[TenTec] Omni VI Mystery - resolved

[Jim Allen]

Many will recall the thread last July abut the weird behavior of the Omni
VI Opt 3 I had.  The radio was off frequency in CW transmit, so that when
you zero beat and called another station, the signal was outside the
passband of the receiving station and you would seldom be heard.  It worked
as expected if you used XIT, but that is hardly SOP for these radios.  I
had sent the radio to Tentec to take care of the problem.  They reported
that everything was up to spec and sent the radio back, no charge.  Well,
it wasn't.

Thanks to the inputs of Steve G3TXQ, and the repair prowess of Wade KJ4WS,
the problem was tracked down and resolved.  Steve figured out that one or
more parts that made up the frequency mix were not up to par.  At the
suggestion of Bob, K4TAX, I sent the radio to Wade, who has the experience
and the test gear, for the intensive repair.  Wade found a couple of bad or
questionable parts, including a diode, got the parts and replaced them, and
everything aligned just fine.  I'll let Wade describe the details of what
all he ended up having to do.

After Wade pronounced the radio fixed, I had him sell it to an acquaintance
of his, who is apparently very happy to have a quality radio like this in
top shape.

Thanks again to Steve, G3TXQ, who continually astonishes me with his
insights into these things, and to Wade, for his skill and prowess.
Nothing beats knowing what you are doing!

73 de W6OGC  Jim Allen