Is it because the radio has no appeal to participants in this list?
Can it be that the radio's major appeal is to computer-bound folks
who want to operate remotely?
That's certainly the theme of Ten-Tec's advertising, at least.
One theme.
That's one unique and exclusive operating feature that Ten Tec has every
right to exploit in its marketing campaign. However, "One-Plug" operation
is but one subset of a radio packed with useful features and stellar
performance. The inclusion of Collins filters, combined with DSP is an
example of a superior design that yields excellent on-air operating
performance.
QSK is absolutely superb and the receiver's audio frequency response is
nearly ruler-flat down to 20 Hz. The CW waveform is generated by DSP and
exhibits a near-perfect Gaussian shape. Ten Tec is the only manufacturer
who has figured out the relationship between ALC and CW wavefom ramping.
Search the Ten Tec list server archives going back ten years ago and you
will see my open plea, and discussion of my Omni Six ALC modifications on
this subject. The Omni VII occupied Tx bandwidth at 4-5 ms rise/decay
settings is less than other radios with more than double those ramp rates.
See the FFT plots I recently took that show a family of Rx audio response
curves -- with and without equalization. WARNING, this is a large bitmap
file but worth the wait for the browser to load:
http://216.229.20.37/images/OMNI-VII-Rx-Response.bmp
I have the Omni VII's audio and control connected only through One-Plug
whether I am operating next to the rig or 50 miles away with my laptop PC at
a Wi-Fi hot spot. With the exception of the antenna and DC powering, I have
no other connections to/from the radio. I feed all station audio through a
matrix of glass splitters and a Z-Sys optical router to an optical PC sound
card, which routes audio in the digital domain to the Omni's Ethernet port.
The result? No RFI. No ground loops. No hum or buzz in the audio. No PTT
control lines. In fact the only analog audio present is between the mic and
an ART DPS-II pre-amp with a SPDIF optical output. From there, everything
is in a 24-bit, 96 kHz-sampled digital domain right up to the Ethernet port.
Although the Omni VII comes with its own One-Plug GUI software, the radio
really shines when using N4PY's control program. Carl has included
automatic audio streaming and an entire suite of features not found in the
stock software. His software is a "must have" for use with the Omni VII.
CW QSK is real when using the Omni VII on a remote Internet connection
Although audio coming back from the rig may be delayed through the Internet
by ~100-150 ms, the operator still hears the receiver between keyed elements
at 40+ WPM. The bottom line is that if someone breaks in while sending on
the keyboard, the break is heard instantly between keyed elements, allowing
the operator to stop and listen.
I just ordered K1EL's CW keyer with Winkey chip-set. The next step is to
take the K1EL keyer to a remote location with the laptop PC and use a set of
iambic paddles with N4PY's control program. Since the keyer has its own
side-tone, keying with a paddle or bug is possible at the remote location.
The N4PY program supports K1EL's USB interface and will also support Ten
Tec's new 610 keyer and remote tuning knob interface. The latter of which
allows the operator to use Ten Tec's 302 tuning knob at a remote site.
Paul, W9AC
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