To KE4VVF....

Are you aware that Ten Tec is going to be releasing its Argonaut 6  before Christmas or just after the New Year. Its suppose to have the basic configuration and properties of Ten Tec's Eagle but strictly a Qrp transceiver. You might want to consider it too.
And no I'm not some die hard Ten Tec fan pushing their products. I just wanted you to think about looking at the Argonaut 6 also in your quest to get your first dedicated Qrp rig.
Best regards and many 72/73.
Don sr. --WA2TPU -- A TRUE 5 WATT QRP GREEN STATION.

I am no troll, I own a Omni 6, excellent radio for its time. Likewise I like my Corsair  as well.

I would like to see TenTec produce better radios.

Compare  the  Omni 7 and Icom 7600 or 756 pro. The Omni has excellent receiver specs but the LCD display is just so crude and rough. Likewise the packaging of the Ten Tec.

The same can be said for the Orion versus the IC7700 or IC7800. God what a awful screen on the Orions. Its slow  and so coarse.  Can you really call the bandscope in the Orion that? Its crap.

Then there is all the bugs that never get fixed in the new Ten Tec radios. Elecraft addresses and fixes its issues in a  reasonable period of time. You can at least have some confidence in Elecraft.
Not so Ten Tec who just seem to abandoned their products  like they did with the Orion 1. Both the Orion 1 and 2 have issues that will never be fixed.

Lets get this clear Ten Tec have products and design skills that can make their products world class. If they put  a decent LCD display and decent Firmware into the Orion and combine it with product features that hams want
they could have a best seller. Compare the Orion and the Yaesu FTDX5000, I mean  the Orion looks like a poor  hobo radio  that was assembled by a prison chain gang when put next door to the FT5000 and compared. I mean this from any angle, packaging, performance  and features. Sure the FT5000 has a crap bandscope thats  even worst than the Orions but its still a better radio.

Ten Tec also seem to produce radios whose PA's are marginal and have poor TX IMD. Orion , Eagle and Omni 7 can cause a lot of splatter because of the poor specifications PA's The same could be said for the Elecraft radios.
Look at the FT5000, IC7700, IC7800 all these radios have nice 200 watt  FET PA's

Ten Tecs remote Omni 7 features are way ahead of other brands. Ten Tec does not market or promote this feature and try and make the Ten Tec the best remote radio. Opportunity lost. Remote ham operation is becoming hugely
popular and Ten Tec could have been leader if it produced a plug and play solution that is combined with a first class radio. People dont like the Omni 7 because its ugly and  fails too impress in many areas.

I had a Jupiter and what crap audio it had. Everyone told me it sounded like I had RF in my audio and that I lacked drive. When I heard a buddy of mine on this radio I had to agree. The Jupiter also had the most
horrendously ugly display ever put on a radio. It looked like LCD display  you find in kids toys  in toy shops. Something like a doodle pad  it was so bad.

I wish Ten Tec  and its supporters well. I am glad that some hams like their products and are loyal customers. I would be a loyal Ten Ten fan if they produced decent good looking radios with performance that was first class.
If Ten Tec thinks that these radios are too expensive too produce why cant they offer all the features as options

Options:
1. High resolution LCD display
2. OCXO reference option.
3. 19 inch high quality  USA made rack panel case.
4. Calibrated S-meter  and accurate volt, amp and swr readings.
5. 200 FET PA with decent IMD performance.
6. High performance remote accessories  and software.
7. External LCD high speed bandscope option. Look at how sexy the IC7800 looks and performs with an external LCD display
8. 10 watt low distortion audio section rather than the lousy 1 watt 20% distortion in the typical Ten Tec radio.
9. ESSB  enhancement package
10. Optional noise blankers and noise reduction that works, even if you have to pay a licence fee.
11. Remote  high performance weather sealed antenna tuner
12. NTIA transmitter performance specifications for stability and  IMD for MARS operation

I can go on and on all day. But all I can say is this. Look at the New Yaesu FTDX3000, if Ten Tec  could produce a radio as looking and that performs as well  this  new future radio I will eat my hat. I think
my hat is safe!

Elecrafters and Ten Tec owners just behave like brain washed bullies who dont really want to confront the facts about their favorite brands limitations and lack of appeal. Its sad that you cant discuss these sort of
points on the Elecraft or Ten Tec reflectors without getting run off by the brand reflector bullies.  These comments I suppose applies to all brands, you would never dare make one comment about Icoms on the  Icom reflectors as well.
You will get an instant banning. A shame really that hams have become such emotional delinquents who cant discuss a products failings  in a fair, open and honest manner. I am a member of many performance car reflectors
and users on these reflectors  at least tell it as they see it without getting mad. Everyone can have a opinion and disagree but you always learn the truth. I see nobody getting banned for constructive criticism of various automobiles chat groups. For  a hobby thats so supposed to have technical  minded and educated people, we behave like a pack of while animals who tear any person  apart if you make any comments that you dont agree with.   Its very childish this kind of behavior.

If a radio is bad and lacks appeal somebody should  tell that truth and say its been beaten with a ugly  stick. The  same goes for the performance. Why cant hams handle their favorite brands being criticized?
I suppose they want hams to dream and pretend that  they living in radio Nirvana and any piece of crap can be the best in the world if you constantly brain wash people on reflectors and forums? Hams have very
low  view of other hams if they think that this kind  of brain washing is normal  behavior in a free society. If you want to censor peoples  views this way, hams should go move to communist china where the whole society
is brainwashed and censored.




I agree with QRPNEW, without true commits, their will be no progress.

The military manpack has a mission requirement entirely different from the average ham QRP'er.  I can't remember the last time that I called in naval guns using a battery powered ham radio, but who knows?  I did 'call for extraction' using an SW40+ QRP rig once, but that was to get the bush pilot on-scene a day early so that my pals and I could go enjoy a well deserved steak and MUCH tequila     after two weeks in the bush!

Military manpacks are fun to use (and a pain to carry if you are carrying anything else for any distance at all. ). I enjoyed green/black radios , manpack and other, as a hobby a couple of decades.  I also hated the extra weight and etc. when I HAD TO carry them for a living; and therein lies the difference. The best suited military HF transceiver I ever saw for tossing into a rucksack & carrying long range to keep in touch outside of VHF relay in a manner similar to what an outdoor QRP'er would do, was the old PRC-64a which came to life during the Vietnam war as a radio for SF guys and spooks.  It was small, "light" by Army standards (very heavy by QRP standards) ;^)  5 Watts , built-in ATU and even had a little key right on the top of the rig under the cover. Put your dipole in the tree and you're on the air.

Now, go look up my call sign and look at the picture of my repackaged Elecraft KX-1. It has Elecraft's great electronics and light weight in addition to being very, very self contained inside of a water tight (when closed) kayaker's case. No scattered bits to forget, crunch or shred in the field. The wire antenna - a dipole is in the cloth case. The dipole = an efficient antenna as far as it's abililty to efficiently radiate energy. If I need long range/low angle comms on 30/20m, I generally use the same wire to make a half square and feed it from the ATU - it works.

>>> If the team at Elecraft would package the KX-3 in a similar manner and I'll think that I've died and gone to Heaven!    
(but they would also probably loose some customers who have other needs.  They're smart people  & know their market, as proven by their waiting list!)

As for the 3dB thing - as we stated "it's only 3 dB". If you put up any field expedient antenna where 3dB is going to make a noticable difference, then you're outside of the laws of physics.  Same antenna - right?  3dB.

If you personally want to carry QRO, then do so.  It's your life. Remember though: if you're carrying a radio in a rucksack which is going to be your home on your back, or just your picnic for the day, all that extra battery & heatsink for 20 Watts instead of the designed 10 Watt >>>  is only 3 dB  ;^)


73 de Ray
W7ASA ..._ ._

Ps. Time to go twist the dial and tap some CW.

Gentlemen,

Would anyone know if there are specific initials that one can use to follow their name/title
that would indicate their ham radio license status?  (Similar to following one's name with their
certification for some field of study?)

Thanks!

73

--KC9KEP

What exactly does "They or growing" mean? I don't understand this incomplete sentence.

N5RWJ,

This post started as "Big Nuclear Booms (Plural) Come." I was simply addressing the concerns most of the posters to this thread had about a large scale "Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)" scenario. I said in the first sentence "I can't see any plausible scenario where the U.S. would be involved in anything remotely resembling the massive nuclear exchange possible up to the early '90's could happen in 2012."  I never discounted the very real threat of a single shipboard bomb detonated in a major harbor. Perhaps if you read my post again you will see the issue I was addressing. Nuclear WW3, not terrorist attack. I just think too many people still believe we face the same nuclear issues we did during the cold war, when clearly we do not.