Mark Conrad wrote:
In , Geoffrey S.
wrote:

Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
They put out 2-3 watts which is more than enough for CW, and will "work
the world" on SSB if the band is open and uncrowded. Forcing a signal
through a "closed" band or the middle of a pileup requires 1kw output radio,
if you hope for success and that is not going to run off a battery.

Just as a comment here is a YouTube video which adds some information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbz9yv9VQVc

He has several videos of his working stations during contests using his
Argo 509 (4 watts SSB on a good day). This is one of my favorite rigs,
although I really prefer the Triton 4 digital, which is a very similar
rig with 100 watt output (if you need it), and a digital readout instead
of the dial string.

Geoff.


Thanks very much for that follow-up report.

In a weak moment, I fell victim to my emotions and
ordered a brand-new 100 watt Yaesu 857D.

Hey, nobody is perfect! - I blame it all on the stress I am
presently suffering from studying for
my extra-class license.


The Gordon West book makes this a snap. And the QRZ practice tests. I
went from nothing to Amateur Extra in 5 weeks.

Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
Mark Conrad wrote:
How does the Triton 4 digital compare against the Elecraft K3
in your opinion?

Not at all. the Triton 4 is around 30 years old. It is very different
in operation, instead of being a computer that has a radio wrapped around it,
it is just the radio. The only thing digital is the frequency readout, and
just in case you don't like it, there is an analog scale on the tuning knob.

As for sound, it's just pure clean sound, with no noise from all the digital
electronics inside. The oscilator is a PTO (a brass slug moving in a coil),
so if your hand is steady enough, you can tune it exactly to match the
frequency of the sending station.

The K3 has very fine tuning and it may not be noticably different.

The Triton 4 has true QSK, you can hear any time the transmitter is not
actually sending carrier in CW mode.

Geoff.


The K3 is not a computer with a radio wrapped around it. It has a DSP
modulator/demodulator but the rest is straight-up cutting edge analog,
complete with crystal filters and low noise local oscillators. The
radio will play out of the box, with just an antenna and 13 VDC being
required to get under way.

Mark Conrad wrote in :
In article , Geoffrey S.
Mendelson wrote:

Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:
They put out 2-3 watts which is more than enough for CW, and will "work
the world" on SSB if the band is open and uncrowded. Forcing a signal
through a "closed" band or the middle of a pileup requires 1kw output radio,
if you hope for success and that is not going to run off a battery.

Just as a comment here is a YouTube video which adds some information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbz9yv9VQVc

He has several videos of his working stations during contests using his
Argo 509 (4 watts SSB on a good day). This is one of my favorite rigs,
although I really prefer the Triton 4 digital, which is a very similar
rig with 100 watt output (if you need it), and a digital readout instead
of the dial string.

Geoff.


Thanks very much for that follow-up report.

In a weak moment, I fell victim to my emotions and
ordered a brand-new 100 watt Yaesu 857D.

I suspect that you will be disappointed by something in that radio, but not
much disappointed, and that you will be delighted by lots of things in it.

Hey, nobody is perfect! - I blame it all on the stress I am
presently suffering from studying for
my extra-class license.

If *I* can get an Extra ticket, then _ANYONE_ can get an Extra ticket.
(We mathematicians call this "proof by assertion".)

I bought the "look-alike" (Collins) 300Hz CW filter on a
seperate order from WART electronics, because there were
no articles on the web about any narrower CW filters
being available.

(ones that do not "ring" excessively, that is)

I hope the passband of the Yaesu's last IF stage can be shifted to
one side, as I forgot to examine the spec's of the Yaesu in detail.

I seem to recall that the passband can be moved on the 857D and 897D
(and, of course, on the 857 and 897, as well).

If I can cock the IF passband to one side, that might reduce the
interference from another CW station somewhat, I hope.

That's what I've used it for -- and to get rid of the het squeal from
SWBC stations on 40m.

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