[TenTec] Opinions from Scout Owners?

[Mike Bryce]

Humm...

the Ten tec scout....

I own four scouts right now. They're really fine radios. abit with  
some quirks, as with any radio designed.

the modules are a bit of a pain, of course, you don't need to lug  
around the entire ham bands, just the modules you need. No DSP, but  
the adjustable filter works quite nicely. 50 watts of RF provides  
plenty of bang for the poor bands. ANd you just can't ignore the  
simple, on-off and station selector ease of operation. Most  
complaints center around high speed CW and frequency hopping caused  
by the overloaded processor. The analog PTO is just that. It won't  
give you the stability of a PLL.


compare:

the Icom 703...
The built in antenna tuner is a plus, along with the dsp and general  
coverage receiver. the 10 watts RF is a bit low for emergency  
communications when the bands are so so.
The radio will work down to 9.6 volts. Reports of driver failure  
quite common

The SGC 2020
Miserable CW radio! Ok, on ssb. The dsp works fine, but the entire  
radio is not very user friendly. Once you get the  hang of the  
interface, it's doable. 25 watts rf... will work down to 11 volts or  
so. Radio tends to drift until the TXCO gets things back on  
frequency. The radio is built like a tank and would survive in the  
field when most other radio would up and quit. Discontinued by SGC  
last fall. SGC will still provide service and repair. While the  
manual states you can receive "AM" it's dismal at best. The 2020 will  
tune from 160 meter band to 30 mHz and everything in between. There's  
no band switch, everything is in memory.

The Yaesu FT 817
QRP in a QRP package. 5 Watts rf on hf and 6/2/ and 440 bands.  
Battery run time with internal batteries is dismal. Radio will work  
down to 9.6 volts. Very small and compact, those of us with "man  
hands" will find operating the radio hard to do. If you plan on  
running CW, you better get the crystal filter. Reports of final  
failure are quite common. general coverage receiver with good AM  
reception.

The Yaesu FT-897
You get both QRP and QRO in the same package. Internal batteries will  
operate the radio at 20 watts, external 12 volts will do 100 watts.  
You can have your choice of two NiMh batteries (at $90 each, third  
party) or the internal power supply. You can't have both. DSP filter  
works nice. Basically a FT817 on steroids. Covers all HF as well as 6  
meters, 2 meters and 440. WHile the dsp filter is better than most on  
CW, the optional collins CW crystal filter works wonders. DItto for  
the crystal SSB filter. Run time of the internal batteries depends on  
mode. I get about 2 hours of radio per battery on CW. general  
coverage receiver with good AM reception. While generally inexpensive  
at first, the FT897 is an option rich radio. Fully loaded, it can get  
expensive very quickly.

That's a short break down of the "smaller radios"

I currently own all of the above radios with the exception of the  
817...to small for me. Each radio has it own virtues. For trip in one  
of the Jeeps, the SGC2020 would come along ( could use it for a wheel  
chuck  while fixing the Jeep.) For camping, the 897, for bike riding  
either the 2020 or the 703. The scout would be happy at home or at  
field day or even mobile.

there's a lot of choices... I personally would like to see ten tec  
come out with a small radio...



Mike, WB8VGE
SunLight Energy Systems
The Heathkit Shop
http://www.theheathkitshop.com/

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