TenTec
[Top] [All Lists]

[TenTec] SCOUT Questions

To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Subject: [TenTec] SCOUT Questions
From: ac5aa@juno.com (ac5aa@juno.com)
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:38:24 -0600
So, what would you recommend in the $600 price range, new, for mobile
work, Walt?  Surely not the IC-706 with an RX as wide as a barn door and
non-existent QSK and so many buried menus that it's a wonder George Jones
wasn't trying to switch the NB on on his '706 when he hit the bridge
abutment!  (No, I don't think he's a ham - that's how he made it this
long . . .)

        73,  Duane   AC5AA   (closet IC706 owner)


On Tue, 16 Mar 1999 20:13:00 -0600 (CST) Walter S Delesandri
<walt@jove.acs.unt.edu> writes:
>
>I do not have a scout....I work MANY scouts on CW, and considered 
>buying one....I won't buy one because of the lack of bandswitching...
>I've owned many solid state rigs...they all do something a little 
>wacky below about 12.5V....either VERY low power out (a benign problem 
>
>for me, 25W is fine) or they "FM" on SSB, or some such wierdness...
>
>As for the CW frequency drift, it's there....like it or not, from 
>a non-scout owner (implies objectivity, but I doubt it --HI)
>THEY all drift...>VERY< slowly down (on 40) then >VERY< slowly 
>back up....
>
>What my post is about, as I don't own a Scout, is that I work
>HW-16s with weak rocks, Globe scouts, homebrew/kit QRP junk, 
>God-knows-what vintage junk (Amecos, Knights,......) and I 
>don't mind the chirps/drift/hard-soft keying/etc....BUT !!!!
>Some folks do....I have a transmitter that has a very SLIGHT 
>chirp, on the first 'dit-dah-......nine times out of ten no 
>one mentions it....but about one in ten ops gets obsessed with 
>MY keying/stability, and dwells on it......
>
>The Scout sounds fine....it DOES drift, and no amount of dogma 
>is going to change that....it's cute, cheap, small, etc....
>but don't let anybody tell you that they don't drift...and I'll 
>tell you that occasionally some op is going to get "stuck" on 
>your drift....HI.....
>
>I have a love-hate relationship with T-T....the best damn qsk in 
>the world....no commercial station (when they existed!) could 
>touch the qsk unless they had split sites MILES apart....
>Other ten-tec
>advantages..............................................................
.................
>
>Did I mention the QSK?................lets see, they're not cheap,
>they drift, the VFOs are/were the worst I've ever seen (until they 
>bought optical shaft encoders from SOMEONE ELSE)  The construction
>resembles my daughter's science fair projects (she's 8, BTW)  the 
>power supplies used to blow up the radios, now they just quit, without 
>
>damaging the radio,  The knobs break, the silkscreening used to 
>rub of immediately, now it just fades gradually,,,,............
>Did I mention GREAT QSK?   Yeah, the receivers are quiet.......
>so's a hallicrafters S40 on 20/15/10, it's deaf, too....
>
>And they're American made....I'll get off here now and go 
>buy another one...........they DO work nicely on CW, might 
>have mentioned that.........
>Walt
>
>On
>Tue,
>16 Mar 1999, Lynn D Stolz wrote:
>
>> 
>> 
>> Folks,
>> 
>> I'm considering getting a scout.  I'm sure a lot has been hashed 
>over
>> before, but I'd like to hear what folks who have them feel about 
>the
>> following two issues:
>> 
>> 1.   The 13.8V vs 12.5V debate.  It seems that there is some 
>agument
>> over whether the scout goes wacky or not at the lower voltage.  What 
>is
>> the empirical evidence?  Do they ALL have the problem or not?  There 
>is a
>> ham that jumps at every opportunity to bad mouth the scout everytime 
>someone
>> asks the question.  Is this true or is it a vendetta against T-T 
>because
>> they did not resolve this issue to his satisfaction?
>> 
>> 2.   The CW transmit jump.  My understanding is that when using 
>the
>> built-in keyer the transmit frequency may jump a bit because the
>> microprocessor is busy with keying instead of frequency sampling.  
>That I
>> understand well.  Question is--does the scout exhibit this IF I USE 
>AN
>> EXTERNAL KEYER?
>> 
>> Lynn, N8AJ
>> 
>> -
>> Lynn Stolz  N8AJ -- lstolz@gcfn.org
>> -
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --
>> FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/tentecfaq.htm
>> Submissions:              tentec@contesting.com
>> Administrative requests:  tentec-REQUEST@contesting.com
>> Problems:                 owner-tentec@contesting.com
>> Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
>> 
>
>
>--
>FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/tentecfaq.htm
>Submissions:              tentec@contesting.com
>Administrative requests:  tentec-REQUEST@contesting.com
>Problems:                 owner-tentec@contesting.com
>Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm
>

Duane A. Calvin, AC5AA
Austin, Texas
ac5aa@juno.com -or- ac5aa@earthlink.net
Day:  dacalvin@us.ibm.com

--
FAQ on WWW:               http://www.contesting.com/tentecfaq.htm
Submissions:              tentec@contesting.com
Administrative requests:  tentec-REQUEST@contesting.com
Problems:                 owner-tentec@contesting.com
Search:                   http://www.contesting.com/km9p/search.htm


<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>