Hi John,
I too am a CW only op. My operating is limited to ragchewing on 80 and 40
meters.
I've owned and own several Ten-Tec rigs, the newest of them being a Corsair
II. They include the Triton 544, the Omni-C, an Argosy 525D and a couple of
580 Deltas. I have never even seen a newer Ten-Tec than those mentioned.
All of the rigs I've mentioned have excellent full breakin (commonly
referred to as QSK).
My first 'big rig' was a Heathkit Apache transmitter and Mohawk receiver.
To handle antenna switching, I had the choice between a Dow-Key coaxial
relay or a Dow-Key electronic T-R switch. Since the T-R switch was two
dollars cheaper, costing $10.95, I opted for it. For a while I was very
cautious about keeping the receiver muted while transmitting. Then one day
I left the receiver's switch in the wrong position and it did not mute. I
found my own signal sounded like a received signal about RST 579. From then
on I had perfect QSK. But college and the Army intervened and saw my
selling that rig.
For a number of years after the Army I ran Heathkit HW-101 and SB-102 rigs,
neither of which had the QSK feature. Then, upon much chiding by friends
that I get into the 20th century, I bought a rig that 'had everything.' It
had full QSK, a built-in keyer, 100 watts, general coverage, fully
synthesized, digital frequency readout, CW filters standard, a receiver
pre-amplifier -- heck, what more could a fellow want?
(This story is leading up to something...) That magical rig was the Yaesu
FT-757GX. It had a few minor shortcomings: it's internal keyer topped out
at about 25 WPM; using QSK, the dots were shortened to the point that, using
an external keyer at 50 WPM they were almost inaudible; my SB-102 could hear
weak signals on 10 meters that were imperceptible with the FT-757 even with
its pre-amp turned on; but worst, the rig caused a very strange
muscle-tightening across my back and down my arms and resulted in headaches.
I did not tie the rig to the headaches until one time I turned it off and
sat still. I could feel the tension drain from my back and my headache
ease.
So I experimented. The rig's receiver had a 'hashiness' that modulated the
received signals' audio. The strength of the received signal made no
difference, it could not override the noise but was modulated by the hash.
I hurt my foot drop-kicking that rig out the shack window.
At the Asheville hamfest I bought a used Triton 544 and took it home. It
was perfect for me -- perfect QSK at any speed and the purest, cleanest
audio I have heard from any ham rig's receiver. As time passed, I added the
other rigs to my collection, settling finally on having the Omni-C on the
desk. Of the Ten-Tec rigs I own, my least favorite is the Corsair II
because its receiver has a hashiness that I don't care for. Otherwise it's
probably the best rig -- just not my favorite. I have had a 580 Delta set
on the desk for a year or more in the past and found no shortcomings with it
for my use. I cannot tell you why the Omni took its place. I will caution
you that the Omni-C will not work properly on the 18 MHz band so if that
band matters to you, you'll need a different rig.
And finally... my Argosy II was new out of the box. I didn't like the way
it sounded. Putting in the audio CW filter helped a lot but the biggest
change was from replacing the 4-pole SSB filter with an 8-pole Ten-Tec SSB
filter -- and that was on CW. That improvement in the SSB filter made the
little Argosy sound like 'a real Ten-Tec.'
So... if I were buying a rig today, it'd probably be the 580 Delta if it
had the noise blanker (I don't know if the blanker was optional or not). I
almost always use only the audio CW filters but do have both the 500 and 250
Hz crystal filters in all my rigs except the Argosy (which has room for only
one crystal CW filter). I never, and I mean never, use the 250 Hz filters.
Maybe the DXers and contesters need them but I don't.
Oh yes, you only asked the time... it's 9:24 am EDT.
73, Mike N4NT
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Westerlage" <john@n5dwi.com>
To: <TenTec@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 31, 2010 8:53 PM
Subject: [TenTec] What Model Ten-Tec Rig Do I Need ?
I hope someone on the list can advise me.
I'm a CW only op. I've used the 50W TenTec Century 21 for years. It was
already used when I bought it. With its full breakin, it's been a joy to
use in high speed operaton.
But, ... it's beginning to show its age in several ways. And I have a
friend that I've promised to give it to if I find a suitable replacement.
I'm not interested in voice or digital modes, and I consider such circuitry
to be an unnecessary expense, not to mention the deleterious effect it has
on CW operation.
I understand the Corsair II was also a CW op's dream rig, despite the voice
stuff.
So, what TenTec rig, if any, do I move on to?
Do any of the current TenTec offerings have what I'm looking for - full
breakin, or do I have to go back to my roots and start home brewing all my
rigs?
I truly don't mean to step on any toes with my comments, I'm just asking
about what appeals to me personally, old curmudgeon that I am.
Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated.
vy 73 de john
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