Rick brings forward a point which is one objection that I find with the use
of the Sherwood Engineering report, i.e. "the charts".
***** Let me make it clear, Rob's test data and tests are very accurate,
very useful and very valid. *****
The fallacy is hams seem to believe solely in the ranking position on the
report and they fail to acknowledge that radios are ranked according to ONE
FACTOR only. They seem to neglect other factors which I find to equally
or in some cases more important.
To Ricks point, if a radio for example, is rated in the top 10 in the
"chart" and it has poor audio as some do, then does this make it a great
radio? My take, if it has a great receiver performance but has bad audio,
it is a lousy radio. I agree totally with Rob's assessment presented at
Dayton in that a radio must be easy to use and enjoyable to use. Failing
these two points, it is not a "good" radio regardless of the numbers or the
ranking position on the "charts".
I've found that the Sherwood Engineering report can be downloaded to an
EXCEL file where upon one can sort or parse the values based on 1 or 2 or 3
different values or parameters. Still even with this, it does nothing to
reveal the audio performance, TX performance or "use-ability" of a brand or
model. To evaluate a product without having one side by side with another,
the reports including the Sherwood Engineering report, the product review by
ARRL Lab and by RSGB serve as outstanding sources. I suggest taking these
reports and building ones own EXCEL spreadsheet to attain model by model
paper comparison. Yet this still does nothing for the "usability" factor.
In looking at the current "chart" publication (22 June 2013) , I find that 7
of the top 10 lines are USA made products. I think that certainly speaks
well of US designed and manufactured products. This of course is based on
ONE FACTOR only. :-)
73
Bob, K4TAX
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP" <Rick@DJ0IP.de>
To: "'Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment'" <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, July 01, 2013 3:08 AM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion II has ended production
Joe, don't just "take a look", use your ears and "listen" to the K3.
I did, and I compared it to an Eagle, side by side for about a month.
I sold the K3. Crappy audio.
And NO, the firmware update did not fix it. It just improved it.
It's still bad audio.
73
Rick, DJ0IP
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Joe W2KJ
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2013 3:23 AM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion II has ended production
Take a look at the Elecraft K3...it's receiver(s) are at the top of the
charts.
I have a K3 and really enjoy using it...best receiver I have used in 51
years of hamming...oh, and the QSK ain't bad either (grin).
I sold my Orion a while back after being disappointed that Ten Tec didn't
really follow up on firmware updates for many months after bugs were
discovered and reported.
With John Henry back in the company hopefully that won't be the case
anymore.
Interested in what Ten Tec will follow the Orion family with.
73, Joe W2KJ
That's my biggest concern that firmware development will cease...
I hope until Ten-Tec has a replacement for it’s flagship it will continue
to develop firmware releases for the Orion. I also hope the sub receiver
upgrade will continue to be available for a while...been saving my
pennies for that addition to my Orion II.
It’s ashamed really...there is not another product in the market
positioned where the Orion II sits. One has to spend a considerable
amount of money above the cost of the Orion II to purchase a desktop
transceiver (non-PC based) with the feature set the Orion II possesses.
With Icom it’s the 7800 at $13000.00 or with Yaesu it’s the 5000 at I don’t
know how much. (they dropped the 2000) Now Kenwood has the 990 but it’s
too new to be fully sorted out and it’s a few K$ more than the OII....
There are many radios out there...but few with dual receivers and dual
tuning knobs which has become a must have in a DX radio for me.... Don’t
do point and click radio’s either....
Just a personal thing...
Guess that makes the Elecraft K3 the winner....at lease one can start
basic and grow it to the level of the radios mentioned above....
Cecil Acuff
Gulfport MS
K5DL
From: Kim Elmore
Sent: June 29, 2013 4:06 PM
To: Bob Gibson; Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
CC: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion II has ended production
All radios cease production at some point, so this was inevitable. It
doesn't make our radios worthless or perform any worse.
What's not clear is how much additional firmware development there will
be in the future. I hope TenTec doesn't cease all development, but their
resources are limited and we can't expect firmware development to
continue indefinitely. Someday, firmware support will have to end.
Kim N5OP
"People that make music together cannot be enemies, at least as long
as the music lasts." -- Paul Hindemith
On Jun 29, 2013, at 15:54, Bob Gibson <w5rg@yahoo.com> wrote:
I wish I had known this two weeks ago when I bought a new one!!
Bob Gibson W5RG
________________________________
From: PC Anderson <xtraham58@hotmail.com>
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2013 2:30 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion II has ended production
Looks like my comments were blocked.
Andy W3LI
Thanks for the heads up Ron.
Guess I'm shaking my head at why they couldn't "Eaglize" the Orion
RF design and update the controller/display/etc and end up with an
Orion III.
I love the Orion form factor.
73,
Barry N1EU
On Sat, Jun 29, 2013 at 6:14 PM, Ron Castro <ronc@sonic.net> wrote:
I just got this in the TenTec newsletter:
"On a rather sad note, about the time you read this message, we
will have sold out of the last 566 Orion II transceiver.
Unfortunately, due to the availability of some very critical parts
plus skyrocketing prices for difficult components, the staff at
TEN-TEC decided to discontinue this product. This does not mean we
will not trade or sell used and demo Orion's and Orion II models.
We will continue service and support this product as we have done
in the past with all TEN-TEC products. Is a new Orion III on the
horizon? There are plans for several new TEN-TEC products lined up
for the future but at this time no concise decision has been made
for another Orion transceiver."
All good things come to an end...
Ron Castro
N6IE
www.N6IE.com
Member:
ARRL
Redwood Empire DX Assn.
Northern California Contest Club
Northern California DX Foundation
_______________________________________________
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
_______________________________________________
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
_______________________________________________
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
_______________________________________________
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
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
|