Hi Gary,
Last weekend I operated the IOTA contest from one of our remote BCC contest
sites.
The main radio used was the ORION and we had a TS-850 beside it for
comparison.
Our operation was only on 40 thru 10 meters, with most of it being on 40 and
20.
We had a 2 ele. beam on 40 and a 4 ele. beam on 20, each at 75'.
The WX was awful here in Europe, both for man and machine.
The high bands were really noise, sounding more like 160m or 80m.
When tuning across the bands, the S-meter was typically at S-7 and jumped
often following distant lightning strikes.
We first adjusted the AGC threshold pretty high (can't remember the setting)
until the background noise decreased significantly. This made an
unbelievable improvement. We compared it to the TS-850. The 850 also
showed S-7 on the meter and sounded just as the Orion had sounded before the
AGC adjustment. There was nothing we could tweak on the 850 to improve the
sound.
Next we turned on the Orion's NR and set it to about 4.
The result was something similar to having turned on a squelch. Well you
could still hear a little audio, but basically the background was quiet.
Then as we tuned across the band, the signals just popped up out of nowhwere
(or so it seemed). We made several comparisons to the 850 to check if all
of this noise reduction was deteriorating the signal strength of the desired
station, but it wasn't. What it did was keep the desired signal's strength
constant while dramatically reducing the noise. As a result, the 850's
performance came nowhere close to the Orion's. Another league (minor
league).
Under normal circumstances, the TS-850 is an excellent rig and it has been
the rig of choice of the Bavarian Contest Club (BCC) for the past 10 years.
Our club is looking for a replace and several of us alrady have ORIONS.
That test was witnessed by a couple of other BCC contesters so I think the
good word will spread soon within our club.
Once you've used an ORION under these adverse conditions, you won't want to
go back to a traditional rig.
To be honest, I had heard about this before but I hadn't used my Orion under
these conditions. The Orion is great, but so are many other rigs. I was
beginning to wonder if I personally need so much rig. My experience last
weekend has removed all traces of buyer's remorse!
73
Rick - DJ0IP
Munich, Germany
-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Gary Tuck
Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2004 10:21 AM
To: Ten Tec Mailing List
Subject: [TenTec] Basic question
Have been off the band for some years now and am itching to get back
on. Rig is a TS 850S with 400Hz iRad filters in both IF's for CW
which has been my mode of choice. Since the itch has returned, so has
interest in a new rig. I've always heard guys marvel at Ten Tec rigs
and I've been reading the archives about the Orion all morning.
Thought I'd join the list to learn more.
Living in the city, I fight QRN, line noise, etc. With antenna
restrictions here, I use an 80m delta loop fed in the corner for
multband use. Use an outboard Timewave DSP-59+ but it has marginal
effect. So, my priorities are good audio and good noise reduction. I
know that I can order a rig and return it within 30 days but that is a
lot to just listen to one and compare it to my 850S. Has anyone put
these side by side? Any thoughts or words of wisdom? thanks for your
patience.
73, Gary WB7FCQ
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