I inherited an underused Delta II from a friend. It was checked by the factory
and shipped to me.
I don't have a modem rig for comparison, but I am very pleased with its
performance. I'm only using SSB now as I don't have a keyer. My antenna is a
120' wire up 65'. I've worked 80 countries since July. I also get consistent
reports of good quality audio.
Ron Fish, KX1W
Sent from my iPhone
> On Oct 31, 2014, at 21:59, Steve Berg <wa9jml@frontier.com> wrote:
>
>
> I don't have any particular interest in a computer operated radio. But, I am
> not a top notch DXer or contester, either.
>
> To my mind, the best compact radio format was that of the Argonaut II/Delta
> II. It had most of the same capabilities as the Omni V, but not the same
> level of performance. I managed to get a really good Argonaut II, and it has
> served me well for several decades, but it is getting tired. I bought a Ten
> Tec 6&2 meter rig, but found that it was not as versatile as the Argonaut II
> was with transverters. The one shortfall for the Argo II showed up when we
> had a wild 6 meter opening to Spain and Portugal, and the selectivity of the
> Jones filter was simply insufficient to sort out the closely packed CW
> signals. The keypad frequency entering is a really nice feature. And, the
> noise blanker on the old clunker is the best I have ever found. It also had
> a pot to set the delay for keying the transverter and my ancient Mirage brick
> amplifier. The new rig could not do that it was set for fast QSK, and that
> was it. My brick could not keep up with the keying. So, I sold the radio.
>
> In terms of performance, I have very few problems with my older Corsair II.
> It has served me very well, but it is of the same vintage as the Argo II.
> So, I bought an Argonaut VI, to see how well a modern radio can work. It is
> very good, and I had a lot of fun working the W1AW portable stations with 10
> watts. It did a lot better than I expected, even on SSB, helped a lot with
> the RF speech processor accessory. I will be using the Argo VI on 2 meters
> with a transverter and brick.
>
> Once I decided that the sale was a fine incentive, I purchased an Omni VII
> with the optional 300 HZ filter, remembering that it helps to have a really
> narrow receiver, even on 6 meters. I will be keeping the older Argonaut and
> Corsair II in reserve. I expect that it will become increasingly difficult
> to find parts for the older rigs, but I am not so sure that we will continue
> to see increased designed obsolescence in our ham rigs. As ham radio is a
> hobby, and also that most people's incomes are not rising much these days, it
> will behoove manufacturers to follow Ten Tec's lead and provide much better
> service for their older radios. Many of us will not be able to afford
> frequent radio replacement.
>
> Your mileage may vary.
>
> Steve WA9JML
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