[TenTec] Re: Factory upgrades vs. stick-on labels

[Jan Ditzian]

Brian Hemmis wrote:

> Just got off the phone with Scott at TT sales.  He informed me that TT is no
> longer doing the Option 2 upgrade and that their dance card is full for # 3
> upgrades as well. I have a supposedly mint Omni 6 coming in which I was
> hoping to have the factory do the # 2 which they had done for me a couple
> years back on another of the many 6's which have passed through here.
> Question for the TT cult members- Has anyone done the # 1, $ 75,
> do-it-yourself mod ? The part abt the stick-on labels for the keypad seems a
> bit cheesy to me.

Brian,

I did the #1 mod, chips only, since I had my own beer, and cheap is my first
name.  The labels require only one additional investment, unless you have
proclivities that are normally not discussed on the Ten-Tec reflector: buy some
clear nail polish, stick the labels on the keys, and then paint over them with
clear nail polish.  Don't chintz here; let it dry and do it again, and don't
check for dryness too soon or you will get a fingerprint.  I would recommend
painting just before bedtime and at arising, for two sessions that won't tempt
you to test ( I think that I did four).  If you aren't too serious a dxer then
you still have a wife or girlfriend, so ask her.

When you cut the labels, make them smaller than the keytops if you can, and try
to make them not stick over at the corners.  I failed just a little bit at this,
but the keytop still shows no sign of wear.  Of course, I like the Omni 6
because of the large digital display, so that may say something about how well I
can see the wear.

The result is a black faced label, instead of blue or grey, like the other
labels in the column, and letters that are thinner and less bright than on the
other keys.  But the wear has been OK over the past year-plus that I have had
the mod.  It looks like a replacement, but I don't think that the unwashed would
guess right off that the buttons had paste-over labels.

73,
Cheap Jan, KX2A



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