Friday, March 6, 2021
After using the Ten-Tec Omni V with the N4PY chip upgrade for a while, I’ve finally learned about all the additional features the N4PY chip provides, literally making the radio almost as functional as the Omni VI.
I’ve found a few annoyances about the Omni V to date. For starters, on 80 and 20 meters, the radio receiver is 40 or 50 Hz off. On 40 meters, the receiver is an even 500 Hz off frequency.
Tonight I swapped out the Omni V and put the Paragon back in place. The Paragon is rock solid on frequency and I’ve come to really like that rig. I also like the Omni V, and I’ll put it back in place once I figure out how to correct the off-frequency issues. According to the N4PY EPROM instructions, the software allows you to calibrate the individual bands; I’ve not been able to get this function to work. I’m not sure if the correction feature is part of the .9 chip or the .92 chip, which is the latest one.
PARAGON PART II. My first Paragon is still in the main shack, but remains unused. It has the 500 Hz CW filter, just like the one I’m using. However, the backup battery leaked on the PC board, and that acid has screwed up the memory functions. Allegedly, you can clean off the board and restore the functions, but I haven’t tried it. I would like to do so. That, my friends, is a job for the future.
HEATHKIT ULTRAPRO. I ran across the power connector parts I bought recently on eBay so I could power up my Heathkit Ultrapro CW keyboard. I had tried the keyboard before, and it works perfectly. Yesterday I made a power connector to feed it 12vdc so I could use it with my Ten-Tec rigs.
The Ultrapro is microprocessor controlled, and includes 10 memory buffers that can be protected. The keyboard also makes contesting simple with serial numbers that auto increment when used.
The band conditions on the CW traffic net weren’t cooperative tonight … I could hear the most distant stations, but not ones closer than 400-500 miles.
73 es CUL …. de KY4Z … SK … SK …. (dit dit) ….