Both the readers here and the folks who’ve taken the RTO Course know I’m a big fan of the CTX-10. It’s small, self contained, backwards compatible with Yaesu interface equipment, and pushing 10 watts its very effective in a wide variety of modes (especially CW!). And its American made. But the great folks over at CommRadio are making it even better.
From CommRadio:
Several updates to the CTX-10 coming down the pipe – MARS (general coverage transmit) will be available. This will require a trip to the mother ship to have a few capacitors removed. Also dual VFO so you can transmit and receive on completely different frequencies on the same band.
That’s a big deal, considering the number of you involved in MARS that have asked if this mod was available, and the dual VFO is an excellent upgrade. If that wasn’t enough, Portable Zero is now making their very cool side rails that bolt directly to the rig as well as an external battery pack. I’ve got a set of those rails on my old Icom 703, and I plan on getting a set for the CTX as well.
Check out the pics they sent:
Very cool- I’m looking forward getting my hands on it.
Christmas just came early!!
A good rig made even better…
I look forward to your review…
I’ve been wrestling over this or a FT-818, I like OH8STN who said he may do a review on the CTX-10 too, but he is switching for the 817/818 to the mcHF, but from what I read most of those kit based QRP rigs with all the fancy features are finicky to say the least, requiring a lot of adjustments and tuning to get working right. I know all-in-one radios are never as good as specialty rigs, but man I wish this one covered at least VHF also and pushed 25W. Anyway, I think you have me sold on it, what is that attached to the top in that bottom pic?
A battery pack.
I too wish it included vhf. Any chance of them adding 160m? That could be important for nvis in the current solar cycle.
With the MARS mod it’ll likely be 160m capable.
Full break-in CW would also be nice.
Dual VFO’s should have been on this radio from the very beginning. It’s nice to see their responsiveness to problems .. but no RIT or DUAL VFO’s is a major blunder for a ham radio to not have in this price range.
Not sure this will sell well with the QRP LABS QSX almost here .. at 1/5th the price.
Don’t get me wrong .. it looks robust and simple. I’d love to try one out in the near future.
You’re doing great work brother .. keep it up.
Reblogged this on FOR GOD AND COUNTRY.
Reblogged this on The D.O.P.E. Farm Podcast.
“It’s nice to see their responsiveness to problems .. but no RIT or DUAL VFO’s is a major blunder for a ham radio to not have in this price range.’
This is made in ‘Merica, has a built-in tuner and compares quite favorably to the Yaesu QRP mobile radio. The components are also much newer ie not in obsolescence like the Yaesu or Icomm equivalents.
“Not sure this will sell well with the QRP LABS QSX almost here .. at 1/5th the price.”
But only a 1/5 as many bands. It’s a 40 m radio unless you add another board. I guarantee you will get what you pay for.
The QSX from qrp labs will be sold as a 40m single band sdr kit that is designed to be a 160m thru 10m digital power house with onboard process computer. No external anything for digital, voice or cw. Yes .. you’ll have to wait for the QSX and the multi-band board .. both should be out this year.
The only difference is it’s not built like a tank. At 1/5th the cost .. I can live with that .. buy 2 .. or 3.
Now as for defending American made .. good for you .. where has Ten-Tec gone .. Heath Kit .. hmmmm and so many more .. my allegiance is not blind.
In terms of the 817 or whatever-else you want to bring into this discussion .. don’t. Nobody cares about changing the discussion to old tired designs.
The discussion is on a simple robost made in America 80m thru 10m (limitied) capable radio -vs- a sdr radio at 1/5th the cost with better specs and an established user group that shares information and ideas.
I’m pleased they listened to the input on the lack of dual VFO’s. But it should’ve been there from the beginning.
I very much doubt that’ll be the only difference. What you described is them attempting to sell a cheaper product by using more DSP and computing. The sensitivity, harmonics, and spurious performance will likely be worse as these are trade-offs for spending less money on the analog front-end and pushing more processing to the digital back-end. There is no free lunch.
As far as the other board coming for free, that hasn’t happened yet. Maybe it will. QRP Labs’ plans beat Comm Radio’s products, I guess.
“In terms of the 817 or whatever-else you want to bring into this discussion .. don’t. Nobody cares about changing the discussion to old tired designs.”
But you argued, “For the price…” Those are the other radios with similar functionality at that price.
“Now as for defending American made .. good for you .. where has Ten-Tec gone .. Heath Kit .. hmmmm and so many more .. my allegiance is not blind.”
Engineers are often bad at business. They have difficulty crossing the chasm. These Comm Radio guys seem to have the full package.
Agreed about Engineer’s business models.
As for QRP Labs QSX .. time will tell.
The QCX (single band CW kit) had a few software bugs when it came out. Hans is trying to have all of those ironed out on the QSX when it rolls out. Hence why the delay.
I doubt he is targeting the CTX .. but .. the reports are it’s top notice. Look at some of his manuals for building his kits. My perspective is they are impressive. And I’ve built a ton of kits. I just ordered a QCX .. so .. warm-up the soldering iron.
I’ll attempt to compare them (CTX v QSX). Unless someone else beats me to it.
What are the details on the H-250 handset and how it’s connected to the radio?
It’s connected to the Quansheng. That one has a standard Kenwood two prong plug.
No shout-outs for Elecraft?
Pretty small and light package, easy on batteries, all mode capable?
Its nice, but fragile. Too fragile for its cost. I love Wayne’s other products, especially the T1. But its built for the Ham market. The CTX-10 may have similar tech specs but its built for more serious purposes.
The paddle and mount setup looks slick! I can’t make out the manufacturer. Anyone know who makes it?