High,
in the last 10 years I owned an
Argosy
Argosy II
Argonaut II
Argonaut V
the differents and the reason to sell the Argosy `s were the "sensitivity of
the rigs".
I made a lot of tests.
With the Argonaut II and the Argonaut V, I could pick up weak signals, I
couldn`t receive with the Argosy`s. On the other side the sound of the
analog Argosy was the best.
73
Winfried
DK6JK
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Arland" <richard.arland@verizon.net>
To: <Rick@DJ0IP.de>
Cc: "Ten-Tec" <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2004 5:08 PM
Subject: [TenTec] RE: ARGOSY II as a 'new' QRP rig
I will have to second Rick's comments. I have owned both the analog and
digital ARGOSY radios along with a K2 and K1 (and now I have the KX-1)
Elecraft rigs.
The ARGOSY is one of the best kept secrets in QRP. It has a very good
receiver, stock out of the box, although there are a laundry list of mods
that showed up in Ham Radio magazine a few years ago. The lack of an RF gain
control some find annoying, but not me. The ARGOSY works very well with the
optional CW and SSB filters installed. The main drawback is the lack of 12
and 17 meters, although I personally seldom work those two bands, some might
find this a big negative. The CW keying is the legendary Ten-Tec QSK that we
have come to expect from all Ten-Tec radios. The ability to switch between 5
and 50 watts is great, and the additional 3dB gained from being able to
reach 100 watts output really won't make any difference to the operator at
the other end of the QSO and certainly saves on the power budget of the
radio.
Rick's comments regarding the Elecraft rigs lack of ergonomics are
absolutely true. While I loved my K2 (s/n 971) I never felt fully
"comfortable" operating it and, after two years, traded it for a very nice
Drake C-Line with Mr. Sherwood's fingerprints all over it. It was a good
trade, as far as I was concerned, as these old Drakes were what I considered
"real radios" and their ergonomics were very nice. The K2's receiver is
spectacular, to say the least, and this is a documented fact based upon ARRL
lab results (check it out on the ARRL website). According to Larry Wolfgang,
WR1B, who just reviewed the DSP option for the K2, this option actually
improves the K2's noise floor (which I find amazing) and is an absolutely
"must have" for any serious DXer/contester.
As far as the K1 is concerned, I used it in portable and mobile applications
for about 9 months before it was stolen from my truck. In actual fact, I
miss the palm-top computer that was stolen (along with he K1) a whole lot
more than I miss the K1! Not that the K1 is a bad radio, it was fine for
what I was doing at the time, but the lack of ergonomics, the fact that it
cost almost as much as the Alinco DX-70T that I now have in my truck and
wouldn't operate SSB or 6 meters, which the DX-70T does, made the K1 a
fleeting experiment for me. Would I buy another K1? Nope! I now use the
Elecfaft KX-1 in it's place and this radio is truly a very nice portable
rig, designed to do the things I need a portable rig to do. I seldom work
anything but CW when I am on business/camping trips, so this rig fills the
bill nicely, where as the ARGOSY and the K1 would be much too large for
these applications.
If I were in your shoes, there would be no hesitation: go with the
ARGOSY-II. Ten-Tec still supports these rigs and will most likely continue
to do so for the foreseeable future. When it comes time for you to step up
to a new radio (as your skills improve) keep the ARGOSY, do your homework
and buy another rig that will suit your operating needs. You'll never truly
outgrow the ARGOSY.
Vy 73 es Happy Holidays.
Rich K7SZ
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