In a message dated 10/11/03 6:56:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time, KD7EFQ@aol.com
writes:
He also read K6SE's scathing review from E-ham on the air when K6SE
trashed the Orion. Now Regardless of what your personal opinion of Art may
be, he is
a nationally known radio talk show host, and has a lot of influence on the
air with hams and shortwave listeners. He does speak very highly of the Pro
II
and I know of 4 or 5 people who bought Pro II's because of his praise of it.
However, he hasn't formed a final opinion on the Orion, as he hasn't heard
enough of them on the air. He may be able to arrange a sid by side comparison
at
his QTH later on also. So if you suffer from insomnia, and can remember how
to
run a Mic, Show them what your orion sounds like & let him know what you
thnk.
K6SE didn't "trash" Orion, he did some real life testing for weak signal
reception - discernability and found at that time that Orion didn't beat $1000
Elecraft and few other rigs. There were some other problems (later fixed) and
at
the time he decided to return the radio.
Now for Art to judge the radio by its audio or signal quality on transmit is
kind of silly. What is stopping him from ordering the radio, seeing (hearing)
with his own eyes (ears) how good (bad) Orion is? If he doesn't like it, he
can return it within 30 days. In his position, I would not rely on someone
else's opinion or how they sound on the air. There is much more to a
transceiver
than just audio quality. As far as that goes, Orion offers what no other radio
does, tailoring your audio and CW wave shape to own liking and quality.
As not hearing enough of them on the air, we might be busy figuring out the
radio and corresponding about the type of the screen. :-) There are already few
reviews which can be summarized as: radio/ergonomics is good, excellent in
strong signal handling, there are some rough edges, but they are being worked
out and taken care in software updates. If you like it for the money, you keep
it, if not return within 30 days. Orion, just like Cadillac, is not going to be
"good" for Volkswagen or Ferrari types. For contesters, the strong signal
handling capability is important and if the Orion proves to be reliable, it
will
take off. For weak signal folks, if there is deficiency, I believe it can be
remedied and be brought to K2 "standard."
Yuri, K3BU
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
|