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Re: [TenTec] Omni6/Omni6+ AGC pop on cw leading edge

To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Omni6/Omni6+ AGC pop on cw leading edge
From: "Paul Christensen" <w9ac@arrl.net>
Reply-to: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2011 08:58:40 -0500
List-post: <mailto:tentec@contesting.com>
Barry,

Possibly leakage with age. I heard the recording, but it sounds like the AGC attack time is a bit too long. Most conventional AGC circuits sample the I.F. with a small signal diode followed by a series resistor to charge a parallel cap. The attack time is set by the time constant of the R and C components. What about the release time? A second resistor is added in parallel with C, producing a value that decays the discharge but does not alter the charge time. It's the diode that prevents discharge through the attack time resistor.

It's been a long time since I've seen the Omni Six AGC, but look for components around the 3.3 uF cap that show this charge/discharge relationship. My guess is that if C replacement doesn't do the trick, then you will be able to find a value of series R to shorten the attack time.

Paul, W9AC

----- Original Message ----- From: "Barry N1EU" <barry.n1eu@gmail.com>
To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 8:35 AM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Omni6/Omni6+ AGC pop on cw leading edge


Is it possible that I'm seeing AGC popping because the capacitors are aging?

I'm thinking of replacing the 14-year old 3.3uF electrolytic AGC
timing capacitor with a new tantalum capacitor of equal or slightly
smaller value.  Comments?

Tnx/73, Barry N1EU

On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 4:00 PM, Barry N1EU <barry.n1eu@gmail.com> wrote:
I notice up to a +10dB pop on the leading edge of cw elements with my
Omni 6+. Please see a recorded waveform at

http://n1eu.com/omni6agc.gif

and the accompanying 20sec recording is at

http://n1eu.com/omni6agc.wav

It's clear that when there's been no signal for a second or so, the
big 10dB pop is much more likely. Otherwise there's a "little" pop of
3-5dB. I'm not seeing much in the archives but has anyone tried to
tame the "pop" via AGC time constants etc? Can anyone contribute a
little technical analysis?

I see little difference in the popping with fast vs slow AGC.

Thanks & 73,
Barry N1EU
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