Video: using the $75 VHF transverter with the Flex and SmartSDR

Yes, Ken, I suggest an amplifier, but even at the 10w level I would probably suggest one as well if you want to work SSB and CW. I can work all the local repeaters at the 1.5w level - no amp needed there.

As far as receive goes, the 3 dB points on my transverter receive passband are 142.8 MHz and 148 MHz. Not perfectly centered on the band, but good enough. In the video I had the pan zoomed in on the SSB slice so the noise floor looks higher on the FM slice. Also I have a noise source that comes and goes up above 145 MHz, so that was showing up in the video

As far as sensitivity goes I confess that I haven't dragged the signal generator (old HP 8640 that is kinda heavy) from the workshop to the hamshack. But casual side-by-side testing shows that the Flex/transverter combo receives about as well as my Kenwood TS-2000 or my Icom 706MK2G.
73,
Doug K4DSP

I've seen the 2M Elecrafts, George, but not the 70cm unit. Nice equipment, and definitely a cut above the UT5JCW product. I think one advantage is being able to configure the Elecraft to operate in a split RX/TX IF setup vs. a common IF, something you can't do with the UT5JCW board. But the 6300 only supports a common IF configuration anyway, so the advantage was lost on me.

How much of the 70cm band can you cover with the Elecraft?
73,
Doug K4DSP