[TenTec] OMNI VII vs. K3 ? Opinions invited.,

[Walt Amos]

I did buy the fan for my Orion and Omni 7 but for a different reason, if I 
ever run RTTY with it. RTTY is an occasional thing with me :-)

K-3 fan never seems to run but you can set it to slow, medium, high or auto 
and I have it on auto!

Walt K8CV Royal Oak, MI.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rick - NJ0IP / DJ0IP" <Rick at DJ0IP.de>
To: "'N4PY2'" <n4py2 at earthlink.net>; "'Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment'" 
<tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2010 8:38 AM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] OMNI VII vs. K3 ? Opinions invited.,


> Carl, you must be a mind reader.
>
> I was just thinking to myself, "I wonder how many times in my life I might
> experience that the QRM was just right such that the K3 would hear 
> something
> the OM7 can't hear."
> Then your email came.
>
> Let me tell you one experience I made in Europe:
> During the evening when I was testing the Omni VII on 40m, using a 3 ele.
> Beam at 105 ft. I had the following scenario:
> At one particular frequency in the low end of the band, if I pointed the
> beam northeast, there was a broadcast station so loud, that a couple of 
> kHz
> up and down, the noise level was:
> - S9 on the OM7, FT-2000, FT-1000 MK5, and K2
> - S3 on the Orion (I)
> Weak adjacent stations could be heard clearly on the Orion which none of 
> the
> other rigs could hear.
> This was not a laboratory measurement.  This was on the air experience.
>
> As soon as we rotated the beam about 45 degrees, all of the radios became
> radios again.
> I assume a K3 would have had the same performance as the Orion.
>
> I could have easily pointed the beam northwest (I was in Munich Germany
> during the test) and worked stateside on any of the radios, just 1 kHz 
> away,
> but only the Orion would have worked a JA station (northeast) under these
> conditions.
> This is the difference I am talking about.
>
> Two realities:
> 1. I will never own a 3 element 40m beam at 105 ft.
> 2. The broadcast stations have now moved out of the 40m ham band and 40m 
> in
> Europe is now much more civilized than it was when I lived there 3 years
> ago.  This may now be a mute point.
>
> The question remains, do I want to give up all of the comfort and
> convenience of the OM7, just in case I might once in my life want to work 
> a
> rare one.  To be honest, I probably won't even be on the bands when the
> opportunity occurs.
>
> ANOTHER POINT: Ten-Tec 100w transmitters
> Ten-Tec has been shipping 100w transceivers for 35 years now, and until
> recently, none of them ever even had an option for a fan. And these are
> rated FULL POWER INTO 3:1 SWR!  Contesters and RTTY guys placed a small
> external fan behind the rig to move the air; that was it.
> As far as I know, all other rigs start to reduce output power as the SWR
> goes up.
> Many need to use an internal tuner just to match the input of their 
> linear.
>
> None of the K3 owners touched on this point when they were relating their
> experience to us.  I checked the QST review of the K3 and didn't find any
> specifics on the point.  I wonder how the K3 treats 2:1 and higher SWR?
>
> For example, a "Bad Example":  The new FT-950 which is otherwise a nice
> radio, uses an internal tuner for matching "up to 3:1 SWR"!
> Heck, you don't even need a tuner for that if you have a Ten-Tec.
> The OM7 internal tuner can match SWR up to 10:1, but so can the K3.
>
> To me, this full power into 3:1 SWR, AND its operating ergonomics are the
> unique selling points of the OM7.
>
> 73
> Rick
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]
> On Behalf Of N4PY2
> Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2010 6:51 AM
> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] OMNI VII vs. K3 ? Opinions invited.,
>
> The Omni VII receiver is excellent at pulling out weak signals amoung very
> strong ones.  I really doubt you will ever find a situation where the K3
> will be better at this.  Look at the specs for it at Sherwood.
>
> Carl Moreschi N4PY
> 121 Little Bell Drive
> Hays, NC 28635
> www.n4py.com
>
> c
>
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