I see that Ten-Tec’s Summertime Used Gear Sale is on. They are re-selling OMNI-VI’s and Orions taken in as trade-ins. I’ve always liked the Omni VI. Its a solid CW rig with a great receiver. Sweet.
I am also fresh off a weekend using an Orion on bands loaded with Field Day operators. The Orion is also a sweet radio. It is a great S&P contest radio. You can set the CW bandwidth to a vary narrow setting and work stations every 250hz all the way up and down a band. Zero detectable ringing, even with the bandwidth cranked down to about 160hz.
Too bad my shack is not bigger. I’d sure like to have custody of an Omni VI Plus for three or four years.
I’ve always been somewhat hesitant to buy used gear, but the beauty of this sale is that the rigs have been checked out by factory. Plus they are tossing in a credit on an accessory item, a microphone, and picking up the shipping tab.
NO – I don’t get any kickbacks….
edit, 11:30 am 7/2/08: I’m also fresh off using the Omni VII, another fabulous radio. The Omni VII QSK is top notch. I like running with the side tone set to a low level, it makes the quality of the QSK jump out. I like the ergonomic design of both the Orion and Omni VII. Both radios are easy on the ears. But because of its small size and tolerance for low voltage, I’m happy with my choice of the Elecraft K2. It too is a fine radio.