I got a chance to play with an Orion very briefly at the W5KFT DX Bash a
while back and came away with the feeling that the Orion seemed to have some
powerful features but had the concern that the learning curve might be too
much for team contesting. I have an FT1000D we have always used and we
use an Elecraft K2 or some other rig brought over by a team member for
multi-2 efforts. These have little in the way of a learning curve and
have worked well for us. We give the 1000D a big edge with it's dual Rx
capabilities - makes it fairly easy to pick off same band mults while
running during slower times...
But I was fortunate to have more time with an Orion that AC5AA has on loan
and was impressed enough to order one - when it gets here, it will displace
the FT1000D in the prime slot... I'm convinced that the learning curve to
get to the point where we are not losing anything over the Yaesu is not that
steep. This is the level where you know enough to not mess things up and
to use the Orion's unique roofing filter necking down (plus the rig's super
dynamic range) to avoid contest QRM.
I think there is will be a second level of competence to get to the point
where you are really able to use both receivers and filters and to navigate
menus as second nature. - I think good ops will reach this level fairly
quickly.
Then, I think there is a third level of competence where you really master
the more subtle points of AGC settings and NR under different conditions
and am hopeful that our low band gurus (which includes KE5C who just ordered
an Orion) will master this to better dig out the weak ones - I'm a low band
fanatic and know I will enjoy the Orion to this level and that will pay the
freight for the 99% of the time when it is just me using the radio. I'm
confident that it will be no problem to get the Orion to the point of being
in the sweet spot for running anyway.
I'm not sure about my feeling for these levels of adapting to the Orion but
that is my impression for playing with one a few hours and pouring over the
manual and reviews. Other Orion features like the ability to listen on
different antennas on the subreceiver are like icing on the cake.. The
Orion sounded great on my Beverages without needing an external preamp which
I have to use on 160M with my FT1000D. Avoiding the vagaries of external
preamps is a very good thing... And the nice thing about having KE5C on the
team is that we may end up using two Orions from time to time until I can
afford another one! <grin>
Tom Whiteside
N5TW Georgetown, TX
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