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I finally picked up a Hughes PRC-104 military manpack radio in excellent working condition with a bunch of extras. I have searched for a military unit for a long time now. Having been with the Naval Reserves and 736th Communication Squadron in Thunder Bay, and being a communicator in both, along with my passion for old gear and portable operations I could not pass this one up.

I have searched for a long time for a rig like this. There are many in the UK being sold but the exchange rate and shipping, plus all the extras needed to buy to get portable just made it not worth it for me. As you have read in past posts portable operation for me are a pleasure. With all my travels up North I find I am always taking my YouKits HB1B MKII with me now and setting up at my locations.

The PRC-104 came with battery pack and charger for the LiPo batteries, loud speaker, speaker/microphone combination, handset, PRC-271 antenna and full Alice Pack with frame and belts. It also came with extra mounting hardware for the pack frame if you wish to take the pack off. I ordered an empty battery case ($16.00) and will make a second 28v pack for the radio. I have also ordered a spare U-229 pigtail connector which will work for my cw/digital connector.

This radio goes back to 1976 and runs about 20 watts on a fresh new battery pack. The receiver is quite good as I was hearing things on the whip antenna outside that I could hear inside on the windom in terrible band conditions this past weekend. I was able to check into our local 80 meter Northwestern Ontario ARES Net on 3.750 Sunday night with my NVIS antenna and got a great audio report and was told I was over the noise level as well. The tuner in this radio seems to tune quite well and is very quick.

I have collected numerous amounts of military gear in the past and old shortwave gear, but portable rigs for me are still what I enjoy, I like being outside in operating conditions versus sitting in the shack. I am awaiting the arrival of the X108 and the TJ5A as well to test these units out for portability. I do not think they come close to the  HB1B MKII for a self contained unit. The battery pack in that rig last a very long time when I am up North on my trips and makes contacts quite well on the cw bands. CW is my niche, and the mode I enjoy operating, so once I get the cable I will operate the PRC-104 on cw and hopefully shoot a small video of it in action.

Cheers

Fred

VE3FAL/P

I was up in Kasabonika, Ontario last week June 25th and 26th. I was up there doing Chainsaw training in this remote fly-in only Native Reserve. Kasabonika is located about 575kms North of Thunder Bay, Ontario. I took along my HB1B MKII with built in battery, my Elecraft T1 tuner, Chameleon Hy-Brid Micro coil and my PRC-271 whip along with a 15′ counterpoise and jaw mount to attach Hy-Brid coil to.
I called CQ for what seemed a long time while battling black flies and mosquitoes. A tune down the band on 20 meters showed W1AW loud in this community that is very much quiet in the way of line noise and other man made QRN. I tuned up just a bit to hear Peter OX3XR calling CQ with no takers, here is the information on that QSO.
Time: 2314z
Date:06-25-2014
Freq: 14052.5
Pwr:4 watts
Rig:HB1B MKII
Key:Micro switch
Antenna: Chameleon Hy-Brid Micro and PRC271 whip and 15’counterpoise with jaw mount
Location: Kasabonika, Ontario
Station worked: OX3XR
Name: Peter
His report:559
My report:539

Needless to say the contact made my day all the way around. Thanks Peter for the great contact.

Fred VE3FAL

Took a drive down to Superior WI yesterday May 3rd to take part in the A.R.A.C.  Swapfest in Superior Wisconsin. Got up at 5 am, picked up Wayne VA3WRL and Clarence VE3WCW and we proceeded for our 3.5 hour tour down the lake-shore. Stopped in Two Harbors for breakfast before heading into Duluth MN and then over the bridge to Superior. Had rain/drizzle from Thunder Bay to Two Harbors but was sunny after that. Arrived at the fairgrounds on Tower Ave. and went into the building to see what was on the tables for grabs. Lots of vintage radio gear, computer parts, hand helds, coax and almost anything that folks have been collecting in their garages that they wanted to get rid was there. There were having hourly draws as well for prizes. Had a chance to talk with lots of the folks that I have not seen in a while and the Thunder bay group had a good showing at the swapfest as well.

73 Fred VE3FAL

Thunder Bay, Ontario

Just days before Easter in Thunder Bay, Ontario and suffering from severe cabin fever I decided to take the radio outside and see if I could set up and make a contact. I took the VX1210 outside to the picnic table, put one 33’ chunk of wire about 10’ up in a spruce tree, put the other 33’ piece along the ground underneath for a counterpoise and went to 17 meters…As I tuned across I heard all kinds of stations with a huge pileup located above 18.075… I tuned down just a bit to hear OK2AN Vasek in Kunstat Czech. Calling CQ with no takers…so I fired up the straight key with cold hands, sent my call and he came right back to me…He gave me a 569 and he was an easy 599.. Told him I was running 5 watts out and he acknowledged that on the next go round. We talked about 10 minutes and then he continued on. So in all the time it took me to set up I was able to make a QSO with Czech. With no problems at all with the VX1210 at 5 watts…what a blast

Fred Lesnick
Thunder Bay, Ontario

I took the morning on Saturday April 5th to take part in the RaDAR Contest. RaDAR is Rapid Deployment Amateur Radio which of course endorses and promotes activities on the go and quick set up of active amateur stations.

The contest was a 4 hour time block and had various categories. I chose to do the portable QRP option taking my radio and antennas and snowshoes to get to where I wanted to be. The time frame for this RaDAR Contest was from 1400-1800z, so I left the house it was -12c. Grabbed my gear and put my snowshoes on and hiked to my spot to attempt to make my first 5 qsos before I would have to pack up, walk another km and then set up again and make 5 more contacts before doing it again. Well as the Propagation Gods would have it the bands were not great and there were a few other QSO Parties and contests on as well with Europe and Polish Stations quite loud on 15 and 10 meters. I was running a VX-1210 at 5 watts with a Chameleon Whip antenna. Exchange was call, Name Report and Grid Locator with other operators to gain points.

I worked Phil N1EP in Maine on 15 meters with a great report both ways, I then called CQ a number of times while listening to the Blue Jays and Whiskey Jacks singing while the heat of the sun slowly got warmer and warmer, remember I started at 10am local time..a slight breeze was about but the sun was great, as it has been a long winter. I then moved to 10 meters and heard a station calling CQ, it was Alex UR0EV from Ukraine, he heard me at 5 watts and we exchanged reports, Alex was a 579 and he gave me a 559, great report for a 10’ mil whip and 5 watts. That was all I was able to work as the snow was getting soft now by noon and I had to snowshoe back and the snow was sticking to the bottom quite well making them heavy. If you went off the trail the snow is still waist high and not easy to get out of..

The following pictures show the trail I was on, my setup of the VX-1210 and Chameleon mil whip all sitting on my snowshoes. All I know is it has been a long winter and we are not out of it yet, cabin fever is setting in big time for everyone up this way and spring cant arrive soon enough, let alone summer..I too needed to get out and operate portable again to keep things moving.

Just before the weather got cooler and the snow fell I was able to take my manpack setup outside in the backyard and do some pedestrian mobile communications, this was the week of Nov 11-16 2013. 10 and 12 meters were in great shape and 10 meter FM simplex was even better.

My manpack consists of a frame I bought on eBay from China, it is attached to my Alice Pack. In the frame I have a FT-857, LDG AT-100 PROII tuner, PBox LiPO batteries(x2) ran in parallel. My antenna for HF is a Chameleon Hy-Brid Mini with a V1L whip or a PRC-271 10’ whip. Power out was typically 10 watts for all contacts. I worked into TX and CA on 29.600 FM Simplex with a 60 over report. I worked Northern Ireland and South Africa as well.

This is a picture of my setup:

It works quite well and I use a comet antenna for 2/440 on it as well. It has a jack on the front for a morse code key and I have connections on the back for the computer for soundcard digital modes.

A video of the setup in operation can be seen here on YouTube:

I am waiting for a CHA CAP Hat so I can tune on 80 and 160. I use a counterpoise as well of 25’ with a quick connect/disconnect in case someone trips on it or when I am walking I get it snagged. The pack is continually taking on new changes. I have a strip of LED lights I want to use for night operations to lessen current draw and want to put a fold down tray on the pack for my logbook as well.

Hope to work you this winter from the cross country ski trails pedestrian mobile.

First Impressions:

Very well packed with bubble wrap for shipping. Included is information about X1M from Xiegu Technology but it is in Chinese so does little for the North American Operator. When I took the unit out of the box I was once again  amazed at the size and ruggedness of the build. The green display is easy to read as is all the silk screening on the front and rear covers. The audio from the unit is also very clean and loud for a small unit. The unit is very light for an all band and all mode unit. Preamp works well and unit is very quiet on receive. Menu navigation is easy.

New Version Comments-Read last review for comparison:

1. Coax connection is still an SO-239 connector. Change over to BNC would be an asset.
2. Polarity is now marked and unit comes with barrel connector included.
3. CW delay works wonderful on this unit now with no issues
4. Adjustable cw pitch is an added bonus
5. CW mode will not work if microphone is plugged into the front of the radio
6. Marked KEYER on the back which is nice to see
7. No Power Out or S meter indication on display
8. No adjustable filtering for SSB or CW use.
9. Adjustable cw side tone volume would be nice feature, too loud with headphones on
10. Headphone jack should be on front of unit –BUT NOT  A BIG DEAL
11. Display is clear and bright, not too small and still easy to read
12. CW tone is clear
13. Audio is clear from unit
14. Size of radio makes it very compact for portable use
15. Data jack on back of unit nice feature for digital modes
16. Silk screening is very pleasant to read
17. Case and unit is well built
18. All controls on unit feel good
19. 99 memories
20. General coverage receiver

RIT Button:  When pressed for 2 seconds this will bring you too the SYSTEM MENU display-from here you have 2 options- YES or NO. By pressing the button directly underneath either option will make the choice. If YES is pushed this is what you may see: * indicates default setting when radio received.

1. RCLK Ratio  x6*  x1
2. DDS Clock  032768131*
3. LSB BFO  08988750*
4. USB BFO  09000850*
5. CW BFO  09001380*
6. IF OFFSET  +08999830*
7. KEY MODE  MANUL*  AUTO
8. KEY SPEED  A-KEY-SPEED 060* (adjustable)
9. CW DELAY  1000* (adjustable from 0000-5000)

NOTE: Obviously all radios will have different default settings. Owners should be advised to write these down for future reference.

New items in menu are:

10. CW TONE  800*
11. MUTE  NO*
12. RST SETTING NO*

To make any changes to the menu values push main tuning knob in and if value can be changed you will see 2 arrows on either side of the setting, it then can be changed. Once changed quickly press main tuning button again to exit menu.

When all settings are adjusted-momentarily press and release RED BL/LOCK button- It will then ask if you want to SAVE CHANGES? YES or NO

Press the black button directly under the option you wish to choose. You will then be directed back to the VFO/MEMO setting when all is saved.

Conclusion:

After having given this small radio a good going over into various antennas and testing I have to say that it does what a 5 watt QRP rig should do. It has proven itself on cw for me as I an avid cw operator. Only draw backs on cw are that there is no adjustable cw sidetone volume or any form of cw filtering for the unit. Keeping in mind all the horsepower under the hood I would not expect there to be a whole lot of room left for such a filter. But when tested against other rigs and put on frequency counters this unit is bang on frequency from the factory. I operated the radio on all bands in cw and traces of me calling cq and the frequency were bang on according to The Reverse Beacon Network.

Audio from the internal speaker is great sounding, for a tiny speaker the unit has lots of output. Volume control is also good with full control from minimal output to full output with no gaps or problems in between; some smaller radios are either too low or too high in volume because of the lack of audio control.

A good power source is required if using a wall wart as the audio will get distorted if the power draws too much when turned up and listening.

Here are the current specifications of the radio in receive and transmit: Note volume turned down to low level for these tests, so some very slight increase in current will be there when volume is turned up.

• Receive with backlight off: 413 ma
• Receive with backlight on: 492 ma
• Transmit with backlight off: 1.15 A
• Transmit with backlight on: 1.23 A

These measurements were taken using a dummy load on transmit for a 1:1 swr and the radio showed almost a full 5 watts at 13.6 volts from the power supply.

The radio case is very rugged looking and nicely assembled, the radio does get warm when sitting after being turned on but does not affect the operation of the radio. The green display is nice to look at, a bit small but still able to navigate through it no problem. The buttons on the front appear to be a better quality than the first model that was tested and very easy to push and gain control of the radio with.

The backlight default is ON so if you turn the unit off with the backlight OFF it will come back on when radio is again turned on.

The microphone is small as well. Comments on SSB are that the microphone is very hot or sensitive and the radio can be overdriven if talking too loud or too close to the microphone. I did tests on 40 meters using the dummy load and another radio out in the backyard and was told that the audio was best when the microphone was held at chest level and talking into it. Keep in mind that this is 5 watts on SSB so not a whole lot of RF being sent out like on cw. Both USB and LSB work well on receive and even when shortwave listening it sounds great when tuning an AM station once you get used to it.

The memories are nice if you wish to program your favorite calling frequency or shortwave station. You cannot however use the memories and then tune the vfo from them; you have to go to VFO mode if you want to change frequency as the memories are locked as just that. 2 VFO’s for split operation also make the unit like the big boy toys. The RIT works too but you have to turn the knob slowly, if you tune too quick the RIT will jump some pretty big increments either to the plus or negative side.  This does not appear to be an issue when doing normal tuning on the ham bands in VFO mode.

The Band Pass Filters (BPF) on the traditional ham bands really click into play when you tune into the band, you can hear the noise dissipate almost instantly. Because this radio does have full open transmit one would have to ensure that when using it on the WARC bands or out of band for other purposes that there are no spurious emissions being sent out or harmonics that might cause problems.

CAT control is not possible at this time with HRD as the cables used here for my testing would not allow communication to the radio. Using this radio with HRD would be really cool as it would make this portable unit that much more fun to control from the computer screen. This would make frequency and memory changing a snap.

If used with a small amplifier this little radio would be a powerhouse in the field for portable operations and still allow conservation of power for field use. A small snap on or strap on battery pack the same size as this radio would also make it a winner in the field.

Overall this radio is a big improvement from the first unit I tested and with some small changes I think this radio is going to give the ham market a run for its money. Filtering and adjustable sidetone volume are a few of the things that should be looked at in future revisions, the BNC connector will be an added nice change as well to this radio. As long as QC (Quality Control) and returns and repairs are dealt with in a efficient manner this will keep North American buyers happy as they seem to be the toughest market to please considering many countries still have strict radio regulations and many and much of their ham gear in other parts of the world is still built by the ham.

I give the radio a 4-4.5 rating at this time out of 5 because of the tests that it has gone through. More testing on SSB is required but band conditions have not been good to say the least. Great job all around with this radio and I look forward to the X1M MKII and testing that if it comes out in assembled version.

I might add that many of the builds that come from Asia are difficult for the North American builder because of instructions and language barriers. The other issue is lag time when exchanging parts for many of these builds and not having a supply in North America. Just my .2 cents worth on that one.

(Editor’s Note: A new version of the X1M is going to be available soon from Ed at Import Communications.)