After 13 years with my faithful TS-930S's, I just bought a new
FT-1000MP at the Charlotte NC Hamfest (show price was $2600 for the basic
AC-powered unit and I also added both 500 Hz Collins filters for the main
and sub RX's). I had recently concluded that I needed a transceiver
with sub-RX capablity for contests (and besides W3LPL wouldn't let me
use my TS-930 in M/M's anymore since it has no computer interface, hi).
I really had no intention of buying a radio when I went to the
show but I picked up the "Technical Overview" Brochure and the following
caught my eye under CW Pitch Control: "Unlike some competing designs,
the FT-1000MP can be aligned lower in freqeuncy, with a a total range of
300-1050 Hz (in 50 Hz steps), allowing operators who like to listen to
low tones to do so." Just as in the 930, the front panel pitch control
simultaneously centers the RX passband, changes the TX offset, and the
pitch of the sidetone in the receiver. FINALLY, after 13 years, someone
is listening! Not everyone likes listening to 400 Hz and above with the
inconvenience of adjusting pitch via menus, internal dip switches, etc.
(and no, I haven't felt compelled to buy an IC-781 just to get this, hi.)
300 Hz is not as low as the 930 goes but it's in the right ballpark.
First impressions after a couple of evenings on 160 CW:
Plus:
--front end seems very tight with absolutely no hints of overload...yet.
Waiting for a humongous 160 pileup for the acid test!
--EDSP stuff really does help dig out sub noise floor signals.
--some combinations of SHIFT & WIDTH are almost magical in enhancing signals.
--"diversity" paralleling of main and sub RX using different filters can
be very helpful with really weak signals.
--the 1830 birdie I hear with the 930 seems to be virtually nonexistent.
This must be due to the tuned lowband preamp cutting off at 1.8 Mhz.
Minus:
--the SPOT tone sounds like a square wave compared to the transmit tone
through MONI. Not good for zero-beating when you have bad distortion
in the SPOT tone. Anyone know of a fix for this?
--I'm not sure I like the STEREO 1 audio. The main RX still sounds shifted
to my left ear even when NOT using the sub RX. Is this is normal or am
I going deaf in one ear after all these years on 160?
Neutral:
--the tuning indicator lacks the range to be adjusted for a 300 Hz offset.
I guess I can still zero beat signals anyway after 40 years without it.
Bottom line, I am very impressed so far. I've now ordered both
sets of 2 kHz and 250 Hz filters and will keep studying to learn all the
features of this radio...it will probably be awhile before I really
learn its full capabilities.
73, Bill W4ZV
P.S. Does anyone know the orientation for the 500 HZ sub RX filter?
I installed it with the lettering upside down but wonder if anyone
knows the correct orientation for certain.
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