[Yaesu] D or MP ...hmmmm

[Joe and Tam BV/N0IAT]

Hi folks,
Long time "lurker", seldom writer to this reflector.

I'm a Collins es Ten Tec user, mostly CW op.  I
had the opportunity to recently try the 1KMP and 1KD side-by
side on some really impressive antennas.  Not owning either
rig (or able to do extensive long-term testing), I can give a
quick subjective comment or two:

I found the overall CW filtering of the 1KD to surpass
that of the 1KMP by a small margin.  Both units were fitted 
with the somewhat wide 500Hz filters (2 IF's) made by Yaesu.  
Surely some after-market filters would enhance both radio's
selectivity.  EDSP was good, but never got it perfect on CW.

On the other hand, I really like the ergonomic layout of the
1KMP and thought the display was actually easier to read than
the 1KD.  While some have commented about the 1KMP using a 
lightweight power supply, the VK0IR es other Dxpedition teams
spoke highly of the 1KMP overall performance.  Is the light
power supply a known failure or something?

CW keying was not up to TenTec quality on either rig, especially
in higer speed QSK when keying a QSK amp (Alpha 89), but was fine
up to about 30WPM or so, maybe a little more.  This is indeed fine
for the vast majority of ops.   Tried SSB a bit, -- with EDSP I 
was able to achieve a higer average output power (clean signal) 
with the 1KMP at 100W PEP than the 1KD at 200W PEP with the speech
processor "on".  At least, this was what the watt meter said, but
did not notice any differences in signal reports on the air asking
for A/B comparisons.

It's tough to justify $4200 for a new radio using 8+ year old technology.
At the same time, the MP comes close to that price once you load it
with the SSB and CW narrow filters, buy the MD-100 microphone, etc. yet
you get only a 100W rig instead of 200W, and no dual band receiver like
the 1KD.

So...guess I've decided to stand fast for the time being and stick
with the fine plastic from Tennessee and the St. James grey from Cedar
Rapids Iowa.  The entire DSP technology has me intrigued -- guess I'll
get in line for one of the new models eventually.

73 all ...good discussion,
Joe BV/N0IAT
dit dit


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