Jan Ditzian wrote:
> I have an Omni VI that will be upgraded, one way or the other. I am
> thinking of Option 1, the cheap way to go. Has anyone gone this
> route,
> and do you regret it?
I have the Option 1 upgrade. I'm very happy with it. The new 3-menu
system is more convenient. It's nice to have different tuning speeds for
CW vs. everything else. The Noise Reduction (NR) is *fabulous*,
especially on CW. It's nice to have two default audio Low Pass (LP)
filter positions--I use 600 Hz for CW, and 1400 Hz for SSB when I just
want to take the edge off some adjacent-channel "monkey chatter" and the
PBT cuts off too much desired audio.
It really boils down to whether or not you want the extra 9 mHz narrow
filter. If you do, send the radio in for Option 3 and pay the price. If
you don't, Option 1 is fine, only costs $75, and involves swapping 2 chips
and sticking stickers on three buttons. On the other hand, if I was going
to send my radio in for repair *anyway*, I'd probably spring for the extra
50 bucks and get the nice new buttons (Option 2).
The only real Option 1 annoyance is that the audio low-pass filter has no
indicator light. The way they arranged the buttons on the *factory*
upgrades, the VOX buttons moved to the right-hand column, and the Noise
Reduction and Low Pass filters are in the left-hand column where there are
little LEDs to indicate on/off.
The Option 1 upgrade places little stickers for NR, LP and one other
function over buttons in the right hand column. When Noise Reduction is
on, it illuminates the extra decimal point at the rightmost digit on the
display. But the Low Pass filter has no constant indicator. When you turn
it on or off, the display briefly flashes "Noise Reduction On" (or Off),
but that's it.
Theoretically, it's easy to hear the amplifier hiss in 500 Hz or tighter
bandwidth, and thus know by ear if the NR is on or not. In practice, I've
left it on by mistake. So if I'm in any doubt, I just hit the button,
observe the on/off status, and hit the button again if necessary.
If I wanted to be really picky, I carp that Ten-Tec *could* have used the
decimal point of the tens of Megahertz digit as an NR indicator. But in
reality, it's a small price to pay for not having to send the radio in.
73,
Peter - KD7MW
---
Peter A. Klein (pklein@seattleu.edu) : -----==3== --- ---
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