[TenTec] In praise of older technology

[GARY HUBER]

And then there is the unused OFFSET knob and OFFSET SELECT switches or RIT 
and XIT on other equipment which along with SPOT or ZERO BEAT were the way 
to NET on CW or keep from chasing each other up or down the band on SSB.

(Owner, Corsair II and OMNI-VII with FLEX-1500 sub-receiver)

73 ES DX,
Gary -- AB9M

-----Original Message----- 
From: k6jek
Sent: Saturday, February 22, 2014 6:03 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] In praise of older technology

My experience is that with modern equipment, when people say they are on 
3895 they actually are, +/- not much and they actually stay there. Land 
yourself on that number and you've got it. With older equipment not so. 
Without a leader that we all tune to, say in an informal gathering, we 
wander all over the band. Somebody is a little high, I tune to him, maybe 
miss by a little. Somebody else tunes to me, misses a little etc. And, of 
course, we all drift like mad.

Even with a leader, it can be pretty amusing. I participate in a vintage 
sideband roundtable most Tuesdays. We all tune to the roundtable leader. 
Depending on what he's running we can end up 5 kHz from where we started if 
somebody doesn't jump in and drag the whole conglomeration back. And many of 
the people who have tuned to net control haven't really succeeded. Maybe the 
tuned to where he used to be. Maybe they just couldn't hear what's right.

And no, people aren't very good at hitting it dead on when they are tuning 
to natural speech. You can prove this to yourself. Using a dummy load and a 
recording of a voice that isn't you, tune with another receiver until the 
speech sounds right.  Analog only. Now play some music through the 
transmitter. Chances are it will sound like hell. You've missed the mark.

I've invited other people to do this. They can't hit it either. I have 
theories on why this is but that's another story.

Jon, K6JEK




On Feb 22, 2014, at 3:14 PM, Brian Carling wrote:

> How does a digital readout help you to get on the same frequency any 
> better than an analog one ? If you can't hear when a human voice sounds 
> natural then a digital won't help.
>
> Best regards - Bry Carling
>
>
>
>> On Feb 22, 2014, at 6:01 PM, k6jek <k6jek at comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>> I know. As an aficionado of vintage equipment I agree in spirt. But on 
>> SSB it really is delightful to talk with people who are actually on 
>> frequency, a rarity with vintage gear but the norm now with new 
>> equipment. People just sound so much more human when their speech isn't 
>> shifted 30 Hz or 20 or even 10.
>>
>> I have a Corsair (I) and have not considered replacing the PTO with a DDS 
>> unit but might just find a way to get a better read of my actual 
>> frequency. Shouldn't be hard. That way I can talk with my buddies on 
>> their Flex Radios (*), ICOM 7600's and such without annoying them while 
>> still enjoying my fine old stuff.
>>
>> Jon, K6JEK
>>
>> * I have all that modern stuff too, an SDR, OMNI VII etc. I just don't 
>> like it much. Heck, I think my favorites are the tube pieces from '50's.
>>
>>> On Feb 22, 2014, at 2:44 PM, Ken Brown wrote:
>>>
>>> I remember when digital frequency readouts (the kind using an electronic 
>>> counter, not the kind on a R-390) started appearing on ham gear. Most 
>>> people (myself included) just had to have it. We never needed it before. 
>>> There were easy enough reliable methods to make sure we stayed inside 
>>> our band (or sub-band) limits, but for some reason it seemed like a 
>>> digital display of our frequency became a necessity.
>>>
>>> DE N6KB
>>>
>>>> On 2/22/2014 11:14 AM, Mike Bryce wrote:
>>>> I guess it was a year ago I put in a DDS replacement for the PTO. Rock 
>>>> solid. Dual VFOs, speed sensitive tuning, all kinds of goodies.
>>>>
>>>> I took it out and the analog PTO back in.
>>>>
>>>> Yep, it didn’t have the same feel. It (the DDS) made all kinds of noise 
>>>> when no antenna was connected.
>>>>
>>>> Sometimes, and this was one of them, older really is better
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Mike, WB8VGE
>>>> SunLight Energy Systems
>>>> The Heathkit Shop
>>>> http://www.theheathkitshop.com/
>>>> J e e p
>>>> o|||||||o
>>>>
>>>> A man with one clock knows what time it is. A man with two clocks is 
>>>> never sure.
>>>
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