I was very disturbed when Ten Tec decided to discontinue the Orion I.
Normally I would expect this from any other manufacturer, but over the
past 2 years Ten Tec has been telling us it is upgradable. False
advertising? I think so. I have been waiting for the software fixes that
resolve the various problems. I doubt they will ever come. I bought the
Orion only because it was advertised as being upgradable.
So now I am being asked to shell out another $1700.00 for O II with new
filters that I could not even use from my old O I. Got to hand it to
TT, they got this right from the American Corporate Greed Handbook.
Everyone remember the Classic Coke debacle? TT is either acting out of
sheer ignorance, desperation, or with complete disregard of their
customer base. Have they forgotten the type of hams who buy TT? Talk
about being a disenfranchised TT customer.
While Scott of Ten Tec has indicated there is a 2.0 release coming. I
would bet this new code is really aimed and supported for the new Orion
II. No doubt there will be a token attempt to provide a 2.0 release for
O I, but as a software engineer I know how easy it is to slap a new
release number on code and "ship it" anybody really think the developers
for the O II processor and platform really cared enough to make it
backward compatible for the O I, a soon to be discontinued product.
Don't be naive.
I now have my TT Orion up for sale, a month ago it would have sold for a
good price in a day. after 3 days, no inquires, and no sale.
This boat anchor will probably go down in history as the rig that sunk
TT. There will be TT sales for the O II but it won't be enough and not
enough people will upgrade. Despite what .gov says, our economy is not
that great and guys who whipped out $3300.00 for the greatest rig on
earth most likely will not whip out another $1700.00. How long before
the O III comes out? 2 years, because they forgot to make the O II
upgradable!
All you guys who talk about cars, consumer electronics, and computers
being discontinued, it is not the same with the Orion. TT clearly laid
out a path for as to follow, they just slaughtered us at the end of
it. I have been a big TT fan for years, but now will buy amps from
Alpha, Tuners from Palstar and look into SDR-1000 and other
alternatives. The Orion I is a great radio, but perception is stronger
than reality and it will be thought of as the radio TT could never fix.
Watch the classifieds on Eham and QTH, We will be flooded with Orions
nobody can sell.
Chuck
W0DLE
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