[TenTec] V2.060b Release Comments

[Joseph Trombino Jr]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carl Moreschi" <n4py at arrl.net>
To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2007 1:26 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] V2.060b Release Comments


>I agree that the click at the end of the CW note is much more on 2.060b 
>than
> it was on 2.059d.  But 2,059d had not QSK at all.  With 2.060b, you can at
> least get pretty good QSK.  And if the click bothers you, turn the CW 
> delay
> to 3%.  You lose high speed QSK but that makes it clickless.  I just
> wouldn't call these things sidetone problems.  The sidetone is clean, it's
> just the smuck at the end of a keyed element that is bothersome.
>
> Carl Moreschi N4PY

Howdy Carl:

I'm not hearing any click in my Orion with V 2.060b but I am certainly 
hearing the "smuck" you describe at the end of a character element when 
using my headphones.

I am not hearing it thru the speaker...perhaps because the speaker is not 
right up next to my ear but perhaps this is an indication of something 
unique happening with the sidetone thru the headphones.

It seems to me to be a little thump tail-ending the character....the 
sidetone in V 1.375b is completey devoid of any click or thump or "smuck". 
The V 1.375b switching from transmit to receive is the best I have heard in 
any receiver I have ever used....while the QSK is not as lightening fast as 
some super ops want it to be I find it to be the best to date to my 
sensitive ears.

I should also add that I operate 99.9% CW and am very critical of QSK, 
thumps, artifacts, etc that I hear in the transmit to receive changeover 
process.

This thump appears to be completely independent of sidetone level, QSK 
setting, AGC setting, CW delay value or audio level.....at least in my 
Orion.

I turned the sidetone level to zero and keyed the radio and the thump or 
smuck is gone...just very quiet switching from send to receive.

This version also seems to have less audio output than V 1.375b...I am using 
the Heil Micro-Proset and they have very sensitive earphones...the new 
ProSetPlus I have is much less sensitive and requires much audio than the 
MicroProset.

So it appears to be in the sidetone itself, again, I am not hearing any such 
artifact in V 1.375b....perhaps that is why I always go back to V 1.375b 
after trying out a new firmware version (grin).

I also like the way I can turn down the RF gain with V 1.375b and not have 
the S meter move to the right as in newer versions...this allows me to lower 
band noise using the RF gain control but still retain the S meter function 
for deriving signal strengths reports.

It's a shame that even today most all amateur receivers use the AGC line to 
drive the S meter.....using the RF gain control to mitigate band noise 
causes changes in the AGC voltages that mess up the S meter 
calibration....there is probably a better way of doing the S meter function 
but it probably costs more money to implement.

I have also noticed that the V 2.060b sidetone appears to sound much more 
like a pure sine wave than V 1.375b....but unfortunately it does have that 
thump or smuck at the end of character elements.

Of course I have only used V 2.060b for a very short time so perhaps I need 
to get more familiar with this version of firmware.

I wonder how long it will take for me to go back to V 1.375b (grin).

                                    73, Joe W2KJ