[TenTec] Orion in ARRL 160

[Ron Spencer]

I've had the Orion for about 2 weeks now and was very much looking forward
to putting it through its paces in a busy contest. What better than the 160
test?

Before I left for my other QTH just a bit west of Raleigh, NC (Pittsboro) I
flashed the latest firmware revision. I was happy to see the fix for the
loss of receive by the 2nd receiver fixed since I use that A LOT.

In previous years I've used several rigs in this contest: IC 781, IC 746,
FT1000d. In short, the Orion was the best yet! Very quiet between stations
with no artificial artifacts. I had it set up with the IR 600hz roofing
filter and ran the whole contest with a bw set to about 240hz. 

The Orion made this a pretty easy contest to run. Its very good receiver(s)
made finding an opening to call CQ in (which is rare!) easier than with any
other radio I've used. Being able to listen to both the beverage and the
transmit antenna made easier copy for many stations. And using it pseudo
SO2R helped me from being terribly bored when the rates fell. 

In short, a great radio. I'd certainly recommend it to ANYONE who is looking
for a very competent contest radio. It truly shines in that environment. 

By the way, I never noticed any of the audio holes but then didn't very
controls much. Also I did notice that the monitored cw when running qsk was
clicky but as long as the transmitted signal isn't I can live with it.

TenTec, thanks for a fine radio and for the timely firmware update.

Ron
N4XD
Raleigh, NC 

-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.289 / Virus Database: 265.4.6 - Release Date: 12/5/2004