For one thing, it ought to be a felony to use Roman numerals in equipment
nomenclature. The Romans did it, and look what happened to those guys.......
they ended up a bunch of Italians!
LXXIII, Jim Allen W6OGC
Sent from my iPad
> On Sep 3, 2016, at 02:14, rick@dj0ip.de <Rick@DJ0IP.de> wrote:
>
> No radio with a dark, almost black front panel is ergonomic. The first time
> I sat down at a TS-850 at Field Day, I quit operating within 5 minutes. I
> had forgotten my reading glasses and for the life of me, couldn't read the
> tiny print on its front panel.
>
> We are not at war in our ham shack and don't need to camouflage our radios.
> A light background with dark print is the easiest thing for eyes to read.
>
> If you don't have bad eyes, you probably see it differently.
> (PUN intended)
>
>
> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Greg S via
> TenTec
> Sent: Friday, September 02, 2016 9:45 PM
> To: k9yc@arrl.net; tentec@contesting.com; Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> Cc: Greg S
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] I hate to say it but...
>
> 1. They never made an Omni V+. (RTFM)2. I concur, the TS-850S was also
> ergonomic for me. 3. I will suggest, if you used your KX3, for several years,
> and never used your K3, you would say the opposite about their UI's. You
> "like" the K3 because you are used to it. The older one gets, the more likely
> one is to "like" what they are familiar with....... and forget some things.
> Like Roman Numeral designations of TenTec rigs. ;-) 73-Greg, KC8HXO
>
>
> From: Jim Brown <k9yc@audiosystemsgroup.com>
> To: tentec@contesting.com
> Sent: Friday, September 2, 2016 2:12 PM
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] I hate to say it but...
>
> How we view ergonomics is a very personal thing. Itis strongly affected by
> what we're used to, to how our minds work, and what we do with our radios.
> ICOM's is different from Yaesu's, which is different from Kenwood, which is
> different from Ten Tec. The last rigs I've owned from these companies (in the
> order I mentioned them) are the 746, the FT1000MP, the TS850, and the Omni
> V+. The UI that I liked the least was the 746, the MP was better, and Omni V+
> was third, and the Kenwood UI was the one I liked the best.
>
> Enter the Elecraft K2, which my friends, including NY9H, were telling me was
> the new big thing, and I bought one (no time to build it, I was running my
> own small biz). This was 2003, and my other radio was the Omni V+, also
> bought used. The K2 is tiny by comparison to any of those other radios, so
> get all the functions and controls we need, buttons and controls had to do
> double, triple, and even quadruple duty. Think about the functionality of
> early handheld GPS units; my primary GPS is still a wonderful handheld
> Garmin that runs on AA batteries, has a full set of maps (I had to buy them),
> has great sensitivity, and does waypoints. 8 buttons total. Can you say
> SLOOOW? But I love it because it runs on AAs, it does waypoints, and it
> tracks me walking on trails!
>
> That K2 got my brain used to the control logic that was greatly expanded and
> refined for the K3. The target market for the K3 is the high end user who
> doesn't have high end bucks. It's highly modular, and it is MUCH smaller and
> lighter than other high end radios. I'm part of the target market -- very
> demanding of performance, take my radios out in the field so I really
> appreciate the compact size and weight, also have limited space on my
> operating desk for two complete stations, and that compactness and modularity
> helps there too.
>
> I do NOT find the K3 UI in any way limiting or frustrating. Perhaps that's
> because I RTFM before I start using a new product, whatever it is. I was
> unable to RTFM when I sat down in front of an Orion at a friend's contest
> station, so I had no idea what to do with it. And I never made a QSO with it.
> The K3 (and K3S) UI meshes ideally with MY operating style, MY mindset. Yes,
> I nearly always go the wrong way round the mode toggle. But as to changing
> bands and modes, the K3 and K3S have a bunch of memories that can be easily
> programmed (if you RTFM) to hold a bunch of standard setups. These radios can
> be set to remember power and other settings by band, and some by mode.
>
> And once I've set up my radio for a given station (or on FD for the
> preferences of the operators, the mic/cans we'll be using and where we plug
> them in), there's zero need to access the menus. In 2008, when the
> K3 was a brand new radio, Elecraft loaned a bunch of them to the VP6DX
> expedition, and K3NA sat the team down to give them a half hour class on the
> new radio. He then sat them down in front of the radios, and later reported
> that these experienced operators from all over the world felt comfortable
> with the new radios almost immediately, and found them very logical and easy
> to operate.
>
> The UI in the K3 and K3S (virtually the same) is, by far, the best of any
> radio I've ever used. Operationally, I find it no more complicated than my
> S38D, my BC348, and my HQ129X, all of which did a LOT less! It's FAR easier
> to control bandwidth and move the IF around than in the Omni
> V+, the FT1000MP, or the TS850. There's a built-in keyer, also very
> adjustable (from the menu), with a front panel knob for speed. My Omni
> V+ lacked a keyer. A very good antenna tuner is an option in the K3; my
> Omni V+ lacked an antenna tuner. The K3 and K3S have an optional 2nd RX that
> is equal in performance to the main RX. The only shortcoming of that 2nd RX
> is that you DO need to mess with the menus to adjust it. OR
> -- with two quick pushes of the A>B button, you can transfer all settings of
> the main RX to the 2nd RX. AND -- I can set up BOTH receivers with the NB and
> NR turned on. That can be a VERY big deal if you use diversity mode and one
> or both of your RX antennas is noisy.
>
> I also own a KX3, a far more compact radio than even the K3/K3S, and each of
> the buttons and knobs has even more multiple functions. I don't use this
> radio much, so I find the UI frustrating at times. But it's a very powerful
> radio, it fits in the pocket of my winter jacket, and I've loaned it to a
> friend who, with help from XYL and W6JTI, have dragged it up a 2-3 mile trail
> that gains 1,000 ft elevation, along with its 100W amp, batteries, antenna,
> and coax! Try doing that with an Omni VI+. :)
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
>
>> On Fri,9/2/2016 2:39 AM, Barry N1EU wrote:
>> The front panel ergonomics on the K3 is a nightmare compared to the
>> Omni
>> 6+, which has perhaps the best front panel EVER. FWIW, I've owned
>> 6+them
>> both for many years.
>
>
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