I recently bought a Venus SW-3B three band CW rig. It’s very good - you can see reviews on eham and a useful video review from G3CWI.
The radio it replaced was a Small Wonder Labs SW40 which I built into a pelicase with integral ATU and battery pack. The Venus, although very small, needs to be connected to a key, headphones, a battery pack and an antenna. The tangle of leads on a summit is like a pair of mating octopuses.
So I bought a ‘tactical’ pouch cheaply from ebay and came up with this - it’s kind of a cross between the ‘flight deck’ and a case.
It has a handy velcro strip on the front which can be used to attach the triband EFHW
Due to the Covid lockdown I’ve not had much chance to try it outwith the garden, but it certainly speeds up the process of getting on air. Also if it rains you can fold the cover down to protect the radio and still operate. Total cost of pouch and perspex about a tenner.
i use a fanny pack strapped to my ALICE backpack frame.
Sorry GM0WEZ, i didn’t mean to go off topic and hijack your story. i just had a few questions about the radio under the pack… Paul w0rw
The radio is a UK/PRC319, 5/50W radio with Antenna Tuner right under the black bag.
It covers 1.5 to 40 MHz. 10 Channels, no VFO tuning. All solid state, micro processor controlled. It also runs PSK, RTTY, Winlink using an external Modem. You can see more at info PRC319@groups.io | Home . The fanny packs store the whip antenna loading coil, headphones and key. The handset clips on the left side. The special left side module contains a cw keyer, audio amp, speaker, squelch and clock. The battery contains 14 - 26650 LiIon cells giving 28V at 6AH. The pack weight is about 27 pounds. That is enough to keep the whip vertical. The 319 was made by MEL in Crawley, UK, 1988.
Paul w0rw
Never used one of them, but I did carry and use a PRC 320 when I was in University Officer Training Corps (similar to ROTC in the US) back in the 1980s.
Hi Jon. The Venus is a very nice radio. Very solidly built. Took it camping in the Cairngorms just before the lockdown. 3 x 18650s last a loooong time. The CW filters are good. It has extended receive and 2kHz filters so receives SSB and it is suprisingly useable for broadcast station listening.
Compared to the MTR it is a wee bit heavier. Knobs instead of buttons are nicer to use in my view, but it does make it slightly bulkier and vulnerable.
i love the 319… i have worked 210 DXCC countries with it on a 10 foot whip.
Excellent for a Pedestrian Mobile operations. See CQ Magazine,
Sept. 2018. Paul w0rw
