[TenTec] Pegasus: "Top 10 questions" ...

[Paul Christensen]

I wish I had Conrad's list this morning!  I am now in my Cincinnati hotel
room after seeing the Reds win over the Padres 6-2 at Cinergy Field!

I went back for more of Dayton this morning and left at noon when I honestly
felt like I could experience no more.  For those of you planning on
attending next year's Hamvention 2000, you should consider visiting the
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Museum.  It's only fifteen minutes from Hara
Arena and one could easily spend an entire day there learning the history of
flight, the Air Force's involvement and contribution in our wars, the
prelude to space exploration and an exceptional display of 90-years of
aircraft.

Regarding Pegasus: these are all excellent questions and are perhaps best
answered by Ten-Tec for accuracy and completeness.  Pegasus is a
triple-conversion receiver whose I.F. DSP is 12 kHz according to the
literature I see no reason why Pegasus cannot be used in a mobile operation
with a small notebook PC.  Pegasus runs on 12-volts like most other Ten-Tecs
and as long as your notebook runs under WIN 3.1, 95, or 98 (minimum of 486
processor) it should work fine.  The control software only utilizes 1 MB of
hard disk space.  How they put that much GUI in 1 MB I'll never know, but
it's quite impressive.

Long distance remote operation and contest logging capabilities are unknown
to me.  However, Pegasus uses no remote control head like the Kachina; it's
a completely self-contained unit, notwithstanding the power supply, PC,
antenna, key/mic., which leads me to believe that it is not intended for
complex, remote control applications...only as a local transceiver.  This is
fine with
me so long as QSK is excellent and at $895.00 I wouldn't expect it to.

One of Kachina's limitations is that CW QSK may never be very good as long
as it supports long-distance remote control communications.  Transmission
delays will most certainly preclude excellent QSK characteristics.

A few more features from Ten-Tec's Dayton literature:

- VFO has 12 tuning rates

- 1000 memories or more, limited only by the RAM in your PC

- Spectrum Sweep gives you a snapshot of the entire band in seconds.

- Tailor the sound of your transmitted sideband transmission with 15
different bandwidths!

- 34 DSP filters built in.  Pick any eight for your front panel and change
them any time at a click of the mouse.  25 choices from 1050 to 8000 Hz
bandwidth and nine more from 300 to 900 Hz for CW and DIGITAL MODE
ENTHUSIASTS!.

- Dual VFOs with Split feature
- RIT/XIT
- PBT
- Adjustable AGC
- Variable CW offset with auto-tracking side-tone
- QSK for CW and AMTOR/PACTOR
- Receives from 100 kHz to 30 MHz

Weight: 9 lbs
Size (HWD) 10.75" x 5.125" 11.5"

-Paul, W9AC

---- Original Message -----
From: Radman <radman@best.com>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>; Paul Christensen <paulc@mediaone.net>
Cc: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion <qrp-l@Lehigh.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, May 15, 1999 7:38 PM
Subject: [TenTec] Pegasus: "Top 10 questions" ...


>
> Folks,
>
> Both Paul Christensen and I have posted early
> previews/reports on TEN-TEC's new Pegasus transceiver. My
> mailbox is *filled* with follow-up questions on Pegasus.
> Since my preview was a "virtual tour" of Pegasus, from my
> home in CA, and Paul is "really" at Dayton '99, he's in
> the best position to answer the in-depth questions. I'll
> summarize what I've been asked and perhaps Paul can post a
> general message to both the T-T reflector and QRP-L.
> Paul's a great writer, loves Pegasus and he bought serial
> number 00001 !
>
> Paul, I hope I didn't put you on the spot :-))
>
> Here we go:
>
> 1.) Does Pegasus have an internal antenna tuner (ATU) ?
> 2.) Can you use Pegasus in a mobile environment with a
> notebook computer ?
> 3.) Is it legal to use a notebook computer in an
> automobile as an interface to any radio?
> 4.) Can you operate PSK31 and other digital modes without
> "disrupting" the Pegasus interface ?
> 5.) Can you run contesting software, such as TR-LOG while
> operating Pegasus?
> 6.) Is it possible to "control" Pegasus over common
> telephone lines -- remotely, as is the case with Kachina?
> 7.) Are all of the DSP filters used at ONE IF frequency --
> if so what is that freq?
> 8.) When will Pegasus be reviewed in QST?
> 9.) What *specifically* has T-T done in Pegasus that
> Kachina has *not* already done? Differentiators?
> 10.) Has T-T made any mention of a "real" Pegasus
> transceiver -- all Pegasus features in a case with front
> panel and knobs?
>
> Comments: The enormity of e-mail I've received has been
> *very* enthusiastic and in favor of the virtual Pegasus.
> Other folks are keenly interested in TEN-TEC's technical
> prowess in the emerging world of DSP transceivers, but
> favor a conventional user interface with a real front
> panel and real knobs. And, there's a third group that
> feels Pegasus -- virtual or real -- represents true future
> of amateur/wireless communications and Pegasus should be
> embraced as a new "architecture" that could pave the way
> for a new class of amateur communication that we can only
> imagine at this stage of development. One thing is clear
> -- TEN-TEC has stirred the pot with Pegasus !
>
> 73,
>
> Conrad Weiss - NN6CW
>
> --
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>
>


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