If I had $800 in pocket change (I don't) this would be the place to spend it. This truly is where the technology is taking us. A perfect example of an all band, all mode radio. Regrettably it did not come out of some garage in Campo, California or Port Hadlock, WA or Jerome, AZ, or Arnold, PA, but out of Chine (China). At 20 watts, it is more than QRP and a serious candidate for POTA and SOTA ops.
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PMR-171 Transceiver
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If you click on the link above, I am not specifically touting this radio, but more of the concept of what it is saying it can do and at the price point. How come FLEX, Elecraft or some of the US Boutique suppliers do not have something like this? The answer is simple -- they cannot meet the price point. A KX3 from Elecraft starts at $1500.
There is another problem and that is the US engineering capability is not used to FBC (Faster, Better, Cheaper). Gone is the hands-on capability that often starts at age 10 where there is endless experimentation and learning. Heck, you have to know nothing and no Morse code requirement to get an extra ticket! Look at the so few who homebrew radios -- ask why and you get a lack of learned skills for the answer. Such skills are what drives innovation. Thus, a simple axiom: No skill base, no innovation.
Thus, it is offshore locations, principally Chine (China) that are bringing forward products that have a huge world and US Market potential. Let's face it -- most of the components are made in Chine (China) and what technical approaches the Chinese lack, they simply "liberate". I actually think sources in the Ukraine could put a rig like this on your operating desk.
I doubt seriously a US Manufacturer can do it for under $1000. Despite what's his name touts, US Manufacturers simply are not geared for FBC, and it is not something you pick up at a seminar in Muscatine, IA, and implement at a plant in Lake Charles, LA, one week later.
So, assuming the PMR-171 is not vaporware and operates to the published specifications then this is the next generation of radios to replace the IC-7300 (which is made in Japan).
Them that know can make it go.
73's
Pete N6QW