‰ NOW 40 WPM ‰ TEXT IS FROM OCTOBER 2012 QST PAGE 51‰ UNWRAPPED I WAS RAG CHEWING ON MY LOCAL REPEATER WITH THIS RADIO WITHIN A MINUTE OR TWO. THE TH K20A IS A 2 METER HANDHELD WITH 5R5 W MAXIMUM OUTPUT AND SOME EXTENDED RECEIVE FREQUENCY COVERAGE. IT FEATURES CTCSS CONTINUOUS TONE CODED SQUELCH SYSTEM ENCODE AND DECODE AS WELL AS DCS DIGITAL CODED SQUELCH AND AN INTERNAL VOICE OPERATED TRANSMIT VOX FUNCTION. IT RECEIVES THE NOAA WEATHER CHANNELS AND IS COMPATIBLE WITH NOAA WEATHER ALERT. THE RADIO COMES WITH A FLEXIBLE ANTENNA THAT IS ALSO USEFUL FOR REDUCING INTERMODULATION PRODUCTS GENERATED WITHIN THE RECEIVER THAT MIGHT BE A PROBLEM IF YOU ARE OPERATING IN THE VICINITY OF SEVERAL HIGH POWERED TRANSMITTERS. THERE WERE NO SHOW STOPPERS DURING TESTING. THE TRANSMITTER PASSED THE FCC REQUIREMENTS FOR SPURIOUS EMISSION WITH FLYING COLORS. ON THE AIR AS ALWAYS, I ENGAGED A HALF DOZEN RADIO AMATEURS AND ASKED ABOUT THE TRANSMITTED AUDIO QUALITY. REPORTS OF LOUD AND CLEAR AND FINE WERE TYPICAL. RECEIVED AUDIO WAS QUITE GOOD, DEPENDING OF COURSE ON THE TRANSMITTED SIGNAL. RECEPTION WITH THE FLEXIBLE ANTENNA WAS COMPARABLE TO THE OTHER HANDHELDS IN THE SHACK MY WIFE KATHY, KA1RWY, AND I SHARE. SO FAR SO GOOD, BUT. AFTER A FEW CONTACTS, THE DJ V57TS BATTERY INDICATOR WAS SHOWING LOW. I HAD TRANSMITTED USING THE MEDIUM POWER SETTING 2 W RF OUTPUT WHILE ENGAGING IN A FEW RAG CHEWS, AND I HAD THE IMPRESSION THE BATTERY PACK GAVE OUT A BIT EARLY. AFTER A RECHARGE USING THE STANDARD EDC 146 WALL CHARGER, I EXPERIENCED LESS THAN EXPECTED BATTERY LIFE. ONLY THEN DID I REALIZE THE STANDARD BATTERY PACK HAS 700 MAH CAPACITY, ON THE ORDER OF 50 TO 60 OF THE CAPACITY OF THE STANDARD PRESSING THE MONITOR KEY BUTTON WILL DISABLE THE SQUELCH. PRESSING FUNCTION AND THEN MONITOR KEY WILL TURN ON THE GREEN BACKLIGHTING FOR THE LCD AND KEYPAD BUTTONS. I CALL THE BACKLIGHTING AURORA GREEN BECAUSE THE DISPLAY MATCHED THE COLOR OF THE NORTHERN LIGHTS VIEWED AT MY COVENTRY, CONNECTICUT, HOME AFTER AN X CLASS SOLAR FLARE. WHILE THE BACKLIGHTING IS HARDLY VISIBLE UNDER NORMAL LIGHTING CONDITIONS, IT IS ADEQUATE IN THE DARK AND WILL NOT RUIN NIGHT VISION WHILE STAR GAZING. THE RIGHT SIDE OF THIS HANDHELD FEATURES THE DC INPUT JACK, WHICH ACCEPTS A VARIETY OF OPTIONAL CHARGERS OR AN EXTERNAL DC POWER SOURCE OF 7 TO 16 V DC. THE DJ V57T CAN BE USED WITH SEVERAL OPTIONAL RECHARGEABLE LITHIUM ION LI ION OR NICKEL METAL HYDRIDE NIMH BATTERY PACKS OR WITH A BATTERY CASE THAT HOLDS SIX AA ALKALINE CELLS. THE TRANSCEIVER MUST BE PROGRAMMED FOR THE TYPE OF BATTERY USED. THIS IS DONE BY HOLDING DOWN THE 0 KEY FOR 2 SECONDS AND THEN SELECTING THE BATTERY TYPE WITH THE DIAL KNOB ON TOP. LAB TESTING OVERALL, THE TEST RESULTS WERE GOOD, WITH ONE EXCEPTION IMAGE REJECTION IS ONLY FAIR ON THE 70 CM BAND. ALINCO HAS ADDED A TWO POSITION ATTENUATOR THAT CAN BE SWITCHED IN LINE TO REDUCE UNWANTED IMAGES. IN THE LAB I FOUND THAT ATTENUATOR POSITIONS ONE AND TWO ADDED 3 AND 12 DB OF ATTENUATION RESPECTIVELY ON 2 METERS, AND 4 AND 15 DB ON 70 CM. THE ATTENUATOR FEATURE ‰ END OF 40 WPM TEXT ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ