"Pegasus flies to Dayton"
by Conrad Weiss -- NN6CW
TEN-TEC's Gary Hendricks is the friendliest man I've ever
interviewed. The rest of the friendly T-T crew -- Pegasus
in hand -- had
hopped on the morning flight to Dayton, leaving Gary back
at 1185 Dolly Parton Parkway to man the 800 sales line. In
a 30-minute telephone interview, Gary bared his soul and
shared the details of Pegasus -- the horse with wings --
for those who couldn't attend the Dayton show this year.
He's well-qualified to tell the story since he was a
Pegasus beta-tester and has been an active ham for 30
years. He's also a ham who's very excited about this new
radio -- in fact, it's the most fun he's had with a radio
in his ham radio career he told me. Ever !
What it's NOT: an updated Scout or a replacement for the
Omni-VI+. Nor is it a mid-range transceiver, in the
conventional sense.
What it IS: a computer-controlled, IF-DSP ham transceiver.
Product Overview: Pegasus is a 100kHz - 30MHz all-band,
5-100 watt ham transceiver with general coverage receive.
Transmit modes include LSB, USB and CW. Receive modes
include LSB, USB, CW and AM. FM may be a future option.
The rig features "cutting edge IF-DSP" with 34 DSP filters
from which the user can select eight at one time. For SSB,
the filter widths range from 1050 - 8000 Hz. For CW, the
filter widths range from 300 - 900 Hz. The rig has all of
the features typically found on any modern transceiver,
including: PBT, RIT, XIT, full metering, and naturally --
a virtual main tuning knob. The hardware portion of the
rig is housed in a "putty-colored" box -- designed to
blend in with computer equipment colors. It measures
approximately 10.75" High, 5.15" Wide and 10.0" Deep. It
weighs 8 or 9 pounds and looks like a little PC computer
tower. On the front of the box there's a
front-firing speaker and a headphone jack. On the rear
panel, there's a DB-9 connector, antenna jack, 13.8VDC
power connector and
various keying jacks.
Pegasus interface: Where's the knobs? Since Pegasus is a
"virtual transceiver" you can only see the front panel and
main tuning knob via your computer screen using Pegasus
software. The tuning knob -- and other Pegasus controls --
are manipulated with your mouse using "rotations, clicks,
switches and sliders." The main tuning knob has 12 rates
from 1 Hz to "very large." In addition, there's a "log
scale" above the rotary knob allowing the user to "grab"
7.1MHz and drag the receiver to 7.4MHz, for example -- in
a matter of a second or two. If you prefer conventional
knobs to virtual knobs, Pegasus will have an accessory
remote tuning box that will feature a real knob - like an
Omni knob -- direct frequency entry pad and three
definable function keys. The function keys will be
user-assignable to allow you to "hot-key" switches and
controls of your choice -- all from the comfort of your
Lazy-Boy. The sound can be routed through your PC speaker
system, ear phones or from the Pegasus front panel
speaker.
Clever horse tricks: You can look at a graphical preview
of any DSP filter and check-out its shape, skirts, slope,
width and suitability for band or contest conditions. If
you want the ultimate "brick wall" you can see it before
you actually hear it. You can use Pegasus as a spectrum
analyzer and "sweep" an entire band -- looking for
activity, noise, lightening storms, etc. You can store
unlimited memories with your own titles, such as --
5.489Mhz -- "Unidentified Strange Beacon." For those who
spend lots of time on the computer, one could use Pegasus
to "rejoin" ham radio. The transceiver box will stow,
unseen, under your desk and the virtual
interface can be left open as a minimized window on your
computer desk-top. You could use an ear-bud for listening,
and it would be possible to operate CW via keyboard/paddle
or PSK-31 without distracting your spouse or fellow
worker.
Computer requirements: minimum 486-class PC, running
Window 3.1, Win95, Win98 or NT. One megabyte of HDD is
required.
Power requirements: 13.8VDC @ 1A - receive, 20A -
transmit.
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Shipping Date: July, '99. US List Price: $895.00,
including software. Accessory remote tuning: Price TBD.
Commentary: Pegasus clearly represents exciting advances
in the area of DSP transceiver design -- no question. The
greater debate will center around the ultmate
user-interface -- virtual, real or some combination of
both. Some of the tricks that Pegasus can perform; the
Omni VI+ simply can't. At the same time, Pegasus will have
no appeal to hams who love their Omni VI+ front panel and
big knobs. Time will tell. But, whether you love the
"flying horse" or not... I'm just the messenger who's been
up all night to bring you the story. Never polite to shoot
the messenger -- even in Roman times! <wink>
73,
Conrad Weiss - NN6CW
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