On Fri, 2007-10-26 at 19:07 -0500, Merle Bone wrote:
> Doug said:
> "I was told (no names) that tentec didn't read the reflectors as they got
> tired of all the whiners who could never be made happy."
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Actually I really don't think much is lost if Ten-Tec has stopped reading
> comments from their Orion customers. It certainly seems that they have
> stopped trying to fix the remaining problems with the Orion - like losing the
> main receive audio if you transmit with the subreceiver in the AM mode - and
> others. Anyone in business who thinks "their customers are whining" really
> should be looking for work in ....... I don't know where.
>
> It has been quite a learning experience, seeing how Elecraft interacts with
> their customers on their list-server. Not only do they answer questions and
> provide understanding, they listen to issues and sometimes change the
> firmware in near real-time to resolve issues/requirements.
>
> I recently communicated with Ten-Tec Service, via e-mail, about an issue with
> my Orion - winding up in a state where neither the main receiver or
> transmitter would work but the subreceiver worked just fine. After I
> described the problem I received the following comment via e-mail:
> "Sounds like it needs to be sent for repair. This is too complex a problem to
> solve by remote control."
>
> I sent the Service department a note saying that I was working on a theory
> that the problem may have been caused by a software program polling the Orion
> for frequency data - I was using that to drive the interface for a STeppIR
> antenna. I didn't hear anything from them about whether they had seen that
> before or not. I turned the polling off and have not seen the problem for 10
> days - the problem had been occurring after 5 to 8 hours of operation. And
> although I am running the latest firmware, this issue apparently was not
> resolved by the software rewrite. Of course, the faster scalar processor in
> the Orion II may obviate such issues. I certainly have learned that how you
> use the Orion definitely affects what problems/issues you see, or don't see,
> with the radio. Straight CW, using just the main receiver, seems to use very
> little of the Orion's capabilities.
>
> Engineering and servicing a software defined radio is very different from a
> radio built in hardware. Many manufacturers have had issues with their
> software defined radios in the last couple of years and I don't think Ten-Tec
> is any exception. There have been a lot of companies/industries where the
> "critical success factors" changed dramatically with a significant change in
> technology. What was true about a company's performance with the old
> technology is often not true about their capabilities with new technology.
> Merle Bone - W0EWM
>
I was told last night that a couple years ago STeppIR changed their
control codes, but Tentec is using the older control codes. That's
discussed with regularity on the STeppIR reflector I was told and that
TenTec would be changing their radio code because its more easily
changed than changing the hard coded STeppIR control firmware. However,
I guess I'd not hold my breath waiting for such an upgrade.
73, Jerry, K0CQ
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
|