[TenTec] I hate to say it but...

[rick@dj0ip.de]

No radio with a dark, almost black front panel is ergonomic.  The first time I sat down at a TS-850 at Field Day, I quit operating within 5 minutes.  I had forgotten my reading glasses and for the life of me, couldn't read the tiny print on its front panel.

We are not at war in our ham shack and don't need to camouflage our radios. 
A light background with dark print is the easiest thing for eyes to read.

If you don't have bad eyes, you probably see it differently.
(PUN intended)


73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)


-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Greg S via TenTec
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2016 9:45 PM
To: k9yc at arrl.net; tentec at contesting.com; Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Cc: Greg S
Subject: Re: [TenTec] I hate to say it but...

1. They never made an Omni V+. (RTFM)2. I concur, the TS-850S was also ergonomic for me. 3. I will suggest, if you used your KX3, for several years, and never used your K3, you would say the opposite about their UI's. You "like" the K3 because you are used to it. The older one gets, the more likely one is to "like" what they are familiar with....... and forget some things. Like Roman Numeral designations of TenTec rigs.  ;-) 73-Greg, KC8HXO


      From: Jim Brown <k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com>
 To: tentec at contesting.com
 Sent: Friday, September 2, 2016 2:12 PM
 Subject: Re: [TenTec] I hate to say it but...
   
How we view ergonomics is a very personal thing. Itis strongly affected by what we're used to, to how our minds work, and what we do with our radios. ICOM's is different from Yaesu's, which is different from Kenwood, which is different from Ten Tec. The last rigs I've owned from these companies (in the order I mentioned them) are the 746, the FT1000MP, the TS850, and the Omni V+. The UI that I liked the least was the 746, the MP was better, and Omni V+ was third, and the Kenwood UI was the one I liked the best.

Enter the Elecraft K2, which my friends, including NY9H, were telling me was the new big thing, and I bought one (no time to build it, I was running my own small biz). This was 2003, and my other radio was the Omni V+, also bought used. The K2 is tiny by comparison to any of those other radios, so get all the functions and controls we need, buttons and controls had to do double, triple, and even quadruple duty. Think about the functionality of early handheld GPS units;  my primary GPS is still a wonderful handheld Garmin that runs on AA batteries, has a full set of maps (I had to buy them), has great sensitivity, and does waypoints. 8 buttons total. Can you say SLOOOW?  But I love it because it runs on AAs, it does waypoints, and it tracks me walking on trails!

That K2 got my brain used to the control logic that was greatly expanded and refined for the K3. The target market for the K3 is the high end user who doesn't have high end bucks. It's highly modular, and it is MUCH smaller and lighter than other high end radios. I'm part of the target market -- very demanding of performance, take my radios out in the field so I really appreciate the compact size and weight, also have limited space on my operating desk for two complete stations, and that compactness and modularity helps there too.

I do NOT find the K3 UI in any way limiting or frustrating. Perhaps that's because I RTFM before I start using a new product, whatever it is. I was unable to RTFM when I sat down in front of an Orion at a friend's contest station, so I had no idea what to do with it. And I never made a QSO with it. The K3 (and K3S) UI meshes ideally with MY operating style, MY mindset. Yes, I nearly always go the wrong way round the mode toggle. But as to changing bands and modes, the K3 and K3S have a bunch of memories that can be easily programmed (if you RTFM) to hold a bunch of standard setups. These radios can be set to remember power and other settings by band, and some by mode.

And once I've set up my radio for a given station (or on FD for the preferences of the operators, the mic/cans we'll be using and where we plug them in), there's zero need to access the menus. In 2008, when the
K3 was a brand new radio, Elecraft loaned a bunch of them to the VP6DX expedition, and K3NA sat the team down to give them a half hour class on the new radio. He then sat them down in front of the radios, and later reported that these experienced operators from all over the world felt comfortable with the new radios almost immediately, and found them very logical and easy to operate.

The UI in the K3 and K3S (virtually the same) is, by far, the best of any radio I've ever used. Operationally, I find it no more complicated than my S38D, my BC348, and my HQ129X, all of which did a LOT less! It's FAR easier to control bandwidth and move the IF around than in the Omni 
V+, the FT1000MP, or the TS850. There's a built-in keyer, also very
adjustable (from the menu), with a front panel knob for speed.  My Omni 
V+ lacked a keyer. A very good antenna tuner is an option in the K3; my
Omni V+ lacked an antenna tuner. The K3 and K3S have an optional 2nd RX that is equal in performance to the main RX. The only shortcoming of that 2nd RX is that you DO need to mess with the menus to adjust it. OR
-- with two quick pushes of the A>B button, you can transfer all settings of the main RX to the 2nd RX. AND -- I can set up BOTH receivers with the NB and NR turned on. That can be a VERY big deal if you use diversity mode and one or both of your RX antennas is noisy.

I also own a KX3, a far more compact radio than even the K3/K3S, and each of the buttons and knobs has even more multiple functions. I don't use this radio much, so I find the UI frustrating at times. But it's a very powerful radio, it fits in the pocket of my winter jacket, and I've loaned it to a friend who, with help from XYL and W6JTI, have dragged it up a 2-3 mile trail that gains 1,000 ft elevation, along with its 100W amp, batteries, antenna, and coax!  Try doing that with an Omni VI+. :)

73, Jim K9YC

On Fri,9/2/2016 2:39 AM, Barry N1EU wrote:
> The front panel ergonomics on the K3 is a nightmare compared to the 
> Omni
> 6+, which has perhaps the best front panel EVER.  FWIW, I've owned 
> 6+them
> both for many years.


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