I've had my Argo V for about 10 days. While work and other obligations have
prevented me from having as much time as I would like to play with it, and
band conditions have been less than optimum for a QRP rig when I have had
time, here are my comments, and suggestions for improvement. I think most,
if not all of them can be addressed with a DSP update:
Pluses:
1) When the band is open enough for folks to hear me, I get good audio
reports on SSB. People who know my voice say it sounds like me - this is
with just the supplied hand mic.
2) I have the TXCO option. The unit seems stable enough for me to use on
PSK31. I stopped using my Elecraft K2 on PSK31 as it would drift 8 or 10 Hz
during a typical transmission as things warmed up inside the K2. It would
drift the other way as it cooled down on receive. No such problem with the
Argo V.
3) The operation is pretty intiutive, though I haven't messed with memories
yet. Also, part of this ease of operation is due to some key (to me)
features being left out (see below), and if it doesn't have a feature, I
don't consider that feature hard to use <g>.
Room for improvement:
1) The operator interface is not up to today's standards:
a) There are some features (such as the RF attenuator and the tuning lock)
that have no indicator to indicate that they are engaged. In fact, the
manual says that to determine if the tuning lock is engaged, try turning the
VFO knob. For the RF attenuator, the only way to know if it is engaged is
toggle it and see if the received signal goes up or down.
b) There are some buttons the only work in certain modes, while other
buttons are overloaded with functionality. For example, the an additional
press of the KEYR button is required to adjust the frequency of the CW tone,
while the TONE button is unused in CW mode. Similarly, the SP button is not
used in CW (couldn't it be used for keyer SPeed?).
c) There is no indicator for TX / RX.
d) The meter can be placed in different modes (Reverse power, SWR, final
current, low power 1 - 5 watts) during Tx. Again there is no indication of
what is being displayed. Also, and maybe because of this, the meter reverts
to 'normal' 0 - 25 watts forward power once the radio returns to Rx. Thus
you can't leave the meter in a particular mode.
e) This is probably just a pet peeve of mine, but - when changing to a
faster tuning speed, I think the frequency should be set to the nearest
mulitple of the new tuning speed, so that the tuning is always done in exact
multiples of the current. For example, say I have tuned to 14.005.010 using
the slow 10 Hz rate. If I switch to the the fast 1 kHz rate, the frequency
should adjust to 14.005.000 and then tune 14.006.000, 14.007.000, etc.
However, currently, the Argo tunes 14.005.010, 14.006.010, 14.007.010, etc.
In fact, if the unused digits were blanked (i.e. 14.005), that would be an
indication that the fast tuning mode was engaged. I also find it strange
that the 1 Hz digit is displayed at all, when there is no way to tune finer
that 10Hz and thus, the 1 Hz digit is alway '0'.
f) I haven't seen this on other TT radios, but I offer it as a suggestion.
There should be a way to reverse the sense of dit and dah paddles when using
the keyer. Obviously, I could rewire the paddle plug or put a switch inline,
but this should be a simple setting in the software and most competing rigs
offer this with their internal keyers.
2) There is no audio monitor in SSB. While the audio monitor in the Pegasus
was somewhat limited in its use for adjusting a voice input (i.e. it doesn't
truly represent the audio signal being transmitted), it was useful for
setting up a soundcard for PSK31 (and other soundcard modes) transmit. For
example, if there was audio feedback it was obvious in the monitor.
3) There appears to be no TX bandwidth adjustment.
4) There is no TUNE button. On the Omni series this tune button
automatically put the radio in CW mode and generated a carrier. It was very
handy for adjusting antenna tuners and power output. The only way I have
found around this is to switch the Argo V to CW mode and press the mic PTT
button (I have the CW input set up for paddles and pressing one of them
generates dits or dahs). It works, but is awkward. I'm sure this could be
implemented in a DSP update to the Argo V, which is why I mention it.
5) There doesn't appear to a REVERSE button to listen to the TX frequency
when operating split (other than swapping VFO's).
6) There is no auto notch function. I recently had an opportunity to try the
auto notch on my Omni VI (opt 3), when someone took forever to tune up on
top of a net I was monitoring. At first, I had to double check and make sure
that the carrier was still there. The auto notch had completely eliminated
it. Again, I'm pretty sure that this could be implemented with a DSP update.
7) Operating full QSK there seems to be some artifact of the keying that
gets carried over to the receive which appears to increase the receive
noise. For example, I have the sidetone adjusted to a comfortable level and
audible over the current receive background noise. As I start keying the
receive background noise seems to increase and I have trouble hearing the
sidetone. Once I stop keying, the background noise seems to drop. Note: I'm
not a big CW operator.
8) Moving around frequencies is somewhat awkward (granted, I haven't set up
memories yet). Even the fast tuning speed is too slow for major excursions -
for example from one end of 10m to the other. It's even more awkward to move
around frequencies outside the amateur bands, such as SW broadcasts.
Big suggestion to TT here:
The Argo V can be controlled via commands sent to its serial port. According
to the manual, these commands are documented in a 'Programmer's Manual'
available at www.rfsquared.com. As of this morning, the manual has not been
posted.
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