I read with a great deal of interest John's comments on the Scout. I am
seeking advise as to whether a new Scout would be appropriate for my
type of operating.
I operate exclusively CW. I like to operate at all speeds up to about 50
wpm or so. I have Ten Tec Models 540 and 544 and love them both. I have
not had much experience on different rigs, but I really like these
radios. I especially like the simplicity, the QSK and the excellent
receiver. I also like the Ten Tec organization, having gone through
their facility at Sevierville several times. They completely worked over
the 540 at a very reasonable price so I feel that their service is
unsurpassed. I suppose I should be content with the Tritons, but I would
like a rig that is a little more compact and has the WARC bands,
especially 30 meters.
I purchased a Scout when they first came out. It jumped frequencies
quite a bit. Ten Tec advised that the microprocessor was causing the
problem and they replaced it with a newer version. It still jumped, but
not as bad. I also remember reading in the manual that some frequency
drift could be expected at higher operating speeds. Ten Tec graciously
refunded my money and I vowed that when Ten Tec brought out a Scout (or
comparable transceiver) that was steady on frequency I would buy one.
I really liked the receiver on the Scout and the Jones filter. Of
course the simplicity was exactly what I was looking for. The only
problem was the frequency instability (an RF gain control would be nice,
but I can live without that). I have recently worked some Scouts on the
air that have seemed to be fairly stable with very minor changes in pitch
during the course of the QSO. However, these QSO's were at speeds of 20
to 25 wpm.
I noticed a while back on this reflector that Ten Tec has made some
changes in the new Scouts (e.g. surface mount technology). I'm wondering
if Ten Tec has solved the frequency jump on the new Scouts. And, is the
new Scout now suitable for CW operation to 40 or so wpm.
Is now the time for me to buy that new Scout?
73,
Jerry, KD4PUP
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