The "jitter" I mentioned on the PTO was because of jitter on the machine tool cutting the lead screw. I was in a Tool & Die program at IBM OPD and learned about this. I considered using crocus cloth to polish it but the jitter was so little that I did not consider it worthwhile. In fact, I was telling the Ten-Tec guy at Dayton about it so he could make sure the machines were tight and the tools sharp so the jitter would be eliminated. Instead, he sent me the new PTO. However, on second thought, maybe the lead screw was cut with a die and was either driven too hard/fast or did not have sufficient or proper cutting oil for brass. Also, the lead screw might have been made by a subcontractor or the lead screw-ferrite slug might have been made by an outside company. Anything is possible. I do use 80M but just not that much. I meet a few guys on 3636.36 in the winter months sometimes but we more often meet on 7128 when it is open. I have several good antennas: A GAP Titan, a B&W TTFD and a full-size (80M) G5RV. The B&W is especially used for 60M and 17M and it is very quiet everywhere but the G5RV is used for transmitting on 80 and 40 Meters because of transmission efficiency and due to the way it is oriented (SW-NE). I'm also doing some experimentation with endfed dipoles (53-ft & 16-ft counterpoise) using homemade, open wire 9:1 baluns and they seem to work pretty good but not as good as the other antennas. Simple, though, and even works on 160M. But the B&W also works on 160M — to some small degree. When I said I did not use 80M all that much, I was referring to CW. I have lapsed on my use of CW... I really mean to get back to CW (but it was not one of my New Year's resolutions).
Put it in production and call it the Century 82 if it's CW only, or the Scout 2 if it's CW/SSB and use those funky modules again, or use the tuning setup from the Rebel/Patriot with 40 and 20 and a real display. I really hope you keep the Rebel/Patriot in production, I really wanted to buy one.
Already been there...done that. Present project is an HQ-170 being restored. And whatever I may or may not be, being too cheap for a spell checker or considering my time too valuable to proofread my posts for grammar and spelling isn't one of them. As for fixing stuff myself, you should read the previous posts. Uncle Sam made sure I was adequately trained to do both flightline and bench-level troubleshooting. I had to work hard in order to be a competent troubleshooter since it didn't come naturally to me, but I wanted it and made it happen. Uncle Sam seemed satisfied since they kept adding on MOS's for additional airframes for me to work on. As for the "crackerjack extra", I obtained mine at the Long Beach, CA FCC office in December of 1979, pre-ULS and pre-VE days. According to my old logbook, specifically on December 20th, 1979. My updated license with new call sign (a two-by-1) arrived on 11 February 1980. I actually had to study and know the material to pass the test. The "study guides" of the time helped (specifically the "Ameco" series), but didn't offer the verbatim Q&A enjoyed today. I obtained the 1x2 call via Vanity on 04 December 1996, at which time I'd already been an Extra for just 2 1/2 weeks shy of 17 years. When and where did you obtain yours...?!?!
Point well made and taken. I'm trying to talk Mrs. K4YZ into it, especially since my eldest lives just south of the site. Just the "practical" side of me trying to fit a family reunion/vacation in with a major Amateur Radio event ! =) And I'm not a big beer drinker, but I'll get the second round! Last time I made it to HamCation my dad lived in Winterhaven, FL, and I didn't have to worry about those on-the-road expenses. But what the Heck ! ! ! 73 Steve, K4YZ
Not for those radios, but I'd pay a premium if Tentec offered the "6N2" or some version of it as a kit, if you're taking a poll! 73 Steve, K4YZ
The only problem with that is that before long you've worked all the QRO guys, and when you go looking for new QSOs, you have to open that gain back up again. Then you find all those QRO guys are making it darned near impossible for the QRP or 100W/Wire guys to carry on a comfortable QSO. Remember Part 97.313(a)...?!?! I'm one of the alternate NCS's for the TN SSB Net, and several of us that haunt 3980KHz routinely pull the power back to 50W and find it works just fine. But then the guys just below us or just above us crank up the footwarmers, and there goes the neighborhood. It's a shame when a KW becomes the defacto baseline for "minimum power to carry on communications" on a band where a fraction of that works just fine. 73 Steve, K4YZ
Like Steve K4YZ points out, when there is a secondary purpose, like self-education or gaining skill, the price doesn't have to be the only focus. When each of my children arrived at that age where they wanted a stereo, I gifted them a tube amp kit (the one from Antique Electronics Supply) which they got to build. Would have been cheaper to buy a plug-n-play ready unit of course. I paid the premium to give them a chance to build something, to have some sweat-equity in the game, and hopefully gain some longer term builder's interests. That they all went on to get their ham licenses and most have built other things made the cost (and time) premium worthwhile to us. I know they each had their K502 (I think that is what the kit is called) on display in their dorm rooms years later to show they built something. That nice story passed one, I don't think Antique Electronics Supply sells mountains of these kits. And I have noticed they now market a Snap-Together updated kit, reflecting the decline in builders. But I would guess that some kid who built one is more likely to be a future customer for their volume products than not. A single well designed purposeful TenTec kit could also have a place someday. If it attracted attention from the Maker crowd it could sell even better. 73 Steve K9ZW
As much as I enjoy building kits, I think Mike is right - economic realities are not working in favor of producing kits en masse unless a) a LOT of people get on board with kit building or b) the kit is simplified to the assembly of assemblies rather than piece parts. Support would be an intensive endeavor because most of the problems in kits are builder-induced. It would be, at best, a huge undertaking. However, for those who want to learn the ins and outs of how and why things work, I would submit that assembly works both ways. You can learn as much by taking something apart as you can by putting it together. In fact, if you do both, you will gain an enormous education, especially if you can do it with some mentoring rather than learning everything the long, hard and "blow something up" way. I just got done with what I call my "reverse Heathkit" - an SB-200 amplifier that was the unfortunate victim of appalling workmanship and some punishment courtesy of a lousy packaging job in shipment. I had to take that thing down more or less to piece parts, replace about 60% of the components, put it together, troubleshoot it when it failed to work (due to hidden assembly issues because I didn't take it apart far enough) and finally got to watch it work. It was a lot of fun and it's what the hobby is largely about, at least to me. 73, Jim K. - KS9Q
Jim KS9Q is right, and so is Steve K9ZW. Remember though, Mike D needs to get TEN-TEC to a sustained profitable state first. This unfortunately can't be done with kits. There just isn't enough demand for them to sustain a business, BUT, once the company IS sustainable, well, THEN kits make absolute sense. 73, KI4JPL John Henry
For me, it really doesn't matter if the other guys are blasting QRO, not when using an OMNI-VII, it has great adjacent signal blocking. I think Mike D was referring to how nice it was to listen in on a band where the guys are using techniques (in this reference, power) to a point where they sound crystal clear and in the same room as one's self. I don't think he was meaning transmitting QRO, but of course, in order to talk out above those and be heard, a good Prometheus is a good way to go. When necessary, hitting full legal limit, knowing that it will up the power level compensating for the SWR so that you are always pumping out 1500, not like several that think they are pumping out 1500 but forgetting reflected. I think that is the real power of the 2400 capability. Knowing you will be pumping out 1500 ALL of the time, regardless of changes as you are running. I might not have worded the above properly, but since it is capable of so much more, you KNOW it will just purr right along at full legal limit, which it is limited to.... 73, KI4JPL John Henry
See, this is where I have a hard time with the "Say One Thing, Do Another" practice. I "get" that he was saying how nice it is to have an armchair copy, but he CLEARLY stated that that "armchair copy" (my adjective, not his) was as a by-product of cranking up the amp and rolling back the RF gain. That's the very essence of bandwidth eating QRM. I enjoy a nice armchair QSO, too, but why spend a kilobuck for an amp, another kilobuck for top-of-the-line transceiver with it's added DSP, roofing filters, etc, the added expense of an uprated antenna tuner to handle the added power and KW-capable antenna when I can carry on a good QSO with 100 watts, a wire and basic IF shift/filtering...unless, of course, it's to overcome the guys who are eating up the bandwidth with their own aforementioned amps? 73 Steve, K4YZ
Maybe that is where some of this communication problem is coming from. I interpreted his statement of: "Everyone running a KW to open on a winter night so you can crank the RF gain down to about 70% and listen to clear audio against a noiseless background and it sounds like everyone is in the room with you." to mean, he enjoyed that everyone is running a KW so he could crank the RF gain down and listen like they were in the same room with you. Stated nothing about him transmitting at that power. So I don't see this as a say one thing do another. But maybe I'm not interpreting it the same way as you are. Now I understand how these conversations into these little windows hundreds of miles away from each other can turn into pissing matches. No, I'm not jumping on you, no, I'm just stating that I interpreted it differently. BUT, OF COURSE, one has to assume that if/when he wants to QSO back, he probably has to be QRO as well so that he can be heard. Anyway, not worth arguing about, but worth noting that maybe different minds reading the same thing coming out with different thoughts is to blame. Just human nature I guess. You and I did on this topic, and it is nothing to get upset about, I'm not, I doubt you are, but if prolonged with response after response, I can see where people would grate the other one into ad nauseum and a bit of contempt. Live and learn.... And I also believe that one should only try to communicate with the minimum power required. Who knows, maybe the winter nights he is referring to really does require the extra power..... I don't know, just conjecturing, I also do believe that many get amps because they need them in DX and in contesting, otherwise they score very low because they are stomped on. Then, in normal QSO, they feel the same, everyone else is pumping up the power, so, in order for me to be heard, I gotta crank it up too. Don't know, just a theory. But I won't condemn someone for using what they have, as long as they are legal. Me, I'm happy I don't care if they are high power or low power, my OMNI-VII has a very good roofing filter architecture that drops the kilawatter a few kc up/down from me. 73, KI4JPL John Henry
I wonder how Elecraft has made it with their kits? That is how they started. I have built the K1, KX1, T1, AF1, W1 & some of their test equipment. The KX1 has a few SMD to solder, but they are large enough that is not a problem. Fun kits to build that work extremely well! I'm sure a 100 watt rig would be expensive to do, but QRP has really grown probably mostly because of the little Yaesu FT-817 that came out in late 2000. None of these kits use SMD except the KX1 which does not use the tiny SMD. The one or two tiny ones that it does use is pre solder. PSK-31 & CW work really well with QRP! You just have to use a band that is open for that time of day. SSB can make contacts QRP, but running around 50 watts really makes it easier on the guy that is straining to hear you. Maybe one day when Ten Tec gets going good they can look into the kit building! QRP hams I'm sure would welcome it. 73, Reed W4JZ
But one has to assume (and yes, I remember the old addage about what happens when you "assume"! =) ) that if the other stations are also QRO with the RF gain rolled back, then how are they going to hear the 100W guy trying to get in, or let them know they're QRMing an on-going QSO? I've gotten blown out of the water more than once in 40+ years by the guy who calls "QRZ?" before calling CQ that obviously has the power cranked up. I'm "old school" in that I listen before transmitting, and that means even having to "lean into" the headphones to make sure that the QRP guy isn't about to get stepped on, even before calling "QRZ?" Personally, I'd like to see the maximum allowable power decreased further. The state-of-the-art has advanced receiver technology multi-fold such that overcoming a relatively weak front end with power isn't necessary any more. There should be a demonstrated need for the added power, and limited circumstances (ie: EME) with the licensee having to obtain a variance to his/her license, a lot like the Brits have to get for specific variances of their licenses. Absolutely. Well stated. "...a few kc..." A re-tread old timer, JH...?!?! =) 73 Steve, K4YZ
My take on this is volunteer effort for the beginning. Something to remember, when Al Khan started TEN-TEC it was with powermites and other kits and boards. With QRP, low cost items. Not with higher power higher class rigs. So, why can't we do that now? Well, the demand then was for the QRP, and the parts for it were readily available at low costs. Today, TEN-TEC has parts for the OMNI-VII, Eagle, etc., not for the lower power QRP / kits / etc. It would take capital investment that is not something that can be done at the moment to switch over to kits again. So, it is easier to get more bang for the buck with OMNI-VII's than it is with 1380s. EVENTUALLY (no, not shouting, just emphasizing), kits should be considered, and hopefully brought back if possible. It could be that there is no way to bring a kit back due to the transition from leaded parts to SMD, and most can't solder the SMD smaller parts, who knows, again, conjecture, but is worth a review at some more solid financial ground.
