[TenTec] TT (Orion) Future improvements!!! - Re TS-430

[Duane - N9DG]

--- "Geoffrey S. Mendelson" <gsm at mendelson.com> wrote:

> 
> Ron, I disagree completely. The 430 was an entirely
> different rig. The
> Argosy was an old timer by that time. It was a PTO tuned,
> analog rig
> while the 430 was a digital, PLL synthesized rig, with many
> more features.
> 
> The 430 had a general coverage receiver, the Argosy did
> not. The 430
> had two "VFOs" built in and could work split the Argosy
> could not.
> The 430 received and transmitted in AM and FM the Argosy
> could not.
> The 430 had 8 memories the Argosy had none. 
> 
> Quite simply the 430 was the future of ham radio at the
> time and the Argosy was its past.

The 430 was also the first rig I encountered that taught me a
whole lot about noisy synthesizers too. It traded
*established* performance for glitzy trinkets (the TS-820/830
ran circles around it so Kenwood did know how to build a good
radio by that time).

I used one at the Red River Radio Amateur club's (Fargo, ND)
Field Day in the summer of 1986 while I was attending school
there. I already had the 580 Delta at that time and it was a
*much* more pleasant radio to listen to than the 430. On the
430 *everything* had a mushiness to it that no amount IF
filtering or other tweaking could alleviate. If someone
bought a 430 as their first radio (as many did) they wouldn't
have even known that there were better RF performing radios
out there.

Ever since then I've looked *very* closely at the phase noise
plots of each new radio as it is evaluated by ARRL and
others. As I became more interested in VHF+ phase noise took
on an even higher importance.

I'm not against synthesizers in the least, - as long as they
are quiet, and it can be done Ten Tec has proven that in
spades with the Orion.

Duane
N9DG



		
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