Mine suffered an audio failure like that after less than a week of ownership. Supplier replaced it but that was within 7-days. Does sound like an audio chip failure. Contact support I guess or your supplier maybe?
At least these are now made in the UAE so that gets the Russian lelement out of the supply loop. I certainly would not like to head in with a soldering iron with about 99% SMC in there...
Maybe interested in the amp. Not clear if any tuner integrated with amp (where it needs to be, after PA). Not interested in "channels" as a HF CW op... want the VFO knob. If they want to market also as base station, they need decent CAT control. -- 73, Norm/KC1BMD
it does work straight out of the box, however the wiring of the sockets on the OEM headset adapter was not standard and required a stereo male to mono female 3.5mm adapter.?
I did that, then purchased the W2ENY adapter and trigger which works straight away and is way more robust than the OEM version?
LAB599 | ?PRODUCTS MANUFACTURED BY LABORATORY 599 LLC
?Power amplifier RA-500
?Power amplifier for transceivers of the TX-500 and Altai ATU series increases the output power up to 100 watts, which allows you to transmit signals over long distances, as well as use the kit as a base station
?Attaching directly to the transceiver as an add-on module keeps the kit compact, making it easy to carry and use in the field.
?The power amplifier is attached directly to the transceiver. ?Side pads provide ease of use and additional protection during transportation. ?The aluminum heatsink ensures optimal temperature conditions for the transceiver.
?? Set amplifier RA.500 + transceiver Altai ATU
?MAIN CHARACTERISTICS:
?Output power 50-100 W, External power supply 12-24 V, 10 A;
?Digital control
?Compact Oazmeo
?Rugged aluminum housing and efficient cooling system;
?Aluminum heatsink for effective transceiver cooling;
?Side pads for ease of use and protection during transportation:
On Wed, Apr 12, 2023 at 09:14 PM, Dan VK2NAD wrote:
From a recent photo on the FB group, it appears that Lab599 has been busy now with three variants of the transceiver: the original Discovery TX-500, the TX-500PRO and the Altai-ATU which has no-VFO dial, programmable frequency channels and an ATU. There is also a mention of a 100W amplifier (bolt-on like the battery pack) called the RA-500 (which looks like PA-500 in Cyrillic, although not the same as the DIY599 PA-500.
From a recent photo on the FB group, it appears that Lab599 has been busy now with three variants of the transceiver: the original Discovery TX-500, the TX-500PRO and the Altai-ATU which has no-VFO dial, programmable frequency channels and an ATU. There is also a mention of a 100W amplifier (bolt-on like the battery pack) called the RA-500 (which looks like PA-500 in Cyrillic, although not the same as the DIY599 PA-500.
I think if you look at the image I sent you that you can see that they
are not trying to hid the electronic components, as the component
numbers are fully available in the image. I don't think they are doing
anything nefarious, I simply think they are a new small company and have
not realized the impact of their system(s). My point is that I was an
engineer for Siemens Corp and I understand the? industry like yo do. My
simple take is that they are a small Russian company that is trying to
sell their product, period. Their decision to provide documentation is a
corporate decision, and it will remain to be seen if they wish for
anyone to have their schematic, period. We shall see what transpires.
When I worked for HP and after the product repair strategy largely
changed from component level repair (with thru-hole components) to board
exchange, the customers reacted negatively. The strategy was modified
to provide repair info, including schematics. This was mostly before SMD
devices became the norm (although I am the real Norm! -- hi). Whether
or not Lab599 would consider providing repair documentation partly
depends on the demand from the customer base. My guess is most hams are
not set up (nor do they want to be) for SMD component level repair.
However, I think at least they should provide repair details (with
available parts) to replace certain subassemblies and parts that are
prone to failure. I had problem with one of the kickstand and Lab99
provided the part to me as well as a video showing how to replace it.
Maybe that would be possible with the VFO encoder.
--
73, Norm/KC1BMD
When I worked for HP and after the product repair strategy largely changed from component level repair (with thru-hole components) to board exchange, the customers reacted negatively. The strategy was modified to provide repair info, including schematics. This was mostly before SMD devices became the norm (although I am the real Norm! -- hi). Whether or not Lab599 would consider providing repair documentation partly depends on the demand from the customer base. My guess is most hams are not set up (nor do they want to be) for SMD component level repair. However, I think at least they should provide repair details (with available parts) to replace certain subassemblies and parts that are prone to failure. I had problem with one of the kickstand and Lab99 provided the part to me as well as a video showing how to replace it. Maybe that would be possible with the VFO encoder. -- 73, Norm/KC1BMD
I’ve worked on smaller stuff without specialized tools, but if someone wasn’t that confident they could use a rig like the one on p.37 of the Feb 2009 QST by KE6F to do it. ?Every so often someone has an article on a setup like that. ?I actually had another jig in mind but I can’t find it. ?Could be from QEX. The article I had in mind detailed a homebrew vacuum jig that was neater and held the little bits in place in a very precise way. ?Looked a bit like a 3d printer. ? It was a more recent article. ? Very cool.?
The March 2019 QST article p.44 by KL0S is good too.?
But there’s no shortage of info and help on how to do this if you search surface mount:
I bet there is good stuff in QEX and the ARRL books as well.?
It also seems like the cover story of the May 2023 QST is on surface mount…
It’s definitely harder than working with leaded components. ?You have to think and plan before you act and be somewhere you won’t be disturbed, have proper lighting and be well rested, but it’s not impossible. ?And there is a selection of components available. ?If you have or make specialized tools I imagine it’s much easier.?
I think this “whole board replacement “ thing has more to do with economics of paying a tech to diagnose a specific part vs just replacing a board. ?I don’t think it’s about the impossibility of identifying and replacing a faulty surface mount part. ?A ham with some spare time and a service manual might save a lot of time if he did the work himself. ? Esp if no lab599 service/replacement boards are available. ?
73,
Tom, ?N2YTF?
Sent by phone, please forgive my brevity and poor typing.
On Apr 11, 2023, at 11:42 AM, Larry Guillot <guillot@...> wrote:
?
Tom,
I'm sending you a link to a image of the TX-500 board. I think that you
will agree that any work on this board would be problematic.?
L... WG9U
Thomas Tumino wrote on 4/11/2023 10:09 AM:
Interesting. ?But you know every other manufacturer is also doing
surface mount yet they still issue service manuals. ?And certainly a
tuning knob is not a surface mount component. Perhaps with enough info
we could all help diagnose the tuning problem and come up with a
solution. ?
Every manufacturer I know of has made mistakes in component
selection in ham gear, and most of those mistakes seem to be
discovered/diagnosed by users armed with service manuals. ?It’s a much
faster process to effectively “crowd source” your refinements as opposed
to relying solely on an in house tech staff. ?I mean after all, there
will always be more users in the field than designers in the company.?
Also you know there have been many QST articles on replacing
surface mount components. ?It’s not beyond a hobbyist if they want to do
it. ?
Do other Russian companies release service manuals? ? Is the
Russian intellectual property law scheme different in such a way that
publishing service manuals would disclose otherwise secret information?
?Just a thought.
But really if there’s a reason lab599 should divulge it. ?Maybe
they don’t even have one internally. ?
73,
Tom, N2YTF?
Sent by phone, please forgive
my brevity and poor typing.
On Apr 11, 2023, at 10:57 AM, Larry Guillot
<guillot@...> wrote:
?
Tom,
My guess on this would be: 1. They are Russian and don't go by the norm.
2. It's a single board, surface mount technology FRU. They may not see
the need to have a maintenance manual since it's mostly a board
replacement and the rest will have to be handled at the depot, with very
little exceptions. Frankly, the majority of the work on surface mount
FRU, has to be done at the manufacturer, so I'm certain that's what they
are thinking.
Larry, WG9U
Thomas Tumino wrote on 4/11/2023 8:26 AM:
In my mind, to not publish a service manual is really against the ethos
of Ham Radio. ?Isn’t ham radio all about experimenting, learning, and
tinkering? Fixing, modifying l, and building gear is really part of ham
radio. ?
I don’t know of any ham manufacturer that hasn’t published a
service manual for their gear. ?Many charge for the manual, but to not
publish one at all??! ?Not cool Lab599.
A service manual is especially important for a small, new
company. ?No one wants gear that may become unserviceable due to a lack
of a service manual if the company stops or can no longer support the
owners in the future. ?
Perhaps one reason why
people are reporting slow repairs from the US facility is that even they
don’t have a service manual…
Can someone with
some inside connection to Lab599 try to get them to release the service
manual in some fashion? I for one am happy to pay for it as long as it’s
priced reasonably. ?
73,
Tom, N2YTF?
Sent by phone, please forgive my brevity and poor typing.
On Apr 11, 2023, at 8:39 AM, Norm
- KC1BMD <noka@...>
wrote:
?On
Tue, Apr 11, 2023 at 07:26 AM, Thomas
Tumino wrote:
Has Lab599 released a service manual for the rig? Anyone
have a link to it?
If they did, I would think it would be on the web site ( Downloads
section) but I only see a "User" manual. ? -- 73, Norm/KC1BMD
I'm sending you a link to a image of the TX-500 board. I think that you
will agree that any work on this board would be problematic.?
L... WG9U
Thomas Tumino wrote on 4/11/2023 10:09 AM:
Interesting. ?But you know every other manufacturer is also doing
surface mount yet they still issue service manuals. ?And certainly a
tuning knob is not a surface mount component. Perhaps with enough info
we could all help diagnose the tuning problem and come up with a
solution. ?
Every manufacturer I know of has made mistakes in component
selection in ham gear, and most of those mistakes seem to be
discovered/diagnosed by users armed with service manuals. ?It’s a much
faster process to effectively “crowd source” your refinements as opposed
to relying solely on an in house tech staff. ?I mean after all, there
will always be more users in the field than designers in the company.?
Also you know there have been many QST articles on replacing
surface mount components. ?It’s not beyond a hobbyist if they want to do
it. ?
Do other Russian companies release service manuals? ? Is the
Russian intellectual property law scheme different in such a way that
publishing service manuals would disclose otherwise secret information?
?Just a thought.
But really if there’s a reason lab599 should divulge it. ?Maybe
they don’t even have one internally. ?
73,
Tom, N2YTF?
Sent by phone, please forgive
my brevity and poor typing.
On Apr 11, 2023, at 10:57 AM, Larry Guillot
<guillot@...> wrote:
?
Tom,
My guess on this would be: 1. They are Russian and don't go by the norm.
2. It's a single board, surface mount technology FRU. They may not see
the need to have a maintenance manual since it's mostly a board
replacement and the rest will have to be handled at the depot, with very
little exceptions. Frankly, the majority of the work on surface mount
FRU, has to be done at the manufacturer, so I'm certain that's what they
are thinking.
Larry, WG9U
Thomas Tumino wrote on 4/11/2023 8:26 AM:
In my mind, to not publish a service manual is really against the ethos
of Ham Radio. ?Isn’t ham radio all about experimenting, learning, and
tinkering? Fixing, modifying l, and building gear is really part of ham
radio. ?
I don’t know of any ham manufacturer that hasn’t published a
service manual for their gear. ?Many charge for the manual, but to not
publish one at all??! ?Not cool Lab599.
A service manual is especially important for a small, new
company. ?No one wants gear that may become unserviceable due to a lack
of a service manual if the company stops or can no longer support the
owners in the future. ?
Perhaps one reason why
people are reporting slow repairs from the US facility is that even they
don’t have a service manual…
Can someone with
some inside connection to Lab599 try to get them to release the service
manual in some fashion? I for one am happy to pay for it as long as it’s
priced reasonably. ?
73,
Tom, N2YTF?
Sent by phone, please forgive my brevity and poor typing.
On Apr 11, 2023, at 8:39 AM, Norm
- KC1BMD <noka@...>
wrote:
?On
Tue, Apr 11, 2023 at 07:26 AM, Thomas
Tumino wrote:
Has Lab599 released a service manual for the rig? Anyone
have a link to it?
If they did, I would think it would be on the web site ( Downloads
section) but I only see a "User" manual. ? -- 73, Norm/KC1BMD
As I said, there are a few exceptions... Tuning knobs can be one of
those. The key element here is that it's single board surface mount FRU.
With few exceptions, if anything of consequence goes wrong, it's a
board swap. I am of course speculating since I'm not the chief design
engineer for their company. The Russians have a unique way of doing
things, so I'm guessing as to the lack of service manual. The single
board makes me believe that this is their logic concerning not providing
a service manual. It could also be a proprietary issue, in that, they
do not want to provide any information concerning their design. I don't
think the manufacturer cares about what most of the radio manufacturers
do, frankly.
All of your questions are valid, however, I do have answers for
concerning Russian intellectual property. Under the current
circumstances, I'm more concerned about replacement parts and service,
which made it hard for me make the purchase. The entire supply chain
could fall apart overnight, depending upon the whim of the Russian
government and how the sanctions begin to affect their capability to
support their radio. It's difficult to predict what will happen in the
future concerning Russian companies.
L... WG9U
Thomas Tumino wrote on 4/11/2023 10:09 AM:
Interesting. ?But you know every other manufacturer is also doing
surface mount yet they still issue service manuals. ?And certainly a
tuning knob is not a surface mount component. Perhaps with enough info
we could all help diagnose the tuning problem and come up with a
solution. ?
Every manufacturer I know of has made mistakes in component
selection in ham gear, and most of those mistakes seem to be
discovered/diagnosed by users armed with service manuals. ?It’s a much
faster process to effectively “crowd source” your refinements as opposed
to relying solely on an in house tech staff. ?I mean after all, there
will always be more users in the field than designers in the company.?
Also you know there have been many QST articles on replacing
surface mount components. ?It’s not beyond a hobbyist if they want to do
it. ?
Do other Russian companies release service manuals? ? Is the
Russian intellectual property law scheme different in such a way that
publishing service manuals would disclose otherwise secret information?
?Just a thought.
But really if there’s a reason lab599 should divulge it. ?Maybe
they don’t even have one internally. ?
73,
Tom, N2YTF?
Sent by phone, please forgive
my brevity and poor typing.
On Apr 11, 2023, at 10:57 AM, Larry Guillot
<guillot@...> wrote:
?
Tom,
My guess on this would be: 1. They are Russian and don't go by the norm.
2. It's a single board, surface mount technology FRU. They may not see
the need to have a maintenance manual since it's mostly a board
replacement and the rest will have to be handled at the depot, with very
little exceptions. Frankly, the majority of the work on surface mount
FRU, has to be done at the manufacturer, so I'm certain that's what they
are thinking.
Larry, WG9U
Thomas Tumino wrote on 4/11/2023 8:26 AM:
In my mind, to not publish a service manual is really against the ethos
of Ham Radio. ?Isn’t ham radio all about experimenting, learning, and
tinkering? Fixing, modifying l, and building gear is really part of ham
radio. ?
I don’t know of any ham manufacturer that hasn’t published a
service manual for their gear. ?Many charge for the manual, but to not
publish one at all??! ?Not cool Lab599.
A service manual is especially important for a small, new
company. ?No one wants gear that may become unserviceable due to a lack
of a service manual if the company stops or can no longer support the
owners in the future. ?
Perhaps one reason why
people are reporting slow repairs from the US facility is that even they
don’t have a service manual…
Can someone with
some inside connection to Lab599 try to get them to release the service
manual in some fashion? I for one am happy to pay for it as long as it’s
priced reasonably. ?
73,
Tom, N2YTF?
Sent by phone, please forgive my brevity and poor typing.
On Apr 11, 2023, at 8:39 AM, Norm
- KC1BMD <noka@...>
wrote:
?On
Tue, Apr 11, 2023 at 07:26 AM, Thomas
Tumino wrote:
Has Lab599 released a service manual for the rig? Anyone
have a link to it?
If they did, I would think it would be on the web site ( Downloads
section) but I only see a "User" manual. ? -- 73, Norm/KC1BMD
Interesting. ?But you know every other manufacturer is also doing surface mount yet they still issue service manuals. ?And certainly a tuning knob is not a surface mount component. Perhaps with enough info we could all help diagnose the tuning problem and come up with a solution. ?
Every manufacturer I know of has made mistakes in component selection in ham gear, and most of those mistakes seem to be discovered/diagnosed by users armed with service manuals. ?It’s a much faster process to effectively “crowd source” your refinements as opposed to relying solely on an in house tech staff. ?I mean after all, there will always be more users in the field than designers in the company.?
Also you know there have been many QST articles on replacing surface mount components. ?It’s not beyond a hobbyist if they want to do it. ?
Do other Russian companies release service manuals? ? Is the Russian intellectual property law scheme different in such a way that publishing service manuals would disclose otherwise secret information? ?Just a thought.
But really if there’s a reason lab599 should divulge it. ?Maybe they don’t even have one internally. ?
73,
Tom, N2YTF?
Sent by phone, please forgive my brevity and poor typing.
On Apr 11, 2023, at 10:57 AM, Larry Guillot <guillot@...> wrote:
?
Tom,
My guess on this would be: 1. They are Russian and don't go by the norm.
2. It's a single board, surface mount technology FRU. They may not see
the need to have a maintenance manual since it's mostly a board
replacement and the rest will have to be handled at the depot, with very
little exceptions. Frankly, the majority of the work on surface mount
FRU, has to be done at the manufacturer, so I'm certain that's what they
are thinking.
Larry, WG9U
Thomas Tumino wrote on 4/11/2023 8:26 AM:
In my mind, to not publish a service manual is really against the ethos
of Ham Radio. ?Isn’t ham radio all about experimenting, learning, and
tinkering? Fixing, modifying l, and building gear is really part of ham
radio. ?
I don’t know of any ham manufacturer that hasn’t published a
service manual for their gear. ?Many charge for the manual, but to not
publish one at all??! ?Not cool Lab599.
A service manual is especially important for a small, new
company. ?No one wants gear that may become unserviceable due to a lack
of a service manual if the company stops or can no longer support the
owners in the future. ?
Perhaps one reason why
people are reporting slow repairs from the US facility is that even they
don’t have a service manual…
Can someone with
some inside connection to Lab599 try to get them to release the service
manual in some fashion? I for one am happy to pay for it as long as it’s
priced reasonably. ?
73,
Tom, N2YTF?
Sent by phone, please forgive my brevity and poor typing.
On Apr 11, 2023, at 8:39 AM, Norm
- KC1BMD <noka@...> wrote:
?On Tue, Apr 11, 2023 at 07:26 AM, Thomas
Tumino wrote:
Has Lab599 released a service manual for the rig? Anyone
have a link to it?
If they did, I would think it would be on the web site ( Downloads
section) but I only see a "User" manual. ? -- 73, Norm/KC1BMD
My guess on this would be: 1. They are Russian and don't go by the norm.
2. It's a single board, surface mount technology FRU. They may not see
the need to have a maintenance manual since it's mostly a board
replacement and the rest will have to be handled at the depot, with very
little exceptions. Frankly, the majority of the work on surface mount
FRU, has to be done at the manufacturer, so I'm certain that's what they
are thinking.
Larry, WG9U
Thomas Tumino wrote on 4/11/2023 8:26 AM:
In my mind, to not publish a service manual is really against the ethos
of Ham Radio. ?Isn’t ham radio all about experimenting, learning, and
tinkering? Fixing, modifying l, and building gear is really part of ham
radio. ?
I don’t know of any ham manufacturer that hasn’t published a
service manual for their gear. ?Many charge for the manual, but to not
publish one at all??! ?Not cool Lab599.
A service manual is especially important for a small, new
company. ?No one wants gear that may become unserviceable due to a lack
of a service manual if the company stops or can no longer support the
owners in the future. ?
Perhaps one reason why
people are reporting slow repairs from the US facility is that even they
don’t have a service manual…
Can someone with
some inside connection to Lab599 try to get them to release the service
manual in some fashion? I for one am happy to pay for it as long as it’s
priced reasonably. ?
73,
Tom, N2YTF?
Sent by phone, please forgive my brevity and poor typing.
On Apr 11, 2023, at 8:39 AM, Norm
- KC1BMD <noka@...> wrote:
?On Tue, Apr 11, 2023 at 07:26 AM, Thomas
Tumino wrote:
Has Lab599 released a service manual for the rig? Anyone
have a link to it?
If they did, I would think it would be on the web site ( Downloads
section) but I only see a "User" manual. ? -- 73, Norm/KC1BMD