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Reviews For: Index Laboratories QRP Plus Transceiver

Category: QRP Radios (5 watts or less)

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Review Summary For : Index Laboratories QRP Plus Transceiver
Reviews: 23MSRP: 595.00
Description:
All band CW/SSB QRP HF Transceiver
Product is not in production
More Info: http://home.frognet.net/~mcfadden/wd8rif/qrpplus.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00234.1
SM5USK Rating: 2000-01-30
I like this radio Time Owned: unknown months.
This radio has very good RX and a lot of features. EL-bugg, memories, all bands, SSB and CW, full break on CW, RF-compressor on the SSB, RIT,SPLIT,RF attenuator, easy to use and SCAF filter to adjust CW bandwith from 0.1 to 2.4 kHz. I like this radio very much. It has one weakness on CW and it is the AGC pumping if a nearby strong signal and narrow SCAF filter. One modification is to install a RF-gain pot but I have not done it. Mine QRP ++ is one of the latest production units (S/N 1601) an works perfectly. I can recommend this unit to everyone, I mean the QRP ++.
WA5WHN Rating: 2000-01-16
QRP Plus Time Owned: unknown months.
2 really common problems with this xcvr is that the front end mixer could easily be blown out & the AGC popping, after strong signals is annoying, unless you preform the various mods. All of the modification notes are in the QRP-L archives. This xcvr is no longer built. You can find them on the used market. The K2 from Elecraft is in full production {kit} and to date, very few complaints about the xcvr except for some really nit picking items, again the reviews are on the www.elecraft.com web page & in the QRP-L archives. If I had a choice between a K2 & a QRP Plus, I would obviously take the K2. The QRP Plus is vintage '95, the K2 is '98. The QRP Plus xcvr was never a kit, the K2 is. Read the QRP-L Archives, the data on both qrp xcvrs are there.
FORMER_WA_4RX_ROB Rating: 2000-01-16
Get one if you can! Time Owned: unknown months.
I've recently had the pleasure of operating one of these QRP radios and was quite impressed. The design, first off, is very sturdy and "boxy." I was amazed on how lightweight the radio is, yet it still had the luxury of LCD display, memories, all band capability, attenuator and RIT, and CW/SSB functions.
Power consumption seems minimal and receiver is fairly good for such a small package.
I can definetely see toting one of these in perhaps a laptop case with a small power supply or battery and wire antenna.
The manual that comes with it is concise and to the point--not some 100 page user guide that only intimidates the new user-- learning time? About 15 minutes. Just plug and play..
Although the two row of buttons have multiple functions per step the radio is very intuitive and user friendly.
Maybe it's not true grit, bare minimum QRP operation--actually I think it's considered the "cadillac of QRP radios" by many hams out there-- but it is portable and has great potential on outdoor excursions or vacations.
The price tag for a new unit is almost close to some of the low end HF radios but on the used market a deal probably can be sought out.

Would I recommend one? From what I've seen, yes.
I would be interested, though, in some of the hard core QRP operators' thoughts.

And, no, it's not a kit--some of the kit builders will be turned off by this for sure.

Does it beat an Elecraft K2? I really can't say..Is it worth the price? Maybe others can shed some light on the subject.

But, as QRP radios go, I like it!