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Reviews For: Three Rivers Embedded Systems Pan Adapter kit for Omni VII

Category: Specialized Amateur Communication Products

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Review Summary For : Three Rivers Embedded Systems Pan Adapter kit for Omni VII
Reviews: 3MSRP: 125
Description:
A complete kit to add a Pan Adapter to the Ten Tec Omni VII. It includes the SDR Dongle receiver, internal jumpers, and software. The manual is well illustrated and the software self- installs everything needed. It will work as a stand-alone unit or with Ham Radio Deluxe.
Product is in production
More Info: http://3resr2.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0034
K8JHR Rating: 2019-06-05
Big Disappointment Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This is a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT.

The Vendor told me this is just a run of the mill, no frills, basic 24MHz and higher RTL "boon-dongle. (pun intended) It taps the 11 MHz IF stage in the rig and uses free software, such as HDSDR as a spectrum scope/panadapter display. I am leery as to what, if anything, the Vendor did to modify or tweak any software - other than provide instructions for setting it up with HDSDR, etc.

I expect it would perform better with an up-converter, as it is inherently limited to 24 MHZ and higher frequencies. Researching cheap RTL dongles, I see one can get them to display lower frequencies with some software packages, but with reduced performance.

While it does work ... it is not nearly as satisfying as using a dedicated SDR such as the SDRPlay RSP1a or DX-Patrol (sold by the Vibroplex Co.) -- both of which do a better job at lower cost. The SDRUno application supplied with the RSP1a is an super value at no extra cost.

Frankly, I sorta, kinda feel hornswoggled upon learning the Three Rivers "boon-dongle" is essentially a Plain Jane $20 RTL tuner which purportedly only tunes from 24 MHz up. I rather doubt the Vendor did much, if anything, to modify or tweak the software (essentially providing instructions for setting it up for use with HDSDR, etc., which is free to use. Paying $125 for a $25 dongle and instructions for using it with free software seems ... well ... ahem ... lousy.

Bottom line: Buyer Beware - it works, but I feel duped into paying way too much of this product than it is really worth. Perhaps the Vendor did some sort of high value magic software programming I am not aware of - but I sorta doubt it. Read the product material carefully and decide for yourself - this is just my opinion and may be mistaken. Parenthetically, I have used several other SDR receivers of different sorts with satisfaction.

Of course, this is just MY take ... your mileage may vary. K8JHR
KO1C Rating: 2015-05-08
Finally! A Fulltime Bandscope for the Ten Tec Omni VII!! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I read the prior review. I always felt a fulltime bandscope for the Omni VII would be a plus.

I contacted Dave, AA3YW (email: 3resr2@consolidated.net) after reading the brochure, placed my order and soon had the kit.

The hardware part is dead simple to install, a wire connects from a board to one of the spare plugs (unused) on the back of the radio. No soldering required! This is for the IF out.

A wire then connects to a very small SDR receiver which in turn connects to a USB port on your computer.

BE SURE YOU FOLLOW THE SETUP DIRECTIONS FOR THE SOFTWARE EXACTLY TO THE LETTER. If you do this, it will work perfectly!

This will interface with Ham Radio Deluxe if desired, that's how I set mine up. Now if I see a signal on the band I can click on it and the radio tunes to it immediately.

VERY satisfied!
WA4THR Rating: 2015-04-30
A must have upgrade! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got the Panadapter Kit from 3 Rivers Embedded Systems, with a very quick delivery after getting the descriptive brochure emailed to me, and have been using it on my new Omni VII. Wow! What a treat! Dave (AA3YW) has a complete package with literally everything you need except the RS232 serial cable already provided by Ten Tec. One jumper is plugged in to the existing IF out jack on the circuit board and the rear panel spare jack inside the radio, all of which is well illustrated in the user manual. He even provides an "IF Out" label for the spare jack. Then a cable plugs from that jack to his dongle SDR receiver, and another cable runs from that dongle to a USB port on the computer, which also powers the dongle. He provides a self-installing software package, too. I am running on an old Win XP machine with the last free version of HRD, and it does link up such that I can click on a signal on the waterfall or the amplitude display and the radio immediately jumps to that frequency which will now be centered on the display. Or, you can tune the radio or click on a spot in HRD and have the display follow you. You can adjust the displayed bandwidth from almost 2mHz wide right down to a single signal.

Dave was very reachable and helpful as I sorted some setting issues with my old computer, and the system is working great. This may be the best improvement you can make to the Omni VII.