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Re: [TenTec] On the Corsair II revival idea and receiver noise

To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TenTec] On the Corsair II revival idea and receiver noise
From: GARY HUBER <GLHuber@msn.com>
Reply-to: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2016 13:04:07 +0000
List-post: <tentec@contesting.com">mailto:tentec@contesting.com>
Should have written FLEX 6300. Not interested in trying to convince 
myself, my XYL, or my wallet that I need a $5k to $7.5k radio. But I 
have made a number of $3k purchases of TenTec radios and the Titan 425. 
"You can't work'em if you can't hear them"... and I've worked them all 
except Crozet Island. I assemble my own "hefty" PCs from new parts.

73 ES DX,
Gary - AB9M

On 11/24/2016 4:10 AM, rick@dj0ip.de wrote:
> You don't want a FLEX 3000.  OLD technology and requires a hefty PC to run
> it.
> If you can't afford the 6300 then buy an ANAN instead, but not a 3000.
> Besides, the 3000 has a dirty TX.
>
> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of GARY HUBER
> Sent: Thursday, November 24, 2016 5:14 AM
> To: TenTec Reflector; n8wff@yahoo.com
> Subject: [TenTec] On the Corsair II revival idea and receiver noise
>
> Before I bought my Corsair-II and was looking at the Paragon and Corsair-II,
> I was asked by one of the TenTec staff manning their booth at Dayton, "What
> radio are you using now and what is your principal use, DXing, nets, rag
> chewing or something else?" When I responded that I was using a model 546-C
> and matching external VFO to chase DX from a quiet rural location, his
> response was, "you'll be a lot happier with a Corsair-II... you'll be able
> to hear weak stations with it that will be covered in noise in the Paragon!"
> I bought the Corsair-II and sold my OMNI-D to my best friend who had just
> become a General licensee and was looking for a radio.
>
> I still have that Corsair-II which was built in the last production run of
> model 561s. I did A-B tests with it and the Paragon (model 585) I bought
> several years later for MARS work for Operation Desert Shield and Operation
> Storm. In those tests which were done using a DOW Key Relay reversed so that
> only one radio was connected to an antenna or with a coaxial jumper between
> the two radios with one switch set for AUX ANT and the other to AUX RX and
> with the radio with the switch set to AUX RX having a good antenna connected
> to its SO-239, the Corsair-II was always slightly better. Its those signals
> below S-2 and into the RX/band noise where the Corsair-II comes out ahead.
>
> I also had a fully loaded OMNI-VI+ (model 564) and found it, through testing
> in the manner above, to be at least equal to the Corsair-II, mostly due to
> 1.8 kHz and 500 Hz filters in BOTH I.F.s, making it more selective and a bit
> quieter. The CAT serial port on the 564 is a huge advantage for those doing
> computer logging while DXing or Contesting.
> The lack of frequency / mode information from an un-modified Corsair-II like
> the one I own is its major drawback, in my opinion.
>
> I currently have an OMNI-VII (model 588) with a FLEX-1500 as its sub-RX
> (N4PY mod) as my primary radio and with the Corsair-II as the back radio.
> (see AB9M at QRZ.com for the station photo) While the OMNI-VII is a great
> radio for my needs, in my opinion (and experience) it needs to some careful
> adjustment of the RF gain to avoid digital artifacts which are created from
> strong signals in the passband when trying to work 2 kHz to 10 kHz from the
> DX station with lots of callers.
>
> Regarding the cost of any Corsair-II replacement; I know there is the issue
> of price, but I believe its also a matter of value for an experience which
> cannot be matched by others. If you provide a pure analog receiver and
> transmitter chain like the model 561 with only DDS VFO and CAT serial ports
> then perhaps your market segment is in a different range than the IC-7300.
> Today absent any product from TenTec to replace my OMNI-VII and FLEX-1500,
> I'll keep my Corsair-II and buy a FLEX-3000. The Eagle may need a
> replacement, but one for the OMNI-VII and ORION is long overdue.
>
> --
> 73 ES DX,
> Gary - AB9M
>
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