Tmate2 – external CAT console

SDR recievers and transcievers often suffer from the lack of a proper interface with the user;  the computer’s mouse and keyboard do not offer the same warm feeling of direct control as a proper knob and a nice set of firm buttons for some users, therefore external consoles have found their way to the market.

One of those consoles is the Woodboxradio Tmate, wich is out there for some time now, connects to the computer via USB and can control anything CAT/Vcom compatible, PowerSDR and most transcievers included. It is basically a nice little box with one knob and 4 programmable buttons, nothing fancy, and for 189 Euro it fill your need to grasp something not virtual while you talk to your other ham radio friends.

Now enter the Tmate2, wich is the same thing on steroids and Chernobyl radiation at the same time: it grew a few more smaller knobs, a few more buttons and a nice LCD display with frequency indication, mode, s-meter and a few other useful bits. No other info on what it can or should do, but looks like a nice complement to the latest SDR transcievers and i dare to say, almost necessary if you plan to do serious operating with your PC-based SDR.