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[TenTec] Orion Finished?

To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Subject: [TenTec] Orion Finished?
From: "Tommy" <aldermant@alltel.net>
Reply-to: tentec@contesting.com
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 2004 06:11:31 -0400
List-post: <mailto:tentec@contesting.com>
I think that all of this defending the Orion points out two things about us 
hams. First, no matter what radio we own, since it is on our desk, it IS by far 
the best radio ever built, bar none, by any manufacturer. Otherwise why would 
be we dumb enough to put out our hard earned bucks to buy something that is no 
good? And second and more positive, the loyalty being shown to Ten Tec has come 
from years of just superior customer support that is still being exhibited by 
Ten Tec.

Knocking Icom/Kenwood/Yaesu does nothing toward getting our radio to perform at 
the basic level that a radio should perform. As far as getting a different 
manufacturers radio to work, that was, and still is something we, as hams, used 
to do ourselves. I  modified an IC-781 to reduce the RF spike its ALC 
generated; I modified an FT-1k MP to improve the rcvr noise; I modifed an Omni 
6 by replacing it's PIN diodes with HP PIN diodes, etc., etc. That was/is just 
part of the hobby and it is something we, as hams, used to enjoy doing. 

We praise the Orion, partly because some of it's technical numbers are 2 or 4 
dB better than the $10K+ radios, but actually to the normal ham, those 2 or 4 
dB numbers mean nothing in our every day work and are primarily useful in 
contest or strong signal environments. To me, the significant advance that is 
in the Orion is the ability to select roofing filters, something that the more 
technical hams have been begging manufacturers to do for a long time. It is 
forcing others to look at doing the same thing for the I/K/Y radios. Some folks 
are going to be pretty shocked with this 'numbers game' when some more recent 
modifications  and/or 'upgrades' to the I/K/Y radios are announced soon, and 
the Orion will no longer have the best in the 'numbers game'. But then, that is 
called progress, or in our terms, upgrades.

And while this is all wonderful, for me personally, it is getting rather 
long-in-the-tooth to have put out $3500 over a year ago for the 'dream' 
contesting radio that I have had work flawless for me for one whole weekend (in 
the CQ WPX contest). While the remainder of the time, it's just touch and go as 
to whether or not with the next dit transmitted am I going to lose RF output 
power or am I going to lose rcvr audio. While firmware updates are a wonderful 
thing to know that is coming down the pike, when I put out my hard earned bucks 
for a 'dream radio', I certainly do expect it to function as a basic radio, 
which the Orion does not. Before you want to argue  this last statement, hook 
up your o'scope and look at the transmitted CW rise and fall time when you have 
the menu set at the various rise time settings available. You will be shocked 
and in my case, unhappy. We need a firmware update to FIX this? NOT! 

When I took my Omni 6 out of the box in 1992, I put that radio on my operating 
desk where it got thousands of hours of operation, rag chews, DX chasing, 
contesting, digital, etc., and the thing worked flawless for the many years I 
operated it. And that is what we expect from any radio we buy. That 12 years of 
flawless Omni 6 operation is the ONLY thing that is keeping my Orion on my 
operating desk. Because after a year of use, I am still waiting for the basics 
of the Orion to function properly.

Tom - W4BQF

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