Just to jump in. I had a Kenwood TS-430 and I was able to make it's
receiver perform better the spec by cleaning up the receiver board. I had
no idea how GOOD a radio my Paragon II was until I got it on the same
antenna as the Kenwood and the Collins KWM-2A. The Paragon pulls the weak
DX out and makes it sound like local traffic. I now have the Paragon II, a
Corsair II and the KWM-2A, but the TS-430S no longer made the grade.
The Omni VI is by spec and by reports a better receiver then either of my
two older Ten Tecs. I'm very happy with my Ten Tecs and I'm an electrical
engineer. Don't need the Japanese bells and whistles. With Ten Tec I get
what I need to chase DX on SSB.
Some one on the list wanted to trade an Orion for a Collins S-Line and as
much as I like the old Collins, I would gladly make the trade. Might even
consider it for an Omni VI station.
I don't think you can go wrong with the Omni VI, most who own them would not
part with them unless they were going to the next newer Ten Tec radio.
I read the reflector and see a lot of so called problems, but I'm betting
that most Orion and Omni users would not trade there equipment for any of
the Japanese equivalents.
73 Rick (converted to Ten Tec / native of Tennessee) N4ASX
-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces@contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com]
On Behalf Of Ten-Tec Inc. Amateur Radio Sales
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 10:07 AM
To: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Re Please tell me about the TT Omni VI+
At 07:51 PM 9/29/04 -0400, you wrote:
>Rob:
>I think your comments about the Omni VI are helpful, objective and fair.
>That is why they don't go over well with Scott. Factory reps will seldom
>admit the shortcomings of their products. They will almost always blame
>the user, not the product and they will never admit that a competitor has
>a better product.
Steve - where in any of my comments did blame the user for problems or
issues that
they are having with the Omni-VI and RF? We were discussing RF in the
audio for the
Omni-VI. The original poster said that this could be a problem depending
on the
installation and could be corrected by the user at their installation. I
didn't point that out;
it was pointed out by K5UJ in a 2003 message and I stated that I
agreed. This
also is not commonly something we see with the Omni-VI. Do a Google search
with
"Omni VI" and various combinations of words like "RF feedback" "grounding"
"RF in
audio" etc. and see how much data was posted to the Internet over the past
several
years. I can save you the trouble by telling you the answer is very
little. I also pointed
out that this is NOT commonly an issue we see with the Omni-VI.
Ten-Tec is an engineering-driven company. We like facts, and
numbers. When our numbers are significantly better
for receiver performance than other transceivers are - then we have
accomplished our primary goal. Anyone is
free to disagree with us on design philosophy, screen color, the company
itself, etc. The discussion about the
Omni-VI started with KC9CDT asking about SSB DXing and the Omni-VI. For
DXing, receiver performance
is paramount. Our receiver performance in the Omni-VI is better than most
every rig created to date. That's
a fact, backed up by plenty of independent test data. If someone else
thinks the usability of the radio isn't as
good because they don't like the features on the radio - that's
fine. That's why there are a host of other
companies out there building amateur radio equipment besides us.
>Scott has now stooped to the point of tuning the bands, listening for key
>clicks from Icom rigs and sending email from the company's mail server to
>the "offending" station, being sure to mention the brand and model of the
>Icom rig. I know this because I got one of his emails. I will not bother
>denying that the rig has clicks
Steve - I don't tune the bands listening for anything. I don't have enough
free time to even get on the air and work people, much less tune around
looking for trashy signals. And when I heard you on 80 CW on Sunday night,
your signal sounded
bad. I knew your email address so I sent you a private email telling you
that you have a pronounced thump on the leading edge of your signal and key
clicks extending above that. If I recall correctly, your QSO with W1AAX on
Sunday consisted of discussing CW keying problems you were having with your
current transceiver and a new amplifier you had purchased. What I didn't
do was get onto a public forum and point that out - you did. And you've
said above that you're aware the rig has key clicks. If you're aware of
it, and I sent you a private email pointing it out - what exactly is the
issue? Shouldn't the response have been a return email saying "I'm aware
of it and I'm figuring out how to solve it"?
>but will point out that if you make too many negative comments about "his
>products" you can expect a response. Do they have a right to respond? Of
>course but most corporations tend to avoid public conflict and I think
>Scott sometimes goes over the line of good policy.
We are in a much different, much smaller industry where personal
relationships form the backbone of what we do. You'll note that I do not
get on here and debate the merits and demerits of our equipment on a
regular basis. I don't get on here and rebut the long discussions about
the Orion firmware - I leave it all aside. There is a long stream of
critical comments about our equipment along with the good stuff on the
Ten-Tec reflector - how often do I argue with people about the critical
commentary? The answer is - not very often at all.
When the conversation turns to facts - I am going to pop up every time and
defend us when factual information is called into doubt. When a statement
is made that the "Omni-VI is prone to RF in the audio" and I know that to
not be the case, it is my duty to say so. You are free to disagree with
me. I work here, I've been here for 9 years and I tend to be very aware of
what are, and what are not, issues with our transceivers and whether or not
they have been discussed in public forums on the 'net. Search the Internet
for relevant discussion on the topic - that's always helpful. Discussion
over not liking features on the radio, the display, anything that tends to
be opinion I am going to let go. When someone comes along and says "the
receiver in X is better than this Ten-Tec, I don't believe the numbers,
it's not real-world radio use" - that is going to get a response each time.
>As for the INRAD kit I mentioned. My intent was to simply use the fact
>that INRAD makes a kit to correct the problem to substantiate that there
>is indeed a problem.
If that was your intention, it would have better to simply state that. The
Inrad kit for the Omni-VI makes the overall SSB audio response of the radio
a little bit more uniform. We feel that the receiver audio in the Omni-VI
was adequate and we never changed it. Inrad felt they could do something
low cost to slightly improve the radio. There is a difference between
doing a modification to slightly improve something and a service issue for
poor audio quality inherent to the radio.
>And as for RFI shielding. I've had almost every rig TenTec ever made and
>they often fall short in this area. It's almost like the engineers invited
>RFI problems by putting plastic washers under the top and bottom cover
>screws and as you mentioned, little if any bypassing. I remember some mods
>for the Omni V that involved redressing wires to prevent audio transients
>when keying and power supplies that couldn't be placed on one side of the
>rig due to magnetic coupling. These things we just put up with or modify
>them ourselves since we like other things about the rig so much that we
>just overlook the faults.
>So Rob, we may get some flames because of our apparent lack of company
>loyalty but truth must prevail.
>
>
>Steve N4LQ
As I said - everyone is entitled to their opinion. And I completely
disagree with you.
Scott Robbins
W4PA
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