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Reviews For: WA3RNC/Penntek TR-35 4-Band QRP

Category: QRP Radios (5 watts or less)

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Review Summary For : WA3RNC/Penntek TR-35 4-Band QRP
Reviews: 9MSRP: Kit $279.00, wired $379.00
Description:
40m,30m,20m,17m QRP transceiver. 5-watts-plus output all bands. Rugged TO-220 FET final RF amplifier. Full band coverage plus extended RCVR tuning above and below. RIT tunes +/- 5kHz. DC input 9-14 Volts, optimized for 3-series-connected 18650 lithium cells. Low battery indicator. Receives narrow band CW (350Hz), wide band CW and SSB (1.9kHz). Separate jacks for straight key and paddles, always ready for SKCC contacts. Iambic keyer adjustable 5-45 WPM. Selectable tuning steps of 10, 100, 1000Hz. Front panel RF gain and power output controls. Effective AGC prevents ear damage. Excellent RCVR sensitivity -125 dBm. TX harmonics -52dB, exceeds FCC requirement. All critical circuits factory aligned and calibrated. Includes 250 machine-placed parts plus about 55 builder-installed parts. All toroidal inductors factory wound and prepared. Size 5-1/2" x 3-1/4" x 1-1/2" less protrusions. Weight 10.6 oz. Kits and factory-wired units available. No endless back-menus, there is a control or switch for every function. Designed and made in USA of domestic and foreign parts.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.wa3rnc.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
2595
W6CJ Rating: 2023-03-03
A Real CW QRP/P Rig - Good Design Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I ordered the assembled and tested TR-35.

After unpacking it, I ran a few quick tests:
Power was around 8 watts with 14V; around 6 watts at 12.5V on all four bands. A signal of 0.1uV or less was discernable in the receiver. Frequencies were accurate. The sidetone was a bit loud for my taste, but easily adjusted. QSK was good, without pops in my earbuds or clicking relays. Keying sounded good as heard in my other radio. Plenty of audio for any earbuds, phones or speaker.

I heard K6KPH (the KPH maritime radio museum) calling CQ on 7050, had a quick exchange of 579s and good keying reports. I am a semi-QSK op, but the full QSK in the TR-35 was not difficult to adjust to. I tried out a paddle key and a straight key, and liked the idea of separate jacks for paddle & straight keys.

The CW sidetone is a sample of the transmitted signal with a nice sinewave tone. This sidetone method made it very easy to zero-beat the other station. The CW sidetone is factory set at 700 Hz. My preference is for lower pitch sidetone and copying, but not a major issue. I found I could reduce a little of the highs and hiss in the receive passband by adjusting the sidetone peaking pot... a little like adjusting IF passband...again, just my preference.

The switches, controls and menus are simple, and give the TR-35 a bit of a retro look and feel. I think the radio could be operated while wearing gloves, because of the toggle switches and readily available menus. Yes, a QRP/P transceiver could be smaller, but then you'd be back to smaller controls and quirky hidden menus.

I liked the choice of bands. If someone said "You can only have four HF bands... take your pick", I would also have also chosen 40/30/20/17 for my QRP/P radio. If not in the mood for frenzied weekend contests, I still have two WARC bands to escape to! (I would like to see a future Penntek rig this form and size with 80, 60 and 15 meters added).

I called this a "Real CW QRP/P Rig" because it is not one of those gimmick kits built in a tuna can; you can really make contacts with it. Also, it's not a fake from China that you see on those dodgy websites. For what the TR-35 does, the price is right.

Thanks John at Penntek!







W2JAZ Rating: 2022-12-25
Possibly Best Kit Ever Built Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I’ve been licensed since 1965 and built a lot of kits in my day from Knight to Heathkit to Small Wonders and many others. This kit might be the best I’ve ever built in terms of attention to detail and packaging of parts. The bubble parts strip makes it really easy to find the right part for the next step. If you can read, take your time and of course know how to solder, you can’t go wrong. And best of all it works very well. The design is excellent especially if you are in the field or in the sun when numerous embedded menu items can be difficult to find or remember. All features are immediately and obviously accessible right on the front panel. The alignment procedure is easy to follow and really all you need is a multimeter that reads MAs. Not sure what more I can say other than this is a great kit you won’t be disappointed in. I’d give it more stars if they were available.
K2JHU Rating: 2022-08-10
Very easy radio to build. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
There are a few items I need to mention up front. When I opened the package upon arival the first thing I saw was how the parts were package. The parts for each build step were grouped into small plastic pouches, one pouch for each step and all pouches are attanced to each other. I have never seen anything so neat in my life. The introduction and build instructions and radio operations are so easy to understand. And you will love this...No Hidden Menus. Every thing is controlled with switched and knobs.

It took me about three days to build the radio. I did have a problem with a couple of solder bridges but once these were fixed all was well. I will say that you will need a small tipped soldering iron. I use a portable battery operated pincel iron but still had a few bridges.

All in all I have a great QRP rig and I owe it all to John, WA3RNC for his design, packing but most of all his support. Thank you John...
WB6ZXM Rating: 2022-07-14
Excellent QRP Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I own various QRP radios and really enjoy this facet of the hobby. But an annoyance with many of these radios is the complicated menu structure necessary to operate even basic features. Add a small size radio and
small buttons and you have a trifecta of frustration. The TR-35 breaks that paradigm in a wonderful way, is easy to use and performs exceptionally well.
I bought the kit version and it was really easy to build. The instructions were straightforward with multiple reminders to read the entire build sequence before starting—always a good idea. Although a seasoned kit builder, I managed a “first time kit event” when loading the PCB into my flippable fixture. I managed to shear off a surface mount capacitor located on the edge. I tried to determine value but wasn’t absolutely sure, so I sent John an email over the 4th of July weekend, describing the issue. Amazingly he replied within a couple hours and asked that I send a JPG of board area. Same remarkable service with a note indicating he would send me a part shortly. The part was a NPO capacitor I likely had in my parts bin, but I waited for his parts (3 sent, 1 required). Parts arrived in a few days. Radio worked upon power up.
This small radio is a joy to use and it’s performance is on par with my “much more expensive” inventory. The broad and narrow filters have been perfectly designed and the receiver is very sensitive. As others have mentioned, output power is over 5 watts at 12 volts. I can’t recommend this radio enough. Buy one. You won’t be disappointed.
K3KY Rating: 2022-05-08
Great Portable QRP CW Radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I built the kit version TR-35. I'd describe the assembly instructions as 'near
perfect'. For experienced builders, the assembly is fast and straightforward.
I wanted an intuitive, non-menu-driven, knob-controlled radio. The TR-35 sure
does deliver. After a quick reading of the operation page, everything is quite
effortless. The radio does everything I would want it to. It's a joy to use.

I have run my TR-35 at home for a couple of months now. Pure fun! I expect it
will be a great portable radio when I do get back into that area. I have to
smile when I recall snagging VK2GR long path in the afternoon on 20 meters with
only 7W/wire antenna. Having four bands in a radio at this price point is very
good indeed- makes it quite a capable QRP radio.

The only immediate improvement that suggested itself was to substitute a small
crank type main tuning knob of slightly larger diameter. This enables faster
QSY- for example, hovering around 7055 and wanting to quickly check the 7100-
7125 segment for activity. A good alternative to button-hold on the main tuning
knob for 1KHz steps. I don't do this often so I'm not too concerned about possibly
over stressing the encoder mechanically.

The LED signal strength indicator is acceptable, though I secretly harbor
visions of a truly tiny meter for that function. (I have never encountered
such a thing over the years) A meter would give a better sense of strength in
terms of *workability*. The receiver is sensitive. I can hear way better
than I can be heard. Between this radio and another QRP radio I currently own,
I have been inspired to design and build a 200W class amplifier to better
serve the DXer instincts in me. (project underway)

I would buy the TR-35 again, and will be recommending it to fellow CW ops.
Performance is impressive. It's a good buy.
WA9PWP Rating: 2022-05-04
Well-designed! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Great receiver, smooth full break-in keying. All four bands (40, 30, 20, 17 meters) will output over 5 watts, even at 12 Volts input. All functions are on the panel, no hidden menus.
Latest firmware update V.0.27 includes two programmable CW keyer memories and reverse OLED display options.
Most of the parts are SMT which are factory installed, with circuits pre-aligned. Toroids are pre-wound.
This radio is also available factory assembled and aligned.
W4GO Rating: 2022-04-22
My new SOTA rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The TR-35 has been my backpack-portable HF transceiver for just under a month, during which time it has been a pleasure to use on four Summits-on-the-Air activations. 

This is a low-cost kit transceiver that somewhat defies that category. The finished product has a sensible, user-friendly interface, excellent performance and robust construction despite the nearly minimal size, weight and power draw. I find the receiver notably good, VFO tuning convenient, and the display easy to read in all conditions but direct sun.

I think the feature set and overall design position this rig favorably on the continuum between a breath-mint-tin transceiver and the all-mode-all-band QRP rigs from Yaesu, Icom and Elecraft. Having real knobs and switches and a full frequency display provides a nice convenience factor over some of the more minimalistic trail rigs, and yet the TR-35 is still something you can hike up a mountain with and barely be aware it's in your backpack. (I protect mine in a small box fitted with foam inserts.)

Not having SSB transmit capability isn't much of a downside in my view, as QRP SSB with a portable antenna is a recipe for frustration. QRP and CW just go hand-in-glove. The power consumption of the TR-35 is slightly higher than two other CW trail rigs, the QCX-Mini and Mtr4b, but still a fraction of the mainstream QRP rigs. 

For my purposes, the range of bands in the TR-35 (40, 30, 20, 17 m) is preferable to those in the Mtr4b (80, 40, 30, 20 m). Buying and carrying three or four of the mono-band QCX-Minis would not be desirable. The mainstream QRP rigs would also cover 15, 12 and 10 m and have a few additional bells and whistles, but that comes at a significant increase in weight, power consumption and price.

The TR-35 is available in completed form or as a kit. I chose the kit. The build process was straightforward and well documented. The components come neatly sorted and packaged by order of installation. No sifting through a heap of parts. The board layout facilitates easy access with the soldering iron.

The instructions assume prior experience with through-hole PCB soldering. I completed the build including the adjustment procedure in about eight hours (I would rate myself very experienced). If you are new to PCB soldering, I would suggest getting a smaller project under your belt first.
KA4RUR Rating: 2022-04-22
Excellent QRP Rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I opt for the factory wired and aligned built. It is a very straight forward radio, no guessing with menu's. IMO if you are starting out in QRP this is the rig for you, Excellent job John 72 de KA4RUR
N9ZI Rating: 2022-04-21
Great QRP Radio! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Very well built QRP + radio, works great on all 4 bands, compact easy to use, has an excellent receiver, good QSK, all knobs on front- no menus - Option kit form or factory wired and aligned, Not least John WA3RNC offers great support and help if needed. You will be happy with this TR-35.