[Kenwood] Re: [Yaesu] What am I missing here?

Fri, 19 Apr 2002 17:08:54 -0400

Sounds to me like you're not missing anything, John!  You must remember that
today the average ham  doesn't possess the interest or ability to read the
numbers in the ARRL review and compare the various transceivers.
Furthermore, the manufacturer's reps don't seem to get it either.  A couple
of years back I was looking at getting back on the air and buying a new rig.
I chatted with the Ten-Tec rep at Dayton (yes, it was a technical person),
asking him about the fact that the Omni VI receiver showed up as "noise
limited" in the ARRL BDR test.  He insisted on ignoring my question,
explaining that the only thing that mattered was that the receiver was "very
quiet" and had a "low noise floor".  When I asked the same question on the
Ten-Tec website, I was told that they didn't have time to explain technical
things to me.  I really don't think it's that difficult - all they had to
say was that they knew about the problem and that it was due to a less than
perfect output spectrum of the xxxxx oscillator.  Needless to say, they
didn't get my money.  I decided they were either ignorant,  knowingly
skirting the real issues, or maybe both.

I don't mean to single out Ten-Tec.  I had a simliar experience with Icom
when I questioned them regarding the reports of hearing excessive "clicking"
noises on the original 756 Pro on CW.  Their response to me was that it
wasn't their receiver at fault, but rather ALL THE TRANSMITTERS I WAS
HEARING.   They explained that the Pro receiver was so good, it was hearing
things that other lesser receivers couldn't hear.  I ended up buying a used
TS-850/AT, which just wasn't good enough to hear all those key clicks, but
heard all the desired signals quite well.  My TS-940 and TS-950SDX didn't
hear those clicks either.  And, unlike with Tec-Tec where you get to know
the service department folks very well, I don't have a clue as to the names
of the service people at Kenwood.  It seems that the Kenwood gear requires a
bit less maintenance.

K8AC
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Geiger" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>;
<[email protected]>; <[email protected]>; <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, April 19, 2002 2:49 PM
Subject: [Yaesu] What am I missing here?

> I AM CONFUSED!!
***snip***

> SO WHAT AM I MISSING HERE?  How do receivers get
> better when their specs get worse?  The noise floor is
> comparable on these rigs, so they are not getting
> significantly more sensitive.  True, some of the newer
> ones have DSP and more toys, but you first have to be
> able to hear it to impliment most of the toys.  I own
> a TS2000, and its DSP and digital filters work nicely.
>  Still, I wish it had better receiver specs that it
> does, and that sometimes shows up in contesting and
> dxing.  Being an avid VHF/UHFer as well as DXer and
> contestor, it is nice to have it all in one box, and I
> don't have the funds currently to replace it with a
> 761 or TS850, with transverters for 6,2 and 432, as
> well as amps for each band, and some sort of DSP box.
> That would be a nice set up, though.
>
> 73S John NE0P
>

>