[TenTec] v1369

[Bill Tippett]

W5YR wrote:
 >why doesn't TT just disable the Sweep function

         My CPU has already disabled it 99% of the time.  The only time I
find Sweep marginally useful is when the band is virtually dead.  Then
I enable it while doing other things so it will alert me if something
shows up.  Of course setting DX Telnet's Alarm function does a much
better job if you are looking for a specific station.

         In a contest, Sweep is useless since it shows a band is filled with
signals...but I already knew that!  When DX conditions are really good,
it is useless for similar reasons, you need to actually identify the DX
stations to know which one you might need.  In a split DX pileup, it is
not as effective as actually locating the station the DX is working with
the Sub Receiver.

         If technology ever gets to the point that Sweep would display
the call of DX stations on the spectrum, then it might be more useful.
As it stands now, I don't find Sweep of much practical value and view
it a another "whistle and bell" (like General Coverage, FM, etc) that I
can easily live without and frankly wish I did not have to pay for in
the product cost.

         I do occasionally use DSP Blaster's waterfall display, mainly to
find a DX signal buried in noise that I know the approximate frequency
of from a spot.  This is very useful since you need to VERY carefully
set RX frequency to the nearest ONE Hz to take full advantage of DSP
Blaster's Coherent CW filter.  Perhaps someday someone will integrate
truly powerful DSP features like Coherent CW into a receiver with a
good waterfall display, but that is probably a few years away.  BTW,
Coherent CW uses a similar technique as Orion's Panoramic Stereo,
splitting the signal into in-phase (I) and out-of-phase (Q) components,
but there the similarity stops.  It could be that Coherent CW might be
added to Orion sometime in the future, but it would probably require
a companion waterfall display to use properly.  Since DSP Blaster needs
a dedicated 200+ MHz PII for full functionality, I suspect no current
radio's CPU is up to the task without adding another processor.  Maybe
in the Orion II?  ;-)

                                                 73,  Bill  W4ZV