A bimodal power data link transceiver device (33) is provided. The device comprises a transceiver integrated circuit (IC) (14); wherein the IC comprises an oscillator (150), a frequency reference port, and a RF output port. A VCO (12) is coupled to the oscillator and a direct digital synthesizer (15) is coupled to the frequency reference port. The combination allows the IC to operate below 200 MHz. In addition, an external power amplifier (19) is connected to the RF output port thus allowing for burst RF communications at a higher power than the quiescent receive mode.