Well said Jack.
John N2XD
> [Original Message]
> From: w4tje <w4tje@mindspring.com>
> To: <tentec@contesting.com>
> Date: 6/10/2004 4:19:25 AM
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Re: Contesting
>
> 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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>
>
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