External Control Unit for LAB599 TX500MP
TX-500MP (ManPack) is an excellent compact radio made by Lab599. Still, I felt the need for some comfort. Being a "brave ham", I start tinkering with it.
After the Lab599 TX-500MP transceiver came into my shack, the lack of a VFO became obvious.
The TX-500MP is an excellent radio for hiking and travel, being compact and featuring all the necessary functionalities for quick deployment. Paired with an easy-to-install antenna, such as the EFHW or MP-1 (vertical) type, it is ideal for travel and recreational activities in nature, such as SOTA, POTA, WFF, or for contacting a WinLink server and using email from remote locations.
Obviously, this “manpack” version is much closer to the professional user who doesn’t want to bother with fine-tuning, remaining in the “turn on and use” category. Clearly, it was designed for use on fixed frequencies (radio channels), and this, along with the requirement to be protected against extreme environmental factors, means it lacks a few functions necessary for “home” operation. For example, quick access to Audio Volume, Frequency, and Modulation Type is needed to simplify operation without missing other transceivers.
For this reason, I have explored a bit the functionalities offered by the CAT connection. The documentation provided by Lab599 on their website is excellent, but unfortunately, a series of commands appear not to be available in the TX-500MP version, but are certainly intended for the TX-500, which is a transceiver aimed at the ham radio environment.
The result is visible in the following video material, where implementing an External Control Unit (ECU) is possible. The next step is creating the hardware platform, for which I am oscillating between the display used in the tests and one made with a miniaturized OLED display.