For those who listened to the newest Ham Radio Workbench Podcast episode–our Discipline Day Debrief–you should have heard that my Discipline Day was a fairly low-key occasion.
Initially, I had hoped to fly out to Oregon and grasp with my buddy George (KJ6VU) and his radio membership, however there have been simply too many household actions taking place this yr for me to journey for every week.
As an alternative, my spouse, daughters, and I met up with my buddy Vlado (N3CZ) and his sister, who was visiting from North Macedonia.
We met on the Zebulon Vance Birthplace (US-6856) and, fortunately, had the picnic shelter to ourselves. The climate was attractive, and we put collectively a correct potluck picnic.
Vlado and I made a decision to do some informal Discipline Day working, and I introduced the radio gear.
Since I’m at present testing the Xiegu X6200, I introduced it alongside to see the way it would possibly deal with the RF-dense atmosphere of Discipline Day.
We made a couple of contacts with the X6200, however the audio and receiver struggled in that RF-congested atmosphere. This isn’t a shock, in reality. Most moveable area radios aren’t designed to have contest-grade efficiency—they’re designed for portability and performance in regular area situations.
The opposite radio I introduced alongside was the Penntek TR-45L. I can’t bear in mind if I’ve used it throughout Discipline Day up to now, however all Vlado and I might say was…
The TR-45L sounded phenomenal!
I’ve at all times believed that the TR-45L (each the unique and thin model) has a few of the finest audio on this planet of area radio. That may be a main plus relating to Discipline Day.
The factor is, it additionally has a steady entrance finish—the TR-45L receiver dealt with these packed RF situations with ease. In truth, we have been each amazed at how simply we might hear all of these competing alerts. There was completely no listening fatigue in any respect, and each of us might hear weak and robust alerts all occupying the identical area..
It sounded distinctly analog and “pure.”
Vlado and I each are likely to function with filters large open—utilizing the filter between our ears—so the audio produced had glorious constancy.
A few occasions, we did slender the TR-45L’s audio filter when there was a powerful competing station, however by and huge, the audio was so clear, we actually didn’t must.
The takeaway for me is that the TR-45L sequence radios have correct contest-grade efficiency even when they lack contest-grade filtering.
I shouldn’t be shocked as a result of even its predecessor, the TR-35, can deal with crowded situations with ease.
I ought to add right here that the availability of recent Penntek radios could already be dried up. As I discussed in a earlier announcement, John (WA3RNC), is retiring and promoting off all of his current radio stock.
In response to his web site, he would possibly nonetheless have some TR-45L Skinny fashions, however that’s it. In truth, that discover was dated Might 28, 2024, so I’m unsure if it’s nonetheless right.
I really like the Skinny as a lot as the unique TR-45L—they sport the identical receiver and audio; the Skinny merely lacks the flexibility so as to add an inner battery and Z-Match ATU. What you get, although, is a radio that’s much more moveable and supplies a superb working angle with the bail folded out.
Have you ever ever operated a Penntek radio throughout a contest or Discipline Day? What are your different favourite area radios for one of these atmosphere? Please remark!
