TBR-119 SDR radio

[JohnyMac]

I was chatting with NC Scout on Saturday. He had just picked up a new radio, the TBR-119 SDR transceiver.

He will be posting a review over at American Partisan shortly. Hopefully, before Christmas. Wink, Wink.

Here is a YT video review mostly speaking to the external components no real technical review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjKRdca36k

Thoughts?

[mattmcd]

I watched all of Bob's TBR 119 YouTube videos. At first he was happy with purchase then he seemed pissed towards the end. He believes the radio advertising is somewhat misleading. Apparently many of the features he thought were standard on the $2,200/20 watt radio were available at additional cost. He also found out that APRS does not work in the U.S. When he contacted the manufacturer they pointed him to the seller. The seller unsuccessfully tried to send him back to manufacturer. Thereafter all he got from the seller was an attitude problem. Apparently the only thing you get for free with this radio is seller bad attitude. I'll just stick with Yaesu FT857d Manpack.


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[JohnyMac]

Thank you Brother.   

[Jackalope]

Seems like a lot of money for a Chinese SDR radio. I did break down and order a Xiegu G90 waiting on the delivery should be here in another day or so.  It'll be interesting to compare it to CTX-10.

[mattmcd]

B.C. did make reference to the Q900 transceiver which is made for amateur radio use. It has similar features made by the same manufacturer for less than half the price.

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[JohnyMac]

Nice Mattmcd. Thanks for the suggestion.

What I really like with the TBR-119 is that all connections are on the front. This allows the radio to remain in a backpack standing up with antenna, mic, etc. pointing up. With that written, why spend an extra $1.4K for that feature/benefit.

I am looking forward to Scout's review over at American Partisan.

Concerning customer service...I sent the manufacture several questions concerning the radio this past Sunday. To date, there has been no reply.

All good stuff. 

[mattmcd]

If you don't mind a QRP rig look at the Yaesu FT-818.
https://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=102&encProdID=36B7B98621AF7554C9A03C8B190C5079

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[Sir John Honeybucket]

At $2,000+, CODAN and other 'paramil' transceivers have long use in Ausralia in the outback HF clubs.  $2K is alot to spend for a no name, Chinesium radio with poor or nomexistant support.

- SJH

[JohnyMac]

Thx Matt, I have a 817 and am very happy with it BUT the 5w of max power. 

In January, I will probably pick up a G90. I have five friends that have one and love 'em. I used one for a weekend and was very impressed. 

[Todd]

I like the TBR-119, but I would never buy one. The significant extra cost for the encryption module and the fact that you cannot squirt your own crypto fill is a deal breaker for me. It also means the radio is configured for Over The Air updates which is bad juju for something made in communist china. When the shooting war starts, could the manufacturer just flip the kill switch on orders from their communist party masters? The risk of this happening with something like a Baofeng or Xiegu is minimal since these are air-gapped (unless you connect wifi or bluetooth on a Xiegu), but  I don't know enough about how the TBR-119 functions to trust it. I do like the fact that it's self-contained and ruggedized for hard field use like any .mil radio, but that's not enough to tip the balance for me. 

What we need is a series of aftermarket manpack style enclosures for existing radios which will ruggedize them for use in the field. I have seen on grabcad or one of the other sites like thingiverse, 3D-printable models for the Rhodesian A76 Radio and for the PRC-119. Something like that made from high-impact plastic, with gasketed seals and a hinged faceplate cover, fitted with an internal Armoloq enclosure for rigidity and an antenna relocation bracket might be a good option.

I have a Xiegu G90 being shipped to me as I speak, so I might see if I can come up with a workable prototype - maybe not 3-d printed, although folks are now 3d printing vehicle and firearm parts out of various 3D printing filaments, so something simple like a radio enclosure may definitely be doable.

Cheers.

 EDIT:

Here's a link to that Rhodesian manpack radio model on Thingiverse - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4190043

[JohnyMac]

Yeah Todd, I know a half a dozen folks that own the G90. I played with Patriotman's one weekend and loved it. So, it is on the "to buy list" for later this year. He was blown away with the performance even though I had just thrown a EF-Quad antenna thrown in a tree about 30' up and angled south at about 60-degrees.

He QSO'd with folks as far west as AZ, all along the east coast from FL to Canada and I think he was chatting with someone in the EU.

I agree with you that as long as you do not do a firmware update, the radio is pretty secure. I wish someone a lot smarter than me would be able to "debug" any firmware updates in the future.

As a side note, the G90 I played with was totally open. I do not know if that is the norm or just one that slipped by.
 
 

[Jackalope]

  My G90 generates a TX ERROR message when I attempt to transmit outside the ham bands.  I haven't looked into opening it up, too many higher priority projects right now, including an airplane in my garage that requires a repair on one of its wings.

   The receiver on the G90 is pretty decent.  My only complaint, thus far with the radio, is that I need to put on my glasses to operate it; the buttons and display are too small for my aging eyes.

    I'll be setting it up as station in a box.  I'm waiting on some antenna components, and a lithium battery pack.  An okay radio for a camping trip, but I still prefer the CTX-10.

    3D printing an enclosure wouldn't be too difficult, there are a number of SDR transceivers out there with custom 3D enclosures.  I've been printing up a number of radio accessories, mostly from Thingiverse.  We have an active 3D printing club in town and it's amazing what can be done with these machines.

    Hey, we still need a radio emoji!   

[Sir John Honeybucket]

I also have a G90 and like it very much.  As perviously stated, the only real dislike is the rear panel connectors for vital thing like antenna, key and etc.  However, it's made for ham radio operators and they usually put their equipment on a desk or picnic table, not into the radio pouch of their rucksack.  As Todd mentioned, a 3D printed anclosure for operating in wet/wild environs and to contain the battery would be a real plus.  Entrepaneurs with 3D printers - take heed and make money !

[Todd]

Gents, thanks for the feedback on the G90.

When it arrives I'll create a new thread for it and leave this one to TBR-119 discussions.

[JohnyMac]

Thx Todd.