[TenTec] On the Corsair II revival idea and receiver noise

[GARY HUBER]

I'd be in for a great analog radio for chasing DX (160 thru 10 meters), 
even if the price was $3k to $4k loaded with all the filters. But it 
needs to be able to pull in the weak ones while the pile of S9 plus 
signals are 2 kHz to 15 kHz up or down. I think there may be some really 
quiet, linear amplifier ICs for IF and AF mixers which have gone under 
appreciated and overlooked as the communications industry has moved 
towards DSP and SDR devices.

With my hearing impairments, I prefer to use an outboard DSP audio 
filter which I can use with my Corsair-II or OMNI-VII. There may better 
filters, but the AOR TDF-370 meets my needs for both SSB and CW.

At this point, I have to acknowledge that I have never been a pioneer! 
I've only bought new radios after they've been in production for several 
years and the bugs have been thoroughly removed. I could not get excited 
about the model 565 or 566. But I sold my 564 (after almost ten years of 
use) to buy the 588 I had on 30 day trial.

73 ES DX,
Gary - AB9M

On 11/24/2016 6:18 AM, Barry N1EU wrote:
> Nobody said it was going to be cheap  ;-)
>
> On Thu, Nov 24, 2016 at 11:25 AM, rick at dj0ip.de <Rick at dj0ip.de> wrote:
>
>> Even if it equaled the K3 performance, it would be outstanding.
>> But the problem is and remains Xtal Filters.
>> We'll need 6, maybe 8 of them and we'll be lucky if they are priced under
>> $100 each.
>>
>> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
>> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Barry
>> N1EU
>> Sent: Thursday, November 24, 2016 11:31 AM
>> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
>> Subject: Re: [TenTec] On the Corsair II revival idea and receiver noise
>>
>> If the Corsair III ended up equaling or exceeding the K3S in performance
>> with the body of an Omni VI+, I'd buy one.
>>
>> 73 & Happy Turkey Day,
>> Barry N1EU
>>
>> On Thu, Nov 24, 2016 at 4:13 AM, GARY HUBER <GLHuber at msn.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Before I bought my Corsair-II and was looking at the Paragon and
>>> Corsair-II, I was asked by one of the TenTec staff manning their booth
>>> at Dayton, "What radio are you using now and what is your principal
>>> use, DXing, nets, rag chewing or something else?" When I responded
>>> that I was using a model 546-C and matching external VFO to chase DX
>>> from a quiet rural location, his response was, "you'll be a lot
>>> happier with a Corsair-II... you'll be able to hear weak stations with
>>> it that will be covered in noise in the Paragon!" I bought the
>>> Corsair-II and sold my OMNI-D to my best friend who had just become a
>>> General licensee and was looking for a radio.
>>>
>>> I still have that Corsair-II which was built in the last production
>>> run of model 561s. I did A-B tests with it and the Paragon (model 585)
>>> I bought several years later for MARS work for Operation Desert Shield
>>> and Operation Storm. In those tests which were done using a DOW Key
>>> Relay reversed so that only one radio was connected to an antenna or
>>> with a coaxial jumper between the two radios with one switch set for
>>> AUX ANT and the other to AUX RX and with the radio with the switch set
>>> to AUX RX having a good antenna connected to its SO-239, the
>>> Corsair-II was always slightly better. Its those signals below S-2 and
>>> into the RX/band noise where the Corsair-II comes out ahead.
>>>
>>> I also had a fully loaded OMNI-VI+ (model 564) and found it, through
>>> testing in the manner above, to be at least equal to the Corsair-II,
>>> mostly due to 1.8 kHz and 500 Hz filters in BOTH I.F.s, making it more
>>> selective and a bit quieter. The CAT serial port on the 564 is a huge
>>> advantage for those doing computer logging while DXing or Contesting.
>>> The lack of frequency / mode information from an un-modified
>>> Corsair-II like the one I own is its major drawback, in my opinion.
>>>
>>> I currently have an OMNI-VII (model 588) with a FLEX-1500 as its
>>> sub-RX (N4PY mod) as my primary radio and with the Corsair-II as the
>>> back radio. (see AB9M at QRZ.com for the station photo) While the
>>> OMNI-VII is a great radio for my needs, in my opinion (and experience)
>>> it needs to some careful adjustment of the RF gain to avoid digital
>>> artifacts which are created from strong signals in the passband when
>>> trying to work 2 kHz to 10 kHz from the DX station with lots of callers.
>>>
>>> Regarding the cost of any Corsair-II replacement; I know there is the
>>> issue of price, but I believe its also a matter of value for an
>>> experience which cannot be matched by others. If you provide a pure
>>> analog receiver and transmitter chain like the model 561 with only DDS
>>> VFO and CAT serial ports then perhaps your market segment is in a
>>> different range than the IC-7300. Today absent any product from TenTec
>>> to replace my OMNI-VII and FLEX-1500, I'll keep my Corsair-II and buy
>>> a FLEX-3000. The Eagle may need a replacement, but one for the
>>> OMNI-VII and ORION is long overdue.
>>>
>>> --
>>> 73 ES DX,
>>> Gary - AB9M
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> TenTec mailing list
>>> TenTec at contesting.com
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>>>
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