TCA PRC-152a forums, user groups?

[TomTill84]

So have been emailing px-airsoft.com back and forth. They stated that the new 2021 TCA AN/PRC-152A is the better choice than the new TRI. Also they stated that the 6 cell 18650 battery pack for the TRI will indeed work in the new TCA and up power to 10 watts! Hope this info helps someone.

 

[prcguy]

The MBITR audio is not bad and a Harris a bit louder and fuller. I've used both.

I've read that even the Harris OEM PRC-152 and Thales PRC-148 have tinny sounding speakers. However, both of the MBITER radios are intended to be used with a headset for battlefield security purposes. Not the same usage as police/EMS radios.

 

[rescuecomm]

Interesting. Most pictures of soldiers in the field show them using handsets or headsets with the REAL PRCS. Seems that pics of milsim guys show everyone with a headset and a remote PTT. If so, then the internal speaker audio is not an issue and depends on what other accessories you're planning to use. The Ukrainian solders seem to using the CCRs with the internal speakers. Too much audio equals giving away your position. Maybe these guys aren't in actual combat?

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I was going to look into authentic green radios as a hobby. But after doing some research I learned that unless you want to spend a lot of money for a modern green radio, you are limited to 150 Hz squelch tone and the encryption modes are either demilitarized rendering the radio unservicable or are unavailable making the radio clear only. In the end I focused on Motorola Systems Sabers which have all those attributes of mil spec, CTCSS squelch, DES XL encryption, and are plentiful and cheap.

The knock off green radios are no less a radio than the Baofengs that seem to get wide discussion here. As long as nobody is trying pass them off as authentic, no problem.

 

[rescuecomm]

The real ones are supposed to be discussed in the Harris forum. Other than PRCGUY, nobody seems to have any Harris or Thales. The Saber handheld were used by my states wildlife department until they got APX8000's. One could probably gotten a pallet of the VHF Sabers at the state auction. They would be pretty worn from hard outdoor use.

 

[prcguy]

Lots of people here on RR have Thales, Harris and other current/modern military radios. They are not that big of a deal but can be quite costly due to the rarity in civilian hands and high demand. My goal in the hobby is to first locate current/modern military radios and at an affordable price. So far I've done very well in the hobby. Most of the current stuff never makes it to a public sale, its traded between collector friends and unless your in the "circle" you will probably never know about it.

The real ones are supposed to be discussed in the Harris forum. Other than PRCGUY, nobody seems to have any Harris or Thales. The Saber handheld were used by my states wildlife department until they got APX8000's. One could probably gotten a pallet of the VHF Sabers at the state auction. They would be pretty worn from hard outdoor use.

 

[TDR-94]

I've read that even the Harris OEM PRC-152 and Thales PRC-148 have tinny sounding speakers. However, both of the MBITER radios are intended to be used with a headset for battlefield security purposes. Not the same usage as police/EMS radios.

The maritime version of the PRC-148 had tinny audio from the built in piezo electric speaker. Thales used a piezo electric speaker so the maritime version of the PRC-148 could be rated for 20 meter submersion. The urban versions had a regular plastic speaker cone for the 2 meter rated submersion.

 

[Sg117]

Came here to see if I can pick up some info about the “TCA or TRI” saw more Harris and Motorola being compared. Let’s get something straight a real prc 152 is not legal to own if u see one for sale it is wise to not buy you will have some feds showing up to get it. A Tca and tri are yes knock off of a real one but they work as should and how they were designed (uhf vhf gmrs .am fm radio listening) nothing more nothing less. It’s a beofang kinda. Can use tnc connection and now a kdu so the radio doesn’t need to be up on your front if your milsiming lapping whatever. With all that said no there is no p25 it has a voice screaming that needs another tri Tca radio to un encrypt it… now for its price it’s weather resistance is far better then a lot of other radios, and have gotten some really good range out of them. Battery’s are nice the 18650 with be 12v and you can use the “Harris”10.8v battery’s but your power will be down some. The 18650 China packs power this for very long time if it’s being used as a normal hand held like 30+hours. So in a nut shell anything you can do with a ham is this guys nothing more nothing less. Funny to see people try to say this form is pointless because it’s in the wrong spot at the same time talking about a “Harris or apx ect” when he’s a talking about the”TCA/TRI”.and for the beofang ar152 is not this these radios those are a uv5r in a box ok…. Not hate here just funny to see such a mess of a form. If your handy with programming then the Tca tri is a fun and useful project that can expand possiblys. I have a lora board in the back housing of mine that I’ve wired to a power of the radio so I can run my atak and keep the board safe.

 

[Sg117]

Another thing is that’s it’s far more durable then a most other radio for the simple fact that’s it’s a aluminum body cast not machined which would be stronger but up cost by a lot.but the antenna is mount is pretty strong way better then any plastic bodied radios of any kind.the 6 pin is really nice to have water tight, way better then a Motorola/beofang 2 pin that just slips in. So yes it’s 300$ but you get features that other radios do not have. Not if you want a p25 or sdr then run a radio that is CAPABLE OF DOING SO. And like I said big body yes but I have a Lora board in there so while my homies have their in a box with a battery in it and the box in there backpack mine is just located in a different location. So nut shell the radio is a lower end radio but rare external features so same same but different

 

[KE4RWS]

Another thing is that’s it’s far more durable then a most other radio for the simple fact that’s it’s a aluminum body cast not machined which would be stronger but up cost by a lot.but the antenna is mount is pretty strong way better then any plastic bodied radios of any kind.the 6 pin is really nice to have water tight, way better then a Motorola/beofang 2 pin that just slips in. So yes it’s 300$ but you get features that other radios do not have. Not if you want a p25 or sdr then run a radio that is CAPABLE OF DOING SO. And like I said big body yes but I have a Lora board in there so while my homies have their in a box with a battery in it and the box in there backpack mine is just located in a different location. So nut shell the radio is a lower end radio but rare external features so same same but different

I recently bought a PRC-152 (TCA model) just to try one out. Most of the content I've read about these portable transceivers suggested the TCA model was more popular among users so I chose that one and I've been rather pleased with it but I'm just a simple amatuer operator with a preference for large portables and the TCA seemed like a fun radio to try. I read where the prior models were mostly made of plastic and became more popular when the aluminum case models were released. I see where Baofeng still makes an all-plastic model with a huge battery but that one didn't interest me. I purchased a couple of genuine Harris batteries and rapid charger, speaker/mic, and a few other items and for being a conventional, analog "knockoff" this radio actually works quite well. I understand the TCA model uses superheterodyne architecture while the TRI model is an SDR and typically includes greater frequency coverage compared to the TCA.

 

[Spartan13]

Gents, I just got that new FCS PRC152 with KDU, but unfortunately it came with no English user manual. I'm told that there is one available in the files section of the "TRI/TCA radio mbitr owners group" on Facebook, but I cannot join that group unless someone invites me. Does anyone here is a member of that group and could be so kind to invite me, or at least send me those files?

 

[rescue161]

Does anyone have the software for the newest TCA version (2023)? I don't have facebook and have googled everything that I know how and cannot find it anywhere. I did buy a cable and software, but nothing I or the seller has tried seems to work. That is with two different versions of software. The first being TCA branded in the about file and the other is generic and has a lot of strange characters that did not translate over after I switched to English. The latest one that I have is Version 0.2 and has a date of 12 May 2023. The cable I have is a 6-pin version.

Also, how do you check the firmware revision on these without using a computer? Is there a button press sequence? There is nothing in the menus and I did not receive a manual. Downloading a manual online did not help as the menus I have in this version are very different. Mine has "HOP" and a couple of other items. I can say it is a PITA to program by hand when compared to the TRI. I have never owned or had any experience with a baofeng, but if it is like the TCA, then they all need to be wiped off of the face of the Earth.

I did note that the TRI is extremely clean on my service monitors and spec-an. I have not checked the TCA, because I've been pulling my hair out trying to get it to program with software. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[VK3TYG]

Rescue161, I have this same TCA PRC-152A, the one with a functional GPS. Was told that TCA were supposed to be making a handbook available this month, is a bit of a pain without one. In the meantime I have written my own basic user guide & posted this on the Facebook group, will have to upload a copy on this website too I think. Yep very much looking forward to the PC software too, any previous versions will not work, the firmware in these new models is very different. I actually quite like the new version now, & find it easy to program. The air band RX works pretty well too, but just need the ability to use memory channels for this band too. GPS function is great, but hoping TCA will add just a bit more functionality to this, is pretty basic at the moment. It can become a fantastic radio with a few small bug fixes (no major bugs I have discovered at least), and some added functions (mostly GPS), hoping this will be done in next few months, miracles can happen !
The spectral purity of the TX is pretty good, checked this out. TX power on VHF is 9W, on UHF 6W, with the standard TCA battery pack. The HOP menu item is High Output Power for using a real Harris battery. Cheers, Chris

 

[rescue161]

Nice! Well that dashes my hopes of it actually frequency hopping...lol
Thank you. Can you send the user guide to me? I don't have Facebook. Thank you very much.

 

[VK3TYG]

Ok, sure, here is a copy of my little guide for this new radio, until an official handbook is released.
Rescue161, do you have the GPS version of the new model PRC-152A ?
I wonder how many other people have purchased this new model so far, possibly not too many going by what I have seen on the Facebook group. It is a good radio that can be made into a great radio with a firmware update, and the PC software !
But I do understand that these are not primarily made for ham radio operators like myself (have always loved mil radios too), but for other niche groups, so I cannot expect TCA to produce these radios perfectly suited for ham radio use.
As an aside point, I really wish the main hobby these radios are used for was legal where I live ! Yep, fully banned where I live in Australia, would you believe, pathetic.....

 

[rescue161]

Awesome! Thank you.

Mine is not the GPS variant. I only bought them (TRI amd TCA) to mess with my coworkers (Marine Corps) due to the CCI markings.

I wish that they would also include the following features.

DMR
P25
26-30 MHz AM/FM
50-54 MHz FM
Or just 26-88 MHz AM/FM

 

[VK3TYG]

Yeah I do love those markings too, funny stuff !
Yes DMR would be great, perfectly doable with this type of radio, but I guess the whole RF board would have to be re-designed, so would cost them too much money to bother doing I think. P25, probably forget about that, I have never seen any cheap Chinese P25 radios, think they don't readily make these due to a licensing thing probably ?
Those other band coverages you mention I don't care too much about personally, 6m FM is a pretty useless ham band here in Australia, hardly any use.
I also have the TCA PRC-148 radio too, the newest version, is very well made also, fully CNC machined case & anodised too, not painted. Looks fantastic. A shame it does not have any air band coverage though. One big thing I notice between the 148 & 152 - the 152 has way better RX front end filtering, as the 148 readily suffers from adjacent channel intermod on RX in higher RF environments, gets pretty bad in certain areas in the city here. Don't think the 148 has much RX front end filtering at all actually. So my PRC-152A does have several advantages over the 148 now, but still like the 148 due to its great appearance & overall build quality.
I am all for the realism with these replica radios, the more they mimic the real ones, the better, including the LCD display appearances.
I will let you know when I hear any further info about the handbook & PC software being released, hopefully soon !

 

[VK3TYG]

Good news, the PC software for the new PRC-152 could be released very soon ! So stay tuned….

 

[TDR-94]

Well that dashes my hopes of it actually frequency hopping...lol

They are, after all, physical replicas meant to look and feel like the real thing. They don't function like the "real" AN/PRC-152 radios. True frequency hopping would require precise timing and synchronization. The hardware required would probably cost more than the radio. Plus the psuedo random generator (for the hopping sequences in the real AN/PRC radios) for SINCGARS and HaveQuick, are NSA certified.

 

[VK3TYG]

Yes, the real PRC-152 radios are very advanced indeed, and have double the number of circuit boards in them. Was certainly not expecting freq hopping with them ! They are perfectly good radios for what they are.