General comment on all the comments...
Yes, with the Orion I can hear in closer to a bellowing mastadon than the DX
I am trying to work - at times... But distance helps me there... The mastadon
is usually not overpowering on the DX station end, so the DX can hear me in
close also...
I had exactly the same experience as related by another poster - on 80 meters
- where I found a juicy Pacific multiplier down in the mud between two sumos
who were too occupied with bashing each other to listen for the little guys...
There he was, chirpiing away as the band was rapidly going shorter... Slipped
in there, worked him on one call, and 90 seconds later he was gone... Now it
is likely that the sumos with their endless CQ machine already had worked him
at some time earlier, but I still enjoyed it...
On the Omni 564 versus Orion 565/566... I have long been an admirer of the
Omni series... My 564 has the Inrad Roofing filter for CW... I also have a
heavily modified MK-V with the Inrad filter... They are lined up down the
benches so comparisons are easily done...
The Orion receiver is the best I have ever used, whether begged, borrowed, or
stolen - period...
The modified Omni 564 and the MK-V are an even choice as far as receive
ability to hear weak DX in heavy going... THe MK-V has more tweaking that can
be done with it's DSP and I may be able to copy a signal perhaps a fraction
quicker - this is for those really tough signals where you listen to him ten
times in a row trying to get a letter here and a letter there to assemble a
whole call - but at no time is it a case where I can copy the signal on one
but not the other...
The MK-V is a better contesting radio than the Omni from an ergonomic
standpoint with its second recerver, fast flip-flop capabilities, preset
splits, etc...
I am still learning the Orion so I will not try to make a ranking on these
issues until I burn it through a few more contests - but so far it seems user
friendly... I have to say that the ability to transmit with the Orion/Titan and
still hear between the dits on both receivers at 30 wpm is impressive...
The Omni 564 is a piece of cake to operate - even Billy Bob can run it...
The Omni 7 is going to have a bit more receiver performance than the 6 as far
as IP3, etc. but it is not an Orion.. However, the Omni 6 with a roofing filter
does not have to hang it's head in shame and we will have to wait for the
independent testers to compare them... The O-7 looks to me like it is aimed
for the internet mavens, especially those who want to do remote operating...
And lastly, a Plain Jane Omni 6 (any model) has a better receiver and
smoother QSK than 99% of the rigs out there...
deeny / k8do
---------------------------------
Finding fabulous fares is fun.
Let Yahoo! FareChase search your favorite travel sites to find flight and hotel
bargains.
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
|