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[TenTec] QST Ad

To: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: [TenTec] QST Ad
From: John Rippey <jrippey@3n.net>
Reply-to: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 21:15:57 -0800
List-post: <mailto:tentec@contesting.com>
"I find the reviews do nothing to accurately characterize or measure  
the AGC
and QSK performance, two of the most important contributors to my  
potential
love or disdain of a transceiver.

73, Barry N1EU"

Yes, indeed. I think the reviewers (as opposed to the lab) do not  
devote enough time to really learn how to operate these new,  
complicated rigs. A weekend spent in a contest is not going to cut  
it. The review rig seems to get passed around the office so a bunch  
of people get a few hours with it. I also do not understand why ARRL  
has to buy one of the very early production units. One of the other  
commenters noted that the early Orion had bugs. So do they all. Also,  
Ten-Tec virtually rewrote the book a few months after Orion's  
release, so to speak, with extensive new manual material explaining  
how to use the rig. The reviewers did not have access to this  
information.

It would be much better for QST to wait six months or so and then  
have someone take time to really go over the rig. It should be a full  
time job for someone. Then we would learn more about the AGC, QSK,  
performance, etc. I've run through several Yaesu rigs and every one  
of them has had annoying pops/thumps on the "break" of a CW signal  
(sidetone)in the headphones. No review in QST ever mentioned this  
annoying bug. I've given up on Yaesus. (How Icom, Kenwood and Ten-Tec  
can produce quiet CW sidetones and not Yaesu is a question for the  
ages.)

It's taken me a long while to appreciate how nice is the front panel  
design and ergonomics of the Jupiter. The QST review years ago talked  
about how it was a Pegasus with a front panel, but it did not mention  
that it is about the best layout for a CW op one could wish for.

At best, the narrative of a QST review is a once-over lightly. Dave  
Newkirk was the last in-depth reviewer that I can recall. However, as  
Bill Tippett has pointed out, the FT-9000 Contest review provided a  
wealth of data presented in bright graphics including 2 kHz IMD and  
other results. This is a big step forward, due in part to Bill's  
insistence. But does the 9000 click in your ear? THAT is the question.

73,
John, W3ULS


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