---
title: Lab599 Discovery TX-500
summary: >
  A nice radio for portable operation.
date: 2022-11-04
#lastmod: 2022-11-12T19:51:31+01:00
#categories:
#- amateur-radio
#tags:
#- lab599

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---

This is the third HF transceiver that I bought. I was looking for a while for
an alternative to the FT-891, because I wanted something leightweight for my
little hiking tours.

![TX-500 in action on a stone](tx-500.jpg)

## Low quality mic?

It's like many plastic mics on other radios, it definitly feels a bit “cheap” and
it was the first (and only; until now) thing that broke. I haven't noticed the broken
mic until I tried to call CQ in the mountains and I fixed it on the same day. I haven't
been out since then...

I bought a Laravel mic from Amazon and I already got a spare in-ear plugs from Sennheiser
which I combined with the [adapters from Robert W2ENY](https://w2eny.com/tx500/) (including
a hand-held push-to-talk button adapter (like the Heil HS-2 but smaller).

This is pleasing to use and you got the sound directly in-ear.

## Original CAT cable settings

| Setting   | Value   |
| :---      | :---    |
| RIG type  | KENWOOD |
| Baud rate | 9600    |
| Data bits | 8       |
| Parity    | NONE    |
| Stop bits | 1       |

## Power output at 10%

Since someone asked on a mailing list to verify his measurements
and I had my tinySA in reach I also created these measurements and
I do not want to hide them :)

As always, take these with a grain of salt!

| BAND | FREQUENCY  | TONE SETTINGS | TX500  | tinySA |
| :--- | :---       | :---          | ---:   | ---:   |
| 80m  |  3.530 MHz | NORMAL        |  0.8 W | 1.72 W |
|      |            | DUAL          |  0.6 W | 0.48 W |
| 40m  |  7.130 MHz | NORMAL        |  0.8 W | 1.40 W |
|      |            | DUAL          |  0.6 W | 0.41 W |
| 20m  | 14.285 MHz | NORMAL        |  0.7 W | 1.40 W |
|      |            | DUAL          |  0.6 W | 0.44 W |
| 15m  | 21.245 MHz | NORMAL        |  1.3 W | 2.13 W |
|      |            | DUAL          |  1.1 W | 0.60 W |
| 10m  | 29.080 MHz | NORMAL        |  1.7 W | 2.86 W |
|      |            | DUAL          |  1.5 W | 0.90 W |