[TenTec] Transceivers in ARRL CW Contest

[John Rippey]

I tried out several transceivers over the course of the ARRL CW DX contest 
this weekend. My ranking, in terms of dealing with (1) the multitude of 
very strong signals and (2) ease of use (digging out stand-alone weak 
signals was not the problem!):

1. IC-746PRO

2. OMNI VI (Opt. 3)

3.  TS-870

4.  FT-920.

The top three are very close and the choice really comes down to personal 
preference. I give the PRO the edge because of its very effective and 
flexible filtering scheme.

Special Mention: the Argonaut V proved itself again. It's front end did not 
suffer the way the 920 did with blow-by and other annoying artifacts. 
However, the Argo is not really set up for contesting, so I do not include 
it in the above. Its receiver is very good, though--much better than one 
would expect from just looking at the ARRL Lab's test results.

Since the OMNI, FT-920 and the TS-870 no longer are being manufactured, I 
guess I operate in a time warp.

73,
John, W3ULS