de K4TAX:
I just took a closer look at this thing. Best I could count is 38 knobs and
86 pushbuttons. And some appear to have more than 2 functions. As I've
seen recently most folks have only 2 hands and 10 fingers. That's a lot of
controls to expect to get correct before take-off.
73
Bob, K4TAX
Well, in my Orion, there are "38 knobs and 85 pushbuttons". It's just
that they're mostly buried under layers of menus and all controlled by
the "Multi" knob. (And they don't all work as advertised!)
The complexity is part of the digital landscape. I agree that it's
asking a lot for an average (let alone a beginning) op to configure
everything properly before take-off. Adjusting everything for maximum
clockwise won't get you far...
One of these days, we will get some AI (Artificial Intelligence) along
with our DSPs that will let you set up properly for particular modes:
SSB, CW, PSK, local/dx, etc. It's like what you get when you buy a
digital camera -- there's always a "point and click" mode and some
pre-set modes for close-up, portrait, etc. If you're a die-hard, the
expensive models let you go to full manual.
73, Martin, AA6E
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