SyntorX Revival

This product really does exactly what it says it will do.

It was shipped internationally very swiftly and arrived packed well and complete in every way. On-line ordering and PayPal payment option was easy indeed.

The power connector panel was a little tight to fit, athough it probably would have forced into the opening it did benifit to a little light filing to the right hand edge to ease fitment. All holes aligned perfectly.

The power disribution PCB that interfaces with the original SyntorX power cables seemed as if it needed an insulating barrier between it and the chassis. It would have probably been OK but I cut a little plastic card to sit beneath the assembly for peace of mind. Again it fitted pefectly in the existing mounting holes.

The PIEXX control PCB fitted well and just required a washer on top of the chassis mounting post to level the PCB to the Syntor RF board. Again this probably is not necessary but makes the whole job a lot neater and possibly takes a little angular strain off the contact pins.

The software set up instantly ran without issue on Windows XP SP2 , again it was easy to use, set up and navigate through without any reference to instructions. The Tone scan for RX CTCSS codes is very clever indeed and really makes a useful radio, very useful indeed !

There is only one software bug I have found in the short time I have operated the radio using the PC interface. This seems to be the omission of 77 Hz from the CTCSS tone list, strangely it seems to detect 77 Hz on tone scan and you are then able to load it into the TX/RX tone slots automatically from the tone scan window, but no tone code is displayed in the display box. I would imagine this is only a slight oversight and I would expect will be rectified on the next release. Meantime it can be accomodated with little difficulty.

All in all a great conversion that works very well indeed and effortly functions straight out of the box. This kit can be installed and up and running within an hour !!

With the recent influx of cheaper Japanese VHF Ham radios sporting high power, with wide band receive, also having switchable wide / narrow bandwidth characteristics, this kit may seem a little expensive. Unless like myself you enjoy owning a 'special' 130w VHF TX 0.15uV RX radio that is built for commercial duty, then its worth every penny.

Many Thanks Piexx.

Steve m0ctl.