I agree with Dave's comment about the internal ATU. In my opinion, the
internal ATU in my Omni VII does not do a good job of matching. My
external auto ATU does much better.
You will also have to get used to using the RF gain control to avoid
overloading the A/D converter. If you run the RF gain wide open with
fast AGC strong signals will distort, and copying through pileups will
be difficult. It took me a while to feel comfortable with using the RF
gain control. It's not "set and forget" as on analog rigs.
Otherwise, I find the Omni VII to be a superb rig. I also have both the
300 and 500Hz mechanical filters. QSK is great, as with all TenTec rigs
I have used.
A pleasant surprise was the quality of the RX and TX audio on SSB; it's
very smooth sounding and I frequently get unsolicited reports of great
audio. Much, much better than the Omni VI Plus I previously owned.
Jack K1VT
If you do any CW, you'll want the 500Hz& 300 Hz filters. They work well on
digital, also unless you want a waterfall with wider bandpass. I'm not a great
fan of internal tuners. The used VII I found has a tuner, but I've turned it
off. Great rig. I love it
Dave
WA3F
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Bell"<richfbell@sbcglobal.net>
To: TenTec@contesting.com
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2011 9:47:15 PM
Subject: [TenTec] OMNI VII
I am planning to take the dive and buy an Omni VII. Any thoughts, advice?
I am the current owner of a Drake TR7 and Kenwood 830S (purchased in '82 by
me). So it's well past time for me to invest in a new rig (hope the YL doesn't
notice).
I had considered and Elecraft K3 or an Flex 3000.
I'm not a contester but just a rag chewer who occassionally does digital.
If you like, feel free to respond to me off the list. I would like the know
the good and the bad.
73 and TNX W5BXE
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