OK. I've been planning to just buy the Orion whenever it comes out,
even if the knob is the wrong color. I just want to work one for a
while.
I love my OMNI-VI.
But that OMNI-C came by a few weeks ago, pretty cheap, I snapped it up
just to play with it. My usual routine is to buy a fairly clean radio,
get it into my shack, clean it up to make it look really nice, do the
PTO till its just right, align it, play more, then when I think it is
just right for me, I come up short for the monthly bills or something
and I sell it off.
This OMNI-C is different. The face has smudges and some numbers are
rubbed off. The plastic sheet on the case is coming off at the
corners. Other stuff is not quite right about its appearance. The PTO
really needs TLC, and the external VFO needs the same, plus a dialcord.
Stuff like that. No big deal, really.
But then I just plain operated the thing. Got on SSB. Got on CW. Got
on CW again. It was fun. I did it yet again. I like this radio.
<Steve Ellington filter ON> I now find myself using the OMNI-C to the
exclusion of my OMNI VI and even my K2. It is just fun to operate, and
under normal circumstances it works so well and sounds so "good" that I
have no desire for the other rigs. I see that I cannot possible fix
this radio up, can't clean the faceplate or try to redo the numbers.
I'm not sure I should rebuild the PTO either, it might become too much
of a "project". I just like the "quiet" receiver, I like the
filtering, I like the QSK. I even lucked out that the PTO in the
external VFO is really stable. I mean really stable. Never saw one
that good. I am afraid to touch it. So the dialcord sags and the
pointer drops out of the window. What do I care? I have had more QSO's
in the last week than in the last year. Here I am, wanting the RX-350 /
Jupiter combo, I want to buy the Orion, and the OMNI-C stole my heart.
<Steve Ellington filter OFF>
My wife thinks this is great. She thinks I might save some money this
way. If I can just stop collecting SWR and wattmeters I should be able
to buy a house someday.
Clark
WA3JPG
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