Strong Signals
First Impressiosn

Trident TRX-100XLT
TRX-100XLT image

by
Rich Wells, N2MCA


Javiation

After the bad taste left in my mouth by AOR's latest micro-receiver, I was a more than a little wary of any small receiver aiming to cash in on the popularity established by the iCOM and Welz models. Add to this my general uneasiness of the Trident brand name and you don't have the makings of what many might consider necessary for the beginnings of a match made in heaven.

But as usual, I put all of that aside, as I always try to, and agreed to let this latest small handheld speak its own virtues. I put this receiver through its paces and stacked it up against the best the competition has to offer and was pleased to discover a radio which shines as much as its uncommon silver casing. That's not to say it doesn't have its downfalls, like any radio, but let's just say it helped restore my confidence for the quality of goods being offered by today's manufacturers to my fellow hobbyists.

What follows are my personal impressions regarding the features and performance of this receiver. This, in no way, should be viewed as an endorsement to purchase this radio nor is it intended to discourage anyone from buying it. I have no personal or business relations with Trident, Alinco nor Nissei. These are simply thoughts offered to my fellow hobbyists who may be interested in purchasing this particular radio or learning more about it.

A lot of hard work and effort has gone into the testing and writing of this review. I would appreciate it if every effort is made to keep this document whole with me as the original author. Of course, it doesn't hurt that this document is copyrighted and therefore protected by US law and international treaties governing intellectual property. Except for personal use, and for the sake of brief passages quoted in reviews and given appropriate credit, no part of this work may be reproduced in any forms or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without prior written permission of the author.

Thank you and enjoy!

Rich Wells
N2MCA
Strong Signals web site

This document contains the following sections:
  • What You Get
  • Model Tested
  • Basic Specs
  • Owner's Manual
  • Construction and Physical
  • Pictures
  • Antenna
  • Features
  • VFO
  • Memory
  • Scanning
  • Searching
  • Bandscope
  • Priority
  • VHF/UHF Performance
  • HF Performance
  • Ranking
  • Things I Like
  • Things I Would Change
  • Summary
  • Recommendation
  • Thanks!
    • What You Get
  • TRX-100XLT
  • 3 AA Hitachi NiCd batteries (600 mAh)
  • AC adapter
  • DC adapter (car)
  • 6" Duck Antenna
  • Hand Strap
  • Earphone
  • Operating Manual
    • Model Tested
  • Serial # : 5101xx
  • Made in Japan
    • Basic Specs
    Channels 1000
    Scan Banks 10
    Search Bands 10
    Coverage 0.500 - 2200 MHz
    Scan 50 chan/sec
    Search 50 step/sec
    Steps 1/2/3/5/6.25/9/10/12.5/20/25/30/50 kHz
    100/200/250/500 kHz
    Modes AM, FM & WFM
    Sensitivity As specified in the manual :
    0.5 - 2 MHz
    AM: 2.5 µV; 10 dB S/N
    FM: 1.5 µV; 12 dB SINAD
    2 - 1500 MHz
    AM: 1.5 µV; 10 dB S/N
    FM: 1.0 µV; 12 dB SINAD
    WFM: 2.0 µV; 20 dB S/N
    1500 - 2000 MHz
    FM: 2.5 µV; 12 dB SINAD
    Conversion Triple
    IFs 1=? 2=? 3=?
    Priority 1 channel
    Search skip 50 frequencies
    Auto-Store No
    S-meter Yes
    Delay Global; 1-20 seconds
    Lockout Per channel
    Attenuator Yes; 10dB
    Lock Yes
    Tone codes No
    Computer intf Yes
    Rotary control Yes
    Channel count No
    Data skip No
    Clock No
    Timers APO
    Weather No
    Weather Alert No
    Light Display + Keypad
    Power 3.6-4.5 volts (internal), 9-14 volts
    (external) 300 mA
    Audio 95 mW @ 8 ohms, 10% THD
    Size 2.4(W) x 4.6(H) x 1.1(D) inches
    62(W) x 116(H) x 29(D) mm
    Weight 160g/6oz w/o batteries & antenna
    Memory non-volatile
    Owner's Manual
  • Definitely not a stunning achievement
  • Grammar and spelling mistakes abound
  • Manual is also improperly formatted in many places
  • In the middle of a paragraph sentence, there will be a carriage return and a blank line, then the text continues
  • In many places the word that begins a new sentence overlaps the last word from the previous sentence by 3 to 4 letters. Makes for some interesting reading
  • In all the key pad diagrams, the CLR key appears as LCR
  • The Specifications are decent but they refer to 'Scan memory 10 channels' and 'Easy mode 16 channels' to which I have no idea of what they are truly referring to
  • There is no section of the manual which explains what the ESY key does
  • Worse yet, there are key operating details which are left out which I discovered on my own and will expound upon in the sections that follow
  • All of this aside, it does a decent job of conveying the operation of this radio which is its primary goal
  • But the lack of proofreading and improper formatting errors speak of a poor level of professionalism
    • Construction and Physical
  • Silver! Something different and I appreciate the departure from the typical and repetitive black/gray (for trivia purposes, note that the past year has seen some interesting changes; the Sony ICF-SC1PC is silver, the Racing Electronics RE2000Alpha and RCA RP-6198 are red, and the AR8200 is green)
  • While one is tempted to think the case is aluminum due to the color, it is the usual plastic which is a light gray covered in a very thin aluminum color coating
  • It does fit nicely in the hand and is just a bit smaller than the similar-sized R10
  • The unit does feel solid and appears that it will hold up well
  • With the addition of the three AA cells, it is nicely weighted but still quite light
  • The large LCD dominates the top of the front panel, just beneath the Trident TRX-100XLT label
  • The key pad follows next which consists of a staggered set of keys
  • The main mode and power keys are lined up diagonally and highlighted by enlarged depressions in the face plate
  • Text on the keys and for second function is lettered in black except for the ENT and PWR keys which are orange and much harder to read
  • Unlike most US marketed radios, the second function text for all keys appears below, rather than above, the respective key. While I would normally piss and moan about this, the fact that the keys are laid out in a staggered arrangement makes it easy to match the text label to its key
  • The pressure required to press the keys is quite a bit more than I would like but they do have good feedback
  • The speaker grill resides in the lower right hand corner and consists of a series of circles which decrease in diameter as you get closer to the edge
  • Interestingly, only three of the holes go straight through the front panel and to the speaker. The rest are covered with plastic plugs with only the slightest semi-circular gap which allow sound to come through
  • The top panel houses the usual antenna BNC connector, earphone jack and volume/squelch controls
  • The earphone jack doubles for a computer interface and inter-radio cloning
  • The volume control is a large plastic ring located at the base of the rotary control. There are no markings on it so it's impossible to note its setting via visual inspection
  • The rotary control is perhaps the "cheesiest" part of this radio since I think it both looks and feels cheap
  • This control is basically a rounded cone with five fins sticking out of it. It gets the job done but I can think of many other rotary controls which are more up for the task
  • In the upper right hand corner is a metal anchor for attaching the supplied hand strap
  • Looking at the top panel, you'll note a dark gray rubber strip which runs along the top and continues down both sides. It is quite "grippy" thus helping to keep it firmly in hand
  • On the left hand panel, this grip also covers the FUNCTION and SQUELCH/MONITOR buttons. Neither has very good feedback which isn't helped by the weird design of the rubber coating (see pictures below)
  • Also noticed on this panel is the very small (1.3mm) DC 12 volt jack
  • Moving on to the back panel, we immediately notice the LACK OF A BELT CLIP OR AN ANCHOR FOR ONE!
  • Like the WS1000/WS2000, there are two bulges near the top to make allowances for the extra room needed by the rotary control and BNC antenna interface
  • There's also the usual ID sticker indicating the manufacturer, model number, serial number and where made. This version also includes the frequency range, battery/DC requirements, and polarity of the DC jack terminals
  • Looking inside the battery compartment reveals not only a micro switch for the hardware reset function but also an undocumented four-wire block connector
    • Pictures
  • Radio
  • Radio & Antenna
  • Right panel
  • Top panel
  • LCD
  • Bandscope in action
  • WS2000, TRX-100XLT & IC-R10
    • Antenna
  • The included antenna is very reminiscent of the models supplied by GRE on the scanners they make for Radio Shack; it's a typical 6" duck with 5 inscribed rings near the base
  • I took it and a GRE-made A0337 and compared them on 25 frequencies between 42 and 938 MHz on my MVT-9000
  • The results were basically identical except for the 850 and above where the A0337 brought in cleaner signals
  • With these results in hand, it allows us to rate the stock antenna knowing how well the A0337 compares to most others
  • The A0337 is an overall average performer; it performs quite well on 800/900 MHz, poorly on VHF-lo and commercial aero and is mediocre everywhere else
  • This means that the TRX stock antenna is an average performer as well and on 800/900 MHz as well
  • As always, to get the best performance out of a radio, you'll need to buy a better antenna(s). A good place to start your research is on my Antenna page where you can find details on both handheld and base models
    • Features
  • The LCD is a nice size considering the radio's small stature
  • It has decent contrast which might be impacted slightly by the darkened plastic cover
  • It can be read from a range of viewing angles but overall, the allowable viewing angles aren't as wide as most models in use these days
  • The frequency digits are on the large side making them easy to read
  • The main frequency digits are displayed to 1 kHz resolution while separate indicators are used to show '.25', '.5', and '.75' kHz resolution when using 6.25 and 12.5 kHz steps
  • Most indicators are quite large as well except for those used for the receive mode, key pad lock and channel lockout which are microscopic
  • What makes the receive mode even harder to read is the method used to display AM. This radio uses a technique similar to the Welz radios which use the F from FM, and with the help of a small nearby vertical bar, tries to convey an A being drawn. This pseudo-A is used to indicate both AM and Auto receive modes
  • Another annoyance is that the the numbers 1 and 2 are not used to display Gigahertz values (which you hopefully won't see that often anyway). Instead a '/' is used for 1 and to this, small horizontal bars are added to turn this into a 2. Lame...
  • Other LCD indicators include the memory channel/search band number, manual/scan/search mode, priority, attenuator, delay, and Function
  • The S-meter is quite large and its 9 stair-step segments double as a very handy battery meter! When used as an S-meter, a small block S also appears on the indicator like most other radios
  • Typical usage on a variety of signals shows that my unit has an S-meter which seems well calibrated, neither under nor over reading
  • When the LMP key is pressed, both the display and key pad are lit up brilliantly for 5 seconds. There is no mention of a way to lock it on
  • The squelch controls works in the 'digital domain' meaning that it has discrete levels to which it can be set. On the TRX, this is a value between 0 and 16. A value of 0 locks it open while 16 sets it at its highest tolerance
  • Unfortunately, there is no auto setting
  • One problem I did find bothers me. On VHF I am able to use a setting of 1 and it works just dandy for all signals. However, once you go over to UHF, it has a tendency to open for a signal and then not want to close! So for UHF, I have to use a value of 2. If you scan a mixture of both, you'll have put up with a lose of sensitivity on VHF signals since you'll need to keep it at 2
  • An interesting change to the squelch monitor function is that pressing this control locks the squelch open. On most radios, the squelch is only opened while pressing the control. For the TRX, it acts as a toggle. For testing purposes I appreciated this ability. I'm not sure how I'd feel about it for everyday usage (since this control has a "clunky" feel and you have to press it twice to open and then close it)
  • A handy feature is the use of a power button instead of combining this on/off feature with the volume control
  • Another nice touch is that the TRX does have power-on resume meaning that it resumes whatever it is you were doing when you powered it off regardless of whether you were using the VFO, scanning or searching
  • Most key presses are accompanied by the usual beep sound which which does not vary with the volume control setting but it can be easily disabled
  • There is also a key pad lock function but unfortunately, it also disables the power and lamp keys which I find highly annoying
  • Audio power is decent considering the radio size but AM and WFM signals need abnormally high volume settings to be heard
  • Audio fidelity is OK; a bit more muffled than I would like and probably owing to the largely restricted speaker grill
  • The squelch tail on FM signals is rather annoying and reminiscent of the despised PRO-51 tail
  • Included is a 10dB attenuator which is global in nature and can be used in any mode
  • There is an automatic power-off (APO) function which can be set to turn the radio off if there is no key pressed between 10 and 120 minutes in 10 minute increments
  • The TRX also comes with a voice inverter/descrambler which has 82 selectable inversion levels allowing the optimum inversion point to be selected. Unfortunately, there's no LCD indicator to let you know when it is activated!
  • If power is connected via the DC jack, it is used to recharge the supplied NiCd cells. Just be sure to not use such DC power if you equip your TRX with alkalines!
  • Using the earphone and optional cable & interface, the contents of one TRX can be cloned to another
  • The manual lists 95 mA of current drain while the radio is on but not receiving a signal. This agrees with the measurements I took
  • Also listed is a figure of 135 mA with the volume set to use 50 mW of power which, from my measurements, appears to be the highest, usable volume setting (about 70% of max). Normal volume settings result in roughly a 115 mA drain while receiving a signal
  • No battery saver is mentioned in the manual nor could any be detected in my power drain measurements
  • Battery usage seems decent seeing as how I have done the entire testing and evaluation (roughly 7-8 hours) and the battery indicator is still pegged. So life is really good or the battery indicator is really dorked...
  • The last items we'll cover are the set of reset functions
  • The first reset is used to reset the TRX to all of its factory default settings. The manual does not mention what happens to the contents of memory if this reset is used
  • The second reset resets all settings to factory defaults but the contents of memory are not effected
  • The third reset resets all settings to factory defaults and erases all memory data
  • I'm not sure what the exact difference is between the first and third (since the manual is of no help) but since the first uses the reset button in the battery compartment while the third method uses only key pad actions, the first action is probably reserved for those times when the radio's CPU gets really "whacked out"; like the radio doing funky things or perhaps locking up
    • VFO
  • The TRX has one VFO which can be used to tune the radio anywhere within its receive range using the rotary control or up/down arrow keys
  • Unfortunately, the rotary control has no accelerated slewing capability when it is rotated quickly
  • There is an automatic receive mode which will select the receive mode based on the frequency which is entered. This mode can be overridden allowing you to manually select either AM, FM or WFM receive modes
  • The step size can also be set manually amongst a list of values between 1 and 500 kHz. The actual sizes available depend on the current receive mode
  • The inclusion of 2 and 3 kHz step sizes is interesting as is the lack of 15 kHz
  • And it's nice having direct access to the mode and step settings through dedicated keys which do not require an extra key press to access them (usually in the form of the FUNCTION key)
  • The VFO does allow offset tuning in that an entered frequency which is not an integral of the current step size is not rounded like most receivers prefer to do these days
  • If a UHF frequency is entered which starts with a digit of 3 - 9, the decimal place is automatically entered for you after the third digit is keyed in. A bit frustrating since it comes by nature to press the '.' key and in this case, doing so accomplishes nothing since it is ignored
  • As found on most models, a press of the FUNCTION key will allow the tuned frequency to be changed by 1 MHz intervals when the rotary control or arrow keys are then used
  • As mentioned earlier, while in VFO mode the attenuator and voice inverter functions are available for use
    • Memory
  • Consists of 10 banks of 100 channels each. Not a preferred arrangement by any means
  • The banks are labeled from 0 to 9 while channel numbers range from x00 to x99 within each bank
  • Once a frequency is tuned in VFO mode, it is a simple process to write it to memory using FUNCTION + M.WRI which then prompts for the 3 digit memory channel number into which it shall be stored
  • The hassle here is that while being prompted for the memory channel to be entered, there is no way to scroll around through memory to verify channel contents to make sure data is not accidentally overwritten (which is typically available in some form on most similar models)
  • Also, after the write is done, there is no auto-increment operation on the specified memory channel to allow writing to successive channels
  • Once memory is programmed, you can go into memory mode to view this data by pressing the SCN (scan) key
  • Use of the rotary control or arrow keys allows the contents of memory to be scrolled and thereby examined
  • The limitation here is that as you scroll, you remain within a single bank, or a set of banks which have been linked for scanning
  • Typically, you'll be within one of the banks which you have previously scanned. When you go into memory mode, you'll be within this bank and can only scroll to see its contents as well as any other banks which it is linked with (for multiple bank scanning)
  • To view the contents of another bank, simply press the key of that bank and you'll be taken to it (this is not mentioned in the manual). Empty banks can not be viewed nor can empty channels
  • While viewing a channel, it is possible to lock it out of the scanning sequence by pressing FUNCTION + PASS which results in the display of a microscopic 'L' indicator in the lower left corner of the LCD
  • There is also a function which copies the contents of a memory channel into the VFO
    • Scanning
  • Once in memory mode, another press of the SCN key starts the scanning process
  • The scan will start with the bank which is being viewed and will remain within that bank or continue on to any banks which have been linked with this one
  • To select which banks are linked, FUNCTION + CH.LINK is pressed which brings up the link display. The numbers which are displayed indicate the linked banks. Pressing a number key toggles that bank on and off
  • To scan another bank not associated with current scanning sequence, simply press its respective number key
  • If the scan stops on an undesired channel frequency, it can be locked out by pressing FUNCTION + PASS and the scan continues
  • Scanning progresses in a channel number numerically increasing order. This can be reversed by using the rotary control or arrow keys, thus reversing the current scan direction
  • The global delay function is used to add a pause after each transmission to await a response before scanning resumes. This delay can be set to 1 - 10 seconds while setting it to 0 causes the first received signal to stop the scanning process
  • The manual specifies a scanning rate of 30/sec. My measurement of a typical four bank setup of everyday frequencies puts it closer to 15/sec
  • There is a 'turbo' function which supposedly speeds up this rate to 50/sec. My measurements put it at 30/sec when engaged
  • I think the biggest issue which slows the scanning process is that at the last frequency in every bank, there is a brief pause as I believe the radio is checking all the other channels to see if there are any others which have frequencies in them. With 100 channel banks, there are typically going to be a LOT of empty channels for the radio to check thus slowing the radio considerably
  • Want to know another handy drawback? Each time the radio is turned off, the turbo feature is disabled! Not only is that a pain, but it's possible for the radio to display the wrong setting when you go to access it
  • Consider this: I turned the radio on. It scans/searches at the slow rate so I hit FUNCTION + TURBO to turn on the turbo feature which is confirmed by the 'On Turbo' message when I do so. The rate is now much quicker. Turn off the radio and turn it back on. It is again slow. Press FUNCTION + TURBO to enable turbo mode and the display shows 'Off Turbo'! But the radio is now operating at the faster speed! Oops...
  • So in short, don't rely on the LCD indication to tell you the turbo status. Learn to recognize its status by examining how quickly the digits on the LCD are changing, or simply realize that each time you turn on the radio, turbo has to be enabled if you want it
  • While scanning, the global attenuator and voice inversion functions can be enabled if desired
  • Keep in mind that there is always a minimum delay of 1 second after the reception of each signal
    • Searching
  • The TRX comes with a handy 10 search bands which store the lower and upper frequency limits as well as the receive mode and step size
  • Pressing the SRC key starts the search on the last accessed band
  • Press the respective number key to access other bands
  • Search bands can be linked just like scan banks but this is not explicitly stated in the manual
  • A search can be stopped by pressing SRC allowing the rotary control or arrow keys to manually slew through the frequency range
  • Up to 50 frequencies can be locked out and there is a mode to view this set of locked out frequencies where they can be viewed and unlocked if desired
  • While in VFO mode, a VFO search can be conducted which simply starts at the current frequency and uses the current receive mode and step size to search with
  • During any search, the direction of the search can be changed using the rotary control or arrow keys accordingly
  • Performing a typical search, I came up with a speed measurement of roughly 30/sec. Turning on turbo, I then measured roughly 60/sec!
  • The global delay, attenuator and voice inverter functions are accessible in this mode as well
  • While the manual makes no mention of it, there is an "Easy" mode which is accessed via the ESY key. Pressing starts a search of one of 15 preprogrammed bands. As far as I can tell, there is no way to alter the programmed frequencies, modes nor step sizes. While searching, the direction can not be changed. To go to other bands, the up and down arrows are used. There is also a P setting right after #15 which seems to contain a single frequency. Common sense would dictate that this is some form of priority frequency which is verified by pressing FUNCTION + PRI when in this mode. It appears the attenuator, delay and voice inverter functions are usable but not the bandscope
    • Bandscope
  • The TRX does come with a bandscope function!
  • This allows the current frequency as well as 4 frequencies above and below it to be monitored and their activity to be graphically displayed on the LCD (see the Pictures section for a shot of the LCD in action)
  • Not only can this function be used while in VFO or search modes, it is also available while in memory and scanning modes where it scans +/- 4 memory channels either side of the current one!
  • The sampling interval can be set to 1 - 10 seconds which is prompted for each time it is enabled
  • The manual explains how to turn off this feature in the section which covers priority operation (which I didn't notice right off and had to discover for myself)
  • Once enabled, there is no LCD indicator to let you know that it is on (which can be deceiving if there is no activity on any of the frequencies being sampled and therefore no data being displayed on the LCD)
    • Priority
  • The TRX allows one specified frequency to be set as the priority frequency
  • The sampling rate can be set to 1 - 20 seconds
  • When priority has been enabled, the kHz/Hz decimal point is displayed to indicate such
    • VHF/UHF Performance
  • Birdie test revealed 79 such frequencies. VHF-lo was empty and VHF-hi was nearly vacant. VHF aero was empty. UHF aero was relatively empty. A significant amount were found on UHF TV which shouldn't bother most of us. About 20% were above 900 MHz
  • Next test was at home using the stock antenna. I searched the entire 25 - 1300 MHz range looking for signs of images and intermod interference. Overall results were great!
  • Just a handful of TV and FM images and just a few cell image which were above 1 GHz
  • Next, I replaced the stock antenna with a 19" telescoping whip to see how it could handle stronger received signals. The number of trouble frequencies increased by roughly five times demonstrating that the TRX has above average strong signal handling abilities. Most of its problems are caused by wide FM TV and broadcast FM signals
  • After some quick testing and considering this radio's cost, size and features, I decided it would be best to benchmark it against iCOM's IC-R10
  • I tested both back-to-back on roughly 30 frequencies consisting of AM, FM and WFM signals between 43 and 940 MHz
  • Overall, the TRX took second place with the R10 landing first by an easy margin
  • The TRX was only superior in the mil aero band. It was vastly inferior on VHF aero and tied in the 460s.
  • While the R10 is no stellar performer when it comes to sensitivity, it is noted for overall good reception and most markedly, its ability to suppress strong signal overload. This leads me to believe that the TRX is about average in sensitivity on VHF/UHF
    • HF Performance
  • In then tested both the TRX and R10 on about 10 HF frequencies using a number of antennas, including a 20 foot wire
  • Overall, the TRX appears almost as sensitive as the R10 but it is nowhere close when it comes to overload protection
  • While the R10 did have a touch of overload with the 20 foot wire, the TRX was wall-to-wall images and intermod across the entire SW range. For this radio, only expect to do the most casual of HF monitoring and don't plan on using more than a 2 foot antenna
  • On medium wave, the TRX was again loaded with images but worse, it appears to have quite poor sensitivity in this region
    • Ranking
    Category Score Out of
    Sensitivity 10 25
    Selectivity 5 15
    Interference rejection 10 20
    Coverage 90 90
    Channels 15 15
    Channels per bank 0 15
    Ease of use 20 20
    Scan/Search speed 5 10
    Receive modes 5 15
    Step sizes 20 25
    Conversion 10 10
    Audio 5 20
    Antenna 5 20
    Construction 10 20
    Size 10 15
    Search 30 35
    Attenuator 15 20
    Auto-store 0 20
    Search frequency lockout 10 15
    Backlight 25 30
    Alpha-tagging 0 20
    VFO 10 10
    Squelch tail 0 10
    Priority 5 20
    Delay 10 15
    Hold 10 10
    Rotary Control 10 10
    S-meter 10 10
    Power-on resume 10 10
    Computer Interface 20 20
    Tone Decode 0 15
    Battery indicator 10 10
    Channel count 0 5
    Tape record control 0 5
    Clock 0 5
    Timers 5 5
    Weather programmed 0 5
    Weather alert 0 5
    Data skip 0 5
    Bank delete 0 5
    Bank sort 0 5
    Total 400 670
    Total 60 100

    Here's the ranking criteria

    Things I Like
  • LCD size
  • Battery meter
  • Search speed
  • 10 linkable search bands
  • Good VHF/UHF interference rejection
  • AA power
  • Wide frequency coverage
  • Great backlight
  • Power-on resume
  • Ease of use
  • Squelch monitor toggle function
  • Adjustable delay with hold
  • Dedicated primary mode and step keys
    • Things I Would Change
  • Increase sensitivity; notably VHF aero
  • 20 banks would be better
  • FM squelch tail
  • Better audio fidelity
  • Leave Power and Lamp keys active when locked
  • Needs belt clip
  • UHF squelch hysteresis
  • Add bandscope and voice inversion LCD indicators
  • Beef up HF filtering
  • Add battery saver
  • Add stripe on volume control
  • Dust cover for earphone/computer/clone jack
  • Keep track of the Turbo setting
  • Better manual
    • Summary
  • In summary, the TRX is a wide coverage, full featured receiver which is easy to use
  • It offers decent reception and above average interference rejection when you compare it to other wide range receivers on today's market
  • Good build quality, large, well spaced keys, nice LCD and great backlight add up to an attractive package which makes using it even more of a pleasure
  • Lots of channels and search bands mean plenty of info can be kept at hand even though the 100 channel banks are unwieldy
  • Use of AA cells allows alkaline or any number of rechargeable battery types to be used and it's possible to charge NiCd cells inside the radio if proper care is taken
  • There are also several features which allow you to configure settings to your liking
  • On the downside, AM sensitivity for medium wave and VHF aircraft is sadly lacking
  • Another shortcoming would be the lack of a belt clip which can be remedied in part by using an after market stick-on type
  • Audio power and fidelity, while not terrible, could both be tweaked for increased enjoyment
  • HF reception is decent, just don't go whole hog on large antennas
  • One of the largest drawbacks, and the easiest to fix, would be the inclusion of a real operating manual to do this radio justice
    • Recommendation
  • Considering the TRX's size, capabilities and pricing, its most natural competition would be the Alinco DJ-X10, AOR AR16B, iCOM IC-R2 & IC-R10 and Welz WS2000 (Standard AX400B & Commtel COM510)
  • The X10 offers wide-range capability with lots of memory channels at an attractive price. It also has alpha-tags, computer interface, and great build quality and audio. But it scans dog slow, has poor selectivity, substandard image rejection and extremely high current drain
  • The AR16B is largely a no-win scenario in my book. It has good sensitivity and minimal internal RFI, but it is unusable and poorly designed for the most part
  • The R2 is probably one of the best values for the money these days. Wide receive, top notch sensitivity, decent interference rejection, extremely small size, great audio quality and power, tone decode and good battery life. Its drawbacks include no 1 kHz step, pain-in-the-arse search function, limited scanning options, no key pad (which seems to bother some but not yours truly), and HF deafness
  • The R10 is quite similar to the TRX in terms of dynamic range (on VHF/UHF but not HF) with the R10 being more sensitive. The R10 also has SSB and CW receive and the smaller step sizes necessary to use them properly. There's also computer control, and alpha-tags. Unfortunately, it's dog slow, a bit larger and has limited bank scanning
  • The WS2000 (AX400B/COM510) is very small and seems to run forever on 2 AAs. It does have a good memory arrangement of channels and banks and like the TRX, manages to pack a lot of functionality into a small package. But the WS2000 has no computer interface and is quite deaf on HF
  • So if you REALLY want to have acceptable HF, the only real choice is to spend the extra money on the R10. The next choice would be the TRX followed by the X10, and lastly the R2
  • In its day, the WS2000 (AX400B/COM510) was quite popular but I think its reign is largely over since the introduction of the R2
  • For those looking for a micro-receiver with great sensitivity on VHF/UHF, the R2 is very popular these days. Audio is great as is battery life but scan and search options are limited. This is partially offset by its PL tone capabilities
  • Considering the TRX, it does a number of tasks quite well and this is where it excels. It doesn't do any one thing great but it is quite capable in several areas
  • It is a decent receiver considering its entire range. HF filtering could be improved but with the proper antenna and perhaps a pre-selector, the user can find the right balance. Similarly, the proper antenna will bring out its best on VHF/UHF
  • Add in good LCD quality, great backlight, battery meter, S-meter, voice inverter, flexible AA power, power-on resume, several adjustable settings and you see where I'm heading
  • And let's not forget ease of use (operating manual issues aside). This radio does quite a lot but will be easy for even a beginner to pick up and start using right off. That's something to be said considering the complexity of its competitors
  • At a minimum, I'd like to see the number of banks doubled, the squelch issues resolved and the TRX supplied with a worthy belt clip and operating manual
  • Until then, this radio is surely bound to please those who will appreciate a solid radio which does a lot, is easy to take along yet remains uncomplicated enough for even a beginner to enjoy while packing in the features that the advanced users look for these days
    • Thanks!
    Before you leave, I would like to thank Jonathan Clough at Javiation for not only letting me know when he had first details of this new radio but for getting one shipped to me quite quickly once he had them in stock!

    It is due to his dedication (and my ability to evaluate and type fast) that you have in your hands the information you most likely need to make an informed purchase decision so soon after this radio's introduction!

    If you are interested in purchasing one of these radios or simply want more information, please stop by the Javiation web site or write Jonathan at info@javiation.co.uk.

    April 19, 1999
    Copyright © 2010 by Richard J. Wells Return to Home Page