[Orion] new owner issues

[k6kdk at k6kdk.net]

I have been negligent to not give further update on my original problems
with the Orion. I here copy my note to a list member that contacted me via
direct email.:

----- Original Message -----
From: Ron Hinton
To: Dan Hyman
Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2004 2:53 PM
Subject: Orion


I just read the reflector and I see you have/had problems with your Orion.
I had a problem with my Orion at first but I did some RF sniffing and found
that I had way too much RF in the shack and it was being induced into the
rig.  I since have changed my coax on 20 meters and put in a better
grounding system and all my problems have gone away.
These rigs are unlike my Omni 6 and FT-1000D in that they do not like RF
floating around.  I never knew I had that problem until someone told me to
check for it.

============CC my Reply to Ron===========================
Hi Ron,

Well there is no RF here. Grounding is with copper pipe running around
interior wall of shack, all equipt is bonded to the copper w/ 10 guage
copper. This is per standard radio vault procedures, the shack ground here
is just like what you would see in a vault on a hilltop.

No, unfortunately, the problem with the Orion are with the Orion. I have
talked with Ten Tec. We did some things (master reset, paid careful
attention to settings of sweep and NR on sub reciever, they must be OFF at
all times). These are software issues, and there are further issues with the
SEND 1,2,3 software which sometimes goes crazy and causes the radio to FM
and otherwise runs crazy thru the programs memory space.  Also know to Ten
Tec is that the processor becomes unstable (glitches) with variation in
supply voltage. You can not run the Orion on a common power supply that is
in use in other radios.

But the good news is that I have the radio in a configuration now where it
is running fairly stable. I was going to return it to Ten Tec for a refund,
but I have decieded to "hang in there" and keep it in the shack. Ten Tec is
aware of all the mentioned problems and are working on it. Future firmare
will address most of it, and I will wait for that.

See my review in eham.com for more comments. I am a big fan of the Orion, it
is just that it was not what I expected exactly, but it is a very fine
reciever, and I believe Ten Tec deserves support in the market. The radio is
better than my FT-1000D for close in performance, and this was a big problem
with the FT-1000D for me that eventually caused me to move on to other rigs
(the Orion).

Thanks for your note,

-Dan K6KDK

>
> I just put a new Orion on the bench two days ago.  The radio is loaded
from
> the factory with the latest firmware.
> The first few times I operated it the radio became "dead on recieve" but
if
> I tuned down to the bottom of the 20 meter band there was the strangest
loud
> screaming (sort of  like a hetrodyning sound but very strange)..  I
> rebooted, and restored factory default, problem seemed to go away.
>
> Now sometimes (all of a sudden without warning) the reciever will not tune
> from input from the VFO. It is as if the VFO encode data somehow does not
> make it to the reviever.. Only soulition is to tun the radio off then on
> again.
>
> Other problems are with the sweep function. Sometimes when the radio is
> first turned on in the morning  the sweep is non functional, just sort of
> frozen on a pattern that nevger changes. Later as the radio is run for a
> whil, I turn it off and then on again and the sweep comes to life and
seems
> to go alon most of the rest of the day?
>
> Is all of the above typical software issues? or is it hardware related and
> maybe if I ship the radio back to Ten Tec and they can fix it ?? or do I
> just live with it ??
>
> -Dan
>
>