Unfortunately, I have to agree with WA4OEJ and several others that in
hindsight, it appears that making the Orion screen monochrome was a mistake.
I know it was a cost-driven issue, and that a "color Orion" would probably
have pushed the cost for the rig up another $500 - $1000. It would have
still been a top-of-the-line radio, though, and I have to honestly wonder if
that extra sum would have made a huge difference to many of the amateurs who
can comforably afford to purchase rigs at that price level. By the same
token, it would have pushed the rig above the affordable cost level of many
other amateurs, and I can only assume that the appropriate bean counters
calculated at the time that adding color would limit the market to a point
that they couldn't manufacture enough Orions to make it affordable.
And that is part of the problem, isn't it? It's always a guess as to where
to trade off addional features versus higher costs. Sometimes you guess
right. Sometimes you don't. And since hindsight is always 20/20, it's easy
to look back and cough up an "I told you so." But you do have to wonder,
since this isn't the first time...
For example: Remember the Argosy. Back in the day, I could put an Argosy
and a TS-430S side by side. I'd estimate that about 90% of the time, if you
gave it an honest evaluation on receive, it was at worst a wash, but usually
the Argosy could hear things better with less noise. And if you put both
rigs on the same station & antenna & switched back and forth, I can not ever
recall a single time that the guy on the other end said the 430 sounded
better than the 525; either there was no difference or the other way around.
So why did we sell about ten or more 430's to every 525? Power output. 100
W out vs. 50. And don't bother telling me that it's only a 3dB difference,
and that you probably wouldn't notice that on the air -- because it's true.
But people who were willing to accept the lack of bells & whistles, or of a
digital readout (until the 525D came out), or of 12 & 17 meter coverage kept
stopping dead at the power output. Maybe it was a convenient excuse for
some, but the bottom line is that I kept hearing "if only the Argosy put out
a 100 Watts!"
Also reminds me of the people who kept buying the PS-430 supply to match the
"look" of the TS-430, who'd spend about $100 more than the Astron RS-20S (I
think that was the number of the RS-20A with a built-in speaker) for the
same performance. To say nothing of those who'd buy the "non-matching"
supply from Kenwood (don't remember the number offhand) which was about $40
more that the RS-20A -- and looked exactly like it except the on/off switch
was on the other side. Guess who made that supply for Kenwood?
Now sometimes, making an option available and letting the buying public
decide with their wallets does happen, and it's a good thing. We've seen
that happen since the Jupiter (nee Pegasus FP) was introduced -- Pegasus
buyers & users wanted a front panel, eventually got it, and obviously the
buying public spoke loud and clear, since sales of the Peg must have dropped
below the point where continuing production was economically viable.
But getting back on track... as an occasional Orion user, I for one could
care less if the display was monochrome or color. And frankly, if I did own
my own Orion, I'd probably control it via a PC (using N4PY's software or
something similar) so the screen display wouldn't matter. But I'm just one
potential buyer.
Now, having said all this... no radio, no matter how good it is, stays at
the top forever. So sooner or later, the Orion as we know it will fade out
of production. Let's just hope that it's successor comes out at a time when
the cost of a color screen & associated driving hardware has dropped to the
point where making the "O2" color is economically viable.
73, ron wn3vaw
wow! did you just see Hines Ward run that onside kick attempt back for a TD!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bernard(wtrone)" <wtrone@comcast.net>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2005 6:21 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] TT (Orion) Future improvements!!!
> Tommy:
>
> Just my personal opinion, but I think that TenTec made an error in
> not paying more attention to customer wants/ desires/ likes in terms of a
> color display and a better looking cabinet.
>
> I asked Scott, at the Huntsville Hamfest, a couple of years ago
> about the color display. His comment was that it was a cost driven issue.
> Personally, I would have paid extra for a color display and a few more
color
> driven options. But, that was TenTec's decision and it is hard to fault
> them.
>
> I selected the Orion because of its receiver specifications. I
have
> not regretted that decision. The new Icom does not exceed the Orion specs
> and the new Yaesu specs are still undetermined.
>
> The Orion design is probably somewhere between 3-4 years old (from
> initial design). No doubt that the processors could be replaced with much
> higher speed units. I would not be surprised to see this in the future.
I
> have also heard rumors of a color display. Will these occur? Well, only
> TenTec knows for sure. If these occur, I hope that I can upgrade my
Orion!
>
> In the mean time, I will enjoy my Orion and not worry about the
Icom
> and Yaesu rigs.
>
> Just one man's opinion.
>
> 73s,
>
> Bernard, WA4OEJ
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tommy" <aldermant@alltel.net>
> To: <tentec@contesting.com>
> Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2005 4:22 PM
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] TT (Orion) Future improvements!!!
>
>
> > This is my opinion only!
> >
> > I think it's becoming obvious that what the ham radio user community
> > wants in a radio has changed to more 'glitz' that actual operational
> > performance. Ten Tec probably designed the Orion with customer
> > loyalty in mind, the 'IY' manufacturers designed their latest rig's
> > with the customer's wallet in mind. (Acknowledging the 'IY'
> > manufacterers current radios technical performance IS quite good.)
> > The Orion is just about as perfect 'hardware design' as one could
> > ask from amateur equipment. The ONLY snaffu in the Orion design is
> > possible the added stages of amplification on the last two narrow
> > roofing filter positions, done with their user community in mind.
> > The selectable roofing filters, which help provide the very best
> > receiver performance available kinda caught the competition grasping
> > for some way to use the term 'roofing filter'. Ten Tec again, with
> > the user community (cost to the user) in mind, used a non-color
> > display. The concept of a near-perfect hardware design and firmware
> > downloadable updates should have been a 'killer' system for the ham
> > community IF the ham community was still technical-orionted.
> >
> > Two major problems; 1) The very old addage "One aw-s**t will kill a
> > thousand 'Atta-Boys'!" remains true today. While the Orion is an
> > extremely excellent hardware design, Ten Tec kinda dropped the ball
> > with the Orion's firmware; 2) probably 95% of today's ham community
> > think a color screen (so to speak) is much more important than
> > actual radio performance under extreme operating conditions.
> >
> > What I saw yesterday at the Orlando hamfest kinda brings home the
> > point about today's hams. During my walk around at that hamfest what
> > I saw was shocking to me.
> >
> > First walk through approximate number of ham visitors:
> >
> > Yaesu booth: 25 to 30 visitors at the booth.
> > Icom booth: 30 to 40 visitors at the booth.
> > Elecraft booth: 10 to 15 visitior at the booth.
> > FlexRadio booth: 8 to 10 visitors at the booth.
> > Ten Tec booth: Only person present was the sales guy.
> >
> > Two hours later:
> >
> > Yaesu booth: 20-30 visitors
> > Icom booth: 20-30 visitors
> > Elcraft booth: 8-10 visitors
> > FlexRadio booth: 5-10 visitors
> > Ten Tec booth: Myself and the TT sales guy.
> >
> > My immediate impression was the non-technical ham of today probably
> > ranks pretty color screens over pure absolute technical performance.
> > I think even if Ten Tec had a flawless firmware package in the Orion
> > today, the 'average' ham would prefer showing his friends the
> > 'pretty color screen' and boast about how much it cost instead of
> > proudly boasting about the technical excellence of their Orion.
> >
> > In my opinion, the "Guys @ TT" had the wisdom to produce the best
> > hardware design offered to the ham community on their first try, and
> > I personally do not see the need for "Hardware" improvements via an
> > Orion Pro II, or what ever. Of course, advancement in technology
> > would require such, in the future.
> >
> > Tom - W4BQF
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Jim Davis" <nn6ee@yahoo.com>
> > To: "Ten-Tec List" <tentec@contesting.com>
> > Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2005 1:51 PM
> > Subject: [TenTec] TT (Orion) Future improvements!!!
> >
> >
> > > Gentlemen,
> > >
> > > In the future I hope that the Guys @ TT have the
> > > wisdom to offer "Hardware" improvements (when
> > > available) instead of offering a entirely new version
> > > of our Rig. Look what manufacturers like Icom did to
> > > us when they brought out the IC-756, then the PRO,
> > > then the PRO 2, then the PRO 3!!! All similar rigs
> > > but enough differences to preclude any chance of
> > > up-grading any of them by their owners which I think
> > > is an insult to all of us who ARE NOT independently
> > > wealthy or have a psycotic need to keep up with the
> > > "JONESES!!!" $3400.00 is too big a chunk of change to
> > > have to part with every time TT brings out a better
> > > rig?
> > >
> > > The "ORION" is a stellar rig, no doubt about it, BUT
> > > still the hardware should be made avaialble when the
> > > time comes and it WILL!!!
> > >
> > > Any thoughts???
> > >
> > > Jim/nn6ee
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________
> > > Do you Yahoo!?
> > > The all-new My Yahoo! - Get yours free!
> > > http://my.yahoo.com
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > TenTec mailing list
> > > TenTec@contesting.com
> > > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > TenTec mailing list
> > TenTec@contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
> >
>
>
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