I have had my new used Omni VI on the air for just over two months. It is
my first Ten-Tec. It was made in '93 and I don't know its history. I am
an electrical engineer and a professional trombone player (read "good ear").
I only operate cw and this has been true for some time, minus some QRT
periods including the last four years. I've been a ham since '59 and am a
rag chewer. I go 3X wpm when the opportunity arises. While I haven't had
time to dig into many aspects of this rig, partly because I'm having too
much fun USING it, I feel a need to comment on a few things mentioned on
this reflector. One of the main reasons I bought an OMNI VI was to get good
fast QSK operation. I feel I got that in spades. Based on what I've read
from some of you, I don't see why a cw operator would want to buy one at
all. IMHO the OMNI VI has been given a bad rap. Below are two of a number
of things I would like to understand.
First, "trashy" sounding and having a "twirp" on cw as mentioned here in the
past do NOT describe the sound of any OMNI VIs I've heard on the air. Those
rigs, besides mine, were at the stations of N4LS, W6IJ, W9EQJ, KB7NTZ,
KH6AQ, and K4MIH. They all sounded great!! Why didn't they sound trashy
and twirpy?
Secondly, would someone please tell me, in technical terms, why the internal
keyer has been panned here? Before I put my OMNI VI on line, I used a
Heathkit HD 1410 keyer in Iambic B mode. I modified it to accept my Bencher
paddle because the built-in paddles were marginal. I fully utilize Iambic B
when sending. When I first sent cw with the OMNI VI internal keyer (after
changing the connector on the paddle cable, of course) it felt like I was
still using the good 'ol HD 1410! I have continued to use the internal
keyer exclusively and love it. Any sending errors from K0UBC are my fault,
not my keyer's.
I realize that the OMNI VI isn't perfect. I doubt that any rig is. I just
hope that the above two issues don't keep anyone from buying an OMNI VI or VI +.
Now, I feel better (whew!). Thanks for reading.
73,
Phil, K0UBC
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