[TenTec] ORION Returns

[Dave Heil]

"M.Todd Miskel" wrote:
> 
> Hello all, NOTE: This is not a bashing, but rather a concern. In the last 24
> hrs I have heard 2 more people have returned their Orions to Ten tec.


> The biggest complaints I have heard is that the Orion was an 
> unfinished product and released too early with many little bugs in it, > No color display, (which to me is no big detail) and non-linearity on > the spectrum display. These people claimed to both be engineers with 
> one supposedly having a Phd in EE.

Unfinished?  They finished mine.  There've been a number of firmware
improvements.  Those have all improved the Orion.  I downloaded them and
had a better transceiver nearly instantly.  I paid nothing extra for the
new firmware.

No color display?  That sounds like a stretch in searching for a reason
to return the equipment since it was never stated that the Orion had a
color display.

Nonlinear spectrum display?  Mine seems quite accurate though it isn't a
stand-alone spectrum analyzer.

> Their disappointment mainly was that for the cost of the radio, they
> shouldn't have to be finishing Ten Tec's Beta testing for them out of > their own pockets.

Sounds like another stretch.  Ten-Tec doesn't charge for firmware
upgrades.

> One Gentleman said he will put his money down on 2 Brand X 7800's > (which is pricey!) but at least he knows he will have a finished > product when it arrives.

Sure, he'll buy two :-)  Sure, he'll have a finished product when he
trades them on the '7800ProII.  He'll have to pay to beta test the '7800
out of his own pocket :-)

> I personally would like an Orion, but the more I hear of these same
> complaints makes me continue to be cautious and stick with my Omni 6+.

I sold my Omni VI, option 3 to help finance the Orion.  I'm not sorry
that I did so.

> I know not everyone wants the same thing from a radio, but is there > any info on how many Orions have been sold Vs. how many have been > returned?

I don't believe that data is available.  If I owned a manufacturing
plant, I'd not make this information available to the general public.

> For me,
> this would be a good barometer on when the Orion has matured. 

Mine has been aging quite well since April.  Firmware updates have
slowed but I don't expect them to stop and I've submitted suggestions
for a couple of things I'd like to see.

> I would buy TT before another brand, but $3500 for me is an investment > I don't want to be dissatisfied with. 73. Todd

I've owned Ten-Tec gear since R.L. Drake left the amateur radio market.
In all of that time, I've not been dissatisfied with any Ten-Tec
product.  An Orion is a big investment but the price of an FT-1000D is
also quite high.  The price of the FT-1000MP and MkV's was quite high
just a few years ago.  None of those rigs can be upgraded for free. The
price of an IC-7800 will be astonishing (but some folks seem to have the
price of a couple of them lying about.

Don't let the rumor mill scare you off, Todd.

Dave Heil K8MN