Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Josh (KI6NAZ), who shares a link to his YouTube channel where he takes us on a tour of the lab599 TX-500 Discovery:
Click here to check out Josh’s channel, Ham Radio Crash Course on YouTube.
Thanks for sharing this, Josh! The TX-500 is certainly a unicorn in the world of field-portable QRP radios since it’s designed to be weather-proof.
lab599 has confirmed that they will dispatch a TX-500 loaner unit for my upcoming review. I’m looking forward to see how it plays in the field and might compare with other QRP rigs in my arsenal!
The overall concept of this radio is actually very interesting. Rather than try to stuff it full of bells and whistles (tuner, batteries, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.), the developers instead have focused on SDR performance, construction quality and environmental protection (something very important in Russia). It’s up to the end user to configure it from that point forward to meet his/her specific needs. Assuming the SDR performance is very good (and it needs to be in today’s market), this radio could gain a good bit of traction.
The audio of the TX 500 is very good . The RF gain was turned up too high ! There is 3 watt audio output and the speaker / mic. has room to plug in an external speaker. W2ENY has accessory headphones, military
handset, microphones and cables for the transceiver. The radio is very well made and a blast to use.
Lots of great features….
Yes the new website for the TX is up and running. Looking forward to supporting the TX500 with great accessories going forward.
For US sales: https://w2eny.com/tx500/
For international sales thru ebay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/w2eny/m.html?
The handset is a real gem for portable op: https://w2eny.com/tx500/handset/
Regards,
Bob
Man that audio was harsh (20M SSB)
Let’s hope it’s because of the crummy speaker/mic instead of being native to the radio.