> I'd prefer to be incorrect, however ...It is my understanding from TenTec
> that the receiver in the Omni6+ is a superior receiver on ham
> bands(obviously) compared to the Rx 340. I had asked someone down there
> about the performance comparision. What experiences have list members had
> with the Omni 6+ prior to acquiring the 340??
I own both. You can see my RX-340 and Omni Six Plus at:
http://www.qrz.com/database?callsign=w9ac
The RX-340 is superior to the Omni Six on the ham bands...period. The
RX-340 is seemingly impossible to overload, the zero-overshoot DSP filter
skirts are surgically precise, and 50+ DSP filter bandwidths can be
selected. Under no conditions during the past six months has the Omni
outperformed the RX-340 under and operating condition. Carl, N4PY has more
direct experience in contesting conditions, but in weak-signal DX work, the
RX-340 is unbeatable.
There is one caveat to the superiority of the RX-340; it does NOT have DSP
noise reduction (yet.) I suspect it will be added in a future firmware
release. I have already asked Ten-Tec to include the same great NR
algorithm as designed into the Omni Six Plus. I have never heard a better
noise reduction algorithm anywhere else.
The RX-340 audio system is dare I say...near audiophile quality. I run a
Fast Fourier Transform software program called SpectraPlus and the audio
passband is flat within +/- 1 dB from D.C. out to the edge of the filter
skirt. I believe Bob Sherwood (of Sherwood mod fame) measured the RX-340
with a Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) figure of less than 0.2% in SSB and
synchronous AM. The RX-340 *sounds* like a Hi-Fi receiver rather than a
communications-grade receiver. For pro audio applications, the RX-340
offers a true balanced, transformer-isolated 600-ohm output at 0 dBm, and
also offers directly-coupled and AC-coupled audio output connections. I run
the DC-coupled output to my PC sound card and the AC-coupled output to my
Marantz Stereo Console amplifier.
Precision off-air oscilloscope monitoring is a snap on the RX-340. Thre are
three separate IF outputs on BNC connectors that appear on the rear panel.
I run one of these into channel one of my dual-trace-scope and the off-air
transmit sample into channel 2. By alternating between the two traces, I
can be in a QSK QSO and see the simultaneous CW waveforms of the other
station and my own.
-Paul, W9AC
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