VS: [TenTec] Orion and PTT

[Carl Moreschi]

Bill,

The keying scheme in the Orion is similars to what TenTec has used since all
the way back to the Trition days (about 1978).  I have never heard of one
these reed relays wearing out yet.  I don't know what is so special about
them but it is obvious they are good for way more than 1 million closures.

Carl Moreschi N4PY
Franklinton, NC
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill Tippett" <btippett at alum.mit.edu>
To: <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 5:08 PM
Subject: VS: VS: [TenTec] Orion and PTT


> OH3LX wrote:
> Bill , If you set off internal keyer , you can key Orion from
> Front panel paddle connector.
> It works like PTT.
> I do not know what says factory of this ?
>
>          Yes, but that is what is normally called Semi-Breakin for
> keying the amplifier, and is exactly what I am doing now but
> using the back panel AUX I/O PTT input instead of the front panel
> KEY input.  You hit the paddle, Orion's TX relay closes and also
> sends a signal to the amplifier relay.  I also adjust the TX
> EXT T/R Delay to 90% to give the amplifier relay time to close.
> My main amp uses a vacuum relay but my backup amp is a frame
> relay so I chose a long delay in case I need to switch quickly
> between amps.
>
>          What I mean by PTT for CW is the following:
>
> 1.  I depress my footswitch.
> 2.  Orion's TX relay closes and stays closed until footswitch released.
> 3.  The amplifier relay closes and stays closed until released.
>
> This is EXACTLY how Orion operates in SSB, but in CW, Orion
> opens and closes its internal TX relay for each dot or dash.
> Of course this gives you QSK, but I don't like this for several
> reasons:
>
> 1.  You must adjust the delay to take into account the speed of your
> amplifier TX relay (vacuum relays are fast but frame relays are slow)
> to avoid hot-switching the amplifier relay (which can cause reliability
> problems in addition to clicks).
>
> 2.  I don't like the idea of Orion's TX relay unnecessarily opening
> and closing for each element being sent.  Why?  Because reed relays,
> which is what Orion's TX relay sounds like, have a finite number of
> closures because they are mechanical.  In my former life I worked as
> GM of an HP division that used many reed relays in switch matrices for
> automatic board testing, data acquisition, etc.  We did extensive
> life tests of reed relays and I recall them being in the order of 1M
> closures.  I don't know about the rest of you but 1M closures does
> not sound like a lot to me (assume an average of 3 elements per character,
> 5 characters per word, 30 WPM, 10% transmit cycle, 48 hour
> contest, 6 contests per year, and you get to ~.75M cycles per year,
> not counting normal DX-ing, rag-chewing, etc.)
>
> 3.  In defense of Ten-Tec, I have my original 1984 vintage TS-930S
> which still has it's original TX reed relay (it even sounds identical
> to Orion's).  However, Kenwood allowed you to choose whether to use
> QSK or PTT, and I seldom used QSK ( which may be why the relay still
> works FB!)
>
>          Anyhow, I was told several times that PTT CW in Orion was
> "impossible"...but as we all know, nothing is impossible!  Time will
> tell...  So far the most elegant solution to this issue is to PTT
> the amplifier directly and let Orion run in its normal QSK mode, even
> though I still have the concerns stated above about Orion's relay
> lifetime.  I have a 2-year warranty so I'm OK for at least the next
> 2 years.
>
>                                          73,  Bill  W4ZV
>
>
>
>
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