[TenTec] hiss hiding, was Omni C vs Corsair II

[Steve N4LQ]

The Triton through the Omni series were all quiet receivers. Narrow xtal 
filters were added to the Triton to make it an Omni. On the Omni C, a small 
transistor amplifier kicks in when using the 500hz cw filter. This adds just 
a touch extra noise. Otherwise, the Triton and Omni are neck and neck for 
noise. Being single conversion rigs, they had few mixer stages thus less 
opportunity for noise.
Then came the Corsair. Passband tuning was added. To achieve this feat meant 
another mixer and another IF stage. The extra IF at 6.3mhz eliminated the 
17m spur but added noise and lots of it in the form of hiss or white noise. 
In the original Corsair you just had to live with the noise.
Then came the Corsair II. Still had the extra noise but they added a tone 
control. Turning this control to minimum treble cut down on the 
hiss.....some.
Then came the Paragon...Same PBT, same hiss but now they added a tunable 
audio filter which helps hide the hiss better than a tone control.
Then came the Omni V with the wonderful PBT but still hissy.
They came the Omni VI. Still hissy but now we have DSP to help hide the 
hiss. Works pretty slick as far as hiss hiding goes.
So this is why one can listen to the Triton or older Omni series and come 
away smiling. This is why people have a hard time giving them up.
I played with the Flex-Radio SDR for a few weeks. I got the same buzz. It 
was as if my ears were directly connected to the ether! Crazy thing was 
useless as a transmitter and flaky as a june bug though. It's SINGLE 
CONVERSION! Man you talk about quiet! Some day I hope others follow this 
lead and perfect it.
Bottom line here is; too many mixers spoil the radio.

Steve Ellington
N4LQ at iglou.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peg Haese KB9LIE" <kb9lie at yahoo.com>
To: <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2005 12:12 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Omni C vs. Corsair II


> The Omni C is a super rig until you want to use 17 meters. The Corsair
> II wins hands down there.
>
> The original Hercules 444 amp also is a fine piece of equipment, except
> I believe the finals are no longer replaceable. We worked many "new
> ones" with the Omni C/Hercules combination here and still have them.
>
> However, I love my Omni V/Hercules II combination even better.
>
> 73 de Peg KB9LIE in SW Wisconsin
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
>
> Then Mr. Kahn asked me what kind of rig I was presently using. I told
> him I was using an Omni-C. It was then that he uttered those famous
> words, "If you've got an Omni-C, you don't need a Corsair II."
>
> 73, Mike N4NT
>
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