Hello fellow TenTec'ers:
Just thought I would send in a note with my impressions of my Orion after
having used the radio for almost four months.
My Orion played just fine right out of the box except for a puzzling problem
with a "hiss" being generated on the sidetone signal in the CW mode. I
tried the master re-set on three different occaisons with no luck.
I mentioned this problem to Scott at TenTec and he said they were aware of
the problem and were looking into it.
After uploading the last software update for the Orion much to my surprise
the "hiss" was completely gone!!! I now get perfectly generated sidetone
from the Orion when operating CW. Was this just a fluke or did TenTec
really install a software fix???
I operate about 99% CW but do use SSB for a weekly sked. My contact and
others who have listened to my signal on SSB have given it excellent
reviews. I use a Heil micro-proset with the HC4 element.
If SSB performance is impressive the performance on CW is even better. The
QSK is absolutely awesome....much better than on my previous OMNI VI/3 which
I used for 10 years. The radio is so "settable" via the menus that it can
be configured for just about any operating condition.
Did I mention that the QSK is awesome:-) The lightning fast change-over
from TX to RX is absolutely noiseless....no artifacts at all...no clicks,
thumps, crackles...just perfect. I was hoping that TenTec would improve on
the QSK from the OMNI VI series and they sure did.
I wish TenTec had made finer QSK delay settings for my ARGO V.
All of the new radios are sensitive so that is not an issue with the Orion.
It is a very quiet radio and the DSP noise reduction works just great. Most
impressive to a CW OP is the DSP filtering...down to 100Hz without
ringing....very impressive.
I have used the Orion in several contests and it's front end is bullet
proof...I am amazed at the strong-signal handling capabilities of the radio.
OK....enough raving....with the "hiss" problem taken care of I believe I
will keep this Orion for another ten years just like I did with my OMNI VI.
TenTec shouldn't make radios this good....people will tend to hold onto them
for years and years and not buy another TenTec...is that good business:-)
I am now waiting for the ARRL product review on the Orion....I would like to
see if their numbers closely match the numbers TenTec has on this radio.
Is the Orion the ultimate radio on the market now??? I sure think so....but
then again I may be playing favorites since I owned the OMNI VI/3 for so
long. BTW, I only bought the OMNI VI after having used a new FT990 and then
tried out a FT1000. They couldn't match the OMNI VI's performance on CW.
I hope my Orion lasts as long as my OMNI VI.
73, Joe W2KJ
North Carolina
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