I had a Ten Tec Pegasus which is basically the precursor to the Jupiter, but strictly computer controlled. It was OK as a rig, but of course fairly low end as is the Jupiter. I am just amazed at the comments made by a number of hams as to how wonderful this equipment compares to other rigs.
I liked the ability to change the DSP filters to a number of presets. The DSP was not comparable to more expensive rigs, but was not too bad either. The IMD DR, which many consider to be the most important parameter, is quite poor as are many rigs in the under $1000 price class. The Jupiter has to be the most expensive transceiver for the performance delivered and I feel that I am being somewhat charitable when I say that. The eham reviews show a very low 4.3 rating with well over 100 reviews. This tells me that a lot of hams have purchased this unit, but found it well below average. Any rating on eham that is below 4.5 and with a substantial number of reviews, suggests a problem. The Pegasus had a 4.7 rating with about 40 reviews and I think that was because of the new concept of one of the first DSP rigs with moderate cost ($900) at the time. These rigs are relatively easy to interface because they are designed with a 5 pin DIN plug to handle line in and line out and PTT. This means you can set up keying via VOX. It is not always easy to set up but can be done. ICOM rigs can not do this unless you go through their microphone port which to me is completely unacceptable as I want to keep the digital modes through the data ports. The main reason for trading my Pegasus in for an Argonaut V was to have a QRP type rig for fun (and the trade price after all those years for a "used" Argo was only about $150) and because Ten Tec abandoned these rigs and no longer updates them. They also never developed good software for the interface and expected you to buy a third party software which can get very expensive if you purchase an annual subscription. They gave you the impression that they would continue to develop and improve software for their rigs and they have completely failed in this regard. The real concern I had was that I may eventually do more with Linux OS and I am concerned that these rigs may be more orphan rigs since they are not the mainstream big three Japanese products. I do find that that my ICOM 756 Pro 2 works a lot better than the Ten Tec product, but then you would expect it to considering the price difference. 73, Rick, KV9U Walt DuBose wrote: >Is anyone on the list using a Ten-Tec Juliter? > >If so, I would be interested in its performance on sound card digital modes. > >Tnx & 73, > >Walt/K5YFW > > >
