Ten Tec Jupiter, IC-7200 or FT-950

[WB2WIK]

There's a very good probability the person who wrote, or assisted in writing, the manuals back in the '90s was Chip Margelli K7JA, who was a long-term Yaesu upper-level manager. Since leaving Yaesu, he spent time with Heil, and now is Ad Manager for CQ. Chip is fluent in Japanese.

That may well be, I'll have to ask him. Chip lives only 60 miles from me and is a huge 6m enthusiast, so he's easy to find.

I think their recent manuals suck, but it's not just Yaesu. It's most of them.

If these companies would hire a competent technical writer, the manuals would be a whole lot better.

My FT-857D manual spends at least 30 pages devoted to how to ground it, what kind of antenna to use, how to program memories for FM repeaters and all kinds of crap that virtually no one would care about and really isn't relevant to operating the rig. Most of that could be condensed into two pages of real English, written by someone who understands what they're writing.

I'll never forget the manual for the first JA-made rig I ever had, which wasn't even a complex HF transceiver: It was a VHF multimode transceiver called a "KLM-Multi 2000" which was a 144 MHz multimode imported by KLM but made by FDK in Japan. Its opening statement was great. It said, "Thank you for buying this almighty transceiver." No kidding.

I didn't know whether to go to church, or bow towards Mecca, or what.

[W7KKK]

I managed to put enough fun money away to purchase a new FT-950. I saw many for sale used but decided to go new.

[WB2WIK]

I managed to put enough fun money away to purchase a new FT-950. I saw many for sale used but decided to go new.

Congrats and may it serve you for a long time!

(I would have gone for the Jupiter.)

I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun with it. Look for you on the air!

[SM5JAB]

Some years ago I was in the lucky position of having both a FT-950 and a Jupiter at my desk. What startled me most was the brilliance in the Jupiter audio, such low noise and receive audio quality had I never heard before!

The FT-950 clearly had some "issues". I don't buy this "it's so complex you need to read the manual... many times" I read in some forums. Either way, I tried very hard to like the FT-950 (and did read the manual!), but it simply wasn't for me. As a CW operator I expected better QSK-implementation amongst other things. Somewhere there is a recording I did of the two rigs, the FT-950 is noisy and muddy, the Jupiter so clean, clear, crisp even. So I kept the Jupiter and I don't regret that decision. I want to be able to listen to the rx for hours on end without getting tired ears. The Jupiters audio bandwidth of up to 8 kHz also makes AM reception joyful, the FT-950 has fixed 6 kHz filters preventing that.

The Jupiter is not entirely perfect (well known RF in the shack sensitivity, I can suggest a few firmware updates, there are some frequencies with constant carrier even with the antenna out) but with that magnificent audio I can accept those (minor?) points. As others have testified the transmit audio is also top notch.

My take is that if you are into SSB and digital you will be happy with either one (but extremely happy with the Jupiter audio). If you are into CW and also want to use the rig as a general coverage receiver then the Jupiter is the choice. Dunno about the IC-7200 tho.

[NW9R]

Does the Jupiter do 6 meters? I had one for a month and sent it back to TT. I don't recall it having 6 meters in it, or a tuner for that matter. Hated the green screen (that particular model). The 7200 is a superb radio, excellent noise reduction. 950 is your generic mid grade radio for general purpose use. Okay I suppose.

[NW9R]

Curt (W3QE) what caused you to return the Argo V?

I don't own one and never did, but always wanted to. I hear a lot of them on the air, and they sound magnificent. Was something wrong with it?

Personally, I bought a new Juptier some time back, was flakey and unstable. Had to send it back, and found it wasn't wired correctly. I got it back, held it for a week and returned it for my money back. I didn't like the idea of having something with a quality control issue. Never returned to TT ever again. Maybe overkill, but never had a problem with a new radio from any other manufacturer.

A final acceptance test would have been nice before selling me that one.