Mark,
I would hate to see what u wud have said if u didn't like it. But, what did
u go to in place of the Orion? A 756 Pro II? Sounds like if that was it u
aren't totally happy with that either since u plan on going back to the
Orion?
Tnx. 73,
Dennis, K2SX
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Erbaugh" <mark@microenh.com>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 2:26 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion issues
> Dave,
>
> I returned my Orion during the 30 day evaluation period.
>
> I will say first that I felt the receiver and transmitter performance were
> truly top notch.
>
> That said, why did I return the Orion?
>
> For me it was the lack of polish to the product. In my opinion, the
product
> that was being sold (in August, at least), was, at best, very early beta
> test quality. I develop (and test) software for a living so I'm probably
> more picky than others might be. In just the first few hours playing with
> the radio, and without even trying, I found several areas where the radio
> did not perform as documented. One of them I mentioned this morning: by
> going into Binaural Rx mode and then changing the audio routing, it was
> possible to get into a mode where there was no audio from the radio,
> requiring you to go back into Bin Rx and undo what you had done.
>
> There were other places where the user interface just didn't seem as
> polished as one would expect. For example, there were a couple of places
> where a display element would pop up over the screen, but when it went
away,
> it didn't completely erase itself.
>
> There was at least one area where I feel that the hardware design was
short
> changed. One of the widely touted features is that you can select which
> audio (main or sub) goes to which output (speaker, headphone left,
headphone
> right). However, there is no way to select which audio output goes to the
> aux jack on the back of the radio (for digital connection) and the audio
> that goes to that connection is not related directly any of the other
output
> routing choices. In fact, with some audio routings, it is possible that no
> audio is routed to the aux jack. I discussed this with Gary B. at TenTec
> and he said that there was no hardware to control the audio routing to the
> aux jack. There are two audio output pins on the AUX jack. Apparently,
each
> one is directly connected to one of the two DACs in the Orion.
>
> I also found that the user interface was cumbersome in places. There are
> some functions that one uses frequently that required going to the menu to
> change.
>
> For a standard of comparison, I use the Icom 756 (and it's progeny). After
a
> very short learning curve, the interface becomes second nature. Things
just
> seem to be set up to be used in real life operating. Granted, I only had
> the Orion a few weeks, but that wasn't happening with its interface. I
know
> some people might say that I didn't give the radio a chance and that it is
> so different that it takes a long time to get used to, but I feel that I
> pretty much understood how things worked (or didn't work) for me.
>
> There were also a couple of real big negatives for me:
>
> 1) The spectrum scanning display was very poorly done. On the 756, when
you
> narrowed the scan width, the resolution ( in terms of frequency point per
> horizontal division ) got finer. On the Orion, the resolution stayed the
> same, the vertical lines of signal strength became wider and wider bars. I
> also was disappointed that the spectrum scope only works with the main
> receiver and thus can't be used for general coverage reception (I do some
> SWL in addition to being a ham).
>
> 2) The voice recorder (DVR) is a joke. There are two 'permanant' memories
> that are remembered when the radio is powered off. These can only record a
> message of about 4.5 seconds (as opposed to 15 for the 756 Pro). Also, to
> 'save' these memories, after you record them, takes around 25 seconds.
> Finally, there is no way to adjust the playback level other than to
> re-record.
>
> Granted, these are trivial features in the scope of the transceiver, but I
> feel that if you're going to do something in a product, you must do it
well.
> I probably would have had better feelings about the Orion if these two
> features hadn't been included at all, as opposed to having them done
poorly.
>
> I think TenTec is working out some of the issues and I appreciate the fact
> that to get the latest features, I would just have to download an update.
> With the 756 I would have to buy a new radio (Pro, then Pro II).
>
> I will also mention an issue about the firmware updates. Again, I realize
> the complexity of a major software project (which basically is what the
> Orion has become for TT), but there were an update during the period that
I
> had the radio. On that update, certain bugs were fixed and new features
were
> added, but some features that had worked were now broken. This is likely
in
> any software project, but I found some of these in just a matter of
minutes
> working with the Orion after the udpate. I can't believe that this would
> have passed any kind of QC testing and I have to asume the the updates
were
> being released without such testing. You can see comments on the
reflector
> today where folks have stayed at an older revision because certain things
> that mattered to them were worse after the update.
>
> The bottom line for me was that I didn't feel like I wanted to pay $3.5K
(I
> got the internal tuner) to be a beta tester. In a year or so, when the
bugs
> are worked out, I may wind up buying another one. As I said, I really
liked
> both the receiver and transmitter.
>
> Mark
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dave Sublette" <k4to@arrl.net>
> To: "Ten Tec Reflector" <tentec@contesting.com>
> Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 10:36 AM
> Subject: [TenTec] Orion issues
>
>
> > Good morning all,
> >
> > I have been subscribed to this reflector for less than a week. I signed
> > up because I am the owner of an OMNI VI+ and I am contemplating the
> > purchase of an Orion. Just this morning I noticed two people mention in
> > passing that they had once owned an Orion but no longer had one.
> >
> > Without trying to stir up controversy, I am curious to know the reason
> > that you chose to sell your Orion. I have looked at one at the Ten Tec
> > factory and have read the specs. I am aware that there have been mods
> > made to the operating system based on customer suggestions and bugs that
> > have been discovered. To further my education, I'd like to know why
> > someone would want to get rid of their Orion. I don't want to know any
> > personal or financial problem details. If it was for either of those
> > reasons, just say so and I will understand.
> >
> > If I continue to have an interest in the Orion, you will be seeing a
> > posting for my OMNI VI+ for sale in less than six months.
> >
> > Thanks and 73,
> >
> > Dave, K4TO
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > TenTec mailing list
> > TenTec@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
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> TenTec@contesting.com
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>
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