Hi all,
Not sure I should have done this. I fixed
up an Alpha/Delta four way coax switch
from my C4 beam on the way to my rigs.
Now I can immediately compare the "sound"
of three rigs: the Omni VI+, the Triton IV
digital (544) and the Yaesu FT-1000D.
Spent quite some time on 20 M CW yesterday,
just listening to the all the "CQ test" calls, and
the few responses, exchanges occurring.
Spent time with only the "run" signals from
stations which were S3 or lower out here;
that is the Omni S meter needle almost never
moved, and was absolutely motionless on
the Triton (whose S meter reads nothing
below S3).
Result the Trition "sounds" the finest, and most
noise free !!? Fiddling with the Omni VI+, I
could get a matching apparent "sound" by
using a CW filter (in my case the INRAD
400 Hz filter in the 6.3 MHz IF strip) plus
the LP filter activated and plus the DSP
NR button depressed. Only then did I
hear as quiet a background as being
heard from the same source on the Triton
IV with the Mode selector switched to the
only filter available for this rig, a 150 Hz
bandwidth, 750 Hz center freq. peaked filter
with a shape factor of "7.2 to 1" at 6/60 dB.
The background noise is just lower between
CW elements when listening with the Triton
than when using the Omni, unless all the
above "bells/whistles" are activated!
Now my FT-1000D was just absolutely more
noisy between CW elements, and adding
the Yaesu 500 CW filter did not help, and the
250 Hz CW filter seemed to "ring" or something
else showed up between CW elements along
with the white noise heard. The S/N was noticeably
not so good as with either Ten Tec rig, when listening
to these low level signals.
The Yaesu and Omni VI+ frequency readouts
agreed to the second decimal place of each
rig's display, while of course the Triton reads
the sidetone offset of 750 Hz away from your
actual transmitting frequency, so on 14 MHz,
you must add 750 Hz to whatever the display
reads to learn the actual frequency to which
you are listening and where you will transmit.
So now I must agree, for most enjoyable
long term CW listening and QSO's, I will
probably be using the Triton more frequently
now.
BTW, has anyone ever come up with a mod to
the Triton to replace the sawtooth sounding CW
sidetone to something more pleasant to listen
to over time?
73, Jim, KH7M
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