[TenTec] TT (Orion) Future improvements!!!

[NJ0IP]

"Quite simply the 430 was the future of ham radio at the time and the
Argosy was its past."

Geoff, you bring up an important point.

Of course it's interesting to compare anything to anything, but when using
that comparison to determine if a manufacturer is on track or not, you need
to be comparing radios that were designed and sold during the same time
frame.  When helping an individual decide which used rig to buy, then
anything goes.

I bought a used Argosy (analog) after the TS-430 was available.

I spent 30 years traveling Europe by motorbike each summer and operating
field day contest from some island or mountain top.  My sole power source
was the motorcycle's battery.   The Argosy was outstanding for this work.
The TS-430 would have depleted the battery in just a few hours.  Running QRP
with the Argosy, I could almost run the entire contest (about 18 hours of
operation).  Of course I often had to push-start my beamer after the
contest.

The Argosy replaced the Argonaut 509 / 405 Amp combination.  One box instead
of two.  The 50w was used for daily work (just a couple of hours) and the 5w
for the 24-hour contests.  

Someone listed the 430's 100w as an advantage.  For me it was a disadvantage
(too much battery drain).  The 50w was more than adequate for reliable
communications.  

Again this is "horses for courses".

Finally, the 430 was not only a "noisy" receiver, it was a very noisy
transmitter.  We outlawed it for our multi-multi contest stations because
with an amplifier behind it, it generated so much broadband noise that it
QRM'd the other 5 stations.  To be fair, in the late 80's and early 90's,
that was true for all manufacturers' low-cost rigs.  You had to buy their
top line rigs to get a clean synthesizer.

My Argosy was finally put out to pasture and replaced with a K2/100 in
January of 2005.  Until the K2/100, I never found a rig which would better
suit my motorbike portable operations.

By the way, the last 10 years were often with an RV and the motorbike
piggyback on the back, but the power consumption problem was still similar
because the FD contest operation was from the board battery.

73
Rick


-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]
On Behalf Of Geoffrey S. Mendelson
Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2005 6:19 PM