QRP RADIOS:

Most hams are familiar with Rob Sherwood's Receiver Performance List.

 

Few of them know that there is an extensive test and review behind each of the radios shown in that list.

 

The QRP Radios that Rob has tested are shown (with test review) below:

QRP Transceiver Rankings by DR3

(see bottom of page)

 

Aerial-51 "ALT-512"

 

Note:  Rob has tested the radio in both modes:  Direct Conversion (DC) and Virtual-IF (V-IF), which Rob calls IF-Offset in this review.  On many of the measurements there was no difference, but on measurements where there was a difference he shows two columns of results, one for each mode.

Rob Sherwood's Full Test Review of the ALT-512
Rob Sherwood's full test review of the Aerial-51 ALT-512.
ALT-512-Dual-Mode-2a.pdf
PDF-Dokument [87.8 KB]

 

CommRadio "CTX10"

 

 

CommRadio CTX10 Test Review
Rob Sherwood's full Test Review of the CommRadio CTX10 Test Revision A.
CommRadio-CTX-10 Test Revision A.pdf
PDF-Dokument [9.7 KB]

 

ELAD "FTM-DUO"

ELAD FDM-DUO Test Rev. 1b
Rob Sherwood's full test review of the ELAD FTM-DUO, Test Revision E.
Elad FDM-DUO- Rev. 1b.pdf
PDF-Dokument [74.6 KB]

 

 

Elecraft "KX2"

 

 

Elecraft "KX2" Test Revision D1
Rob Sherwood's full test review of the Elecraft "KX2", test revision D1.
Elecraft KX2-Test Rev. D1.pdf
PDF-Dokument [73.5 KB]

 

 

ELECRAFT "KX3"

ELECRAFT KX3 Test Rev. E.
Rob Sherwood's Full Test Review of the Elecraft KX3, Test Revision E.
Elecraft KX3 rev E.pdf
PDF-Dokument [82.0 KB]

 

 

FLEX "1500"

 

 

FLEX "1500" Review Rev. A
Rob Sherwood's Test Review of the FlexRadio 1500, Test Revision A.
Flex 1500 Evaluation-RevA.pdf
PDF-Dokument [71.3 KB]

 

 

ICOM IC-705

 

 

ICOM IC-705 Review Rev. F
This is Rob Sherwood's Test and Review of the ICOM IC-705 Review Revision F.
Icom IC-705-Review Rev. F.pdf
PDF-Dokument [141.7 KB]

 

LAB599 "TX-500"

LAB599 "TX-500"
Rob Sherwood's full test review.
Lab599-TX-500.pdf
PDF-Dokument [11.0 KB]

 

TEN-TEC ARGONAUT VI

 

 

TEN-TEC ARGONAUT VI, Review Rev. C.
This is Rob Sherwood's full Test Review of the TEN-TEC ARGONAUT VI, Test Revision C.
Ten-Tec Argonaut VI-Rev. C.pdf
PDF-Dokument [68.3 KB]

 

Xiegu G90

Xiegu G90 Review Rev. E
This is Rob Sherwood's full Test Review of the Xiegu G90, Revision E.
Xiegu-G90-E.pdf
PDF-Dokument [255.7 KB]

 

QRP Transceiver Rankings by DR3

 

[My] COMMENTS:

 

Rob only recently began measuring Reciprical Mixing Dynamic   Range (RMDR).   Thus, several of the transceivers were not   measured for RMDR.

 

According to Rob,  RMDR may be calculated by subtracting 27 dB from the Local Oscillator's   1 kHz Phase Noise.  Unfortunately this was not measured on several of the transceivers;       in some cases for technical reasons.  See test reviews for more info.

 

For these cases, I "guestimated" the RMDR by subtracting 27 dB from the 2.5 kHz or 5 kHz Phase Noise measurement.  These cases are marked with "abt." (about).   The number will be close, but not exact.

 

THE WINNER:  in terms of DR3 is the Elecraft KX3.  However, in most cases its 4 or 5 dB advantage will not be noticible in a contest.

 

CONTEST GRADE:  3 of the 4 transceivers in the blue box are contest-grade transceivers.  The FLEX 1500 is a bit low on RMDR compared to the others.

 

Note:  1 or 2 dB difference in DR3 is not decernable.  Indeed, manufacturing tolerances can result in identical transceivers being 1 or 2 dB different.

 

ALL of the Comments above were made by DJ0IP, not NC0B!