[Orion] [TenTec] Orion "anomalies"

[Ron]

Mike,
Your recipe for failure will break it on my ORION, but when I put the SUB
Receiver back into UCW and adjust the AF gain and tune around the Binaural
Stereo effect returns.  Given that you can only listen to one receiver or
the other in Binaural Stereo mode, this would not seem to be much of a
problem.  I did tune into 670 KHz a local talk radio broadcaster, and
listened to that on AM, and then when I decided I had heard a CW station I
switched to Binaural Mode on the Main receiver and sure enough, even though
talk radio was not audible, I could only hear the CW station in regular
mode.  But when I switched the SUB receiver back into UCW then things worked
right again...  Given the amount of time I spend listening to AM or FM
stations on the SUB receiver while tuning around listening for SSB or CW
stations, I'm not sure this will be a real concern to me.  Interestingly
with my preferred Audio Operating modes as previously outlined, I'm free to
listen to whatever I want on both receivers and still obtain good results on
CW or SSB.  Fascinating to listen to Shaun Hannity and work CW at the same
time.  Almost as challenging as chewing gum and playing baseball.

A suggested fix might be that when the Audio mode is switched to Binaural
mode, that the SUB receiver not only mute, but automatically switch into the
same mode as the Main receiver and then when Binaural mode is turned off, it
could return to the previously selected state.  Or, should there be separate
audio circuits for each receiver or should I listen to talk radio on another
radio altogether, or not at all?  I'm not sure what will work the best for
this problem (or is it really a feature).  <grin>

I have done a little programming in my short time here, and I know that the
user will find new and innovative ways to use your program.  Sometimes what
the user is doing is a true benefit and needs to be perfected in the
program, and sometimes the user is off on a tangent, and the proposed use is
useless.  One way or the other though, it takes time for the programmer to
consider all the options, which in the case of the ORION are, to say the
least, more than just a few.

You can ask Ten Tec to change this operating characteristic so that the
Binaural effect isn't turned off when the SUB receiver is in AM or FM mode,
but no need to do it on my account.  I don't like using the Binaural effect
anyway.  What I'd really like is a better sweep display and making sure the
radio receives and transmits, in spite of how the NR or sweep display
functions are used.  The sweep display should be more like the sweep on the
ICOM 756 PRO II and isolated from the regular program, so that the
processors are free to do the needed work.  A clock and date display on the
screen would be really cool too.  Or should I just hook it up to a computer
for the whistles and bells?  I wonder who sells the best software for
computer enhancement and control of the ORION?

It would be interesting to have the commented source code and a compiler so
that we could tinker with the workings of this radio, but then someone would
put it on the air on 11 meters using binaural effects on FM transmit or
something.
Ron
KA7U




-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]On
Behalf Of Mike Cheponis
Sent: Saturday, July 16, 2005 3:51 AM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Cc: Orion; wogden at attglobal.net
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion "anomalies"

Gentlemen,

I believe I've found a condition that will reliably cause the Panoramic
Stereo
to always fail.

Procedure:

1) Have the main receiver working properly on some signal with Panoramic
Stereo;
    I use LCW but it should work for LCW, UCW, USB, and LSB, at least

2) Hit the "Sub RX" button, which is at about 10 o'clock relative to the VFO
B knob.

3) Hit the MODE button

4) Select AM or FM  (this is what the sub-receiver mode will be)

Wellah!


If you were listening to a signal with Panoramic Stereo, it will now be
permanently
disabled until you recall a USER setting that restores Panoramic Stereo.
There may
be other ways to restore it, but I managed to get it working once, and saved
it to
USER 1, and ever since, when it goes out of Panoramic Stero, I can get it
back by
hitting my USER 1 key.


So, could you guys please see if my "recipe" for disabling Panoramic Stereo
works on
your radios?  (Be sure to save your "good" settings into USER 1 and/or USER
2 before)

I'm using the latest s/w release.

If so, I'll report it to Ten-Tec.

Thanks!  -Mike K3MC

<snip