Harry,
You're spending way too much time reading the "pundits" on the TT
reflector. Spend some time with the Orion and you'll find an entirely
different story. Wonderful radio. Fun to use. Very few glitches (one
master reset required on mine in the entire 16 months I've owned mine.)
Works great, sounds super in any mode. and gets the job done even better
than my Omni VI+ did. (and I loved that radio too!)
73, Duane
On Tue, 21 Jun 2005 11:27:38 -0700 Harry Reed <doon@infoscientific.com>
writes:
> Methinks that people are forgetting the big picture.
>
> Most, if not all, here want dependability, reliability, and
> repeatability in their rigs -
> especially ones that costs ~$4000. Is that *really* too much to ask?
> TTs competition doesn't
> seem to think so. If I wanted an experimental rig I'd go out and buy
> a SDR-1000.
>
> While the Orion's hardware seems to be up to the task (albeit
> getting a little
> long in the tooth) TT firmware seems to have lingering problems. I
> gather TT software
> engineering has been more than a little taxed trying to implement a
> bug free SDR HF XCVR.
> Real-time software is a bear unless done exactly right - the last 2+
> years of upgrades
> has shown that they haven't. Indeed, going from a 1.x release to a
> 2.x release indicates
> that they probably programmed themselves into a corner, so to speak.
> "When all else
> fails do a rewrite!" Let's see if they can get it right with the v2
> firmware. If not, maybe
> they should open up the firmware development to the FS/OS software
> community (ala GNURadio)
> and get it done right HIHI :)
>
>
> Please, don't misunderstand me, I'm not bashing TT or the Orion. TT
> seems to be a fine
> company and the Orion has the potential of being a fine rig worth
> its asking price. I
> just don't think people are happy in spending ~$4000 on a SDR whose
> firmware is still
> very much beta quality and a work in progress. I'm curious what's
> happening to TTs reputation
> in all of this? Surely it can't be good. Indeed, one has to wonder
> how many people bear with
> TT and their Orion in the hopes that TT will fix the problems and
> that the Orion will get
> better because they don't want to admit that they spent their hard
> earned $$$ on a subpar,
> even flaky radio?
>
> For these reasons I'm holding off my Orion purchase until v2 of the
> firmware comes out and
> the Orion owners/users/abusers have their say. I don't demand a
> *perfect* radio.
> Just one that doesn't hang or require a HW reset because I twiddled
> a knob the wrong way -
> one that works reliably and predictably when I want it and when I
> need it.
>
> Harry Reed, AB7YF
>
>
> ><<<I just can't see any viable reason to not try/own an Orion.
> Especially
> >any technical reasons.>>>
>
> >
> >I'd go through the reflector archive for the past 2-3 years and
> look
> at what earlier >purchasers went through.
> >
> >If you have a lot of free time to tinker, maybe it's okay. For
> example
> if you are >retired and have a lot of patience maybe it's okay.
> >
> >I'm pretty low on time and patience. I want dependability. I want
> to
> be able to unbox >the rig, power it up, hook an antenna to it,
> ground,
> mic, key, cans...whatever i >need, adjust collector PA current and
> mic
> gain, adjust AF/RF gain, tune around, hit >the PTT button and start
>
> making contacts.
> >
> >If it's much more involved than that, or its behavior mysteriously
>
> changes from one >day to the next on a regular basis, then I start
> loosing interest.
> >
> >So the likes and dislikes probably have as much to do with
> operator
> personality as >anything else.
> >
> >rob/k5uj
>
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>
>
--------------------------------------
Duane Calvin, AC5AA
Austin, Texas
http://home.austin.rr.com/ac5aa
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