[TenTec] Another reason for PTT CW

[Rick Westerman]

As a QSK convert (long before acquiring any T-T radio), it's hard
to
look back into darkness :-)

Grant/NQ5T
You are seeing things through your own crystal ball, Grant.
I built my own QSK about 6 years before TT even existed.  I got
my first TT in 1974 and 30 years later I still prefer TT over all
others and the QSK is part of the reason (but not the only
reason).
I haven't heard much objection to having QSK in the TT rigs.  In
fact everybody seems to love it.  It's not having the option to
turn it off and use it like other rigs behave that is disturbing
some people.  It intrigues me that many of you, rather than
trying to understand why some people desire this, continue to try
and persuade them they should see it like you (or else they're
nuts or living in the dark ages).
We've seen lots of comments about how it is impolite to plug our
ears and just talk.  They were made by people who had their own
method of communications in mind and most likely did not fully
understand under what conditions some others wish to operate and
why they "perceive" PTT to be the best way of doing it.
This has been said once before but apparently many of you didn't
understand because of the "contest slang" that was used.  I'd
like to repeat it in plain English without contest slang:
In contesting, it is typical for one operator to be running two
rigs at the same time on two different bands, simultaneously.
With one rig he continuously (using the computer) calls CQ and
then answers whatever comes.  This radio is called the "Run
Radio".  With the other rig he is searching for DX multipliers on
another band, listening intensely to the second radio while the
run radio is transmitting.  In fact he is searching for
multipliers (listening for weak DX stations) and probably has
more QRM than he would like.  With QSK on the run radio, he would
actually be generating his own QRM to himself, making it more
difficult to hear the weak DX station on the second radio.
Really good operators (let's say great operators) can perhaps
operate with both radios in QSK mode.  Most people (including
yours truly) cannot.  I am very poor at this double radio
operating anyway and if I had my run station beeping at me while
I am trying to copy DX on radio #2, I would get all messed up.
I'll keep my run station muted during transmissions and continue
to pay full attention to my multiplier station  - thank you.
Grant, perhaps running only one radio at a time is "back into
darkness". ;-)
I'm not saying everybody who doesn't run two radios at a time is
backwards or worse or anything else.  People should do what they
enjoy doing and not get too hung up on others who wish to operate
differently.  I think we all agree we want an Orion's excellent
receiver. Some people just want to use it in a different way, and
even if Scott is fully 100% correct, my bet is that Ten-Tec will
sell more radios RIGHT NOW if they make that simple mod.  Maybe
later when the world has learned that there's a better way, some
of the guys will come around anyway, but my 30 years in business
management (including product management) has convinced me that
it's a lot easier to give the people what they want than it is to
do missionary work.  The bottom line will benefit in the short
term.
Once again, if Scott is correct (and he probably is) then Ten-Tec
needs to do some promotion in the contesting circles because
currently the contesting community as a whole does not understand
that.  For instance, Ten-Tec has done a great job of giving
examples on how to set up the Orion for doing weak signal DX
work.  There needs to be similar guidelines for how to set up a
pair of Orions optimally for running "SO2R" (contest slang for
Single Operator running 2 Radios simultaneously).
I hope this post helps the non-contesting operators understand
why some operators want to do things a bit differently.
73
Rick