I didn't see anything about AM broadcast band stations though Bill. We have
one here on 840khz, WHAS, 50kw about 10 to 15 miles away. You wouldn't
believe how strong they are here. I have a small field strength meter which
is nothing more than a diode across a microamp meter and a whip antenna. I
can touch the whip antenna to anything metal such as the ground terminal and
the meter jumps up half scale. I can see the needle modulate to WHAS's
program contents. There is more going on here than just some ham on 160m
down the street. Yes, possibly my Orion had a hardware problem. I'm still
reporting it.
Steve N4LQ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Tippett" <btippett@alum.mit.edu>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, September 06, 2004 8:33 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Sweep display freezing on Orion
> N4LQ wrote:
> >Bill I use a horizontal loop antenna and it brings out the worst in a
> receiver. If the receiver is the least bit susceptible to front end
> overload, it will show up. For example, my Triton IV on 80 meters is
totally
> overloaded by several local BC stations. I had to install a BCI filter
> across the rx input to tame it. Several other older or low end receivers
> have experienced the same problem. The PRO2 and IC-781 are totally immune.
> Even on 160m they are completely clean however on 160 and 80m the Orion
was
> almost unusable. The cure for me was to use an external antenna tuner and
> just before sending it back, I ordered and received an ICE BC filter which
> really did the trick. After sending the Orion back, I received an OMNI 6+.
> Like the ICOMs, it had no BCI whatsoever.
>
> That is very odd. I would expect problems like you experienced to
> show
> up in the various IMD and BDR tests done by ARRL, RSGB, Sherwood, W8JI and
> YT1NT, but they are all consistent in showing excellent IMD and BDR
results
> at all spacings. W0YG had both a 781 and Pro 2 and here is his experience
> on 160 meters as reported here last November. Charlie has ~240 DXCC on
> 160 from Colorado and was also an active 160 contester when I was there.
>
> ****************************************************************
> I have been playing with the Orion and have it set up in an A/B test with
my
> 756PRO II. I am surprised at the sensitivity of the PRO II as everything
I
> hear on the Orion, I can hear on the Icom. HOWEVER, on top band, where
one
> has a legal limit contest station within a mile of them, there is a major
> difference. I will explain.
>
> Let me regress a bit before I explain. I used to own a Icom 781. I could
> not get within perhaps 25 KHz of my 1.5KW neighbor because he pumped my
AGC
> and I pumped his. However we both indeed could work in the same segment
of
> the band if he or I went to say 1803 and the other station went above
1830.
>
> I sold my 781 when the Orion was announced in anticipation of a decrease
in
> price as the next generation of radio hit the market (Orion and Icom
7800).
> However in the interim, I bought into another Icom, the 756PRO II because
of
> the deals and because I wanted a DSP backup radio. I have been amazed at
> the performance of the PRO II until I got my Orion.
>
> In A/B tests on top band with my neighbor, and I am sure this will also be
> the case on 80M, with the Orion forced into the 500 Hz position and
playing
> with the PBT control to narrow it to 100 Hz as well as turning up the
> threshold and backing off on the RF gain a bit, I can eliminate his
annoying
> presence within 800 cycles of my frequency. Why 800 cycles when I have a
> 500 Hz roofing filter? Well his 781 generates what appears to be phase
> noise AND he has some key clicks! Amazing!! However the bottom line is
> that close proximity station does not pump my AGC and I can work right
next
> to him in a contest or on a crowded band without the interference normally
> associated with a legal limit neighbor.
>
> http://lists.contesting.com/archives//html/TenTec/2003-11/msg00630.html
> *************************************************************************
>
> It seems as if I forgot to mention the 756PRO II and how it performs with
> the 1.5 KW neighbor within a mile of me. Well, unfortunately I could not
be
> on the same band as my AGC pumps everywhere. It renders the 756PRO II
> virtually useless but then other tests indicated that with the BDR figure
of
> 78 dB when there was a strong signal within 5 KHz of your listening
> frequency. This is a pity as I have been an Icom man but sadly the PRO II
> lacks in this department because it doesn't have roofing filters but then
I
> knew that when I bought it. The bottom line is a comparison between the
PRO
> II and the Orion is not favorable for the Icom.
>
> Remember this is an A/B test on an extremely crowded band on 160M. As I
> indicated, I expect the same type of performance with the PRO II on 80 and
> possibly other bands that I did not test.
>
>
http://lists.contesting.com/archives//html/TenTec/2003-11/threads.html#00633
>
****************************************************************************
>
> Here's another report by K9DX (from Topband reflector in July
2003):
>
> I compared the Orion with one of my IC-781's and it blows the 781 away by
20
> to 25 db in ability to handle large signals at offsets 1 to 20 Khz. I like
> the ergonomics, I like the sound. The radio does not have an audio filter
or
> DSP that provides extremely narrow bandwidths (Earls issue), but since I
am
> accustomed to mainly using 250 Hz. CW bandwidths, that is not much of an
> issue to me. I like this radio, and I have never been impressed with a
> Ten-Tec product before.
> John K9DX
>
> http://dayton.akorn.net/pipermail/topband/2003-July/017171.html
>
***************************************************************************
>
> Steve, I don't know how to reconcile these differences but your
> experience seems to be at odds with most measurements and with others'
> experiences, so the only thing I can conclude is that your unit might
> have been defective.
>
> 73, Bill W4ZV
>
> P.S. If your TS-930S has a better front-end on 160 than an Orion, I'll
> gladly trade you my TS-930S for it! I still love that rig but mine
> has a terrible front-end compared to Orion...not even close.
>
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> TenTec@contesting.com
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>
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