John,
Ten Tec has a Special now on the Orion I at $2600 where they give you a new
power supply and desk mic with the purchase. I think this is good until
1/15/2007. You will be buying a trade in unit that has been taken apart by
the Ten Tec Service Department and all the current mods put in and firmware
upgraded and a 24 hour burn in test. Comes with a 10 day return policy if
you do not like it and 30 days parts and labor if any problems.
To me this seems like a very good deal since I see Orion I's for sale at
$2400 to $2700 with no power supply, mic, 10 day trail or 30 day warranty.
Be aware that the three extra filters are extra from Ten Tec or Inrad, which
is also the case if you buy a new Orion II.
I have no idea if Scott at Ten Tec would do this, but if you do NOT need the
power supply or desk mic. you could ask for some of the extra filters
instead.
I found Scott Robbins their Marketing Director very honest, up front, no BS
and nice to work with.(800) 833-7373. I asked him the almost identical
question you posted when I called him ready to order an Orion II and much to
my surprise he did NOT give me a sales pitch on the Orion II but said the
Orion I would do all I wanted to do and do it as well as the Orion II on SSB
and that on CW there may be some rare situations where the II would have a
subtle advantage. Scott mentioned that the color screen is nicer to look at
and the II processor is faster and will refresh the screen slightly faster.
You would have to decide if those things are worth $2000 additional.
There are many others on this reflector that have had and used extensively
both models and they could advise you much better than I on performance
issues.
Based upon my experience with Ten Tec so far I intend to stay with them as
long as they are building good rigs like the Orion. These are good people to
do business with.
73,
Lee N0LYW
Western Colorado
970-234-8989
----- Original Message -----
From: "john" <johnmb@nc.rr.com>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 1:30 PM
Subject: [TenTec] Orion vs Orion II
> I'm thinking of finding an Orion, or Orion II. My primary use would be CW
> DXing, with occasional casual contesting.
>
> Can those of you who have owned both advise whether there's a significant
> (like 2K worth) of functional difference between the two rigs given my
> particular application? How much of a difference in my application, vs.
> an
> Omni IV Opt III (my current rig)?
>
> Many thanks in advance to the owners of these fine rigs for your advice.
>
> John K5MO
>
> _______________________________________________
> TenTec mailing list
> TenTec@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>
>
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
|