{"id":39500,"date":"2019-09-23T08:08:36","date_gmt":"2019-09-23T12:08:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=39500"},"modified":"2019-09-23T08:08:36","modified_gmt":"2019-09-23T12:08:36","slug":"initial-impressions-of-the-alt-512-qrp-transceiver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/initial-impressions-of-the-alt-512-qrp-transceiver\/","title":{"rendered":"Initial impressions of the ALT-512 QRP transceiver"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-Transceiver.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-39501\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-Transceiver-1024x910.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"555\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-Transceiver-1024x910.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-Transceiver-300x266.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-Transceiver-768x682.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-Transceiver-624x554.jpg 624w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-Transceiver.jpg 1110w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>So the ALT-512 QRP SDR transceiver has landed at <em>SWLing Post<\/em> HQ. This little rig is on loan from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aerial-51.com\/alt-512\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aerial-51<\/a> and I&#8217;ll be spending the next month or so putting it through the paces.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-KeyPad.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-39768\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-KeyPad.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1015\" height=\"761\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-KeyPad.jpg 1015w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-KeyPad-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-KeyPad-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-KeyPad-624x468.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1015px) 100vw, 1015px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I can already tell that the ALT-512 has some strong points:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It&#8217;s incredibly portable and easy to take to the field, providing you have a battery and resonant antenna (or external ATU).<\/li>\n<li>The color backlit display is quite readable at any angle despite being rather information-dense.<\/li>\n<li>I really like the waterfall display. It&#8217;s large enough to be quite useful.<\/li>\n<li>The ALT-512 can connect directly to your computer for digital modes like FT-8. No external sound card needed.<\/li>\n<li>The menu system contains a wide array of features and options for granular tweaks and modifications.<\/li>\n<li>The ALT-512 includes the European 4 meter band.<\/li>\n<li>Although I prefer using headphones with small radios, the ALT-512&#8217;s small internal speaker does a fine job.<\/li>\n<li>Rob Sherwood tested the ALT-512 (indeed, this very unit) recently and added it to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sherweng.com\/table.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">his receiver test data<\/a>. It performed quite well especially considering the price.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-39767\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"469\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-624x468.jpg 624w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Any negatives so far?\u00a0 Nothing major:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>No internal ATU or battery options. At this price point (799 EUR), I wouldn&#8217;t expect either of these.<\/li>\n<li>The ALT-512 is not general coverage. This is a negative for those of us who like SWLing, but a positive for ham radio use as the ALT-512 sports band-specific bandpass filters to reject out-of-band strong stations. You can tune to some stations above the 40M band and also the full mediumwave band and below (down to 100 kHz), although I wouldn&#8217;t expect stellar performance in those regions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-Left-Side.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-39769\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-Left-Side.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1015\" height=\"761\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-Left-Side.jpg 1015w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-Left-Side-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-Left-Side-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-Left-Side-624x468.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1015px) 100vw, 1015px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-Right-side.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-39770\" src=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-Right-side-1024x756.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"625\" height=\"461\" srcset=\"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-Right-side-1024x756.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-Right-side-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-Right-side-768x567.jpg 768w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-Right-side-624x461.jpg 624w, https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ALT-512-QRP-Transceiver-Right-side.jpg 1032w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 625px) 100vw, 625px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>So far, I&#8217;m very pleased with the ALT-512&#8217;s performance.<\/p>\n<p>Next, I&#8217;ll be taking it to the field and see how easily I can activate a few POTA (Parks On The Air) sites! Stay tuned!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aerial-51.com\/alt-512\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click here to check out the ALT-512 at Aerial-51.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So the ALT-512 QRP SDR transceiver has landed at SWLing Post HQ. This little rig is on loan from Aerial-51 and I&#8217;ll be spending the next month or so putting it through the paces. I can already tell that the ALT-512 has some strong points: It&#8217;s incredibly portable and easy to take to the field, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[545,3,5099],"tags":[7727,7725,7726,1303,7379],"class_list":["post-39500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ham-radio","category-news","category-qrp","tag-aerial-51","tag-aerial-51-alt-512","tag-alt-512","tag-qrp","tag-qrp-transceivers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-ah6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36945,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/04\/the-alt-512-a-new-general-coverage-qrp-transceiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":39500,"position":0},"title":"The ALT-512: A new QRP transceiver","author":"Thomas","date":"April 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"There's a new QRP transceiver on the market: the twelve band ALT-512 by Aerial-51. At first glance, you'll see a similarity between the ALT-512 and the LnR Precision LD-11\/Aerial-51 SKY-SDR. The LD-11 and SKY-SDR, are very similar, save the LD-11 is marketed to North America (via LnR) and the SKY-SDR\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ham Radio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/AERIAL-51-ANTENNAS-ALT-512.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/AERIAL-51-ANTENNAS-ALT-512.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/AERIAL-51-ANTENNAS-ALT-512.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/AERIAL-51-ANTENNAS-ALT-512.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42474,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/03\/alt-512-qrp-transceiver-review-in-radcom\/","url_meta":{"origin":39500,"position":1},"title":"ALT-512 QRP transceiver review in RadCom","author":"Thomas","date":"March 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"If you're a member of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) you may have seen my review of the ALT-512 QRP transceiver in the March 2020 issue of Radcom. This was my first review for Radcom after having been invited to submit a review at the 2018 Hamvention. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ham Radio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG_6983.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG_6983.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG_6983.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/IMG_6983.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":38035,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2019\/06\/hamvention-highlights-the-qrp-labs-qsx-10-watt-general-coverage-low-cost-hf-transceiver-kit\/","url_meta":{"origin":39500,"position":2},"title":"Hamvention Highlights: The QRP Labs QSX 10 watt, general coverage, low-cost HF transceiver kit","author":"Thomas","date":"June 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Each year at the Dayton Hamvention I enjoy checking out the latest radio products and services. This year (2019) I found an exceptional number of innovations and will share these in Hamvention Highlights posts. If you would like to check out 2019 Hamvention Highlights as I publish them, bookmark this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Kits&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Kits","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/kits\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/QRP-Labs-QSX-Transceiver-6.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/QRP-Labs-QSX-Transceiver-6.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/QRP-Labs-QSX-Transceiver-6.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/QRP-Labs-QSX-Transceiver-6.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34235,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/n6qw-introduces-the-sudden-qrp-ssb-transceiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":39500,"position":3},"title":"N6QW introduces the Sudden QRP SSB Transceiver","author":"Thomas","date":"September 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Pete Eaton (WB9FLW), who writes: From the fertile mind of QRP Hall Of Fame Pete N6QW comes a new Radio Project, the Sudden QRP SSB Transceiver. If you have never Scratch Built such a Rig and would like to N6QW's latest offering deserves close\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ham Radio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Sudden-40M-Transceiver-1024x540.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Sudden-40M-Transceiver-1024x540.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Sudden-40M-Transceiver-1024x540.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":43372,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/just-pulled-the-trigger-on-the-new-qcx-cw-wspr-qrp-transceiver-kit\/","url_meta":{"origin":39500,"position":4},"title":"Just pulled the trigger on the new QCX+ CW\/WSPR QRP transceiver kit","author":"Thomas","date":"May 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm a real sucker for kits of any stripe. A few days ago, my buddy, Pete (WB9FLW), sent me a tip about the new QCX+ CW\/WSPR transceiver by QRP Labs. I posted an announcement on QRPer.com. I've yet to build a QRP Labs kit, but I've only heard positive reviews\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Ham Radio&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/QSX-TRansceiver.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/QSX-TRansceiver.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/QSX-TRansceiver.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/QSX-TRansceiver.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/QSX-TRansceiver.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45948,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/steve-builds-a-dc30b-qrp-transceiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":39500,"position":5},"title":"Steve builds a DC30B QRP Transceiver","author":"Thomas","date":"October 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Steve (KZ4TN), who shared the following guest post originally on QRPer.com, but I've posted it here as well because I'm sure it'll resonate with those of us who love building kits!: DC30B QRP Transceiver Project by Steve Allen, KZ4TN I wanted to build a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Guest Posts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Guest Posts","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/guest-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"DC30B QRP Transceiver Project","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qrper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DC30b-e1602591022362.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qrper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DC30b-e1602591022362.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qrper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DC30b-e1602591022362.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qrper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/DC30b-e1602591022362.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39500\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}