Ten Tec Gear "lovers" and experts --
A week ago I asked about the lineage and
production dates for Ten Tec HF amateur
radio transceivers.
Below (as I promised) is a summary of
the information collated from the discussion
on the list and from other sources available
to me (plus a few interpretations of my own).
This summary is by no means complete and
in much need of correction and updates.
Please provide a copy of all comments and
suggestions back to me (K9IUA@juno.com)
personally for editing. (I would hate to miss
or overlook some information if it just shared
to the list.)
I hope I have provided a meaningful summary
and starting point for further development.
Cheers/73. Kevin, K9IUA
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Summary (DRAFT) Discussion regarding
the Lineage of Ten Tec HF Amateur Equipment
*******************************************
Ten Tec Amateur HF Transceivers
The following is an attempt at describing the lineage
and characteristics of HF amateur radio transcievers
as manufactured by Ten Tec.
This summary is based on discussions held on the Ten Tec
e-mail reflector list (January 2001), material on the
"unofficial" Ten Tec web site, and various other sources.
This summary is in three parts: (a) order of development/
production; (b) "lineage" of transceivers (grouping into
to market segments or basic design evolution); and
(c) design innovations/considerations (basic engineering
specifications).
Collated 13 January 2001, by Kevin Anderson, K9IUA
K9IUA@juno.com
**** Draft Version for review ****
=================================================================
A. Order of development/production:
-----------------------------------
[Dates indicate year of production start, if known
(dates in parenthesis are QST or CQ reviews);
Most of the start-production dates have question marks.]
"Hollow state" (TX-100, RX-10, VFO-200) -- Late 1960s
Powermite series
-- modules TX-1, MX-1, VO-1, AA-1 -- 1969?
-- models PM-1, PM-2 / PM-2A / PM-2B, PM-3 / PM-3A -- 1969/1970
Argonaut 505 -- 1971
Argonaut 509 -- ?
Triton I/II -- mid-1970s? (is the Triton II before or after C21?)
Century 21 Analog -- 1976? (12/77)
Argonaut 515 -- c1978/1979
Triton IV 540/544 -- 1979? (7/79)
Omni A -- 1979?
Delta 580 -- 1979?
Century 21 Digital -- ??
Omni D -- 1979? or 1980?
Argosy 525 -- 1980? (10/80)
Omni A Series B / Omni D Series B -- ?
Omni C -- ??
Corsair I -- 1982?
Argosy II 525D -- 1982 (10/82)
Century 22 -- 1984? (5/85)
Corsair II -- 1987? (8/87)
Paragon I 585 -- 1988? (5/88)
Omni V -- 1990? (11/90)
Argonaut II -- "Available Oct 1980"? (1/92)
Delta II -- "Available Nov 1980"? (1/92)
(I have a Ten Tec brochure that indicates the above two
availability dates for the Argonaut II / Delta II)
Omni VI -- 1992 (1/93)
Paragon II 586 -- sometime before July 1993
(I have a July 1993 price list with the 586 listed)
Scout 555 -- early 1993 (12/93)
(I have a July 1993 price list with the 555 listed)
Argo Scout 556 -- late 1993 or early 1994
Omni VI+ -- 1997? (11/97)
Pegasus -- late 1991? (2/2000)
Jupiter -- late 2000
-----------------------------------------------
B. Lineage of Transceivers
---------------------------
The following "lineage" view (I would suggest it is more
of an "intended audience" or market view) is modified from
Paul Valko, W8KC:
*=*=*=*
QRP Rigs
Power Mite 1, 2, 3 ==> Argonaut 505/509/515 ==> Argonaut II ==> Argo
||
==> Delta II (100W)
Mid-power
Century 21 ==> Century 22 ==> Argosy ==> Argosy II ==> Scout
Full-sixed/performance
Triton I => Triton II => Triton IV => Omni A/B/C => Corsair =>
(continued)
||
==> Delta
Corsair II => Omni V => Omni VI => Omni VI+
"Hollow State" station
TX-100, RX-10, VFO 200
PLL attempt
Paragon
Radio/PC hybrid
Pegasus ==> Jupiter
*=*=*=*
Kevin's comments on the above lineage:
>From a purely "market" orientation, Paul's category of "mid-power"
including the Century and Argosy series (ending in the Scout)
makes sense.
But from a technology standpoint there is really two series:
Mid-power (Novice?) CW-only (direct conversion):
(Powermites) ==> Century 21 ==> Century 21 Digital ==> Century 22
Mid-power CW/SSB (economical performance superhet):
(Argonauts/Triton/Omni) ==> Argosy ==> Argosy II ==> Scout
The transceivers indicated in parenthesis are, I suggest, the
antecedents for the Century and Argosy series. Further,
my sense, being the owner of a Century 22, Argosy II, and Scout
555, is that the Argosy, while sharing many of the same modules
as the C22, is definitely a different beast in overall design.
The outward appearance between a C22 and Argosy II is striking,
clearly acknowledging their period of time (1980-1985), but
the use of superhet (same 9 Mhz as other rigs) and inclusion of
SSB in the Argosy suggests parallel, not sequential, production.
Also, it should be noted that in the above listing, the 555 Scout
and 556 Argo Scout have a very different IF frequency as compared
to its predecessors, but do represent the commonality of mid-power
"economy" (or entry level) for a transciever market.
--------------------------------------
C. Design Innovations/Considerations:
-------------------------------------
The following, provided by Dave Kelley, NB4J (davek@psu.edu),
was originally created by him from notes collected from K0CQ
and N4PY about a year ago. Dave was interested in engineering
issues such as what types of front-end mixer and amplifier
circuits were used. (Also included is yet again another list
of the dates for QST/CQ reviews.)
Here is Dave's summary as sent to me:
*=*=*=*
Here's the information I've been able to gather. (Much of it
came from K0CQ and N4PY):
[Dates (mo/yr) are for QST Product Reviews]
Triton I: single conversion: IF at 9 MHz
Triton II: single conversion: IF at 9 MHz
Triton III: [no model carried this designation]
Triton IV (540/544-7/79): dual-gate MOSFET RF stage and MC1496 mixer;
single conversion: IF at 9 MHz
Omni A: single conversion: IF at 9 MHz;no WARC bands?
Omni D (1/80): single conversion: IF at 9 MHz;no WARC bands?
Omni A-B/D-B: single conversion: IF at 9 MHz;no WARC bands?
Omni C: 17-m not practical, single conversion: IF at 9 MHz; dual-gate
MOSFET RF amp, tunable preselector
Corsair I: 3 IF filters, same AGC system as Omni-C, dual conversion
(IFs at 9 and 6.3 MHz and then back to 9 MHz for PBT), stock 4-pole
9 MHz IF filter, PBT, diode ring mixer followed by transformer
feedback amplifier stage, band pass filters instead of tunable
preselector
Corsair II (8/87): same basic receiver, 3 IF filters, dual conversion,
stock 9 MHz IF filter upgraded to 8 poles, PBT,
audio filter, NB?, transformer feedback amplifier stages before and
after first mixer (diode ring), adds 3 selectable audio filters and
a notch filter within the AGC loop to Corsair I
Omni V (11/90): uses synthesizer rather than PTO; IFs at 9 and 6.3 MHz
(and then back to 9 MHz for PBT, like Corsairs)
Omni VI (1/93): added RIT, sidetone that follows CW offset, internal
keyer, low pass DSP filter to reduce IF hiss instead of "tone control",
increased microprocessor clock speed, crystal oven for xtal osc,
minor changes in firmware controlled items
Omni VI+ (11/97)
Paragon I (5/88)
Paragon II: upconversion to 45-75 MHz, then IFs at 9 and 6.3 MHz and
back to 9 MHz again for PBT
Pegasus (2/00): upconversion to 45 mHz, then IFs at 455 kHz and
12 kHz (the last for DSP)
Jupiter: upconversion to 45 mHz, then IFs at 455 kHz and
12 kHz (the last for DSP)
Powermites
Century 21 (12/77)
Century 22 (5/85)
Argonaut 505/509/515: single conversion: IF at 9 MHz
Argonaut II (1/92)
Delta 580: dual conversion: first IF is 11-11.5 MHz, second is
6.3 MHz (to solve Omni C 17 m problem); digital
readout does not sum all oscillators directly but is scaled - not
always accurate
Delta II (1/92)
Argosy I (10/80 or 82)
Argosy II: stock 4-pole 9? MHz IF filter; covers 80, 40, 30, 20, 15 &
10 meters; 2.4 kHz 8-pole SSB and 500 Hz 8-pole CW filter positions
and dual-position AF filter?
Argo
Scout (12/93)
RX-320:upconversion to 45 mHz, then IFs at 455 kHz and
12 kHz (the last for DSP)
RX-340
*=*=*=*
In addition, Carl, N4PY, recently posted a similar shortened discussion
to the e-mail list:
>
> The Delta 1 is a double conversion receiver. The first IF is 11 to
11.5 mHz
> and the second IF is 6.3 mHz.
> It stands by itself in this scheme. The Tritons, Argonaut I, OMNI
A+D, C,
> Corsair I and II, are essentially single coversion
> receivers using a 9 mHz IF. The Corsair's had an extra conversion from
9
> mHz to 6.3 mHz and back
> to 9 mHz for passband tuning. The OMNI V and VI also use the same
scheme as
> the Corsair's.
>
> I do not know the scheme in the Delta II and Argonaut II.
>
> The Paragon I and II , up converted to 72 mHz and then to 9 mHz, also
with
> the passband tuning
> scheme going form 9 to 6.3 to 9.
>
> The Pegasus, Jupiter, and RX-320 up convert to 45 mHz, then 455 kHz,
then
> 12 kHz for DSP.
>
> Carl Moreschi N4PY
> Franklinton, North Carolina
> n4py@earthlink.net
And I (K9IUA) can add the following about the Scout/Argo Scout:
Single conversion, VFO from 2.2 to 2.7 Mhz, IF at 6.144 Mhz,
two sequenced filters [a 4-pole fixed bandwidth portion,
and a 5-pole variable bandwidth portion ("Jones" filter)].
--------------------------------------------
Please comment on this summary.
Hopefully we can correct the dates (I dream that we eventually
can have both start *and* end dates for production), improve
on the lineage and design changes, and otherwise learn more
about the equipment we love to operate (at least I do).
Cheers/73,
Kevin Anderson, K9IUA
Bismarck/Lincoln, North Dakota
K9IUA@juno.com
NNNN
/EN
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Kevin Anderson, K9IUA, Lincoln/Bismarck ND
e-mail: K9IUA@juno.com Opinions all my own.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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