‰ NOW 40 WPM ‰ TEXT IS FROM SEPTEMBER 2016 QST PAGE 46‰ OR TURN OFF THE COME HITHER POWER ON VOICE MESSAGE TURN OFF/ON THE ROGER BEEP AFTER TRANSMISSION SET AUTOMATIC POWER OFF AND CHOOSE OFFSET AND WIDE/NARROW BAND OPTIONS, AS DISCUSSED EARLIER. THE SCAN MODE MENU ITEM OFFERS SCANNING CHOICES. THE TIME MODE TO STOPS SCANNING AFTER A SIGNAL IS PRESENT FOR 5 SECONDS, BUT BEFORE THE PERIOD ENDS, THE RADIO REMEMBERS THE FREQUENCY/CHANNEL, CONTINUES TO SCAN, AND RETURNS AND CAMPS ONTO THE FREQUENCY/CHANNEL IF THE SIGNAL IS STILL READ, EVEN WITHOUT MY READING GLASSES AND THATS SAYING SOMETHING. WHEN ACTIVATED, THE KEYPAD DIGITS ARE BACKLIT, ENHANCING EASE OF READING. I ALSO FOUND IT EASY TO READ THE BACKLIT LCD DISPLAY. THE ANTENNA MATES EASILY WITH THE RADIO VIA THE SMC CONNECTOR, WHICH SEEMED TO ME TO BE MORE RESISTANT TO POTENTIAL ABUSE IN THE FIELD THAN OLDER RADIOS IVE USED WITH THE SAME CONNECTOR. MY FIRST IMPRESSION WAS GOOD. THE FIRST STEP WAS TO CHARGE THE BATTERY WHICH IS FASTENED TO THE BACK OF THE RADIO BY DROPPING IT INTO THE CHARGER, WHICH CHARGED IT TO CAPACITY IN LESS THAN AN HOUR IT WAS ALREADY PARTLY CHARGED FROM TESTING IN THE ARRL LAB. A DEPLETED BATTERY WILL TAKE ABOUT 5 HOURS TO CHARGE. THERES NO PROVISION FOR OPERATING FROM AN EXTERNAL POWER SOURCE. THE CHARGER DOCK LED CHANGES COLOR AND FLASHES TO INDICATE CHARGE STATES. MY FIRST SURPRISE CAME WHEN I TURNED THE RADIO ON A SENSUOUS FEMALE VOICE ANNOUNCED POWER ON. THERE IS NOTHING AMBIGUOUS ABOUT THE VOICE ITS PROVOCATIVE AND CERTAINLY WAS PURPOSELY DESIGNED THAT WAY. IT GAVE ME A GOOD LAUGH TO START MY REVIEW PROCESS. I QUICKLY TURNED THE VOICE OFF, HOWEVER. AFTER TURNING ON THE PRODUCT REVIEW BRIDGECOM SYSTEMS BCH 220 222 MHZ HANDHELD FM TRANSCEIVER A FINE, BASIC HANDHELD FOR AN UNDERAPPRECIATED BAND. REVIEWED BY RICK PALM, K1CE K1CE ARRL. NET THE BCH 220 HANDHELD 222 MHZ 1R25 CENTIMETERS FM TRANSCEIVER IS A PRODUCT OF BRIDGECOM SYSTEMS, A COMPANY MANY READERS MAY NOT HAVE HEARD OF. BASED IN SMITHVILLE, MISSOURI, THE COMPANY WAS ESTABLISHED IN 2004, AND ACCORDING TO ITS WEBSITE, DEVELOPS AND SELLS COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT FOR THE LAND MOBILE RADIO, AMATEUR RADIO, COMMERCIAL RADIO, AND REMOTE MONITORING MARKETS. ITS FIRST PRODUCT WAS A VHF/UHF FM REPEATER. THE BCH 220 HANDHELD RADIO IS SMALL BUT NOT TOO SMALL, DURABLE, AND LIGHTWEIGHT. RF POWER OUTPUT IS SWITCHABLE BETWEEN 5 W AND 2 W. RECEIVE FREQUENCY COVERAGE IS 219 260 MHZ, WITH TRANSMIT CAPABILITY IN THE AMATEUR 222 225 MHZ BAND. ITS 199 MEMORY CHANNELS ARE PROGRAMMABLE. THE RADIO COMES WITH A 1600 MAH LI ION BATTERY, ANTENNA, BELT CLIP, AND CHARGER BASE WITH WALL PLUG. WE ALSO ORDERED THE OPTIONAL PROGRAMMING CABLE TO CONNECT TO A PC VIA A USB PORT. THE ANTENNA ATTACHES TO THE RADIO THROUGH AN SMC CONNECTOR. FIRST IMPRESSION OUT OF THE BOX, MY FIRST IMPRESSION WAS OF A QUALITY ENGINEERED, WELL BUILT HAND HELD RADIO WITH AN AESTHETICALLY PLEASING APPEARANCE. THE KEYPAD BUTTONS ARE LARGE ENOUGH FOR EASY MANIPULATION, WITH LABELS THAT ARE LARGE ENOUGH FOR ME TO ‰ END OF 40 WPM TEXT ‰ QST DE W1AW ƒ