[TenTec] Cooling fans and IF gain

[Chuck Guenther]

N6KB wrote: "I find that operating my Omni VI in CW contests a fan on the PA heat 
sink is necessary. My Kenwood TS-440 has a built-in fan with temperature 
controlled speed, or at least duty cycle. The TS-440 receiver 
performance in contest conditions does not compare to the Omni VI 
though. I wish Ten-Tec would have included a built in fan. I have never 
tried, or thought that I needed, a fan to ventilate the insides of the 
Omni VI though."

I used a TS-440S for about seven years (in fact I still have it).  The only time the cooling fan ever came on was during an RTTY contest (I was running about 60 watts).  It never came on when operating CW or SSB.  

With the Ten Tec rig, I find the heat sink of my 961 PS always runs at a higher temperature than the Omni 6 PA heat sink.  

Today, in order to alleviate my gain problem, I swapped out the Ten Tec 221 filter for the INRAD 753 (which has a few dB less insertion loss).  The gain seems adequate (and more stable) now, so perhaps my problem was in the filter, or the connections thereto.  

73,
Chuck  NI0C
.