PRC-148 Radio, First Impressions and Initial Setup, and Follow on Setup on Chest Rig

[Sparky5019]

Affirmative on the 10 watts PEP.

Yes, a valid Technician Class Operator license would be required to use these legally.

Frequencies are manually entered via the knob at the top, and 256 channels can be stored to memory if I recall correctly.

Thanks! Now...

Is there ANY programming software and cable that will work? I know enough to be dangerous but it would be much easier and my recent experience with Chicom radios showed me that while unit may good, the programming options are complete shit.

[-HOOT-]

You can set the radio to High (10W) Middle (5W) and Low (1W) power modes.

As far as I'm aware there's no programming cable yet, but its easy enough to program through the front panel, just takes some patience. You can program 128 channels on the A band and another 128 channels on the B band, so 256 total as Outlander mentioned.

The 6 pin Land and 10 pin Maritime models are identical aside from the plug, meaning they're both rated only to IP67 so there's not going to be much difference in waterproof performance. It just comes down to whether you need to run 10pin commo gear or not.

[Sparky5019]

I'm running a Silynx Clarus PTT with ear molds and in ear mic so the cable has to made by Silynx. I have a U94 PTT that takes the Nexxus plug for my ComTac IIIs and it's 10-pin so that might be a better choice. I've been trying to post pics of my setup but it keeps saying the linked Photobucket file is too large. I'll get some on here at some point. Thanks.

[Sparky5019]

Here are my setups. All LBT-6094A carriers. They have integrated radio pockets in the sides which really like. The down side for me is the radio pocket is setup for a tall MBITR type radio and I have to put a spacer in it for the smaller radio. Not so with the TRI radio so I'm intrigued.

Thales antennas
Atlantic signal antenna cables w/ 90 degree TNC connectors.
Silynx Clarus PTT




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[-HOOT-]

Do you have the cable that runs from the Silynx Clarus PTT to the radio?

[Sparky5019]

Do you have the cable that runs from the Silynx Clarus PTT to the radio?

Not yet. I'm checking with Silynx to see if they can do a 10-pin connector since I already have a Nexxus U94 PTT with a 10-pin that can work with my ComTac IIIs. I have a Sylinx cable for the RDV5100 but not the TRI/PRC-148.

The 13" Thales 90-512mHz antennas are only rated to 8w max according to Thales. Is anyone seeing issues running the TRI on full power?


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[-HOOT-]

That's what I was going to suggest, make sure that you can purchase a 10 pin cable from them first.

[Sparky5019]

That's what I was going to suggest, make sure that you can purchase a 10 pin cable from them first.

Yeah. They do a 6-pin already so I'm good there if they don't do the 10. Thanks for being sure I'm wired tight. I appreciate that.


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[-HOOT-]

Right, you'd save a lot of money going for that regardless since you can pick up a 6 pin Nexus U94 PTT for less than $50 on eBay and resell your 10 pin for around $200.

I don't know if running the Thales antenna over 8W will damage it but you can always set the radio at 5W to avoid any problems.

[Sparky5019]

Right, you'd save a lot of money going for that regardless since you can pick up a 6 pin Nexus U94 PTT for less than $50 on eBay and resell your 10 pin for around $200.

I don't know if running the Thales antenna over 8W will damage it but you can always set the radio at 5W to avoid any problems.

That's what I was thinking too but conversely those Thales antennas go for like $50 new on eBay so I'd be willing to try it if I needed to the power.


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