[TenTec] Omni VI instability, TCXO worth it?

[Peter Klein]

A big thanks to everyone who responded. It's been two weeks now, and I 
have not heard a peep from Ten-Tec.  Not even a "sorry, we're swamped" 
acknowledgement.  Which in itself is a partial answer, I'm sorry to 
say.  I love the radio. But if Ten-Tec is unwilling or unable to answer 
a clearly-written request within two weeks, and won't take phone calls, 
then one of the reasons why I bought Ten-Tec in the first place 
apparently doesn't exist any more.  Add to that the prohibitive and 
ever-increasing cost of even UPS Ground shipping, and Ten-Tec not 
suggesting a permanent fix when the had the radio in their shop for the 
same problem two and a half years ago.

I am not impressed.  Yes, I sympathize with Ten-Tec's problems, and the 
general problem of supporting complex technical products. I spend over 
30 years in network administration and computer support. I know all 
about overly needy and clueless customers, maddeningly complex problems, 
and fire-breathing businessmen who think that anything beyond token 
service is a waste of the bottom line.  But I also know that I want my 
radio fixed, or at least be told how likely it is that it can be fixed 
satisfactorily.

I own a decent Tektronix DVM and a consumer-grade Radio Shack frequency 
counter (resolutio 100 Hz), but no scope, and my space is limited.  I 
don't want to have to constantly fix my primary HF rig. Unless I hear 
from Ten-Tec, I will probably do the connector deoxidation, and tweak 
the 40m coil a bit in the same direction that fixed the problem before.  
We'll see how that goes.

But I must say, the Icom 7300 is looking more attractive all the time.  
Icom service is right here in the Seattle area, so I could just drop an 
Icom radio off there if I needed service.   Apologies for the heresy  :-)

--Peter, KD7MW


On 7/4/2016 5:14 PM, Peter Klein wrote:
> I queried service at tentec.com by email about the following issue last 
> Tuesday. I have heard nothing so far, so I thought I'd get some advice 
> here.
>
> Background:  I live in the Seattle area. I have modest wire and 
> vertical antennas. I'm not a contester or hard-core competitive DXer. 
> I do try to work DX when I can, and I might jump into a contest to 
> snag a new country. But mostly I do HF digital (PSK, Olivia, MFSK), 
> casual CW, or occasionally SSB.
>
> I've owned my Omni VI for 20 years. It has the Option 1 DSP upgrade. 
> Over the years, the radio has several times developed a frequency 
> instability issue. Over a time ranging between less than a second to a 
> few seconds, the transceiver moves a few 10s of Hz off frequency, then 
> "snaps" back. It's mostly done this on 30m, occasionally on 20m, and 
> now on 40m. Lately, it happens on 40m, with a short "period," so if I 
> am listening to a good, pure CW signal, it sounds like it has 
> old-fashioned "chirp."
>
> The frequency shift occurs on both transmit and receive.  When it 
> happens, if I switch to another band, it does not happen there. It is 
> intermittent. Sometimes it appears random, and sometimes appears 
> temperature-related (for example after transmitting for a while, or if 
> the radio has been just turned on in the last half-hour or so).
>
> When it first happened (1997), Ten Tec Service advised me to tweak the 
> trimmer coil to the 30m mixer crystal 1/8 to 1/4 turn in either 
> direction until the "drift and snap" stopped, and just live with the 
> slight display error. I did, and later did the same thing to the 40m 
> coil when that band acted up. It worked in both cases.
>
> When it started to do the frequency dance on 20m, I sent back to the 
> factory for a tune-up. This was in October 2013. Now, it's doing it 
> again on 40m.
>
> I spoke to TenTec's service manager a few months ago. He said that the 
> problem might be solved by installing a temperature compensated 
> crystal oscillator (the TCXO was never suggested before).  He said 
> that I could install this myself if I could solder a couple of wires. 
> He quoted me a price of $200 to send me the necessary circuit board 
> and instructions. He said it was up to me whether I wanted to spend 
> $200 on "an older radio."  He was also dead-set against my tweaking 
> the trimmer coils to the individual band crystals.
>
> I decided to wait and see if leaving the power supply on 24/7 would 
> solve the issue. Nope. And while I was waiting, Ten-Tec was sold and 
> has new service policies.
>
> I would like to install the TCXO, *IF* it is very likely that it will 
> solve the problem, and I can get at least another couple of years of 
> good service out of the radio.  On the other hand, the radio is 20 
> years old. So if it's just as likely that I will continue to have the 
> problem, then maybe the TCXO isn't worth it, and I should think about 
> a new radio.
>
> So, what would you do if you were me?
>
> Thanks and 73,
> --Peter, KD7MW
>
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