The QST with Orion review reached me yesterday afternoon. (Jan. 2004).
I like the reviewer's comment to the effect -this is not a beginner's
transceiver, and should have a disclaimer that if the user has no experience
with top of the line radio; they might be better served to obtain a lesser
transceiver. The rated it highly on the many user adjustable features,
giving it more flexible operation than conventional radios to date.
They went on to present the favorable comments of two top DXers as well as
the reviewers, about the innovative use of switchable roofing filters on the
front end. Physics teaches that you are better off to filter as close to
the input as possible, and this gives the Orion the ability to deal with
close in strong signals on nearby frequencies. It was reported to exceed
other popular models of contesting transceivers in this regard.
The tuner in the Orion can handle 10:1 SWR, and has a reasonable range of
impedance matching for a built in tuner. This should be adequate for well
engineered antennas.
ANY ham should strive to operate with no stray RF in the shack from his own
equipment. Use of balanced antennas such as dipoles, doublets, loops,
beams, and vertical dipoles meets this objective. Even unbalanced quarter
wave or shorter verticals are well behaved if you get at least 16 radials,
(elevated) under them.
Even with use of a linear, a properly set up shack should not have RF in the
shack.
One should fix that problem and eliminate the RF before modifying equipment.
If you believe you have RF in the shack affecting equipment, there are good
tips from ARRL on the web site and in their RFI book about determining
sources of external RF.
(Computers, power supplies, nearby transmitters in commercial services,
etc.)
The same issue of QST presented a good argument piece for NOT using
converted Computer switching power supplies for powering the dynamic needs
of 100 watt transceivers. It was shown with lab tests that computer
switchers are suited for constant loads and cannot handle adequately the
dynamic loads of SSB or CW or other RF modes. Even with a 350 watt ex
Computer supply with proper filters for the RF switching. Don't over look
the fact that the power supplies today are electromagnetic devices if
operated off the AC line; and should NOT be close to other RF equipment.
Transformers couple into cabinets and can affect any close equipment.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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