Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Hendricks PFR-3 Transceiver (40/30/20m)

Category: QRP Radios (5 watts or less)

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Hendricks PFR-3 Transceiver (40/30/20m)
Reviews: 34MSRP: 200
Description:
A threeband transceiver with integral manual antenna tuner
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.qrpkits.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00344.6
KF8Z Rating: 2008-07-04
I've enjoyed it so far Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
First off, let me say that I am probably not a good judge of the 'CW Op' specific functions of this radio, since my CW is about 7wpm and I only use the paddles to trigger dits/dahs. I don't utilize the alternating iambic stuff (yet). I really am just trying to get out of 5wpm world. I bought the kit because I really enjoy building kits and I wanted something portable to take on vacations that would force me to use CW to increase my speed. I probably should have picked it up, though. It would be one less wire and separate item to have. I'm sure I was one of the first to start building the kit. I encountered a few errors right away. I sent them e-mail as I came across them and the web site was updated by the next day with the corrections on the PFR page. Where I found problems in the documentation I was able to reference the schematics for clarification. I was missing a resistor and a capacitor, but I was able to find them in my parts box. There were a few other corrections added to the site and before I was finished a new version of the manual was posted that included these changes, as well as a diagram or two that were referenced by not included in the original.

As far as the operation goes, it does take a little getting used to. The tuning isn't the same as spinning the dial with a 2.3Kz filter active. 300Hz filter and 500Hz tuning increment makes it easy to zoom past a weak signal pretty easy. Also, you can't always tune it to hear 700Hz audio with 500Hz steps, which is what I've been used to from the training CD.

I haven't used the BLT yet. I've been either connecting to an external tuner or to antennas that are tuned for the band in use. I've been using an external tuner so far because I don't have a way of connecting my antennas to the BNC, other than using a jumper connected through the tuner.

As a side note, we pressed the PFR-3 into Field Day service for some solar power bonus points when we discovered the solar charged battery was dead and there was no way it was even going to power a full sized rig's receiver. We made 9 contacts with it in about an hour.
KE5HGQ Rating: 2008-06-30
Fun kit to build! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased my PFR-3 at the Dallas Hamcom on the Saturday of the show. It was a pleasure to meet Doug out there and get some questions answered about a previous kit that I had purchased from him. He is extremely helpful and totally stands behind his products.

Anyway, back to the review at hand. I awoke on Sunday morning after the convention at about 9:00am and started assembling the kit. By 6:30pm I had a completed and boxed assembly, waiting to get on the air. The manual has a few errors in it, as it is still fairly new, but the addendums on the website are already in the Rev B instructions that are posted at qrpkits.com. I only found one other error, and that had to do with adjusting the torroids if power was either slightly higher or lower than 5 watts. After finishing the build I have found posts by the designer, Steve Weber, posted on the QRP-L list that the Hi-Z/Low-Z torroid on the tuner needs further adjustment in order to tune a 44 foot doublet on all three bands. I will be making this modification soon, along with the volume modification (for increased headphone output) which was recently posted on the PFR-3 Yahoo group.

Steve Weber and Doug Hendricks have really done a great job at getting this kit to the market, and I think it will be a really good seller for them. I am anxiously awating the mods that are sure to come from the community as a whole.

The only reason I gave it a 4 and not a 5 is due to the errors in the manual, and that is about it.
W2BPI Rating: 2008-06-18
Great lil rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Rcvr is sensitive and sharp. Xmtr gives 5 watts output with 12 volt gell cell. Great to have tuner built in. one less item to take camping. I rate the rig at 5 but the manual at 4. There are still some errors in the manual not covered by the errata on the website. My keyer was sluggish so was hard to program memory. After programing the memory, it would sometimes send small error. I contacted Steve weber (the rigs designer) and he is going to re-program my keyer chip. I assume all later models will have the newer version chip. Buy this rig and have fun!!
WB8YYY Rating: 2008-06-16
Nice Value Portable Rig Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Contrary to my nature, I ordered this rig soon after it was available. The receiver is similar to many previous QRP rigs (4 ICs and a xtal filter). The transmitter is multiple transistors in parallel to get 5 watts and appropriate matching networks. The heart of the rig is a DDS and microcontroller. And to boot it contains a manual antenna tuner.

Receiver - meets expectations - nice sound. no reason to doubt its sensitivity. expect the usual compromise in strong signal performance to keep battery current low. crystal filter rejection appears to be adequate for this class of rig.

Transmitter - i am getting at least 5 watts on 40 and 30, and 4.2 watts on 20m. the latter could likely be tweaked further, but it is close enough for me to stop.

VFO: with only the suggested audio procedure to align transmit and receive, it appears to be on frequency and reasonably aligned.

Use: while is has no tuning knob the up and down pushbuttons are indeed useful to set the frequency. yes it works ok when tuning up and down the band to look for signals. RIT and changing keyer speed work well and are easy to adjust. sending from memory is easy, but in recording the rig takes a longer character space than normal.

Bottom Line: for an occasional portable operator or someone wanting a simple but useful QRP rig - this may be an ideal choice. someone who operates a lot outdoors may prefer something further optimized in its user interface.