I have used the Orion for several months now, and find it a remarkable
transceiver. The RF performance is outstanding. The user interface is
excellent. I carefully examined other premium transceivers, and to me the
Orion's front panel configuration and operation is the best available. But,
(there's always a but) there are a few feature enhancements that would raise
my rating from a 9 to a 10. Here they are, not necessarily in order of
importance:
1. Display the band stacking register number: There is room on the
display in the lower left corner for displaying 1,2, 3, or 4 to indicate the
selected register within the band.
2. Improve ease of AGC control: The capability to completely configure AGC
parameters is one of the most powerful features of the Orion. For years I
have wanted this capability on an HF transceiver. However, having to go
into the menu system is a very aggravating procedure for tweaking AGC when
trying to optimize copy of under difficult conditions. I propose the
following to provide quicker and easier access to AGC setup:
a. When SWEEP is off, display the AGC parameters for the currently selected
AGC in the area of the LCD used for SWEEP display. Display the MAIN
receiver AGC parameters under the MAIN receiver side of the display.
Likewise, the SUB receiver parameters would be displayed on the SUB side.
Display them in this order: threshold, decay, hang time. The displayed
parameters would follow the selection of fast, med, and slow AGC. Display
nothing is AGC off is selected.
b. Use the MULTI knob to change AGC settings. Press the MULTI knob to
select the AGC parameter to alter. The first press would select threshold.
The second press would select decay. The third press would select hang
time. The fourth press would go back to the top to threshold. Just as for
all other setups, rotate the MULTI knob to change the selected parameter.
c. The MULTI knob would work on the AGC values of the currently selected
receiver. That is, if MAIN is highlighted, pressing the MULTI knob will
highlight the AGC settings for the MAIN receiver. Likewise, if SUB is
highlighted, the sub-receiver AGC setting would be edited.
3. Raise MONITOR volume: The monitor volume for SSB is way too low even when
set to 100. To hear my transmit audio when using a headset; the receiver
volume must be set way above normal receive level. The side-tone and FSK
monitor levels are fine. Just the monitor level for phone needs to be
considerably increased.
4. Store more parameters in the band-stacking registers: Currently the
frequency, mode, and bandwidth are stored in the band-stacking registers.
Add the following to the data stored and recovered by the band-stacking
registers:
PBT setting
Preamp setting (on or off)
AGC selected (off, slow, med, fast, or prog)
Attenuator setting
5. Reduce speech processor gain: Peak transmit audio drive jumps way up when
the speech processor in turned on. If I set the MIC level for normal
modulation with the speech processor off, the level is too high when the
compressor is turned on. Peak modulation level should remain nearly the
same whether the processor is on or off. The speech processor should
provide higher average transmit audio without so significantly raising the
peak audio.
6. Add decimal points to frequencies stored in RECALL: Stored frequencies
should have decimal points just like the primary and sub-receiver
frequencies are displayed.
This is my wish list. I would enjoy hearing comments and suggestions from
other Orion owners.
73, Taylor, N4TD
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