A Useless Appendage

That's what UHF/VHF is in a QRP rig. Useless. It's a marketing gimmick.

"Icom, why didn't you build a tuner into the IC-705?" Icom: "Hey look, it's got UHF & VHF!"

"Yaesu, why didn't you design your new FTX-1F field radio so it gets an IP rating?" Yaesu: "Hey look, it's got UHF & VHF!"

Building UHF & VHF bands into their QRP rig offerings reflects laziness on the part of the product design teams. Why? Because it gives the design teams the excuse to not get other, more important things right. Like an integrated tuner, like an IP rating for water resistance, like better RF shielding, like more power output, like a better form factor.

I don't care a damn about 70 centimeter or 2 meter capabilities in a QRP radio. If I want to talk on those bands at low power I've got HTs that do a much better job. If I want more UHF/VHF 'oomph' I've got a selection of 50 watt mobile rigs that do a better job. And it's not just me. Over the past few weeks I've talked to a number of IC-705 owners, and they all report that, other than using it to occasionally hit local repeaters, they never use the UHF/VHF side of their radios. 

Like I said, it's a gimmick. 

It looks like Yaesu is about to release a radio that, in form and function, is little more than an IC-705 clone. Icom got lazy with the design of the IC-705, and Yaesu is doubling down on laziness by copying the 705's capabilities, and little else. The FTX-1F's packaging may be a bit more clever, but at the end of the day it really won't do anything that the IC-705 already does.

"Let's just throw in the guts of an HT, toss it over to marketing
 and call it a day"

Think of what could have been. A highly refined HF-only portable field communications package that offers real performance under all conditions, and puts out enough wattage to make a difference. Yaesu is aiming at the wrong target with the FTX-1F. They're aiming at the IC-705. Instead they should have been aiming at the Elecraft KX2, and taken the opportunity to define a whole new class of radio.

Yeah I'm pissed. I'm almost 68, and it looks like I'll be dead before either of these two companies get it right.

 W8BYH out

I Don't Care How Good Your Receiver Is

With Yaesu's recent announcement of their new FTX-1F QRP radio, lots of wish-casters are commenting about how this new radio just has to come out with top-of-the-heap receiver ratings. Otherwise the radio is a complete failure. Hmmm... Now, odds are this radio will exhibit excellent receiver performance; Yaesu long ago figured out how to make great communications receivers. But if that's what you are focusing on, you are focusing on the wrong thing.

Most of the major radio manufacturers - Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood, Elecraft, Flex, and others - know how to make radios with great receivers. Right now Yaesu, Flex, Icom and Elecraft are duking it out for top position on the Sherwood Engineering receiver ratings, and Yaesu has a surprising number of rigs in the top six slots. I think it's safe to say that the FTX-1F will have a pretty good receiver.

What Yaesu (and Icom) don't seem to understand are the requirements for a low power field radio - a rugged, battery powered radio that is easy to pack and carry long distances and is highly integrated - built-in sound card interface, wireless connectivity, tuner, modern power management - and provides transmit output beyond the conventionally defined QRP levels. But as far as receiver performance, that's not the most important thing. For a radio that's marketed as a low power field radio, receiver performance is less important than form factor, user interface, non-RF features, ruggedness and TX  output. Here's a few examples:

• Yaesu's own FT-817 was never a top-notch receiver. In fact, among it's peers when it was first introduced in 2004, it was just middle-of-the-pack. But the radio became a phenomenon mainly because Yaesu nailed the non-RF features and form factor right out of the gate. Users were fine with merely OK receiver performance because the rest of the little rig was outstanding. It didn't just 'fit the QRP mission', it defined the mission, and it stayed in production for almost 20 years. It was that good
• Elecraft's KX2 took the FT-817 example up a bunch of notches - improved receiver performance, an easy to view front panel, excellent internal battery performance, and an internal tuner that is truly world-class. The KX2 is still the only all-mode HF radio you can slip into the cargo pocket of your trousers and take to the field and effectively communicate for hours at a time. You can even use it as an HF walke-talkie. The KX2's receiver performance isn't first class, according to Sherwood (though it' is still very good), but Elecraft understood the QRP field radio requirements and nailed the features and form factor right out of the gate. That's why, eight years after its introduction, there's still a waiting list for newly manufactured units
• Icom IC-705 is a high quality radio that packs a bewildering variety of features and capabilities into a small package, and it ranks higher on the Sherwood receiver test results than the KX2. Yet the IC-705's design reflects a lot of compromises that make it a less capable field radio than the KX2. Why? Because Elecraft paid more attention to the QRP field radio requirements than Icom did. All Icom wanted to do was get a QRP radio, any QRP radio, to market. They squished down the IC-7300 and tossed in a bit of ID-51. Although they did a great job of integrating all the technology, the resulting form factor is a chunky and awkward box that doesn't sit well at any useful angle, lacks an internal tuner, only offers one antenna connection (no separate HF / VHF & UHF connectors) and the stock battery performance is a bit anemic. This means the IC-705 field footprint will grow - an external battery, an external tuner, a transverter so you can run HF and VHF/UHF without antenna switching, and some sort of stand to hold the radio at a useful angle. When you lay it all out on the picnic table at your POTA location and ponder the footprint, you end up asking yourself why you didn't just bring your IC-7300. Again, Icom didn't understand or ignored the QRP field radio requirements when designing the 705

It's looking like Yaesu is following Icom's lead. The FTX-1F will be a mash-up of Yaesu's successful FT-710 HF rig, and their FT-5DR UHF/VHF handheld. Lots of technology in a small box. Yaesu seems to have addressed a few of the IC-705's shortcomings - dual HF & VHF/UHF antenna connectors, a snap-on tuner, a large capacity snap-on battery pack (the two of which, unfortunately, can't be used together). The fully functional footprint of the FTX-1F may well be smaller than the IC-705's. Good thing. But based on what we know right now, it's still just a run-of-the-mill QRP rig that's not optimized for field use. I may be wrong. I hope I'm wrong, but right now it looks like the FTX-1F will be little more than a warmed-over IC-705.

As a ham radio operator with money to spend, I've grown real tired of this QRP thing. QRP radios as Icom and Yaesu envision them are so dull, so unoriginal, and so unnecessary. Designing and building just another QRP rig reflects complacency and laziness on the manufacturer's part. Yaesu's had three years to study the IC-705 and its market performance. They could have focused tightly on the  QRP field radio requirements and included features that make the FTX-1 more compelling than the IC-705. Things like 20 watt TX capability with an integrated battery pack, an IPX and MILSTD rating, an integrated tuner, improved form factor and user ergonomics. That would have set them apart in the market space, taken  market share from Icom, and assured the long term success of the FTX-1. 

Instead, when the new Yaesu hits the market the only real discriminator will be the digital mode. If you are a C4FM guy or gal, you'll buy the Yaesu. If you are a DSTAR guy or gal, you'll buy the Icom. That's about it.

From a philosophical standpoint it's just a swing... and a miss

W8BYH out

What's A QRP Radio?

Note: I'm writing this as a lead-up to another blog post I'm working on, but it's important that I first lay out my argument that the 'accepted convention' regarding QRP power levels has allowed radio manufacturers to be lazy, and put out sub-par products. 

QRP = low power. I think every ham understands that. It's generally accepted that QRP means 5 watts max output on CW, or 10 watts PEP on SSB, but these are just generally accepted conventions, not hard and fast rules. However, for decades ham radio manufacturers have used this 5 - 10 watt convention to their market advantage. If they are designing a QRP radio they only have to worry about 10 watts, and that's on external batteries. Most only put out 5 watts on internal batteries. This 'accepted convention' has allowed radio manufacturers to get lazy. Why build a small field radio that puts out more than 10 watts? If you go over that number you are not really QRP, are you? 

Bullshit.

This QRP mindset has left us with is a huge ham radio capabilities gap. We have HF rigs that put out 10 watts, and then nothing until we get to the 100 watt output level. Nothing between 10 & 100. There are a few outliers, like the Xeigu G90 with its 20 watt output, but it sits almost alone in the market.

And yet, modern design technologies, manufacturing techniques, improved battery chemistries and battery and thermal management systems can easily deliver a small, high performance HF radio capable of sustained operation at 20 watts of output. It's not that hard. Radio manufacturers like Harris, Barrett and Codan have done it for decades. I guarantee you that when it comes to radio design, Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood are the equal of those three. The only difference is that Harris, Barrett and Codan's biggest customer bases - large government and military organizations - demand 20 watts of output on battery power. 

It's time ham radio puts the message across to manufacturers that we want more transmit power options. Stop half-stepping it with measly 5 & 10 watt rigs. Show some inventiveness and a bit of corporate courage, and deliver well designed and integrated field radios that put out 20 watts.

It's time for us to define what we think QRP means. To me it means 20 watts PEP on SSB.

W8BYH out