[Orion] firmware Questions

Wed Jan 5 16:12:52 EST 2005

Joe, I really can't say.  I was using a TT 706 and couldn't advance the 
gain enough on the front panel to get the ALC to light unless I 
screamed.  I talked to Paul and he mentioned the circuit board trimmer 
and suggested I make that adjustment with the front panel set at 50.  I 
ended up adjusting the trimmer to its maximum and when I adjust the 
front panel at about 65, I get normal ALC peaks.  I had a few QSO's 
with complementary reports and that is as far as I've taken it.  Now I 
very seldom operate on SSB but just wanted to make sure that it was 
working properly before I had the rig too long.  That's really as much 
as I know.

GL, Gary W7TEA

On Jan 5, 2005, at 12:43 PM, Joe Giacobello wrote:

> Gary, that's an interesting piece of information on the mike audio 
> gain. Do you know any more the details on this 2nd mike gain 
> adjustment.  I've been experiencing some weird behavior on SSB lately 
> myself.  I've pasted my original posting below.  I wonder if this 
> second adjustment might be involved somehow?
>
> I have successfully used the Studio One and Heil HM-10 mike with the 
> Orion.  However, I recently got a bad audio report with the HM-10 
> despite the fact that the signal looked clean on my scope.  As a 
> result, I started carefully listening to my audio on a second 
> receiver, and there does seem to be some kind of low level oscillation 
> and other noise with the HM-10.  But I also noticed with both mikes 
> that there is some kind of AGC action or compression going on.  (BTW, 
> the speech processor is off.)
>
> For instance, when using the Studio One, the audio sounds OK as long 
> as I'm speaking, but if I pause for a short time the background noise 
> slowly increases to a level that is quite noticeable.  With the HM-10, 
> the background noise increases until I hear the oscillation and other 
> crud.  It's as if I were using processing.  I haven't received any bad 
> audio reports with the Studio One, but I wonder if this compression 
> effect is normal or is there something haywire with my setup?
>
> 73, Joe
>
>
>
>
> Gary Tuck wrote:
>
>> I've commented on the AGC popping situation here and have found few 
>> others who seem to be experiencing the problem.  I know that if I use 
>> higher impedance headphones, 64 ohm, it really helps--over my HS-5's  
>> even if I put 47-100 ohm resisters in the  audio lines with the 8 ohm 
>> cans.
>>
>> My Sweep does not freeze if I make sure that NR is off in the Sub 
>> receiver.
>>
>> There are two mic gain adjustments.  One is under the transceiver 
>> thru a small hole a couple inches back from the front behind the User 
>> buttons.  I placed my front panel mic gain at 50 and then adjusted 
>> the circuit board pot with a small insulated driver and that helped. 
>> Any further adjustment was with the front panel control. Paul in 
>> Service told me about this.
>>
>> When you say transceiver freezing, what are you experiencing?  I know 
>> that before I upgraded to 1.372 I had a couple of receiver freezes 
>> (either main or sub) and then a couple of times after the upgrade.  I 
>> didn't like the audio popping and delays I experienced with BW, Cut 
>> and AF so I reinstalled 1.371 after clearing ram and doing a master 
>> reset.  Then another master reset after the 1.371 install.  I felt 
>> like I was re-formating the drive and re-installing a clean operating 
>> system on a fairly new PC.  The receiver freezes have not come back.  
>> I was getting transmitter freezes--keying but no power output--after 
>> using my Centaur.  Tommy had understood another ham had turned both 
>> Keying Loops on and that had helped.  I've been trying that and have 
>> not experienced another problem.  Doesn't seem logical and may not be 
>> related but it's working so far for me.
>>
>> I got my Orion September 1st so ours are probably from the same 
>> production run.
>>
>> 73,  Gary W7TEA
>>
>>
>> On Jan 5, 2005, at 10:54 AM, skip wrote:
>>
>>> I've been reading the mail for a while and also I have made some 
>>> comments
>>> about the Orion's Firmware problems.  I got my Orion in September or 
>>> 2004.
>>>
>>> The AGC seems to have problems with popping as I think the Agc is 
>>> released.
>>> Sweep display and transceiver freezing and needs reset
>>> I use a Heil Proline mic and cable I purchased from TT and it seems 
>>> that the
>>> mic gain has to be set at almost 100%
>>> Key Clicks @ 20- 30 wpm
>>> some other problem but not as bad as the above.
>>>
>>> Do all Orion's have this ????  I see guy's on the Ten Tec reflector 
>>> saying
>>> they never had any problem with their radio.  How can this be if 
>>> it's in the
>>> firmware ?????????
>>>
>>> de Skip     K3CC
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> Orion at contesting.com
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/orion
>>
>>
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