[TenTec] SOTA RADIO

Wed Mar 16 06:47:00 EDT 2016

The Argo V seems like it came and went quickly.
A QRP rig, that was actually adjustable up to 20 or 25 watts.
Did (obviously) CW very nice...and SSB was fine also.
...Dave

On 3/16/16 6:36 AM, rick at dj0ip.de wrote:
> OK, tnx Barry.
>
> It seems to be that All of the low cost radios that work SSB are not very
> good at CW.
> And the radios that are good at CW do not work SSB.  :-((
>
> I know QRP has an official limit of 5w, but in my 25 years where I was
> really active all the time in portable work, I found that 10w CW was much
> more reliable for communicating than 5w, even though it is just 3dB
> difference.  I also found I could work reliably with 20 to 25w of SSB and
> that 5w SSB was tough a lot of time.  So I would love to see a 20w radio.
>
> I believe the SGC 2020 has 20w but I've heard it is not good on CW and that
> the receiver tends to overload and the radio also hangs a lot, requiring a
> master-reset.
>
> We need to design a dual band radio with:
>
>   > Analog VFO from 10 to 11 MHz
>   > A crystal local oscillator on 3.5 MHz
>   > Mixer products give us "13.5 to 14.5" MHz  AND  "6.5 to 7.5" MHz
>   > 6-Pole Jones filter on 3.5 MHz
>   > 20w SSB & CW
>   > Audio-derived AGC
>   > Analog Audio filter
>   > Use transistors rated 50 or even 100w, but run at 20w.  That way it can
> work into 5:1 SWR without a tuner!
>
> That's your 40m/20m dual band radio, simple and easy!
> The VFO tunes in opposite directions on the two bands but that doesn't
> matter.
> KISS!
>
>
> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Barry N1EU
> Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2016 10:28 AM
> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] SOTA RADIO
>
> You don't want the roofing filter option for the KX-3 because it has to be
> defeated if there are reasonably strong in/out-of-band signals.
>
> You would be fine with just 40 & 20M from the mountain top.  30M is nice to
> have and occasionally 17M.  When condx are good, 15M is also nice to have.
> And of course, when the solar flux is higher, 10M is an amazing QRP band.
> But just 40 & 20M would serve you very well.
>
> The LNR rig might not be so great on CW - you should research that.
>
> I suggest you post questions about SOTA and SOTA radios in these two places:
>
> http://reflector.sota.org.uk/
> https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/nasota/info
>
> 73, Barry N1EU
>
> On Wed, Mar 16, 2016 at 2:33 AM, rick at dj0ip.de <Rick at dj0ip.de> wrote:
>
>> (changed the subject:  was Service, overhead   and the future A/K...)
>>
>> Barry,
>>
>> I did a lot of reading in the past day and I believe you are right.
>> The KX3 is exactly the radio I described. PERFECT.
>>
>> Unfortunately it's beyond my budget.
>>
>> The basic KX3 costs $1500 here in DL.
>> Add in a tuner and roofing filter and paddle and it's over $2K for a
>> 10w radio that I might use 5 or 6 times per year on a mountain top.
>> The ROI just isn't worth it.
>>
>> For home use, say as my 2nd radio, I would need an amplifier.
>>
>> Bottom Line:  It's a champagne dream on a Budweiser budget.
>> For that money -(at this point in my life)-  I would get more bangs
>> for my buck out of playing with something else, such as a 7300 or an
> Annan, etc.
>> I need a Plan B for SOTA.  Maybe it's just "bite the bullet and carry
>> my Scout up the mountain."
>>
>> I don't mind spending $500 or so but I would sure like to know how the
>> radio is going to perform BEFORE I buy it.
>>
>> My primary bands for portable have always been 40 and 20.  15 will be
>> dying soon.  Do I really need 17m for SOTA?
>>
>> QUESTION FOR YOU ACTIVE SOTA Ops:  What bands do you mainly operate
>> when you are on a mountain top?
>>
>> I've only been on one SOTA outing together with a buddy and we
>> operated
>> 40/20/17/15 making a lot of QSOs on each band.  Perhaps not quite as
>> many on 17.
>>
>> I think I will take a second look at the LNR offering.
>> It is indeed an SDR with DDC - so not an NE-605 type of radio.
>> Unfortunately they don't show much detail; just a block diagram.
>> There is a box called SDR-RF BPF.
>> This is a make or break component.
>> Some SDR radios have ham band BPFs (good), others have an LPF, with
>> 0-12MHz (useless).
>>
>>
>> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
>> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Barry
>> N1EU
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 5:48 PM
>> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
>> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Service, overhead, and the future. A/K/A/ I've
>> got my
>> 2 cents!
>>
>> Rick, I'm not sure if you would be satisfied by the KX1 or the MTR radios.
>>
>> Unfortunately I don't know the answer to something better but not too
>> expensive.
>>
>> I suggest you try to borrow an MTR-5B.  That's the only lesser
>> expensive radio that will do 40-15M inclusively.  And you'd have to
>> search around to find one for sale currently although LNR should be
> bringing it out soon.
>> Or, just stick with the FT-817.  I like the radio, although it really
>> needs an external speech processor to work well on SSB.
>>
>> 73, Barry N1EU
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 15, 2016 at 11:50 AM, rick at dj0ip.de <Rick at dj0ip.de> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Barry,
>>>
>>> I'd love to have a KX3 but it is much too heavy.
>>> It's weight would place too big of a dent in my wallet!
>>>
>>> For SOTA I really only need 40/20/17/15m.
>>> 10 is dying and by the time it comes back, I doubt that I will still
>>> be running up any mountains.
>>>
>>> My next scheduled SOTA operation is 1-April.  "Fool on a hill" -
>>> that's
>> me!
>>> I don't know yet if I'll try carrying my Scout up the mountain or not.
>>> I can borrow an FT-817.
>>>
>>> How good is the KX1?
>>> We have some heavy challenges on our receivers here in EU.
>>> A weak DR3 destroys 40m, especially at night, and a weak DR2 makes
>>> working 20m difficult - especially at night.  You guys in the states
>>> can't appreciate that.  You have to see/hear it to believe it.
>>>
>>> I once built a 20m QRP rig based on a design by Rick Littlefield.
>>> Had some kind of IC mixer.
>>> It was marginal.
>>> I ran a QRP CW contest using a home-brew magnetic loop antenna.
>>> Sitting in my living room with radio, mag loop, and battery, I
>>> worked
>> dozens of QSOs.
>>> Thought it was great.  Then I put it on a big antenna and all hell
>>> broke loose at night.
>>>
>>> So I bought the MFJ 20m QRP CW rig.
>>> It was no better than the one I built.
>>> I sold both.
>>>
>>> I want something better than that - but not too expensive.
>>> But I don't know the QRP radios at all, except for the Argonauts.
>>>
>>>
>>> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
>>> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of
>>> Barry N1EU
>>> Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2016 12:25 AM
>>> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
>>> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Service, overhead, and the future. A/K/A/ I've
>>> got my
>>> 2 cents!
>>>
>>> On Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 9:40 PM, rick at dj0ip.de <Rick at dj0ip.de> wrote:
>>>
>>>> My Scout is a bit too heavy and over-powered, but the FT-817 just
>>>> isn't enough radio for me.
>>>> I'm looking for something in between.  I'd like to see a 10w or
>>>> 20w radio with a good RX.
>>>> I want it to have both SSB and CW.
>>>
>>>
>>> It's called a KX-3
>>>
>>> I've got one, but I usually carry a much lighter KX-1 or MTR-5B when
>>> I actually hike up a mountain.  (200 SOTA activations here)
>>>
>>> 73, Barry N1EU
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