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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: Bwana Bob <wb2vuf@verizon.net>
Reply-to: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Nov 2016 22:31:44 -0500
List-post: <tentec@contesting.com">mailto:tentec@contesting.com>
There is another problem with crystal and mechanical filters: Availability. Collins recently discontinued their filter line. With the DSP revolution ongoing, analog filters will become even more expensive. One of the filters in my Paragon went bad with high insertion loss, and I bought a replacement from INRAD.

73,

Bib WB2VUF


On 11/24/2016 6:25 AM, rick@dj0ip.de wrote:
Even if it equaled the K3 performance, it would be outstanding.
But the problem is and remains Xtal Filters.
We'll need 6, maybe 8 of them and we'll be lucky if they are priced under
$100 each.

73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)



-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Barry N1EU
Sent: Thursday, November 24, 2016 11:31 AM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] On the Corsair II revival idea and receiver noise

If the Corsair III ended up equaling or exceeding the K3S in performance
with the body of an Omni VI+, I'd buy one.

73 & Happy Turkey Day,
Barry N1EU

On Thu, Nov 24, 2016 at 4:13 AM, GARY HUBER <GLHuber@msn.com> wrote:

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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