Hello,
As regular readers of the reflector, you've probably seen the thread
about a group of hams contracting with our filter manufacturer, through
Ten-Tec, to have an alternate center frequency 250 Hz 9 MHz I-F filter
built for use with the Omni-VI and Omni-VI Plus. Tyler Barnett, N4TY,
gathered the group and then contacted us about the possibility of
Ten-Tec's engineers providing our filter manufacturer with the needed
specs and to see if we could obtain a reasonable price for the filter
as well.
The idea for an alternate passband center frequency CW filter is not a
new one. We did a survey via the Internet reflector about a year ago to
see where our Omni-VI owners run the offset in an attempt to determine
whether it was feasible for us to offer alternate passband center filters
for the transceiver. This was after a couple of groups of hams had
contracted independent of us with our filter manufacturer to build a 9 MHz
I-F, 500 Hz bandwidth, 500 Hz passband centered filter. (Which, of course,
was fine with us as we had no interest in doing them ourselves).
Our standard 9 MHz I-F filters are passband centered at 750 Hz. This
becomes somewhat problematic when running the Omni-VI or VI-Plus at a
lower CW offset (400-550 Hz). Using a low offset, when 250 Hz bandwidth
filters in both I-F's are cascaded together the signal tends to slip off
the edge of the filter.
After some discussion with the filter manufacturer they indicated to us
that despite the filter being a "special order" item that they would be
willing to extend us our usual quantity discount for the new filter.
Which, I must admit, we were surprised and pleased to hear! The main
sticking point in the past for us to offer alternate passband
centered filters was the possibility that we would have to stock the
item at a significantly higher price than the rest of the crystal
filters we offer for the Omni-VI/Omni-VI Plus.
We'll be offering the new filter at $89, same price as all other crystal
filters available for the Omni-VI/Omni-VI Plus. The specs for this
filter are the same as the #219 250 Hz CW filter, except the passband
is centered at 500 Hz rather than 750 Hz. Who benefits? If you often
use a pair of 250 Hz filters, with a low CW offset, you may find this
filter to be to your advantage. If you usually run the offset at 600 Hz
or higher, you'll find no benefit from having the new #221 in place of
the #219.
The filter manufacturer has quoted us an 8 week lead time and the order
is already in for the first batch. We expect to ship in mid-April. If
you've already asked Tyler about the filter, please call us at (800)
833-7373 and we'll take your order for a #221. As usual, we'll
reserve one on Visa/Mc/Discover, but no charge will be made to your
credit card until the day we are ready to ship them to you. This is
not a "one-time" offer; we will be stocking this filter as a permanent
addition to the line.
If you have any questions, please give me a call on the (800) line or
send e-mail to <sales@tentec.com>
Thanks and 73,
Scott E. Robbins, W4PA
Amateur Radio Product Manager, Ten-Tec, Inc.
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