From: wrb@cbnews.cb.att.com (wallace.r.blackburn)
Subject: Re: Good HF rigs
Organization: AT&T
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 20:25:09 GMT

In article <01GOM4OFBMEQ9AMT4Y@TNTECH.BITNET> JMG%TNTECH.BITNET@cunyvm.cuny.edu (Jeff M. Gold) writes:
>This has probably been discussed before, but I am hopefully
>going to purchase a new (or used) HF rig.
>
>I work mainly CW, but also RTTY and AMTOR... and SSB in
>contests sometimes, and some SSB ragchewing and DXing. I
>like an ocassional CW contest also.
>
>After investigating I think I would like something like the
>Yaesu 990, or Kenwood 850 or Ten Tec.
>
>What are peoples actually experiences and pros and cons.
>
>Of course I would now be hesitant about the 850 if Kenwood's
>service is so bad.
>
>Thanks
>
>73s de Cookeville, TN
>Jeff, AC4HF
>JMG@TNTECH

I'll put in my $0.02.  I posted the original Kenwood 850 story, so my
feelings are known there.  Just to be sure though, I had absolutely no
problem with the fact that the rig failed.  Modern transceivers are complex
pieces of equipment and some will always have problems.  It was "the
service after the sale" I lamented about.  By the way, I finally got
through to Kenwood's customer relations folks.  The bottom line is I
shouldn't have waited to talk to them before I sent it in because they
didn't promise any special treatment or time because this is the second
time around.

With that out of the way, let me tell you about my new Ten Tec Omni VI!  I
got it last week and have had some (limited ) time to play with it.  I
won't lay out technical details because they've been posted.

I've used it only on CW, but I've listened to some SSB just to check it
out.  Based on my limited experience, it is a dream on CW.  I have the 500
Hz filter in the one available 2nd IF slot and the 250 Hz and 2.4 kHz
installed for the other IF.  I can still install the 500 Hz and 1.8 kHz in
the the first IF.  You select one of these and the 2nd one is off/on.

Everything is on the front panel.  What doesn't have a knob is set by a
simple setup program.  To enter the setup routine, you press and hold the
LOCK button for 1 second.  You then toggle through the parameters with the
ENTER key.  You use the up and down arrow keys to change settings for a
parameter.  This routine is for things that don't get changed often such as
serial port baud rate, how it announces the mode selections (CW, beep, or
off), the cutoff for the DSP low-pass filter, etc.

I've been running the DSP filter at its lowest cutoff (600 Hz).  It really
reduces the high-frequency QRN.  Your head doesn't fell like its vibrating
after having the headphones on in the 40 meter novice band for an hour.
That's how I first checked it out.  I found a guy calling CQ on 7110 and
went back.  This is a horrible place to work anytime, especially during the
summer.  I used the 250 Hz and the 500 Hz filters cascaded.  The guy was S5
and it was very easy to copy him.  He gave me an S8, but after about 15-20
minutes he said the noise was just too much for him!  A couple of days ago
I had a QSO with a guy about 100 miles away (ground wave?) on 40.  He was
S0 - the meter didn't budge, but we had a nice long QSO.  Of course, the
bands were dead so interference from others was lessened anyway.

To check out the AUTOMATIC notch filter, I tuned in one of the Hispanic
guys running SSB in the CW portion of 40 with a strong CW signal
right on top of him.  I punched the auto filter in and I could hear him
clear as anything (I still don't know what he was saying ;).  The CW
sounded basically like key clicks.

One of the smartest things Ten Tec did was add the second serial port.
They kept the original RS-232 port compatible with the OMNI-V (but which no
software supports).  But they also added a two-wire serial port completely
compatible with the Icom CI-V system!  Now you can use it with CT and other
programs by telling the program you've got an ICOM 735.  I'm not sure what
"extended commands" it supports yet, but I played around with just
frequency changing under CT and it worked great.  I said 735 because it
comes with the default address of a 735 (0x04).  I'm not sure how to change
it yet.  It should be able to change filter settings, etc. also though.

Well, I've rambled on long enough.  E-mail with any specific questions.



			73 de AA8DX

			wrb@ccsitn.att.com