Now I'm the one who is surprised, George. Sometimes I don't even agree with
myself, and I certainly do not expect any one else to. But as you say, a high
percentage of Icoms do work out of the box. As do a high percentage of other
brands.
I have gotten radios from all three JA companies that did not work out of the
box, and radios from all three JA companies that seriously disappointed me.
One popular brand to the point I will not even try another one. On general
principles I will not discuss specific faults of a radio that I do not
currently
own - I dispose of disappointments as quickly as possible - so any further
comments on that score will be negligible.
But I can say that overblown reviews raise expectations that cannot be met. I
have never met a radio so good I could not find something to dislike. For
that matter, I don't remember a single radio that did not come equipped with
its
own set of peculiarities. But neither problems or peculiarities kept me from
appreciating the things the radios did well. If the likes overcame the
dislikes I kept them. If not - I sold them to someone less critical than I.
If I lived "at home," a few hundred miles north of you, where the wind blows
and the sun usually shines, I would be less concerned about filter ringing,
DSP noise reduction, and kindred matters. But I have thunderstorms 120 days or
more a year, and lightning in the area more than 220 days. Many days a rig's
noise handling capability is critical if I am to make a QSO at all.
I do not have room for an efficient low band antenna. I can make up for some
of that deficiency with an amplifier, but that helps receive not at all. So
any rig I keep must have outstanding sensitivity.
And everyone else around here faces the same situation I face - and deals
with it the same way. So almost everyone considers a KW "Quite Respectable
Power," and runs the legal limit. A plethora of high power stations within
ground
wave distance makes filtering and signal handling capability another important
consideration.
And of course, we are not as young as we once were. I find some radios are
very tiring to operate, causing me to give up the contest well before the
nightly news. Others are so pleasant I can go to the wee hours and be up early
for
another round of CQ's without trouble.
On balance, in my unusually severe conditions, my Orion has given me
unequaled performance. I can copy stations on the Orion through the QRN and QRN
that
I cannot hear at all on other rigs. And it's pleasant enough to operate that I
find myself ignoring the clock and staying up far beyond my accustomed time.
Of course, it took some experimenting to achieve that level of performance.
And some serious note keeping to retain those settings.
Now, that said, yes, the Orion has gotten some knocks. I do not recall any
that did not work out of the box, but there have been failures. Those are
expected - they do occur with every maker's equipment - but they are also
bitterly
disappointing to those who were under the impression the rig is made of cast
iron and concrete. The very human thing to do is declare the thing
unsatisfactory, blame the maker, and demand their money back. " 'Tis the syme
the 'ole
world over, the factory gets the blyme" so that's regrettable but it's also par
for the course.
Originally, some of the Orion's software controlled features were, to put it
mildly, idiosyncratic. They worked - but not like some expected them to work.
Most of those problems were taken care of in the very beginning of the upgrade
process. And Ten Tec seems to be taking care of the remaining ones in good
order, responding to customer comments and suggestions in a timely matter.
But that has not stopped the criticism. Perhaps the critics should be in my
position, paying a thousand dollars a month to keep a sales program up to date
- and the latest update would not accept an order! And that's by no means
unusual. My company cannot be the only company in the world that needs a daily
list of tracking numbers and COD amounts - yet it took almost two years to get
a
major parcel service's software developer to provide a program to cough up
that information.
I could go on - but most software "bugs" come back to just one thing. The
programmer has no idea of the customers needs or requirements. Until the
software, or the software controlled equipment, hits the market, the programmer
has
very little feel for the customers wants. After it hits the market, the
programmer often spends more time defending his brain child than he does fixing
the
problems his creation causes. At least, the Ten Tec programmers are concerned,
seem eager to provide a generally pleasing product, and are becoming much more
knowledgeable about their customers likes and dislikes.
Yes, the ARRL Labs will eventually test the Orion and issue a set of numbers.
>From my comparisons, I am confident those numbers will compare favorably with
other TOL transceivers. But numbers do not tell a typical Amateur how much
better or worse the Orion will be in their station. The text and comments are
supposed to do that.
And therein lies the rub. Many times, reviewers have ignored serious problems
in their favorite makers products, while making minor "peculiarities" that in
no way degraded performance in less favored brands out as horrible problems.
While all reviews should be taken with a grain of salt - some reviews seem to
call for a boxcar load!
73 Pete Allen AC5E
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