[TenTec] GARBLED PARAGON

[Joseph Pursley]

Ive been experiencing garbled audio from one of my Paragons for some
time now. Believing it to be an out of adjustment PLL I performed the
Ten Tec alignment several times without any results. Having two Paragons
I decided to swap boards in order to narrow the problem to a specific
board . I began with the Minor Loop Board. I noticed that the board in
my backup rig had some after market modifications.  Figuring it must
have been a fix for a known problem I used the board in the bad rig
anyway and lo and behold it worked.  I modified the original board to
the same specs of the modified board and it worked also.  The Mod is as
follows:

MINOR LOOP BOARD

There was a thermister soldered across pins 2 and three of U5
R-28 was paralleled with a like resistor.
C-29 was removed.

I measured the resistance of the thermistor and found one that had the
same resistance. That worked for me but is not always the case. I just
got lucky. Better figure what Ten Tec used.

I certainly wish Ten Tec  would take the time to pass on the factory
upgrades and mods as they are performed . I've been putting up with this
since the rig came back the last time.

Now if I could only get my Omni VI to work right I'd be happy. It came
back a while ago from the major upgrade and the received and transmitted
audio sounds as though the band pass were incorrectly aligned. Every
thing sounds as though I were using one of the Heil high pitched
microphones. All carrier frequencies have been checked as well as the
master oscillator to no avail. I also noticed that I have to turn the
audio almost 3/4 full to get the same results as I have on the Paragons
ad 1/4 turn. I live on a military retirement and cant really afford to
keep sending these rigs back and forth. And diminished UPS service
scares the heck out of me. I found my Omni VI in the car port soaked
from a rain three days after UPS left it there. They made no attempt to
deliver it to the door. I was home and hadnt left the house for a week.

If anyone is having the same problems I would like to know. The Omni VI
has been returned twice now. Once for being so far out of alignment it
was barely usable and the second time for the major upgrade.


I      realize not everyone is capable of making major alignments and
repairs. Aligning the Paragon requires at a minimum a 100 MHZ scope. Ten
Tec does however encourage ther customers to attempt to make minor
repairs. Those of us who are owners and have the experience and
equipment would benefit if  alignment proceedures and minor fixes were
shared. I much prefer to repair my own equipment because that was my
trade in civilian and military careers. On the other hand I would never
trust anyone than Ten Tec to handle my most prized posessions If I were
not capable myself.  For Ten Tec: I do not do repair work for anyone but
myself anymore..............joe



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