[TenTec] Omni VI first impressions

[Ken Brown]

Hi Steve,


>
> There was a consensus of replies that the variation of display brightness, and the "key up thump", seem to be "features" that other Omni VIs exhibit.
>   
The variation in display brightness is a feature. Key up thump? Not in 
my Omni VI.
>  At warm-up several heterodynes, one after the other, drift quickly through the pass band - all of them are non-tunable. Once the rig is stable, if I'm left with a heterodyne in the pass band it can be tuned out with PBT control. I don't mean "filtered out" with PBT; just a few degrees rotation of the PBT control around its mid position and the heterodyne rapidly moves in audio tone and out of the passband. If the PBT control is more than about 5 degrees away from its central position I never hear a heterodyne at all. I guess this must be some funny mixing product involving the15.3 MHz PBT oscillator.
>   
A very interesting problem. Since it happens on all bands, I would guess 
that the 15.3 MHz PBT oscillator is generating a spurious signal that is 
getting right into the 9MHz IF, or even the 6.3 MHz IF. Come to think of 
it, suppose that the 15.3 MHz PBT oscillator is mixing with the 9 MHz 
BFO, and generating a signal at 6.3 MHz. Changing from USB to LSB would 
move the 9 MHz BFO, and the setting of the PBT required to hear the 
unwanted mix would also move. Does that happen?

So then why would your 9 MHz BFO oscillator or 15.3 MHz PBT oscillator 
radiate, or conduct through undesired paths, more than most other 
peoples? I would look for loose connectors and board mounting screws 
around the TX Audio Board (which includes the BFO) and the Passband 
Tuning Board. What about the shield covers over the optional crystal 
filter access? Are the shields there, with all the screws in place?

DE N6KB