The ARS Lab Reviews the Patcomm PC-500 Transceiver

Thanks to the generosity of the ARS membership, we were able to examine two PC-500s. We want to sincerely thank the owners. Without their cooperation, and the assistance of other ARS members who have supported the ARS Lab, these reviews would not be possible.

You can see marketing material for the PC-500 by referring to Patcomm's web site, at http://www.patcommradio.com. We will not repeat it here.

Please remember that Patcomm may modify the PC-500 over time. Also, keep in mind that no PC-500 will be exactly like any other, and our experience with the PC-500 will be different from yours. Finally, we occasionally make mistakes (which we promptly correct).

The Executive Summary

Our first sample of the PC-500 had problems with its sensitivity. We stopped our testing and returned the radio to its owner, suggesting that he return it to the factory for repair. The radio was in fact sent to Patcomm, but, to the best of our knowledge, the factory's service did not improve the unit's sensitivity.

Then, we borrowed a second radio. This one was brand new; we were the first users to give it a try. Once again, the PC-500 suffered from poor sensitivity. This time, we finished our testing.

Our sample had a long list of deficiencies. Perhaps the most dramatic was its spurious emissions. Running five watts on 20 meters, our radio was illegal. In other situations, it was just barely within legal limits.

Sometimes, radios are not "well behaved," which can lead to misleading results, especially with IMD testing. That clearly happened with our PC-500. We choose not to publish intercept point results because of the behavior issues with our sample. In addition, we felt that our PC-500s performance on 40 meters were so disturbing (with both the transmitter and receiver) that we elected not to publish 40 meter results at all.

If our sample was indeed representative of the PC-500, we believe that this radio should not be on the market. As always, we welcome information, either from Patcomm or owners of the PC-500, that might alter our findings. If we receive such information, it will be published in The ARS Sojourner promptly.

The Crud Table

This section of our introduction focusses on the PC-500's receiver. In general, the most serious problems in the radios we review are found in the receivers (although the PC-500 had problems with its transmitter as well). Many receivers—ranging from appliances to kits—suffer from a severe case of crud.

They are ruined by insipid filters, phase noise, spurs, distortion from close-in strong signals (third order), distortion from widely spaced strong signals (2nd order), birdies, leakage on the image and IF frequencies, and nasty pops and thumps from AGC.

Even among store-bought appliances, the state of the art is so lacking that many radio amateurs have never heard a clean receiver. They think that crud comes from "band conditions"—not the receiver itself. For a long time now, gimmicks and "gee whiz" bells and whistles have been replacing design competence and solid fundamental technical principles.

The crud table shows, at a glance, how the PC-500 receiver stacks up. Our scores are based on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being the lowest and 4 being the highest.

The scores are opinions, not data. You may disagree with our thinking. First, look at the actual test results. Then, send us your comments, screeches, and corrections, and we will publish them.