I had my hands on a Pegasus at the Ten-Tec factory last week. I had not seen
the one at Dayton, so I was anxious to play with this new rig from T-T.
I have never owned a "virtual radio", but I must say I was quite fascinated
by the Pegasus. It is packed with features; you can look at a "sweep" of the
band, see signals and take a look at any of them with a simple mouse-click.
And it will Transmit on the MARS frequencies, if you are authorized to use
them. When you consider what you can buy for $900 from any other source in a
100-watt transceiver, with general-coverage receive, all modes (including
FSK) and with multiple filters built in and having the ability to upgrade by
flashing the ROM, you are going to find a VERY limited field of choices.
I think that buying the tuning-knob/keypad would be a have-to. As a matter
of fact, I think T-T should have included it, even if it meant upping the
price a bit.
It lacks the ability to bandswitch the Hercules (or any other amp) or any
other equipment, but that might be possible through the computer itself with
the proper software.
And it is going to be a while before the programmers out there come up with
an interface to their software (XPWare for Windows; Hyperlog; EZTerm)so that
I can use my PK-900 or Kam+ with fully integrated logging and all the other
features, but it will come, I think.
In the meantime, don't write the Pegasus off too quickly. I believe it has a
future in ham radio. Yes it is not an Omni VI+, but the orders are rolling
in even though it will not be available for another 3 or 4 weeks.
73,
BUDD, W5BEN
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