Well said Bill.
It is obvious by this thread that so many of us hams are no longer
technicians or thinkers but appliance operators and hate to admit it.
Appliance operators who are still in the closet would rather blame our
frustrations on the hardware.
I put myself in that catagory although I have "come out of the closet" here.
When I bought my Orion in Oct. 2003, I realized very quickly how much of my
technical knowledge needs serious improvements! I still am not as good as
many of you here and because of that I am greatful to have you folks around.
The articles on Doug Smith's web site are a must read for any Orion
owner--not just the manual.
Some hams just want to buy the best radio then just plug it in and go. They
don't have the skills or knowledge to "drive it" properly. I may have a
driver's license for my car but I sure won't put myself behind the wheel of
a "big rig" unless I studied up.
Joe
Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 15:49:25 -0500
From: Bill Tippett <btippett@alum.mit.edu>
Subject: [TenTec] Ocean noise
AA6VB wrote:
>I have heard you need to reduce the gain but when you put both rigs side
by side with no antenna the Orion has much more internal noise. I think it
is just a fact of life.
Guys, especially those of you new to Orion whether original or O2,
please read this!
1. Orion's AGC will amplify internal noise if the threshold is set too low.
Orion's digital AGC is
different than what is in the MP or other rigs.
2. As previously stated, set AF Gain to mid-scale and adjust RF Gain down
until the noise drops.
3. The exact setting will vary depending on how much gain your antenna has
and what band you
are on (atmospheric noise being higher on the low bands and lower on the
high bands, so the RF Gain setting will be a lower number on the low bands).
I wish I had a dollar for every time I've seen complaints about
this! I'm now considering going into business buying Orions from people who
still don't get it and reselling them with some simple instructions as
above. :-)
Orion's AGC is phenomenal, but please take time to understand how
it works and how to set it up properly. More info below and in the manual.
http://www.doug-smith.net/digitalagc.htm
Anyone still want to argue that using the S-meter to set RF Gain
(which includes AGC Threshold) is a bad idea?
73, Bill W4ZV
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