[TenTec] What's wrong with the Ten Tec Scout?

Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP Rick at DJ0IP.de
Sun Jul 8 00:17:29 PDT 2012


Mike,

First of all, welcome back!

The Scout is a nice radio for what it was intended to be, especially for its
time.
I would not agree that its receiver is worse than the Argo V; to the
contrary.
Here in Europe we have it much tougher than you guys do in the states.
You hear the heterodynes of European broadcast stations on 40m
Here we hear them 40 over 9.
This is tough on any receiver and causes problems for most unless you use
lots of attenuation, etc.

Under these conditions, I was able to run the Scout in a CW Field Day
contest (1995 operating from The Isle of Mann) and the front end did not
crumble.  The Argo V struggles a lot on 40 (I'm being kind).
The Argo 505 and 509 were better in this respect because they had a
preselector and you could tune them slight lower in frequency and the
intermodulation was gone.  In fact in that respect, they were better than
the Argosy.

I only kept the Scout one year, even though I loved its size, concept and
current drain.
I found that the rig was a bit noisy; not much, just a bit. I'm talking
about audio noise.  I have never read others comment on that so maybe it was
just my unit.
In contests, the Jones filter was "OK", but perhaps slightly challenged.
Remember, it's only a 4-pole filter.
My Argo 509 had a 500 Hz xtal filter and switchable audio filter in it.
I did indeed see a better separation on the 509 than on the Scout.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the Scout, and for other, non contest
operations, I would recommend it.  It just didn't match the performance of
my highly modified 509 and it also drew a bit more current on RX.  I sold
the Scout.

That trip was the last expedition I ever did on a motorbike.
I think if I had known that I would not be contesting from a motorbike camp
site, I would have kept the Scout because it really was a nice little rig
for its time.  It had enough power for typical portable use and I didn't
need to lug along an amplifier.  I later regretted selling the Scout.

I never noticed drift but you probably don't notice drift in contests
because you don't make long QSOs.

If you have it already, I certainly would put it on the air and try it.
A lot of guys write about a small problem with a particular radio and other
people who haven't experienced it, often imagine it to be more serious than
it is.  
This is certainly not so with the slightly noise RX as I reported it.  It
was slightly noisier than I was accustom to with my 505, 509, or Argosy
(Analog), but that alone was not a reason to sell it.

Gud luk with getting back on the air.

73
Rick, DJ0IP

-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]
On Behalf Of Michael A. Goltz
Sent: Sunday, July 08, 2012 12:14 AM
To: tentec at contesting.com
Subject: [TenTec] What's wrong with the Ten Tec Scout?

I have been following the "First Ten Tec" thread by Rick with great
interest! Mine started with a PM3 then a Triton IV  then an OMNI A Series B
then an OMNI D then another Triton IV with digital accessory along with a
Century 21, a Century 22 and then I bought a Corsair II. At one time had
then all together and used all of them CW only (no SSB).
I got very sick in 2000 and disposed of all my gear!  Everything.
Too make a long story short I am still here. I want ( and need) to get back
on the air and I found a Scout with all the modules and plan to put it on
the air as soon as I get a wire up.
I read the post from the fellow who thought "the Scout was Ten Tec's low
point". I would like to hear from Scout users who love the Scout or hate it.
I want to know about the freq drift(?) when using the internal keyer(?) Will
it be better if I use an external keyer? Will I like the Jones filter after
using 250/500 Hz filters? This Scout was back to Ten Tec for a go-over about
a year ago (right before I bought it). I have the 937 Power Supply to use
with it.
I plan to use the Scout fixed only-no mobile. And on CW only. Give me your
experiences and thoughts! I would be grateful for any info!  Thanks!!
Mike N8CRF    whomike at yahoo.com
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