We made it to US-2991 Bonham State Park this morning and I took my new Mountain Topper out for its first activation.  Here’s what I brought:

Loadout:

MTR-3B V4
Bioenno 3 AH LiPo
BamaKey TP-III
Sparkplug 49:1 UnUn w. 20m EFHW wire
POTA 20 Carbon Fiber Mast
Elecraft T1
RG-316

I brought the Elecraft ATU because I don’t know how resonant 15m is on a 20m half wave wire.  It’s resonant on a 40-10 EFHW because 15m is a harmonic of 40m. It’s not a harmonic of 20m.  We’ll see.

Nerd Moment-  By harmonics, we mean multiples.  With 40m at 7MHz, 14MHz, or 20 meters, is a multiple of 7MHz.  7 X 2 = 14.  With 40 meters the fundamental frequency, 20 meters is the first harmonic.  15m, or 21MHz is the second harmonic and 28MHz, 10 meters, is the third.

Now, let’s leave the product reviews to the pros.  I’m just a self-taught POTA Bum.  But, on the chance you guys have been considering a Mountain Topper, I picked up the latest version, V4, and here’s what I think about it.

The Rig

The mountain topper is a 5 watt, CW only radio in what I call the “Pocket Class”.  Home brew and pixie kits aside, I think this is the first production radio in this class.  Made by LNR Precision, they call it “THE Original Miniature QRP transceiver”.  I’m sure there’s a hen house full of other opinions about who’s first. 

It has the features I’ve come to like in a Pocket radio – input power range that allows operation with both 9V and 13.8V+ (LiPo), very low power consumption, and CW message memories and beacon. 

Features

• Bands: 40M, 20M, 15M
• Power out: 5 typical at 13.8V Supply
• Power & SWR Readout
• Minimum detectable signal: ~0.1 uV
• Push button operation
• Color display
• Real Time Clock
• Five (5) 62 character CW message memories
• Nine (9) Frequency memories per band
• Adjustable Volume Control
• Adjustable Side Tone

Specifications

• Unit Weight: 5.72oz (133.8g)
• Dimensions: 3.90”L x 2.625”W x 1.09”T (99.88mmL x 66.25mmW x 28.6mmT)
• Display Dimensions: 1.06” x 1.04” (27mm x 26.3mm)
• Internal Battery: CR2032 (supplied at purchase, replaceable with common brand)

What’s not mentioned in LNR’s list is the capacitive touch paddles.  The two little acorn nuts on the lower right corner of the rig are Iambic paddles that trigger when you touch them.  They’re a little tricky for me so far, that’s ME, but there’s onboard paddles if you forget or forgo a key.

I especially like the TUNE feature.  It automatically switches to straight key, shows SWR, and shows output power. This is a great feature I’ve never seen anywhere else.

I like the band choice because it lends itself to a single resonant EFHW.  Now, I love all bands.  Hell, some of my best friends use WRC bands. But if I had to pick only three, it’d be these.

Finally, I’ve not read, heard, or seen any question or explanation for the moniker “Currahee”.  Is no one else curious why LNR doesn’t even mention it?  Big star sticker on the face of the rig?  Currahee?  Band Of Brothers?

It seems to me that this V4 of the Mountain Topper includes a nod to WW2’s 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment who trained at Camp Taccoa in Georgia and who’s motto was “Currahee!”.  Maybe it refers to the mountain the soldiers ran up and down, Mount Currahee – Mountain topper?.  Maybe it’s “currahee”, loosely translated from Cherokee as “stand alone”. I’ve sent an email to LNR – we’ll see what they say.

Activation

With a leg still under no weight bearing orders, my daughter Jessie agreed to chauffeur me to Bonham State Park.  While not the radio type, she’s a damn good daughter who’s been caring and tending to Melissa and I since our accident.  While carting me to the park is above and beyond, I think she has a little cabin fever and welcomes the excuse to get out.

Jessie raised the mast and strung the wire for me. I called QRL, spotted and sent CQ POTA. AE4CE, Ethan from Hillsville, VA was first to come back. The higher voltage from the LiPo battery produced just at 7 watts from this mountain topper and hunters piled up.  I collected 14 QSOs in about 15 minutes. I never made it up to 15 meters. The keyer had me too rattled and I quit.

I found two main issues with the MTR-3B. I say issue instead of problem because I’m part of the mix. 

1.  The volume is low even with the little pot all the was up and my powered Anker speaker at max, receive audio was quiet.  The side tone volume was very faint compared to where I like it.  The pot to adjust that is under the back cover so I’ll have to adjust that someday. Of course, I am a retired jet engine mechanic so… 

2.  It took no time at all for the keyer to frustrate me.  I couldn’t find its rhythm and ended up miskeying anything I sent with a pinch like K, C, R, etc.  I’m a novice CW operator and am reluctant to “blame the tool”, but this Mountain Topper isn’t my first rig.  I have no problem at all with Icom, Yaesu, Elecraft, QRP Labs, or CFT1. I played with the capacitive touch buttons last night, had the same problem, and assumed it was getting used to touch keying.  Nope.  Same problem with my BamaKey.

I really want to like this little wonder so I’m not giving up.  But, communication is the name of the game and if I can’t key clearly, I can’t communicate.

It was a beautiful day for radio, if a little windy at the end.  I really appreciate Jessie for taking an old man to the park.  Two more weeks and I go back for another X-ray and hope it results in a free ticket to drive and dance. I’m the kind of guy who needs two days of sunshine for every five at work, so let’s get over it already.

As always,

TNX ES 73
KA5TXN
DitWit