UT5JCW Transverter from Ukraine

KD0RC

I just got my UT5JCW transverter from the Transverters Store in the mail today. I was told to expect 30 - 50 days shipping time due to Covid. but it was more like 9 days. Wow!

It works really well so far with my 6400. I checked in to a 2 M sideband net and got good audio reports. I then chatted on a 2 M FM repeater and also got a good audio report. I saw no evidence of drift (love that panadapter...).

So far so good! I have not yet checked the power out, but I did check the frequency, and had to put 400 Hz into the LO Error box. My dial was right on the money with the SSB net, and an FM repeater that I trust to be on frequency was in exact agreement with my display. I noticed some other repeaters were off a few hundred Hz one way or the other.

Next I will use a spectrum analyzer to check the output. I have heard that these transverters need to be run at less than full output for a clean signal, so I will see if that is true in my case. Once I find the sweet spot for clean power out, I will dig out my good old Mirage amp and see if I can get that to work reliably and cleanly.

It is really cool to have the panadapter and waterfall on 2 meters. With two slices, I can monitor repeater input and output frequencies simultaneously. This is really helpful when someone is having trouble hitting the repeater, but their transmitted signal is bouncing around and hitting me directly (we get that a lot in the mountains here).

So far, the UT5JCW transverter is a price/performance winner at $95 (I got the TCXO version). If I were going to be doing more serious VHF work, I would probably shell out the bucks for a Q5 unit. For my more mundane needs, I think this thing will be great!

KD0RC

So I zoomed much further in to the transverter output using my Rigol DSA 815 spectrum analyzer and fine tuned the LO Error to 260 Hz. I also adjusted the output down to 5 W from about 6 W to get a cleaner transmitted signal. It is almost identical to my TS-2000 running 5W.

The yellow trace is the UT5JCW transverter driven at +10 dBm from a Flex 6400 XVTR port. The purple trace is from a TS-2000. Both are running 5 W out. I accidentally left the TS-2000 CTCSS tone on, so it shows more deviation than the transverter.

With this output setting, I am comfortable in using this transverter with an amplifier, and am confident I won't be splattering all over the band. It is certainly not a Q5, but for $95, I am a happy camper!

I am using a Leo Bodnar 10 MHz GPSDO, so I am very confident in the signal frequency. I aligned my TS-2000 a couple of years ago, so I am really surprised that it is still so perfectly on frequency.

If you plan on getting one of these things, you will want to dial the power back a little (5 W was the magic point for mine), but from what I have seen so far, it is a great little transverter.

Next step is to add a resistor to dim the extremely bright, red power LED. The green transmit LED is just right.

EDIT: Took a 67K resistor to dim the power LED sufficiently. Obviously on, but not so bright that I need sunglasses.😎