Updated my Orion I and did the hardware modification. Needed two master
resets: one after the software update and one after the hardware change. The HW
update is not difficult, but it needs a good work table, good light, a good
magnifying glass, and an orderly disassembly.
The sweep and display are certainly much better. Some controls feel a little
better. I agree the noise blankers and noise reduction functions are not very
good --- fortunately, I do not need them often. There are audio glitches at
times with the audio compression and sometimes with other controls. I seem to
need different audio aux input levels between RTTY and BSP (with a Rig
Expert)--this was unexpected. I do not work enough SSB to detect problems with
the audio; a few informal contacts say it is OK. Personally, I do not like the
new S-meter operation but it does not actually hurt anything. Several people
mentioned lower background noise levels on the low bands; I have not observed
this.
I will stay with the Beta and hope the next one addresses the audio glitches,
and maybe the noise reduction area. I am willing to let TT experiment for a
while. Signal processing via DSP programming has a well-developed theory, but
is still a work of art in practice. The theory skips over such things glitches
that occur while changing DSP operations on a running system.
My wish list would be to discard the CUT function and use the knobs for
something more useful (or, at least, more useful to me.) For example, use the
MULTI knob only for RF gain and move the other MULTI functions to the CUT
controls. Do others find the CUT control useful? It seems to mostly duplicate
the PBT and BW interactions.
Bill
W2WO
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