is one of my best buys ever! appeared first on PileupDX.com.

A 160 meter contest QRP is much more fun than you might believe! In CQ-160 SSB contest this winter I used the SunSDR2, Software Defined Radio, running with only 5 watt QRP power. I logged more than 200 QSOs and the claimed score is almost half the number of my SM Low Power record and more than a third of my High Power and High Power Assisted records

Don’t get me wrong, QRP in an SSB contest is not easy. Especially not on 160 meter! Mostly its hard work and slow rates, but I was surprised how well some operators heard me in the QRM. Even DX stations like CR3L and RA9Y picked me up with ease. On the other hand there where some really strong stations out there that definitely lacked in the RX antenna department.

Most of the 18 hours of operating I was doing S&P, Search and Pounce. The Meothod I used was to sweep the bands for stations to work. As soon as i found a ‘hole’ I tried to get a run going.

The radio used  was a SunSDR2, a physically small but loaded Russian SDR, Software Defined Radio, from Expert Electronics. Having the band scope made big a difference for S&P but also made it simple to quickly locate “holes” in the QRM to run in. Using the SDR band scope really spends up finding a new run frequency.

The SunSDR2 has a good RX, good software and quite a few features and functions makes it a very good SDR for contesting. In fact, it was developed with contesting in mind. The optional control pad for the SunSDR2 is really useful for tuning and controlling the radio while letting the logging software retain the focus so its always ready for the operator to enter new calls.

The SunSDR controller allows for extensive customisation. I preprogrammed buttons to zoom the band cope in an out. I put IF Shift and Width on adjustment knobs to make filter changes a breeze, I put ANF, automatic notch filer on other buttons. As my FCP vertical easily easily detunes in rain and humidity I put TONE on one button to be able to generate a carrier for quick retune of the amplifier.

I am very satisfied with the claimed result. When the contest was over I had 203 unique contacts logged in 34 DXCCs. 99% of the logged calls are obviously in EU with DL and SP in the top. The only DX worked where CR3L and RA9Y (but many more where heard).  The claimed score is 34.442 with a #5 world rank. Pretty good for a QRP effort in a 160 meter SSV Contest!

Equipment
SunSDR2 with controller
Top loaded vertical, 20 meter
Pennants in NE and NW
Clifton Labs active vertical

This article is an excerpt of the full article available at the SE0X Contest station blog.

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