TBR001A Squad Leader VHF FM Transceiver

TBR001A Squad Leader VHF FM transceiver (TBR001A 班长电台) is a much-improved version of the TBR001 radio.  The radio itself is completely redesigned, only antenna, battery unit, headset and charging station are come from TBR-001 radio.  It borrowed some design elements from TBR115 so that it is more like a smaller version of TBR-115 radio.  It was introduced into PLA infantry unit around 2000.  It is designed to communicate between squad leaders and platoon/company commanders.  It could also be used as a repeater in the battle field.

It weighs about 470 g with antenna and battery.  The radio body itself (with battery) is measured 148x55x35 mm. It operates on frequency range of 46.5 MHz to 49.5 MHz.  There are 10 preset channels (channel 1 – 8 for communication and channel 9/10 for repeater), however it required another device to set the channel frequency.  There is a speaker and PTT control on the radio so that the radio could be operated without a headset.  The output power is 0.1W on low and 0.5w on high, and normal communication distance is about 1000 meters. 

The radio is powered by a 7.2V battery unit attached to bottom of the radio, same as that on TBR001 radio.   Inside the battery unit, there are 6 AA size rechargeable NiCd batteries.  The later production replaced the NiCd batteries with rechargeable Lithium batteries.  There are two control knobs on top of the radio, one is for channel selection and the other one serves as a power switch, a volume control and transmit power setting control, and squelch setting control. 

The TBR001 transceiver is still in service with PLA infantry units.  Requiring another device to set the channel is the biggest drawback of this radio.  Without such a specific device, I cannot even reset my radio’s channels.  It is nowadays being replaced by more modern TBR002 VHF FM Squad Leader Radio.