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

[Yannos]

Originally Posted by RAGE86

hey yannos check inside if you don't have jumper pin! like the picture

I doubt its the same concept of the Toy Soldier. I tried to open it but I am missing a special screw driver to open it, Conker has the screw driver so He will check on His. Thanks for the Heads up tho!

[RAGE86]

no prob bro! let me know! because I was looking to get one but I'm waiting for reviews
, the original version is too expensive can for now, maybe later! hahaha 8k

[attack-beaver]

i tried to google this however im no radio or electrical expert. what specifically is a Impedance problem?

[Yannos]

Originally Posted by attack-beaver

i tried to google this however im no radio or electrical expert. what specifically is a Impedance problem?

Civvie radio doesn't use the same Mic Impedance as Mil. radio. That's why it snot working.

[Lucky131]

Iirc you need to switch the Mic in the headset to an "Electrical Condenser Microphone" to make it work. There was an "how to" somwhere on dragonredairsoft.

€dit: Found it ....

Attention: If you use real steel military headset, if you can hear but not seem transimitting, please try change the headset's electrodynamic microphone(moving coil microphone)to Electret condenser microphone(electret microphone)

http://www.dragonredairsoft.com/cata...cts/modAll.jpg

[Conker]

Yes, looks like it. Fortunately, on headsets such as the COMTAC you can just unplug the mic to remove it so hopefully it would be possible to get a "condenser microphone" separatly instead of modding the expensive headset...

[Yannos]

YouTube - United Star PRC-148 Review
Bad english review LOL!

[Fei Korv]

Originally Posted by Yannos

YouTube - United Star PRC-148 Review
Bad english review LOL!

nice review i lol'd a few time.. xD can't wait to see it

[jurgen975]

Is this s dual com radio?If i would be in the role of a platoon commander i would need to talk to my squadleaders but also to HQ.
Does this radio have pmr channels?
what would be a group price?

[EagleDriver]

If there is a microphone impedance problem, then the plug is technically not compatible with mil std PTTs. This would be something that United Star would have to change on the radio. But I think that because they have the Kenwood two pin plug and the U-283 plug, both are probably wired into a single circuit. This means that if they changed the impedance of the microphone circuit to match the mil std PTT, it would then not work with standard Kenwood types. So I don't see this happening any time soon (if at all.)

[Conker]

Originally Posted by jurgen975

Is this s dual com radio?If i would be in the role of a platoon commander i would need to talk to my squadleaders but also to HQ.
Does this radio have pmr channels?
what would be a group price?

Yes, it is a dual comm radio.

You can choose whatever preset you want as your main channel, however secondary channel will ALWAYS be preset 00.

Let's say you're a squad leader. Your squad channel is 06 (that's just for the exemple; it can actually be any preset from #01 to 99). This is your main channel. Command (HQ) channel that you want to listen at the same time can only be 00.

When you activate the dual channel function, it will listen constantly to both channels. If you talk on your radio, by default it will transmit on channel 06.

Now if you receive on channel 00, it will stay active as your default for a set delay (I'm not sure how long, I'll have to test it) OR until someone speaks on 06. While it is your default, if you speak it will be transmitted on that frequency so you can answer the radio check, HQ question, order, etc... After the time delay is over, it will get back to 06 as a default while still listening to both.

You can also manually change back and forth between both frequencies via a button on the side of the radio



Hope that helps... english isn't my primary language so I'm not 100% sure I used the best words for clarity. Feel free to ask any questions you might have if something doesn't make sense.

Originally Posted by EagleDriver

If there is a microphone impedance problem, then the plug is technically not compatible with mil std PTTs. This would be something that United Star would have to change on the radio. But I think that because they have the Kenwood two pin plug and the U-283 plug, both are probably wired into a single circuit. This means that if they changed the impedance of the microphone circuit to match the mil std PTT, it would then not work with standard Kenwood types. So I don't see this happening any time soon (if at all.)

Makes sense. So there's two choices: mod/replace the micro (that'd be blasphemy, but I'm pretty sure using an Element mic would work for COMTACs) or add an inline amplifier for the mike signal. In that last case, sound quality would probably not be perfect, and you'd need additionnal power for that amplifier.

IIRC from what I've read, the MIL headsets have a 5Ω impedence over the civilian models.

[jurgen975]

Thanks for the answer conker but how about pmr does this radio support pmr?

[Lucky131]

Yes, 6.25Khz Stepping and Freq. range from 400.000-470.000 ... so yes, you can programm Pmr freq. w/o problems ....

VHF - 136-173.995Khz
UHF - 400-469.995Khz
FMS - 467.5125-467.6750Khz

Are supported and you can choose VHF;UHF;FMS when you programm the radio over the PC iirc .....

[Conker]

Originally Posted by Lucky131

Yes, 6.25Khz Stepping and Freq. range from 400.000-470.000 ... so yes, you can programm Pmr freq. w/o problems ....

VHF - 136-173.995Khz
UHF - 400-469.995Khz
FMS - 467.5125-467.6750Khz

Exactly, as written in the first post... You can choose many options, including transmitting power and kHz stepping.

Originally Posted by Lucky131

Are supported and you can choose VHF;UHF;FMS when you programm the radio over the PC iirc .....

No. These are 3 different radio versions that you choose on purchase.

[Conker]

GREAT NEWS!

For those using real Peltor COMTAC II headsets, using the Element microphone will solve the impedence problem. So you just have to plug the Element COMTAC II mic on your Peltor COMTAC II instead of the OEM and you're good to go! As Yannos tested, you can receive fine, so that's all you have to do to be fully functionnal.

The supplier I have for the MBITR also stocks Element Comtacs, so maybe I'll be able to source just the Element microphones separately... that' really be great.

NOTE:
This only works for COMTAC II as they have removable microphones that you just have to unplug... For Sordins, COMTAC I and other headsets, you'll be forced to mod them as described there http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showpos...3&postcount=20