REVIEW: AN/PRC-148 MBITR, working replica by United-Star

[SaltWaterDrinker]

Originally Posted by doc_pathfinders

Been a while since i've posted on here, first of all wanted to say this is a great bit of kit (got one and programmed it yesterday) and the news that (with the aid of a real antenna) it can hit the low notes as well really does make this a deal..

i have a question that i promise you all i have googled, but i guess my google-foo is weak at the moment..

I have a radio that can send perfectly, but cannot receive _reliably_ sometimes i get a good 5 minutes of reception and then it's lost (buzzing, no speech can be heard) i have had it fade in and out (so i guess it's not a heating issue). I'm not Sigs, but i can solder. I know it's a shot in the dark and if this post is ignored i understand, just trying to understand why this is happening and if it is possible for me to fix.

What model radio - are we talking about the US PRC-148 or another one?

As far as purchasing...do eBay - that's what I did. Shipping to Levittown was 40.82USD. Invest in a real antenna while you're at it, too. You can fight for it on eBay, or find someone with Thales website access and buy them for 160USD.

[Ares Ops Hartmann]

Hey SaltWaterDrinker,

could you make any progress with the step by step instruction?

Greets

[SaltWaterDrinker]

Originally Posted by Ares Ops Hartmann

Hey SaltWaterDrinker,

could you make any progress with the step by step instruction?

Greets

I've ten days off starting tomorrow, I should have plenty of time to finish compiling it and send it off on here. I've basic notes down as of right now. I'll get it done.

[Ares Ops Hartmann]

Great to hear. Don't feel under pressure when I say that all my hopes depend on you...

[doc_pathfinders]

Originally Posted by SaltWaterDrinker

What model radio - are we talking about the US PRC-148 or another one?

As far as purchasing...do eBay - that's what I did. Shipping to Levittown was 40.82USD. Invest in a real antenna while you're at it, too. You can fight for it on eBay, or find someone with Thales website access and buy them for 160USD.

Nope, the POS DragonRed copy.. just wondering if there is anything that is physically wrong that i might be able to repair (grounding/connections etc) helpfully dragonred decided to epoxy/whatever the radio contents into the metal casing, so whatever i pull out will most likely result in an all-or-nothing effort..

just strange how it works for a while, cuts out and then (can, but rarely) can cut back in.. i would have thought that if it was due to heating, it would always work after a day or two of being 'off' (doesn't) and that it wouldn't start working after a few minutes.

anyway, it's US all the way now, and a real Thales antenna as well..

[Pollux77]

I finally resolved my troubles with the radio - a friend took it to Hong Kong and swapped it for a new one. The problem was the cable. Strange enough my USB cable (also linked in this thread) did also not work at all and still doesn't.

[EagleDriver]

My work laptop used to have a serial port, so I just got a serial programming cable for the Puxing/Wouxun radios I have. With my new laptop, there is no serial port, and the Prolific USB to serial programming cables had driver issues on Vista and Windows 7. So I changed to a Keyspan USB to serial adapter and use that with the serial programming cable. Not one issue with the cable so far.

http://www.409shop.com/409shop_product.php?id=103756
http://www.officedepot.com/a/product...:referralID=NA

This should work for the AN/PRC-148 radios as well

[LOW TIDE]

anyone had any experience ordering from Airsoft Park. It's the only one I have found that actually has a return policy if it doesn't work properly. It has taken over a month before I was finally able to resolve the one I had that never worked. I lost money on the original shipping charge, and the shipping of the radio back to them. Needless to say, will NEVER use them again.

[Ares Ops Hartmann]

Actually I havnt ordered the Thales from Airsoft Park but many other things in the past. I can say that they shipped things fast and have reasonable prices without shipping costs world wide. In my opinion they are underestimated. They are good merchants.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Conker]

TNC, so the same as the real ones. It's written on the first page

[S.E.A.L.]

Here is a video from my MBITR which shows the problems that I have with it:
YouTube - United Star MBITR Problems

Did have anybody here the same problems ? Especially for the Dual Watch function.

Before I make this video, I programmed the MBITR like the manual video from Conker with the PMR Preset File. The only thing that I have changed was the greeting.

Did have anybody information that could help ? I believe Ares Ops Hartmann has the some problem

[twonuts]

This was a very interesting 20-page read.
I have two questions that I hope I didn't skip over and not see.

1. I know the simple answer is this will work with Comtacs and an element mic, but there seemed to be one anecdotal response that this radio works okay with MSA Sordin supreme pro (MICH) headset; has anyone done further testing?

2. Early on it was asked if the radio can do the CTSS codes found on FRS/GMRS radios; will it?

Thanks again.

[Ares Ops Hartmann]

Originally Posted by S.E.A.L.

Here is a video from my MBITR which shows the problems that I have with it:
YouTube - United Star MBITR Problems

Did have anybody information that could help ? I believe Ares Ops Hartmann has the some problem

Nope, that's not my problem, because when I press the "F-Key" and after that the specific key to launch the Dual Channel or Scan function it does NOTHING...

But it is interesting to see that your keys are messed up also. Your keys launch the manual setup.

That could lead to the conclusion that your radio is also victim of false programming... (like I hope that mine is too!)

[SaltWaterDrinker]

Originally Posted by twonuts

This was a very interesting 20-page read.
I have two questions that I hope I didn't skip over and not see.

1. I know the simple answer is this will work with Comtacs and an element mic, but there seemed to be one anecdotal response that this radio works okay with MSA Sordin supreme pro (MICH) headset; has anyone done further testing?

2. Early on it was asked if the radio can do the CTSS codes found on FRS/GMRS radios; will it?

Thanks again.

It can. Identical tones.

[SaltWaterDrinker]

Originally Posted by standardmissile

Eagle Driver referenced a USB to Serial to Kenwood 2-pin method above, However, would this USB adapter that claims to be compatible with all of the same radios work with our programming software?

http://www.409shop.com/409shop_product.php?id=103760

Also if either Saltwaterdrinker, Conker, or whomever has experience in the comm field could give me a yea or nea on the usefulness of my last post regarding the Thales antenna substitute, it would be most appreciated. My crew and I are looking forward to potentially purchasing a batch of 10-30 of these things for our Airsoft events, depending on the cost effectiveness of replacement antennas.


Thanks,

Capt Nathan Smith, USAF Aux
San Diego Regional Authority

Hey,
Honestly I'd try my best to go with the real thing. Yeah, adapters make it easy to use many different kinds of antennas but ultimately they do damage to the actual connector to the radio...example:

I had an xts5000 vhf I used, and I'd hook it up via a BNC adapter to coax attached to an antenna on my truck. It was great, but it loosened the connector attached to the radio and boom...i was out 150 on a repair. I hope that helped...

PM me and link me the info again.

(Josh)
C/Lt. Col Josh Williams,
NJWG-092 - USAFAUX