[Orion] Orion SWR readout

[Tommy]

There is a lot of 'jitter' in the Orion, just look at the leading edge of a
CW waveform with a scope. But it's interesting that even with the constant
one to four millisecond leading edge jitter, and a constant character length
jitter, it is completely un-noticeable on the air. 

If you look at the key-down rf power output with a scope, the power output
jitters also...but again not even close to being noticeable on the air.

But I've got this confidant feeling that most (all?) of this will soon be
taken care of by TT.

Tommy
 
W4BQF

-----Original Message-----
From: orion-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:orion-bounces at contesting.com] On
Behalf Of Martin AA6E
Sent: Monday, March 14, 2005 9:06 AM
To: orion at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [Orion] Orion SWR readout

Bill,

Yes, people are different, and that's OK with me.

The power/swr jitter is a nuisance (and only a nuisance) for me for a
couple of reasons:

1.  It makes me worry if something is wrong with my signal.  Several
folks have said that.  Fortunately, the transmitted signal is OK as far
as I can tell.

2.  It points to control coding that is not engineered to the same
level as the radio side.  You wonder what other bugs are in there. 
(Not for long, if you read this list. :-)

Maybe I'm a perfectionist.  At one point, I designed software and DSP
systems for research.  Bugs like these make me cringe.  If I show an
"SWR" or "power" reading, the user ought to be able to believe what
he/she sees.  It's better to have no data than bad data. Black tape is
the last resort!

The line between "cosmetics" and "performance" is fuzzy. For me, good
design includes the user interface just as much as Rx IMD or what goes
out to the antenna.

Doxology: I'm happy to own the Orion.  There is still nothing better
for the price IMO. If it was perfect, there would be nothing to talk
about here.

73, Martin AA6E


--- Bill Tippett <btippett at alum.mit.edu> wrote:
> NQ5T:
> I'm trying to figure out how the bit of jitter in the Orion's power
> meter
> reading is either a nuisance, or affects one's communications
> capability, or
> one's ability to operate a station.
> 
>          I agree Grant.  No rig is perfect, but would you rather have
> a rig 
> that
> is cosmetically perfect or one which has superior performance?  The
> answer
> is that it depends on the user.  Some will prefer cosmetics over
> performance.
> Sure it would be nice to have both, but as I said no rig is perfect
> and
> probably never will be.  When Martin calls it a "nuisance", I also
> wonder
> why.  I never even noticed it until he mentioned it.  I might have
> noticed
> it if Orion's actual power output varied but I suppose I don't
> operate key-down
> modes (AM and digital) enough to have ever noticed.  Even if I did
> and knew
> it was simply an artifact, I'm not sure it would bother me, but I do
> understand
> how it could bother some people with different mind-sets.  I'm not
> saying one
> is right or wrong...just different.
> 
>                                                  73,  Bill  W4ZV 
> 
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