----- Original Message -----
From: "Carl Moreschi" <n4py@arrl.net>
To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 1:26 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] V2.060b Release Comments
I agree that the click at the end of the CW note is much more on 2.060b
than
it was on 2.059d. But 2,059d had not QSK at all. With 2.060b, you can at
least get pretty good QSK. And if the click bothers you, turn the CW
delay
to 3%. You lose high speed QSK but that makes it clickless. I just
wouldn't call these things sidetone problems. The sidetone is clean, it's
just the smuck at the end of a keyed element that is bothersome.
Carl Moreschi N4PY
Howdy Carl:
I'm not hearing any click in my Orion with V 2.060b but I am certainly
hearing the "smuck" you describe at the end of a character element when
using my headphones.
I am not hearing it thru the speaker...perhaps because the speaker is not
right up next to my ear but perhaps this is an indication of something
unique happening with the sidetone thru the headphones.
It seems to me to be a little thump tail-ending the character....the
sidetone in V 1.375b is completey devoid of any click or thump or "smuck".
The V 1.375b switching from transmit to receive is the best I have heard in
any receiver I have ever used....while the QSK is not as lightening fast as
some super ops want it to be I find it to be the best to date to my
sensitive ears.
I should also add that I operate 99.9% CW and am very critical of QSK,
thumps, artifacts, etc that I hear in the transmit to receive changeover
process.
This thump appears to be completely independent of sidetone level, QSK
setting, AGC setting, CW delay value or audio level.....at least in my
Orion.
I turned the sidetone level to zero and keyed the radio and the thump or
smuck is gone...just very quiet switching from send to receive.
This version also seems to have less audio output than V 1.375b...I am using
the Heil Micro-Proset and they have very sensitive earphones...the new
ProSetPlus I have is much less sensitive and requires much audio than the
MicroProset.
So it appears to be in the sidetone itself, again, I am not hearing any such
artifact in V 1.375b....perhaps that is why I always go back to V 1.375b
after trying out a new firmware version (grin).
I also like the way I can turn down the RF gain with V 1.375b and not have
the S meter move to the right as in newer versions...this allows me to lower
band noise using the RF gain control but still retain the S meter function
for deriving signal strengths reports.
It's a shame that even today most all amateur receivers use the AGC line to
drive the S meter.....using the RF gain control to mitigate band noise
causes changes in the AGC voltages that mess up the S meter
calibration....there is probably a better way of doing the S meter function
but it probably costs more money to implement.
I have also noticed that the V 2.060b sidetone appears to sound much more
like a pure sine wave than V 1.375b....but unfortunately it does have that
thump or smuck at the end of character elements.
Of course I have only used V 2.060b for a very short time so perhaps I need
to get more familiar with this version of firmware.
I wonder how long it will take for me to go back to V 1.375b (grin).
73, Joe W2KJ
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