[TenTec] Omni 6 audio continued

[Gary J FollettDukes HiFi]

In addition, the ergonomics of the VFO flip button was a way to make dual VFO’s actually useful, since one could work split, push the button momentarily to listen to, and even change the transmit frequency to suit the need, then simply release to be listening to the DX station. No other method works as well (for me).

The use of front end LC filters that only need to cover the Ham bands leads one to believe that they would offer better out-of-band strong signal rejection than those designed for general coverage of the entire HF spectrum. Some published measurements would seem to support that notion. The only way to have improved upon this type of front end would be the implementation of tracking preselector tuning, as seen in the Icom 7800.

The cascading of the first position 2.4 KHz SSB filter in the 9 MHz IF was equally inspired as the 2.4 KHz filter should act to narrow the skirts of the 1.8 (or other) filters in the accessory positions. I do not believe anyone else ever did this (except the designers of the disastrous early Signal One radios). One can even put a second “standard” 2.4 KHz filter into the accessory position and get no real reduction in bandwidth but gain steeper skirt response equivalent to a 16 pole filter. Subsequent cascading of the filters via the second IF was equally effective at providing steep filter skirt response without excessively narrowing the receiver passband, in addition to providing a decent rendition of passband tuning.

The transmitter part of the Omni is as good as any, not much more need be said about it. It seems to be more reliable than most. It is better than most on CW.

These are the reasons I want to make an Omni 6 work for me. 

The ONLY real beef I ever had with this model (other than the birdies in the early ones) was the dreadful (in my opinion) audio on SSB receive. It’s not distorted, just restricted. I look for ways to open up this restricted sound.

I also would have preferred that the Notch function be inside the AGC loop, something that was promised for many years for Orion but which never came about.

Gary

PS: I love the look and feel of the Omni 6, and I can repair one in my sleep. Also, I dislike the Orion DSP noise reduction algorithm more than I dislike the audio of an Omni 6.That’s why I don’t use an Orion much. I have two of them...