It's fun again

[NQ6U]

Ham radio, that is.

I was getting bored with working only PSK-31 but trying to do SSB here in this RF-noisy area with my old rig, a trusty-but-aging IC-736, was often an exercise in frustration. Then one of my fellow club members upgraded his station and offered me a trade deal on his IC-746PRO that was just too good to pass up. A small amount of cash and a lot of assistance with setting up some large photovoltaic panels and I took it home.

The radio has been installed in my shack and I have been spending the last few days learning how this comparatively complex rig works. Today I played around on 40m and did a head-to-head comparison between the two rigs tuned to the same signal; the difference was astonishing. The software filters on the '46 are amazing and along with the DSP noise reduction make doing SSB phone not only possible but actually enjoyable. I had a long QSO with KE7ZEP, who runs a quarry in Arizona; he does most of his work in the early morning hours this time of year to avoid the heat, then retires to his air conditioned house and plays radio the rest of the day.

I'm looking forward to spending some quality time out in the shack again. It's been a while since I had so much fun on the radio.

[NA4BH]

When the panel light goes out on your 746PRO, let me know and I'll send you one of those do-hickeys to fix it.

[NQ6U]

When the panel light goes out on your 746PRO, let me know and I'll send you one of those do-hickeys to fix it.

It's already had the Icom fix applied.

Oh, and lest I forget: FTM!

[KC2UGV]

I never get bored of PSK per se. I get bored with playing radio for bits at a time, then I jump back into it for months on end. It's generally a failed project that puts me off for a couple of months. The last project was trying to connect a transmitter to audio outputs from a PC. Kept getting 60hz hum for some reason, and I could never fix it.

[NQ6U]

I never get bored of PSK per se. I get bored with playing radio for bits at a time, then I jump back into it for months on end. It's generally a failed project that puts me off for a couple of months. The last project was trying to connect a transmitter to audio outputs from a PC. Kept getting 60hz hum for some reason, and I could never fix it.

Your rig and your computer need to be electrically isolated from each other otherwise you'll risk ground loop issues, which is what you have. Either 600:600 telephone line isolation transformers out of old modems or optoisolators will take care of the problem.

[KG4CGC]

Nice score, Carl. I have to admit, I thought those rigs were pretty hot to trot back in the day.
I see they still are.

[WX7P]

I LOVE mine. Had it since 2007.

[W3WN]

Amazing what a good piece of gear will do for you.

And you can have my Omni VI+ when you can pry it from my cold dead fingers...

[WX7P]

Amazing what a good piece of gear will do for you.

And you can have my Omni VI+ when you can pry it from my cold dead fingers...

I saw the OMNI VI in action at W9EX during field day. A very impressive piece of equipment.

Didn't get a chance to use it...No foot switch...

[W3WN]

I saw the OMNI VI in action at W9EX during field day. A very impressive piece of equipment.

Didn't get a chance to use it...No foot switch...

Need one? I think I have a spare.

The Omni VI+ and the Corsair II before it both represented the last (and best) of their lineage. Both are still excellent rigs to this day... I just hope that if the day ever comes that I can put together that M/M contest station, I can still get my hands on a few more.

I didn't get to use one at N3SH FD this year. W3WH used to bring his Omni VI+, and then a few years back, W9UK accidentally snagged the coax with the trailer hitch on his Jeep, and the poor Omni bounced along a gravel road for about 100 yards before they stopped him. Bill ended up getting a Flex & a laptop... the Flex eventually got sold & he now has an Omni VII. (And another VI+ picked up along the way). Poor Jack has politely declined to come to another FD since, even though we've all told him we know it was an accident & he's forgiven!

But I did get to use K3VX's TR-7. Suffice to say that if you've used the Corsairs, and then the -7 (or vice versa) you can see how closely related they are -- which, as Fred will tell you, is because the Drake engineers went to Ten Tec when Drake departed the market.