Re: [TenTec] Re: Contesting

[w4tje <w4tje@mindspring.com>]

HERE's SOME CONCLUSIONS TO DRAW
The Orion is a great rig... for me, at ANY price.
Whether or not it meets the strict definition of SDR, ... Who cares?!   The 
dual receiver capability, and the sharp specs on the main receiver 
specifically, make this radio THE NEW STANDARD for performance and 
selectivity, at least for me. The very positive reviews in CQ, QST, and 
Radcom are intriguing, but I didn't need them to confirm  what I knew 
within 5 minutes of lighting this candle: This thing is a real live 
Crackerjack.
Though I abhor most contests, I worked 48 countries for fun during the wpx 
ssb contest in March on 75 meters, using only an inverted vee to transmit, 
and beverages for receive.
For the first time in 27 years, I find cw enjoyable, with little effort 
required to tune in desired sigs, and little effort to tune out undesired sigs.
On ssb, i find the fidelity BETTER than that of my kenwoods. And this rig 
actually has the ability to tune out QRM, unlike my knwood 850 or 870.
I have experienced no crashes since the last two upgrades. Even then, when 
that happened to me, (twice),  it wasn't any problem to turn the radio off 
for 13 SECONDS and wait for it to turn back on, nice, clean, and ready to go.
And the upgrades... They're free, and when I'm done, I have a new rig, 
courtesy of Ten Tec.
Oh, by the way, the company gave me a 30 day free look to decide if I liked 
this radio, or not. That's about 30 days more than the other major 
manufacturers.
For the poor fellow who deplores his Orion,  at least according to 
the  postings on this reflector, you should have sent it back during your 
30 day free look. Since you are now past that period, i suggest you spend 
10 more bucks for the video, "Orion for Dummies." Apparently, TenTec made 
it just for you. Go ahead, order it, I'll be happy to tutor you.
Bottom Line: There is a reluctance here to say nice things about this 
radio, and I suspect some of that comes from the fact that it is American 
made. After all, with the high labor costs in America vis a vis Asia, my 
inclination was to think that an American manufacturer would be forced to 
cut corners in order to offset the low priced labor advantage available 
from foreign markets. All i can now say is that if Ten Tec cut corners, 
it's not evident with my rig. It's the best thing that's ever graced my 
shack. And I haven't owned an American made rig since since 1980, when I 
replaced my heathkit with a kenwood.  I was very hesitant to buy this radio 
last October. I'm now kicking myself for waiting so long. This story should 
be entitled, "If you build it, they will come".
Tentec built it, will you come?
Jack W4TJE



> OK...now that you have all of those very informative opinions, what 
> conclusion do you draw? Or do you just draw a glass of beer and drop the 
> subject? hihi...
>
> One thing that was pointed out was that not very many hams understand the 
> term ' SDR '. Doesn't matter as they will give you their opinion anyway!
>
> So just what is SDR? A method of updating a radio, period, the end? Or are 
> you supposed to be able to set up personal configuration of a radio by 
> SDR? (No, that is done by parameter selection of the radio via a menu 
> established by firmware.)  Obviously, I am finding out that I, also, have 
> no clue what SDR really means. Firmware upgrades, Orion, is mainly being 
> used to fix firmware errors and modifying operating parameter as the field 
> discovers 'beta errors'. I would be hard pressed to tell you how SDR 
> would, or has, any connection with a good contesting radio at all.
>
> I know when you say SDR, your not referring strictly to the Ten Tec 
> equipment as there are other claimed SDR radios on the market. For 
> contesting,  the Orions selectable roofing filters is the best advance in 
> contesting radios that has come along in a long time. BUT as claimed by 
> Scott, if a Yaesu FT-1000xxx driving an amp at 1.5kw sits down 500Hz away 
> from my Orion during a costest, switching to the 500Hz or 250Hz roofing 
> filter does not make that thumpy thing go away...it just doesn't happend. 
> However if a clean Icom, or Kenwood, or K2, or other Ten Tec rig with amp 
> at 1.5kw sits 500Hz away from you, then the roofing filter may help you. 
> None of whick has anything to do with  SDR.
>
> DSP bandwidth setting filters are better than I expected them to be and 
> WILL help significantly during a contest (big signal) environment. Again, 
> nothing to do with SDR.
>
> All marketing BS aside, what am  I  missing? Isn't SDR just a marketing 
> term used to confused the under informed to make them think they are 
> getting something wonderful?
>
> Tom - W4BQF
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> TenTec@contesting.com
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