The QCX should work on 2 bands. Never tried it. Some have tested it. But you need to switch the bands and to reconfigure it…
73s
Ingo
At least you have more time to write the wishlist for Santa 
Well, in my case, like rather than love
.
I’ve had HF CW QRP monobanders since the early 90’s [they were a lot bigger then]. More recently they don’t seem to have an operational advantage over tri- or quad-banders so when I started SOTA I got the Youkits H1-1B [Mark 2?] as a small lightweight alternative to my bulky FT817 [now 20 years old].
It was fine but like any minimalist rig, having very few controls it was fiddly to do certain things [like change the character speed]. I liked its continuously-adjustable narrow filter. It got decent but not great reports with its 3-4W RF. It gathered dust after I got a KX2 2½ years ago and so recently sold it.
As others have posted. Venus SW3B!
I have a MTR4BV2 as well. I have only been using these micro-QRP rigs since July so I am very novice so take that into consideration! The two transceivers are very similar in performance with the only very slight difference being better filtering in the MTR.
Here it is on Grassy Bald Tenn/NC 6,181’ ASL last weekend.
Erik
KE8OKM
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Good question…I’ve owned 1, 2 and 3. I’m a big fan of Hans but the Youkits HB-1B is the only rig I would buy, mostly due to 4 band coverage an AGC circuit and good, variable filtering which the QCX rigs lack. And I’ve built two QCX rigs and wasn’t impressed with receiver performance…sri Hans.
A few years ago I bought the Elecraft KX3 with all the options except 2meters. If all I wanted to do is SOTA and POTA I wouldn’t buy the KX3, way expensive, but great transceiver. I’ve actually considered selling KX3 and buying another HB-1B, but it doesn’t have an auto tuner which, after 55 years of hamming, is a requirement.
GL/73
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Hi Eddy,
interesting to hear your comparison. Regarding the HB-1B - How much lower is the sensitivity on 30m?
What is your experience?
Thanks
Ingo
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Hi Ingo…it was several years ago I owned the HB-1B and I don’t recall using the rig on 30 meters, mostly 40 and 20 meters. My only complaint about the YouKits rig was the VFO was slow when I tried to spin the dial, but it would eventually “catch” up
GL/73
1 Like
Thanks Eddy…
I think you should discuss with your wallet. The Youkits is 300$ and the LNR 350$, and thinking in performance all these little ones are practically the same. If you want 4 bands you have two much more cheap options SW3-B (188$)+QCX kit(55$) or 4 QCX kit(220$). I know, it sounds ridiculous! But with the money you save you can buy other necessary stuff for your portable station.
7 Likes
Thanks for all the context around these rigs. I’ve put the SW-3B in the list of possible radios. So, in the pic that @SP9MA shared, there’s an attached tuner. Are there advantages on these smaller radios to running a tuner, or does a resonate antenna work just as well?
Yes.
We’ve been here at few times before. I don’t like the term resonant antenna (it’s misleading). Some [on this website] have said their antennas are resonant across the band because they claim 1:2 VSWR. If you’re running QRP, you can’t afford to throw away that much of your precious RF power.
I tune my dipoles [and linked dipoles] for the small range of frequencies I tend to operate in [CW sub-band]. The 30m band is narrow enough to achieve a good VSWR at both ends of the band. But if you like to operate CW and SSB on 80m, 40m, 20m 10m, etc better use an ATU. Hence the advantage of those CW QRP rigs that have a built-in ATU.
73 Andy
3 Likes
See LNR have a production run of the MTR4b v2, could take a few weeks for delivery though.
73
Graeme
2 Likes
I have the hb1b, mtr3 lcd . I really enjoy the hb1b i keep expecting something on it to fail but in 5 yrs its still going strong. i like the volume control and swr indication, receive is good. the mtr is a lot of fun but rec volume is sometimes lacking and i dont really like the up down buttons for tuning but i still use is a lot and its a fun rig.
kc5bg mike
This is my favourite rig but unfortunately not available as a kit. It’s been on all my activations this year. If it does break at least I’ll be able to fix it.
11 Likes
I’ve only tried the LNR Precision MTRs (I have the 3 band and the 4 band) and I absolutely love both. Can’t go wrong!
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I’ve got all the radios in your initial post. They’re all fun. My MTR-3b is an early version without the lcd. It’s a pain to know where I am on the band so the lcd version takes care of my main complaint about it. The youkits is easier to use so more pleasurable in my opinion. I also like it’s internal battery making set up faster and cleaner. It’s just a bit big so it doesn’t travel with me as often as the MTR does. The qcx is for 80 meters because my other two don’t have it and I wanted regional comms. If I were to start from scratch, I’d probably get the MTR4 and have it all in one.
3 Likes
hi,
Have a look here, I build the DB4020 and EGV+ both working superb.
There are some of my writings about them on QRPer.com
Tienda - Página web de ea3gcy (qrphamradiokits.com)
73
Frank
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I am using HB-1B for SOTA activation for many years. It is good design, but it uses poor quality components. I already replaced few components and I need to replace few more.
1 Like