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. 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 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.
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.
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
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rob Atkinson, K5UJ" <k5uj@hotmail.com>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2004 6:53 PM
Subject: [TenTec] Re Please tell me about the TT Omni VI+
Scott, W4PA, seems to have taken issue with some of my advice to a ham
asking about the wisdom of an Omni VI purchase. Now Scott you are a nice
fellow, but you are also in the business of selling Ten Tec rigs. I
think my comments were reasonable and fair and I stand by them. You may
focus on measurement numbers for receiver performance tests which I notice
folks on this list seem to do often, but I submit these do not tell the
whole tale when it comes to overall transceiver performance, build
quality, reliability and modern convenience. For example, as an SSB
operator, the questioning ham may find a transmit monitor, so he can hear
himself through his headphones when transmitting, convenient. This is
something lacking with the Omni VI. Let us suppose the receiver specs on
the Omni VI indicate performance that is superior to the Kenwood and Yaesu
rigs I mentioned. I doubt if the difference is noticable, or noticable
most of the time. Since I'm interested in merely helping someone and am
no more than a ham with a computer and an opinion, I do not desire to
become involved in some sort of protracted nit picking debate. I will
simply respond to the comments to date: It is true that I stated at
some point in the past that some problems with Ten Tec rigs (the Omni VI
may have been the topic however I have also heard of RF in audio
difficulties with the Jupiter) were probably due to installation errors.
I doubt if that has changed. On the other hand, I do think the current JA
gear seems to be more robust at dealing with RF coming into the rig from
unwanted sources. For example, I can pop off the cover on my TS870 and
find ferrite chokes on the dc supply leads inside the rig. I don't recall
seeing anything like that on my Omni VI and Corsair II. If I am mistaken
please correct me. Perhaps things have changed. Until then I make no
apologies for having an evolving opinion.
While the hamfest price reductions are nice, they do this fellow whom I
assume was not there, little good. What are the current factory direct
used prices?
Re the Google audio search: A google search of some topic hardly proves
anything. I can search for NASA Moon Landing Hoax and get a lot of hits.
Does that make it true?
As for the INRAD audio mod, if you already have an Omni VI and you don't
want to buy a new rig, the mod is better than nothing in the sense that it
offers some improvment. However if someone is starting from scratch there
are options out there using DSP beyond noise reduction that offer several
different frequency response ranges that are not possible with the Omni VI
available IF xtal filters. However, since this is not what the original
questioner was interested in, and it is he whom I wish to stay focused on,
I will not belabor this point.
73,
Rob/K5UJ
p.s. note to anyone attempting the INRAD mod: I advise removing the stock
carrier null pots (I think they are R7 and R8) and installing 20 turn trim
pots (Mouser is one source, about $2.50 ea.) as they make finding the null
much easier when you have the carrier right up against the 2.8 KHz filter
skirt, and they hold the null longer.
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