Understood. That's the way I used Commander with the SDR-IQ and Mark V
and the control was flawless. However, that's NOT the way things work
with the Orion and Commander. Commander and N4PY exchange data using a
file on disk (apparently known as the Pegasus interface) and when using
that technique, Commander does NOT pass the data to and from the
secondary CAT device. That was my experience and Dave verified that is
the way Commander is supposed to work. But, in the case of the Orion I
guess you could just cut the N4PY software out of the loop and connect
both the Orion and Flex to Commander ports as primary and secondary CAT
devices.
Apparently, the Omni VII is a bit different in how the receive antenna
is handled. In the Orion II, there's no receive out so no receive loop
- only a receive antenna input. But, with the IF output fed to the
Flex, that wouldn't be a problem. But then, how would one get the Flex
to show the correct frequency given that it's looking at the IF output?
Floyd
On 5/12/2011 6:35 PM, CSM(r) Gary Huber wrote:
> I'm using the Flex-1500 in the receive loop of a OMNI-VII and using DXLab's
> Commander to control both radios in "Lead, Follow, Lead and Follow" so that
> the OMNI-VII controls the Flex, the Flex controls the Omni, or Commander
> controls both. In split the Flex always follows the on the Omni-VII transmit
> frequency. Since the Flex-1500 is in the RX loop, it is protected when the
> OMNI-VII is in transmit (I have optioned the FLEX-1500 as receive only to
> protect the OMNI's RX from damage by the FLEX PA). And the 10 meter RX is
> great.... I had lots of fun using both receivers during the ARRL 10M SSB
> contest.
>
> At $650, the FLEX-1500 is about the cheapest panadapter one can buy. The mod
> to the OMNI-VI (N4PY Sub-RX mod) takes less than 10 minutes, NO Solder, and
> costs less than $5!
>
>
> 73 es DX,
>
> Gary - AB9M
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Floyd Sense
> Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 1:52 PM
> To: tentec@contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] O3 wish list
>
> Haven't tried the Flex-1500, but have used an SDR-IQ that way with my
> Yaesu FT-1000MP Mark V. Fed the SDR-IQ the same signal that went to the
> Mk V receive antenna input using a hybrid splitter. The same approach
> could be used with any transceiver with a receive antenna loop (output
> and input). I ran into two problems: The SDR-IQ was relatively deaf on
> 12 and 10 meters and weak signals that could be heard on the Mk V
> couldn't be seen on the SDR-IQ. And - it was obviously necessary to
> mute the SDR-IQ during transmit and there was apparently no way to
> accomplish that (grounding antenna input wasn't adequate).
>
> What would be nice is a TenTec external spectrum scope similar to the
> P3, that would sit on the PC to Orion serial port interface (as the P3
> does with the K3) so the scope unit could send frequency setting
> commands to the Orion. And, wouldn't it be nice if the very same scope
> could be connected to the Eagle in the same fashion. A nice scope is
> really a good addition to a 6M rig.
>
> 73, Floyd
>
> On 5/12/2011 1:02 PM, CSM(r) Gary Huber wrote:
>> It may sound like heresy on this forum, but the use of an external SDR
>> receiver like the Flex-1500 or any basic SDR running PowerSDR via the N4PY
>> sub-RX mod provides the panadapter function without the IF port or tapping
>> into the IF of older receivers. Or one MAY choose to receive the IF on the
>> Eagle.
>>
>>
>> 73 es DX,
>>
>> Gary - AB9M
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Barry N1EU
>> Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 11:29 AM
>> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
>> Subject: Re: [TenTec] O3 wish list
>>
>> Well said and totally agree Paul. Limited engineering resources can
>> be put to much better use. If the rig mfr provides I.F. output,
>> they've done their job.
>>
>> Barry N1EU
>>
>> On Thu, May 12, 2011 at 12:19 PM, Paul Christensen<w9ac@arrl.net> wrote:
>>>> high speed display is missing the point entirely. The name of the game
>>>> in panadaptors is RESOLUTION and the ability to twiddle sweep speed and
>>>> AVERAGING parameters in such a way that best allows you to visually
>>>> identify the weak signals you're looking for.
>>> For the reason explained by Floyd, it seems to me that today, inclusion
>>> of
>>> a
>>> panadapter into a transceiver is not a very good use of a company's
>>> design
>>> resources. The inclusion of a simple 8-9 MHz buffered IF port opens up a
>>> whole new world to the operating experience that can never be completely
>>> duplicated with internal band scopes. Of course, that assumes a
>>> mid-frequency IF is available in the design that precludes such an option
>>> with traditional up-conversion designs. Ten tec was smart to add an IF
>>> port
>>> to the Eagle. That one low-cost feature alone separates the Eagle from
>>> the
>>> Kenwood TS-590 by a long shot.
>>>
>>> In 2005, I purchased an Icom IC-7800. For the two years, my thought was
>>> that any manufacturer who could not, or would not, include an internal
>>> panadapter would soon face extinction. I held that view until something
>>> quite abrupt occurred. I experimented with an SDR-IQ on the IF port of
>>> an
>>> Elecraft K3. After witnessing the panoramic detail, waterfall display
>>> choices, secondary receivers (through SDR-IQ), there was no turning back.
>>> Suddenly, I viewed internal panadapters as a millstone around the necks
>>> of
>>> manufacturers. None of the present manufacturers have the resources to
>>> provide the pan ability and control utility provided by SDR-IQ,
>>> SpectraVue,
>>> LP-PAN, PowerSDR-IF, etc., nor should they. Look at the display
>>> provided
>>> by Yaesu with their FTdx-5000 product. Frankly, it's a panadpater in
>>> name
>>> only.
>>>
>>> Manufacturers only need to give us a high-quality IF port and a means for
>>> rig control. The rest of the panadapter and control functions can be
>>> better
>>> managed by folks like Carl, N4PY, Moe, AE4JY, and Scott, WU2X. Despite
>>> past
>>> moans from Ten Tec users, I think that in the end, Ten Tec was right to
>>> delay inclusion of an internal high-performance panadapter into the O2.
>>> At
>>> some point, perhaps Ten Tec may want to market an external panadapter
>>> similar to the Elecraft P3, where that device could be used for more than
>>> one Ten Tec transceiver. Even so, it's doubtful that the device could
>>> approach the low cost and high performance provided by a small netbook PC
>>> and SDR-IQ or Softrock receiver.
>>>
>>> Paul, W9AC
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> TenTec mailing list
>>> TenTec@contesting.com
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>>>
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