[TenTec] Orion Tx Audio

[Mark Erbaugh]

Ever since the people using the Orion started showing up on the 40m Pegasus
/ Jupiter / Orion / Argonaut TenTec SDR net, I've noticed that I can usually
detect the use of an Orion by the distinctive sound of the audio.  To me,
the Orion audio sounds fuller and smoother. A lot of Orion users are skilled
in adjusting their transmitted audio, and I attributed the distinctive audio
to the adjustment of the transmitted audio.

Recently, I came up with another possibility, which may be closer to the
mark, given that there might be one or two Orion users who aren't audio
wizards <g>. When I used an Orion on SSB, I was just using a stock TT 705
mic, I noticed that the power meter read close to 100 watts on peaks. On all
other 100 watt radios, I usually only see 30 to 50 watts on these peaks. The
Orion documentation mentions this fact and says that this is a feature of
the Orion's design. I notice this increase in peak power even with the
Orion's speech processor turned off.

My question is, does anyone know what exactly is being done?  And secondly,
would it be possible to do something similar by pre-processing the input
audio to a different rig (such as my Pegasus) using a computer soundcard?

Another related question. Most of my monitoring of the Orion's has been on
40m over relatively short distances (less and 1500 miles). Does anyone have
any experience of how the Orion audio holds up over longer distances and
under difficult conditions?

73,
Mark