Hi: I also have a pair of VI's upgraded to option 3. There was a problem or
two with very early VI's, the first was in redoing the V front end board the
mixer was installed improperly. Look up the sidebar on the ARRL's original
test of the VI for more details.
It's been a long time, but as best I remember, it was rotated 90 degrees, and
the cure was to remove it from the board and install it properly.
My first VI was from the second production run and had that problem fixed but
I got a small kit, one or two resistors if I remember correctly, that
considerably improved the strong signal performance of mine.
My second VI had all that boiled out and has been fine since day 1. As was
the third VI and the VI+.
Fine rigs, all. And the local club has used a pair of my Option 3's for the
last several years. With absolutely no problems except the usual one of an
"old ham" centering the notch in the audio passband and complaining about the
recieve audio.
If you have either a Jupiter or an Omni VI or Plus available for the GOTA
station by all means use it. The newbies don't have bad habits to break and
they really enjoy using a performance rig. Even if they can't afford it at
first, it gives them something to shoot for.
73 Pete Allen AC5E
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