Nice going Jim. that should fill in the {why} blanks. Ed
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Reid" <jimr.reid@verizon.net>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 11, 2003 6:16 PM
Subject: [TenTec] Why I bought an Orion
> Rob asked:
>
> " Just out of curiousity, for everyone who owns an Orion but
> isn't into dx paper chasing and contesting, but mostly ragchews,
> why did you purchase such a high end rig?"
>
> I'll bite on that one, hi. I gave up sending for QSL cards a few
> years ago, yet do try to work the DX that I need when it
> shows up from time to time. Have not been in a contest in
> years (licensed 53 years now). Participate in a net every
> afternoon on 40 meters. Ragchew once in awhile, but not
> too often. So why did I buy an Orion??
>
> Pride of ownership of the best of present RF/DSP technology!
>
> That is also why I own a Ten Tec RX-340 rcvr, and a fine
> Henry amplifier (8K) which I have to keep throttled back
> to the legal limit whenever I happen to use it ( being heard
> above the wall of QRM/N which always seems in the way of
> much DX from KH6 land: JA's are directly on the path to
> Asia and the Mideast from here; US mainland directly in
> the short path to Africa, and the North Pole directly in the
> path to EU, and the Mediterranean). Of course, the Orion
> comes in handy when listening for that DX which I need
> in the midst of the piles as well.
>
> For the same reason, I have my RX-340 with the LO, externally
> "locked" to an hp GPS frequency standard rcvr; and have
> taken the trouble three times now to have operated within the
> Orion. Once to bring the subrcvr antenna connection out the
> "spare" RCA socket on the back panel, to which the
> RX-340 now connects; a second time to tweak the Orion's
> TCXO, and a third time a few weeks later to do another
> tweak on the TCXO: now within a couple Hz of WWVH
> at 10 MHz right here on Kauai (after Orion warm up).
>
> And every "entity" from which I do not now have a postcard, and
> is in my log, is also now in the ARRL's new LoTW files as I have
> up loaded my last nearly 7 years of logs there. So, I will wait
> for matches there, but am not chasing the postcards any more.
> I am not, however holding my breath waiting for many of the last
> 7 years of DXpeditions to go through the process needed to
> upload their logs also into LoTW, hi.
>
> So you see, the Orion continues to provide my technical "itch"
> an outlet to continue to achieve the best I can here in the
> RF electronics side of the hobby. When I want to log a particular
> DX signal, I usually can; when I want to talk to someone,
> somewhere else, I usually can, hi.
>
> My station limit: lack of really good antennas, and nothing here
> now for 160 meters, had to take down my four 600 foot
> long wires; plantation folks leased the land to someone who
> objected to my "encroachment", but they have done nothing
> with the land in the three or four years since leasing it.
>
> Finally, I bought the Orion because Doug Smith, KF6DX, had
> a major hand in the entire rig design, in particular the RF/IF
> frequency plan, the DSP, and the state of the art AGC.
> Doug is at the top of the heap in modern day RF design, and
> has written of much of the technology within the Orion either
> in the ARRL QEX journal (of which he is editor) or posted much
> info on his web site:
>
> http://www.doug-smith.net/index.htm
>
> I am in contact with Doug directly from time to time about
> various technical issues and writings.
>
> Similarly, when I decided to buy the Henry amplifier a few
> years ago, I established a personal relation ship with both
> Ted Shannon and Paul Johnson at Henry. Paul got the
> amp design/set up/control unit just the way I wanted it. I
> appreciate good design and good customer service/support.
> Later on, Ted came to Kauai with his family on a holiday,
> bringing along items from Henry for me -- that is real service!
> Was also visited by Radiodan (Dan Magro), W7RF, the world
> wide rep for Henry Radio:
>
> http://www.henryradio.com/
>
> Dan had a good time operating the station out here.
>
> So you see, there are reasons to have the best signal/
> fine equipment beyond the paper chase for DX awards,
> or the point/multiplier contest chase. In my case, it is the
> deep interest in the technology and hands on opportunities within.
>
> With the Orion/Henry set up, I know I am putting out the
> very finest CW, SSB, or whatever signal I possibly can.
> The Henry is tuned up into a large Bird dummy load, then
> the drive reduced to yield 1500W out (CW) as read on an
> RF Applications VFD RF Power/VSWR meter, and checked
> with a Bird 43 using the 2500 watt slug. The VFD is a
> little generous with the reading, so rely more on the Bird
> during tune up/calibration; and the VFD while operating
> since I know exactly what the VFD should be reading when
> the 1500 peak level is reached as determined with the Bird.
> The Bird meter is not fast enough to follow peaks of CW
> or SSB operation, while the VFD can.
>
> BTW, I now know that the Ten Tec Titan amplifier would
> have been just fine for my use, but stumbled upon the
> Henry's first those years ago. And the Titan would allow me
> to use the Orion QSK when using the linear, with the Henry
> I cannot, unless I use the Ameritron QSK-5 gadget (but I
> have had problems with that unit, it goes "deaf" every now
> and then, so have set it aside for now). Guess I would
> trade, even up, my 8K for a Ten Tec Titan III, but can't
> imagine anyone wanting to pay for packing/shipping the
> 400+ pound 8K back to the mainland, hi! I won't.
>
> Of course, there are as many reasons why each of us in
> the hobby does what he does and has the gear that he has
> as there are those of us participating in amateur radio.
>
> At least, those were my excuses for an Orion, hi.
>
> 73, Jim KH7M
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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
|