Well I think you will have hard time to get the lab599 one of the US dealer told me that it will take very long time if ever there is some issue I move on and order something better if you look for something cheap go for ft 817 put tcxo and cw filter I had kx3kx2 didn¡¯t like the plastic kit was cracking so I sold them some time ago as well they supper expansive to buy so to go there there is many option out there I hope may be in some years to come lab599 will be who know they not even answer email I will never buy a radio that the owner company not answer?
Vy 73 enjoy ?
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On 15 Nov 2020, at 14:50, Henry Pollock - K4TMC <kilo4tmc@...> wrote:
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Carr,
To your first question.? I live in a dense neighborhood (yes...antenna restricted) with both above and overhead powerlines and two shopping centers with buildings ranging from 75 to 250 yards away.? As a result, the baseline noise here is at S5 to S7 on 40 and 20 Meters just using a short vertical wire in a tree.? So, operating the TX-500 in such an environment is difficult, but so is operating my Elecraft K2, K3, KX3 and SGC SG-2020.? I am planning a portable operation at a beach location this coming weekend for the ARRL Sweepstakes Phone Contest so I hope to give the TX-500 a good workout alongside one or two of the other radios.? Although I have had the TX-500 over a month now, business trips have prevented me from getting out of my neighborhood to see how well it performs on the air.
To your second question about the I/Q outputs.? I have not used those outputs yet.? I did use that port (REM DATA) to obtain audio for a powered speaker.? At 68 years young, I found the connector pins to be very small and close together such that soldering wires without creating shorts is difficult.? My suggestion is to cut off the connector pins that are not necessary for your intended connections. This will free up some space inside the connector.? Also, use a small vise or mechanism to hold the pin shell to prevent it from moving when touching the pin lugs with a wire and solder.
I am not familiar with the Elad unit.? You can find some POTA reviews of the TX-500 and IC-705 by K4SWL at QRPer.com and SWLing.com.? Rob Sherwood just posted the receiver data for the IC-705.
73,
Henry - K4TMC
I have been reading here pretty extensively. From the US but live in Ecuador, retired and limited budget. Have not been on the air since 2012.? I have been looking at Sherwood's page. While its a starting point,? it wont? be my ultimate decider. I am looking for a radio I can use portable, POTA/SOTA...and I am a cyclist? and spend a lot of time in the mountains so to be able to throw a rig in a bag on the back rack with a battery, small tuner and antenna would work really well..... limited budget? says what ever I buy is going to have to be used for a while at home too. Where I live is in a fairly noisy environment plus? third world electrical system plus looking at the ITU world atlas for ground conductivity, its not much in the volcanic soil where I am in Northern Ecuador.....
So a couple of questions- I am curious if anyone has used the Lab599 in a noisy urban environment.? Thats a difficult question because? noisy? can be somewhat subjective here- before I sold my station in the US and moved, my main transceiver was an Icom 756 Pro III so thats a bit of what I have as a reference. In the US where I lived last time on the air was also a noisy urban environment but in an area? with really good ground? conductivity. Even so the noise would be at times so bad that I ended up putting up? a 160M horizontal loop which helped a lot over what? a doublet or end fed antenna would do.? Next question- has anyone? used the I/Q outputs? of the radio? with? any programs like GNU Radio or others which lets you do a lot of signal processing on a desktop or laptop??? With programs like (for Linux users) GNU Radio, you can build your own filters and lots of other stuff thats done internally on radios like the IC 7300/7610 with the FPGA? (although the 7610 does have I/Q out).? Curious if any one here can share? anything on what I have asked.?
I like very much what I see on the Lab599 web site. The radios I am considering are the Lab599, the Icom IC 705 and the Elad FDM Duo. The IC 705 does not have I/Q output. The Elad does and...the Elad really shines when hooked to an external computer with enough capacity to use the? I/Q outputs? for a number of things-and their software suite? looks to be really excellent as well. The FDM Duo seems from what I have read somewhat delicate. The IC 705 is pretty, builtin GPS yadayadayada lots of features but where I am I dont really need V/UHF either.? My main concern is a top notch receiver, more tx power can be resolved? in a number of different ways but an Elmer told me many years ago something to the effect that if you cant hear 'em you cant work 'em.
Thanks for the expertise? and sharing experiences with this new radio.
Regards from Ecuador &? 73
Carr
KF4VAR
