[TenTec] Considering Pegasus Purchase

[Mark Erbaugh]

Dave,

I've had a lot of fun with my Pegasus. While it's no Orion in the
performance arena, it certainly has a lot of bang for the buck

> 3.  Any opinions on the LDG internal tuner option ?

If you are talking about the PT-11P from LDG, I have heard that it is a good
tuner. However, be advised that to take full advantage of it you will also
have purchase some third party control software or do some reverse
engineering (which I guess would require purchasing or evaluating the
control software). LDG has chosen to not make the control codes publicly
available - which is why I haven't bought that tuner.   According to the LDG
website, the only control software that supports the advanced features of
the PT-11P is the one from Carl, N4PY.

Carl's software is very good and the one that I use most of the time with my
Pegasus, but since you mentioned experimenting, I assume that you may want
to write your own software.

If you are considering the original Pegasus internal tuner made by LDG and
sold by TenTec - don't. The tuner is not up to the quality of LDG's other
tuners. I had one installed in my Pegasus and removed it. In some instances
with my setup, the tuner was only able to generate a 2:1 match. Using the
same setup with the external LDG AT-11MP tuner, I was consistently able to
get a 1:1 match.  BTW, if you do purchase the N4PY software, it has
automatic support for the external LDG tuners using a simple interface to
the Icom 706 port on them.

> 4.  At the risk of opening the floodgates, any "sage" advice from
> experienced Pegasus owners?

I would recommend that you get the remote tuning pod. There are times for me
when the computer keyboard just doesn't cut it as an interface and nothing
but a knob will do.  I find it a lot easier to tune around with the knob
than with the mouse or keyboard. I actually prefer the posistion of the knob
(flat on the desktop) to a front panel knob on other radios - I wish I could
find a remote tuning encoder for my Omni VI.

If you want to buy software, you do need to consider the N4PY software. It's
probably the best out there for the Pegasus.

> 1.  Is there any place I can get a copy of the manual in electronic
format?

While I don't see the Pegasus Operator's manual online, you can download the
Programmer's reference guide and other helpful stuff for writing your own
software from TenTec's website at:

http://www.rfsquared.com/pegasus/PegasusMain.htm


Note, however, that the only programming you can do is on the computer end
of things. TenTec has not released any tools for developing your own
firmware for inside the Pegasus.

Good luck,
Mark, N8ME