| NM5S |
Rating:      |
2023-04-04 | |
| After 3 yrs. it is still my favorite SOTA rig |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I am very happy with this rig. It continues to be a great performer on many SOTA summits. It is compact, lightweight, and was a bargain. The minimal service I needed was painless, fast, and costless. |
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| G4VRR |
Rating:     |
2023-04-04 | |
| A Great Idea But With Flawed Design Choices and an RF Issue. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Update; after many months and a great deal of head scratching, it transpired that on 40 metres only, it could not cope with an 8" unscreened wire hookup for the morse key, even with two Fair Rite Snap-Its. Replacement with a screened lead provided the cure. Whilst this may seem obvious to the majority, the issue remained even into a dummy load which still has me puzzled. Accordingly, I have increased the star rating to four, but my other reservations still apply. At the end of the day it's a great little radio, but with (for me at least) a few too many little drawbacks. Overall it's a keeper.
Original review:
A great little portable transceiver. However, as previously noted, the limitation with the memory register is irritating given the obvious deployment scenarios, and by extension the lack of flash upgrades that could address this too. Basically you get a production run and that's it. On the other hand, this comes under the heading of things you know (or should have known) prior to purchase. My principal reason for marking it down is that on 40M (even with just a dummy load and a LiPo) it drops RF out in milliseconds. It's OK on 30M and 20M, it just doesn't like 40M. I have outlined some other niggles below that mean for myself at least the SW-3B doesn't quite warrant four stars. "Needs help" at two stars seems too harsh, but really that's what I should have awarded.
I have not tried to trouble Dale with the RF issue because first I know I'm not alone, and secondly I can predict the outcome as being WYSIWYG. That said, over time I have discovered that if I back off the RF gain somewhat the RF drop out problem goes away. It is bizarre that a control that is deployed during receive should impact the transmit side of things, but I guess it's direct RF pick up. I have double toroid choked all external leads to no avail. It is what it is. Maybe some extra internal decoupling would help, but- really?
The SW-3B cannot retain its previous V/M setting upon power up. Every time I switch it on, I have to remember to first select a memory for the part of the band that I want (the low part!) and secondly flip V/M before attempting to tune around. This is daft, it should be able to remember where you left off. A minor irritation but worth mentioning. I could address this by putting a low QRG CW memory up at what appears to be default start up memory position 8, but that's not intuitive, I would still have to punch the VFO knob before attemting to QSY and really it shouldn't be necessary at all.
So far as direct operating experience goes, I find that once you have got over its initial jewel like attraction, by the time you have configured a voltage source, headphones or external loudspeaker and some way to establish antenna matching together with all the attendant cables, I have come to the conclusion that I may just as well pack my FT-818nd. There is a great little Czech QRP company sells a neat little SWR /Power indicator that will fit inside the case, but they have been out of stock for so long that I'm bored of checking and I suspect vapourware.
Don't be put off by my comments because as I said- it's a great little transceiver that hears very well, but think about the logistics of deployment. With a lightweight LiFePo4 it wins hands down on weight for SOTA, but for POTA and related activities, by the time you've hooked everything up together, I feel that it misses the point a bit.
I would not buy this item again unless I could be confident that the RF issue had been addressed, and this is not the type of product that you can sit down with in your local emporium ... |
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| VE3EGA |
Rating:      |
2023-04-03 | |
| Better than Most! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have owned my little SW-3B for about 3 Years - About the same time as I had owned the original and single-band QRPLabs QCX.
They are all GONE - but the SW-3B is a KEEPER!
In conclusion, It is compact, versatile, ultra-reliable tiny CW Transceiver with 'SSB RX' (listen to the SSB NETS?) that just simply 'DELIVERS!'
Well done Dale and thanks for a great QRP product!
73 |
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| W2GIW |
Rating:     |
2022-11-01 | |
| A very well rounded little radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
A nice compact unit with SSB receive, should someone need that. Performs just like it should. Really like how the "step" tuning works.
Wide voltage range is a big plus.
I added a flat battery pack from Amazon (two for $8.00 or so) that holds 8 AA's. Used a few velcro strips to hold it to the bottom of the radio with the battery door facing the desk, so to speak. Works great. No separate batteries needed. 7/8 longer than the -3B but exactly the same width.
Even has an on/off switch.
Also...I believe the power connector is the same one used on the LNR's and the FT-817, 818....Ken
Update!! Does anyone know how to delete your call in the auto CQ and start again? this one is about two years old. Page 9 in this little manual is no help....Thanks...Ken |
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| KL7KN |
Rating:      |
2022-08-19 | |
| Well worth the cost of ownership |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Great little rig. full 5 watts @12VDC, will run on a battery down to ~8VDC. RF gain, a real ++. The radio is a single conversion, with the IF derived from the same DDS system, so no BFO crystal - the received signal is always inside the filter passband. CWR allows dodging some QRN/QRM. 'Trail Friendly' configuration/form factor - love it!
Dale does incremental Product Improvement - this on a batch-by-batch basis. The CQ function is now (2022) open memory - so you may enter "CQ de (yourcall)/QRP" for example. It seems the software found on the SW3C is now used in the little SW3B.
The one feature that sold me was the SSB RX and the wide coverage. This allows me to check into SSB nets, for example, where other rigs lack the RX BW to do so.
5 stars for performance, or 5 stars for ease of use - a winner.
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| VE3SIF |
Rating:      |
2022-01-03 | |
| Great little QRP radio |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I was looking for something similar to the QCX but with both 40 and 20 meters. This radio fits the bill for my ultra-portable ops. Three bands, rf gain, wide voltage range, rit, low current draw, and it’s tiny! The receiver is good, the 400 Hz filter setting is a good choice for this radio. It seems very well built and the seller, Dane, has been great to answer any questions that I’ve had. I’m very happy with it so far.
The manual it comes with is so-so but the operating guide written by Don, KL7KN, is great. Both are available on the Venus website to download. Changing keyer speeds is no good. It works, but is not practical for down in the middle of a QSO, for example. As other have written, the power connector isn’t standard (4x1.7mm). It could use more memory – the way mine is set up, I can only enter my call sign for the radio to call a standard CQ. I can’t configure it to call CQ POTA, for example.
Still, for an inexpensive portable rig, it’s terrific.
Here’s a review video of it. Not everything is covered. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIMXTQ5gEN8 |
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| EA8CYU |
Rating:      |
2021-07-19 | |
| Excelente equipo QRP -- Muy buena atención al cliente. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
A primera vista sorprende su pequeño tamaño y peso, las perillas y el conjunto muestra robustez.
El manejo es muy intuitivo buen receptor y filtro.
La atención a cliente es magnífica. No tendrá ningún problema con Dale.
En poco tiempo tendremos el SW-3C con alguna mejoras
Puntuación
SW-3B -- 10/10
Atención cliente Dale -- 10/10
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| CT1HIX |
Rating:      |
2021-03-20 | |
| SW-3B an excellent transceiver for portable operation |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
This transceiver has excellent features for portable operation. It is robust, small, light, consumes little, is simple to use, and has excellent performance.
There are negative things, the keyer does not allow memorizing "call / p" and there is no warning (or swr meter) of high swr.
Its price is unbeatable.
My rating would be 4.8 so 4 was unfair.
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|
| N4UM |
Rating:      |
2020-09-04 | |
| A poor man's KX3 |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I wanted something to take to the local park to use when (and if) the weather cools down here in Florida. The SW-3B fills the bill.
It's extremely compact, lightweight and packed with features to make a CW guy happy. It's also inexpensive ($188 + $7 shipped from China).
I've been operating from home with it for the past week using a 40M EFHW at 18 ft. and have had QSOs on 40 and 20. The selectivity at 400 HZ is pretty much ideal for general CW operating and the sensitivity seems more than adequate. The built-in keyer has a decent range but changing speed on-the-fly is a minor annoyance. It sports 8 memories on each of its three bands. The digital display constantly indicates supply voltage. It sports RIT and XIT functions, has a built-in automatic CQ beacon and an adjustable tuning rate. It does not have a speaker but a battery powered XMINI speaker used with my iPhone and iPad works just fine. It operates on supply voltages of 8 to 15 volts with reduced output at the lower voltages.
It comes with a a relatively non-standard power cord. I emailed the company to see if I could order one or two to use as spares. They replied very quickly that they be happy to supply me but that I could readily get replacements on eBay and Amazon. The cord uses a 4mm x 1.7mm male plug.
This little radio is a classic waiting to happen.
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|
| F6DFZ |
Rating:      |
2020-07-22 | |
| Superb QRP transceiver |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I decided to purchase this QRP transceiver because its schematic diagram is similar to the proven Elecraft KX1 and because it possess a RF gain, a necessity with rigs using AF derived AGC.
This rig is tiny and cute and construction is top notch.. MDS on all bands is about -127dBm, power with a 12V lead battery is 5W, frequency is accurate.
Full break-in is smooth, ergonomics are good.
First QSO’s were very pleasing.
In brief, this is a very good QRP transceiver with well chosen bands and an attractive price.
The service from Dale was perfect, many thanks ! |
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