Hi all,
I got the chance to test this new radio coming on the market these days. Last evening I found the time to bring the RGO ONE to our contest station in order to make first short test on the air.
I have to say that I am impressed how the receiver is quiet. Compare to other radios and mainly SDR architecture radios the RGO ONE receiver has smooth and low noise. The VBF is very effective and nice feature for close in signals.
I had only short time yesterday evening so I tested it quickly on 40m then 80m band. As I found the pile-up for T6AA on 80m I had chance also to testing the RIT/XIT features etc. It is easy to manage and operate the RIT/XIT on RGO ONE.
Big surprise came after switching to 40m where that nite was hearable OTHR intruder at around 7005kHz. I tried to switch antenna to our contesting Icom IC-756PROIII quickly to found that OTHR occupied most of the CW portion in 40m band with over S9+20dB wideband mess. Even with 500Hz filter on Icom I was not able to hear any signals on 40m CW band as 30kHz far from the center I still had S8 wideband noise.
After switching to RGO ONE the surprise happened. Of course the OTHR blasted to S9+30dB at 7005kHz and covered wide portion of CW band but when I switched the VBF ON and reduced it down to 200Hz then I noticed that when I tuned up over the 7015kHz the wideband mess gone and I was able to operate and make QSO without any problem or QRM. Amazing!
I did not make video unfortunately as my phone battery lasted exactly at that time when I need it, hi... but I made QSO 15kHz away from the OTHR intruder with VBF set to 300Hz and I was not disturbed at all...
I had no more time to test it yesterday evening so more tests will come later.
And one more think... I like very much the sentences posted by KW6LA:
"I do like the old style controls. RGO ONE looks like a radio, not a garage door opener!"
73 - Petr, OK1RP
RGO ONE is the GOLDEN classic super-heterodyne down conversion HAM transceiver covering all HF bands 1.8 - 29.7MHz (160/60m as an option).
High dynamic range receiver design including high IP3 monolithic linear amplifiers in the front end and H-mode first IF mixer.
Low phase noise first LO – SI570 XO/VCXO chip.
Full/semi (delay) QSK on CW using click-less quiet diodes switching; PTT/VOX operation on SSB. Strict RX/TX sequencing scheme. No click sounds at all!
Due to its modular construction it can be easily modified or redesigned in manner that suits operator. This kit is intended for users that like building their own home made equipment and constructions.
Main goals
- Classic super-heterodyne design – with popular 9MHz intermediate frequency. Filter method DSB to SSB modulation
- Coverage of the 9 HAM HF bands (160m optional)
- High dynamic range receiver design including high IP3 monolithic IC in the front end and H-mode first IF mixer
- Fast acting IF (134kHz) AGC.
- Click-less operation – solid state Ga-As PHEMT SPDT switches on RX, (band-pass filters; TX/RX) and ultra fast rectifier diodes (LPF)
- Custom multicolor FSTN LCD (Especially developed for this project)
- Custom made ABS face plate, unique and ergonomic knob controls
- Custom made crystal filters – 6,8 pole, CF=9MHz, 2.8kHz, 2.7kHz, 1kHz, 500Hz
- Three filters can be used - First IF roofer 8-poles 9MHz; second (optional) 4-poles variable bandwidth filter Johnson type 9MHz; third 2-poles noise filter 9MHz
- Double CPU circuitry control for front panel and mother board, both field programmable via implemented USB hub
- Modular construction with no “flying wires” inside the box. Transceiver is built up on a main – mother board which has two functions. First to serve as a “chassis” and second to fit all the external connectors, daughter boards, inter-connections and acts as cable harness.
- Plenty of optional modules: Audio filters, Automatic antenna tuner (ATU), Noise blanker (NB), narrow/wide band IF crystal filters.
- Linear final amplifier PA 50W with precise power adjustment especially for QRP operations. Forget noisy FANs – 25W – unlimited time!! QRO work – with max power of 50W driving should be sufficient for a kilowatt amplifier.
- Personal computer control CAT via USB
- Morse code keyer (Curtis A, CMOS B)
- Contest and DX-pedition operation conveniences
- Both Kit & Ready-to-Run versions will be available
And one more think... I like very much the sentences posted by KW6LA:
"I do like the old style controls. RGO ONE looks like a radio, not a garage door opener!"
73 - Petr, OK1RP
Hi all,
This coming new CW/SSB all HF bands transceiver is the “classic” architecture of 9MHz IF super-heterodyne with good filtered front-end and proper roofing crystal IF filters.
It is using PHEMT LNA, high dynamic range H-mode mixer, 8+4 poles crystal filters etc.
Full, fast and absolute quiet QSK with proper timing is devoted to all CW enthusiasts.
It looks like great era of famous TenTec transceivers is coming back :)
http://lz2jr.com/blog/
https://groups.io/g/RGO-ONE
https://www.eham.net/reviews/view-product?id=14445
Experiences with RGO ONE in CQWW, CW by John, AE5X:https://ae5x.blogspot.com/2019/11/cqww-cw-with-rgo-one.html
Some pics of my new arrived RGO ONE are uploaded in groups.io here:https://groups.io/g/RGO-ONE/album?id=223623
And one more think... I like very much the sentences posted by KW6LA:
"I do like the old style controls. RGO ONE looks like a radio, not a garage door opener!"
73 - Petr, OK1RP
.../-.-
