DRAKE SW 1 Manual de instrucciones descargar pdf (Pagina 2)

72 October 1997

Edited by Rick Lindquist, N1RL• Senior Assistant Technical Editor

Product Review

Reviewed by Bill Kennamer, K5FUV

DXCC Manager

The Amateur Radio transceiver has

changed substantially since its advent in the

1950s. Each generation has provided new

features that have gone from option to stan-

dard. Some of these, though revolutionary

for their time, have become commonplace.

The latest generation of transceivers fea-

ture expanded band coverage. Where once

80 through 10 meter coverage was standard

(with only a few offering 160 meters), most

manufacturers now offer at least one trans-

ceiver that at least covers 160 through 6, and

nearly all with general-coverage receivers.

The expanded coverage coincides nicely

with the beginnings of a new sunspot cycle,

and more countries of the world allow 6 meter

operation than ever before. Extended cover-

age plus more availability will increase ac-

tivity on 6 meters throughout the world. The

new generation of transceivers will be ready

for this upsurge and may even drive it.

This leads us to the FT-920, Yaesu’s lat-

est entry in the current generation and its first

“HF” transceiver to include 6 meters. The

’920, which replaces the FT-990 in the Yaesu

lineup, packs in a lot of features per dollar

and couples them with great performance to

boot. Some standard features, such as its digi-

tal voice recorder, are ones not found on other

units in this price class. Shuttle jog tuning,

which allows for rapid band excursions, is

another (it debuted on Yaesu’s more upscale

FT-1000MP, which the FT-920 somewhat

resembles). One standard feature we had not

seen before is the linear tuning pulse system.

This menu option provides a pulsed signal

(pulse and space times are menu-settable) for

low-duty cycle (ie, 15% or 20%) linear am-

plifier tuneup with full-power pulses! It’s

also possible to adjust power output and du-

ration of the tuning signal.

The FT-920 provides 100 W output on all

bands, including 6 meters. It has MOSFET

power amplifiers in the transmitter’s final

stage.

Other standard features, such as the auto-

matic antenna tuner and the CW keyer, have

come to be considered almost necessities.

With the exceptions of FM and transmit on

AM (both require optional boards), the

FT-920 offers a pretty complete package.

Little remained on my “wish list” once I’d

had a chance to get familiar with it.

This brings up one point that should be

made about this transceiver: you need to read

the instruction manual first, not only to get

Yaesu FT-920 MF/HF/6 Meter Transceiver

optimum performance, but to get it on the air.

It’s entirely possible for a new owner to

manipulate this radio to the point where you

won’t hear anything at all if enough knobs

are turned the wrong way!

Up Front

This is a pretty busy panel, with 79 but-

tons or controls to contend with (all the more

reason to study the manual). Once you get

the gist of it, however, it’s not as intimidat-

ing as it might first appear. Pushing the power

switch brings forth the orange light of the

Omni-Glow LCD display, which indicates

most of the radio’s functions. In some cases,

the only way you can be sure a particular

function is engaged is to check the display.

The FT-920’s display features nice, big num-

bers—approximately

-inch high—for the

VFO A and VFO B readouts. I found the dis-

play could be seen from any angle in any

room lighting condition, including bright

sunlight.

The main

VFO A

tuning knob dominates

the center of the radio. The outer part of the

concentric main tuning knob includes the

shuttle jog control, a feature we first saw on

the FT-1000MP. You simply twist the ring to

one side or the other for rapid frequency ex-

cursions, and the tuning speed depends upon

how far you turn it. This is great for getting

from one end of a band to the other for con-

test search-and-pounce operation, but it does

take a little practice. Additionally, the main

tuning knob may be set to a fast, normal or

fine tuning rate, depending upon operator

preference, by pressing the

STEP

button to

the left of the tuning knob. The display shows

the rate. The

STEP

button can control the

tuning rate of either of the radio’s two VFOs.

Front-panel buttons set VOX or (MOX)

manual transmission mode. You must use the

menu to set VOX delay and gain or CW semi

or full-break-in. Both the headphone and key

jacks are stereo types. I got adequate head-

phone output with either the Heil ProSet or

the Yaesu YH-55 headsets.

The

MIC GAIN

AF GAIN

RF GAIN

and

PWR

controls are clustered on the panel’s

lefthand side. A set of four stem controls are

along the bottom of the front panel:

SQL

(squelch),

COMP

(speech processor compres-

sion level)

GAIN

(for the speech monitor) and

LEVEL

(for the noise blanker). Pushbutton

switches interspersed in the same row let you

turn the processor, speech monitor and noise

blanker on or off. While the controls are

small, these are functions that don’t have to

be set very often, so their size is not necessar-

ily a disadvantage.

Meter selection is via a pushbutton

switch. You can step through ALC, SWR,

COMP (compression level), VOLT and AMP

(and back to ALC). Being able to monitor the

supply voltage is great if you’re operating

from a storage battery in the field. The

IPO

switch controls the Intercept Point Optimi-

zation, which essentially allows the operator

to switch out the receiver RF preamplifier.

Actually, the FT-920 has two preamps. One

is a JFET, which defaults for use on 160

BOTTOM LINE

The FT-920 offers lots of standard

features per dollar for a radio in this

price class, including a digital voice

recorder and terrific DSP—plus excel-

lent receiver performance. Many of its

best features can be found in its exten-

sive menu system.

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