Hi Lee,
We have very similar interest indeed.
I didn't get into the vintage side of my equipment in my last post. I have that
equipment
just for fun. I have an Hammarlund HQ 180 paired with a Johnson Ranger II.
The Gold Dust Twins, A KWM2, A Drake 2B paired with a Johnson Navigator,
An Heathkit SB 301/401 combo with a SB 303 side kick, AN Heath HW 16, HW 7, HW
8 and HW 9
as well as all of the TT power mites and I have a rare TT RX 10 paired with the
TX 100 with M 200 VFO.
Back in high school, I drooled over the Collins and Drake gear in QST but could
not afford any of it.
I managed to get a Ten Tec PM 2 transceiver and I was so proud of my little
station with a radio shack hand key,
and a couple of dipoles hanging from my parents chimney. When the QSL cards
started coming in from stations I
worked with my little station, I was so excited. It was hard to stay on task
with school work but I managed.
Ten Tec survived when all of the other US companies, Drake, Hammarlund,
Heathkit, Collins and others went by the wayside.
Had it not been for affordable rigs from TT, I would have missed out on a lot
of fun.
I am so pleased that even today they, Ten Tec offer inexpensive and well
performing QRP kits.
Who knows when the next snotty nosed young teen will have the bug bite and find
a solution for his or her budget at Ten Tec?
Personally, I hope MANY will.. We sure could use some new blood in our hobby!!
I went to the Ten Tec Hamfest last weekend and could not help but to notice how
old WE are all getting. I got licensed when I was 14
and turned 55 last January.. Much of my time went into playing with radios and
a lot of that was Ten Tec gear..
I may be real disappointed that Ten Tec has not come out with the real time
band scope for the Omni 7 but all in all
Ten Tec is one great company with a great past and many very decent products of
which most of us, on this reflector, use daily.
73,
Glenn WA4AOS
DSM Labs
-----Original Message-----
From: kc9cdt <kc9cdt@aol.com>
To: tentec <tentec@contesting.com>; wb8yqj <wb8yqj@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wed, Sep 28, 2011 7:11 am
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Glen,
Very interesting for sure...
I too have TT and several vintage rigs which I have restored/improved.
The Orion II is my main station and I find it superb in every way
except...wanting the pan adapter and the NR and NB still are not up to
par.
I love the audio it is very nice for SS rig. I like a big radio...so
the K3 while very capable is not for me.
Then, my next love here is my drake C line with all the Sherwood mods
except the FS4 one......That is one contest grade setup as well.
I also enjoy the Collins KWM-2, Halli SX-115/HT-32B...Halli Sx117/HT44,
and the SR-150.
73,
Lee, KC9CDT
-----Original Message-----
From: Glenn <wa4aos@aol.com>
To: wb8yqj <wb8yqj@yahoo.com>; tentec <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Wed, Sep 28, 2011 11:01 am
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Hi Don,
One thing I am setting up for, in particular, is logic board work for
the Omni 6
and the Paragon series.
I have built 4 test beds with special adapters that I fabricated to
raise
components above the surface of the board, once removed for testing.
I am using a logic analyzer and have stored all of the state
transitions that
occur on the processor busses once functions are invoked on the front
panel or
during encoder rotation,
The schematic for the Omni 6 had a number of errors and I have redraw
an over
sized version for my lab.
Finally, I have procured at least 30 pieces of every IC on the Omni 6
logic
board as well as the zeners, diodes and transistors.
At the customers request, I can replace any removed IC's with good
quality
machined IC sockets so future replacement of that part will be easy.
I have discovered a number of reoccurring faults and in my opinion
those IC's
should go into sockets once failed.
On one of my Omni 6+ here, I replaced every IC with a machined socket,
24 total,
and new IC's, I did extensive testing to make sure
I saw no extra racket on the spectrum analyzer with the small addition
of lead
lengths that the sockets would possibly generate. Absolutely nothing
negative
was realized.
I do have a number of fixes to reduce the racket that the processor
board
generates and some of those are listed on the Internet.
Bottom line, is personally, I think the Omni 6 and Corsair have two of
the best
receivers for Ham bands ever offered.
Both are a little different and both have advantages and weaknesses,
this is why
my shack has 2 Omni 6+'s, 2 Corsair II's, 2 Paragon II's a Drake C line
with
Sherwood/DSM mods
and several of my R 390A receivers that I have restored. I had several
K3's and
although they performed very well, I could never get used to it's RASPY
audio.
I also had an Omni 7 and just sold it after waiting nearly 5 years for
the real
time band scope that never materialized. I will replace it with the
small Flex
just for the band scope.
Many areas of technology have certainly improved with digital
technology. And
the Orion, in my opinion, is a very good example of this. However, the
only DSP
derived IF that I have been able to tolerate so far
has been the Orion. Out side of it they all give me a headache to
listen too.
The other rigs I have are the ones I use because they don't.
At this point of my life, I can afford anything I want to occupy space
in my
shack. I have had Kenwood, Yaesu, Icom, AOR and other rigs. Personally,
for one
reason or another,
Ten Tec and modified Drake C lines are what I prefer and is where my
dollars are
invested. Your mileage may vary.. hi hi
73,
Glenn WA4AOS
DSM Labs
-----Original Message-----
From: Don Rasmussen <wb8yqj@yahoo.com>
To: Glenn <wa4aos@aol.com>
Sent: Tue, Sep 27, 2011 9:04 pm
Subject: Re: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
You should see what they are consuming around here Glen!
I am so glad I asked. I have a pair of Corsair II, an OMNI 6+, a pair
of C lines
and a B line.
Some of this gear will need work beyond what I can do at some point,
and I
really enjoy using it.
I have a bunch of capacitors from Hayseed Hamfest, kits for all of the
receivers
and the B line needs it first.
Will be saving your info - especially for parts solutions on that 6+,
and for
possible help with the Corsairs - I have had instances in the past
where TenTec
refused to work on even lightly modified gear!!!
73,
Don
;-)
--- On Tue, 9/27/11, Glenn <wa4aos@aol.com> wrote:
From: Glenn <wa4aos@aol.com>
Subject: Re: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
To: wb8yqj@yahoo.com
Date: Tuesday, September 27, 2011, 8:34 PM
Don,
"personal consumption"????? I didn't know they were to be eaten???
You guys in CA??????
I have a business, DSM Labs, where I service and restore certain radio
equipment.
Primary R 390, R 390A and R 392 receivers. However, I do restore
Corsairs,
Corsair II's, Paragon's and Omni 6 transceivers. I would like to do
more with
Drake C line work but have not had time recently.
Oh....., I have a about 12 or so pairs of those too...
How do you cook a Corsair in California ! ! ! ! Lot's of pepper I
bet..
Oh, I actually have 18 Corsair's including both models.. You could
have more
Corsairs too if only you didn't consume them.. hi
Glenn WA4AOS
DSM Labs
-----Original Message-----
From: Don Rasmussen <wb8yqj@yahoo.com>
To: wa4aos <wa4aos@aol.com>
Sent: Tue, Sep 27, 2011 7:05 pm
Subject: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Glenn, please tell me what you are doing with so many Corsair II's?
I only have two. ;-)
But that is still under the acceptable count for "personal consumption".
Don in Carlsbad, Ca.
Glenn <wa4aos@aol.com>
Reply-to: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2011 16:59:12 -0400 (EDT)
List-post: <tentec@contesting.com">mailto:tentec@contesting.com>
Hi Jerry,
I received the (10 ) display clock replacement boards for the Corsair
II.
I am very impressed with the layout, silk screening and general
machining of
the board.
This is truly a first class effort and Thanks for you part of getting
this done.
Shame the other boards in the Corsairs are not as nice as this one Hi
Hi.
Now I can start refurbishing the 20 or so Corsairs I have in stock..
73,
Glenn WA4AOS
DSM Labs
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