[TenTec] Orion Specs?

Tue, 9 Jul 2002 20:44:08 -0500

Gang,

After working all night, my lovely wife Kathy drove me to Tennessee to pick
up an RX340 that I will be using in combination with the Jupiter.  While we
were there at the Ten Tec facility, Stan offered to give us a tour of the
plant.  What made this tour different than most was the plant was shut down
due to the fourth of July holiday.  Towards the end of the factory tour, I
noticed we were coming up on the Orions, I assume being readied for their
new homes.  The first thing my wife Kathy mentioned, "I like this one, it is
pretty."  She especially liked the nickel outskirts around the knobs.
Although Kathy is an extra class ham, her main passion is with the people
involved in the hobby, not with the equipment.  I thought this was a unique
perspective from her.

While she was talking with Stan I was looking at the innards of the Orion.
I was very impressed at how clean the lay out is.  The more I looked at it
the more impressed I was at the engineering that has gone into it.  It looks
like they have really built a high performance radio, without the complexity
or wiring harnesses that I have seen in some of the Japanese radios.  The
wiring is extremely clean and looks to be a joy to work on if there is ever
a need.

In fact after looking inside the Orion, I came away convinced that waiting
for a later production run in order to get rid of all the bugs would not be
an issue with this rig.  I was not interested in getting an Orion until I
saw the inside of one.  Although it may  be awhile, I will have an Orion
someday in the ham shack.

There are four shielded compartments on top and four on the bottom.  The
only thing vertical is the front panel and the final compartment.  The
monochrome display I did not get to see fired up, however, it is not an
issue with me if the rig performs any thing like it should.  In fact, they
could have left the display off and saved me a few bucks but I still think
it is a pretty radio, just like my wife Kathy thinks.  There are slots for 9
MHz roofing filters for those of us that think we need them :-).

As many of you know, I have been messing with rice boxes for years along
with building a ton of QRP rigs.  The more I mess with these Ten Tecs and
the people behind them, the less I want to do with anything from the far
east.

Bottom line, I don't think anyone could go wrong buying this rig.  Besides,
it is wife approved :-)

I want to thank Stan for going out of his way for making Kathy and I feel
like family and for the tour of the Ten Tec factory.  Thank you Stan and Ten
Tec!

73 de jay/w5jay..

----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Christensen" <w9ac@arrl.net>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2002 4:20 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion Specs?

> Jay, W5JAY had the unique opportunity to tour the Ten-Tec factory last
weekend and make a purchase on a new RX-340 receiver.  While
> he was there, he had a .JPG photo taken of himself next to an Orion with
its top cover removed....exposing much of the circuit board
> details.  It appears that much of circuittry is encapsulated in shielded
modules, much like the RX-340.  In all, the photo was quite
> impressive.  When I asked him about the outer cosmetics, fit, form, and
ergonomics of the front, he indicated that he came away with
> the feeling that the Orion was a top-shelf radio.  Now, we just need the
detailed published specs!
>
> -Paul, W9AC
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Bill ROWLETT" <kc4atu@yahoo.com>
> To: "Bill Tippett" <btippett@alum.mit.edu>; <tentec@contesting.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 09, 2002 5:05 PM
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion Specs?
>
>
> > For the life of me I can not figure out why you all
> > think that the Orion will be any different than all
> > the other major rigs that TT has introduced. Every one
> > so far has pasted anything on the market at the time
> > that it was introduced. The Orion I am sure will do
> > the same. Why do you all think otherwise??
> >
> > Just for the record, I would take a Corsair II over
> > any new rice box. Even my Triton 540 is better than
> > some.
> >
> > Sit back, and watch the big three try to match it.
> >
> > 73,  Bill  kc4atu
> >
> > QRP, doing more with less
> >
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