[TenTec] Am I the only one ?

[Martin AA6E]

Eric,

You are right that for every email complaint (or
compliment) there are probably many more that were
never sent.  Possibly there are users who don't even
read this list. ;-)

The Orion has bugs.  Every system has bugs.  They show
themselves when the radio is "stressed" in different
ways.  If 90% of users have no problems, but you do,
you are not less competent than anyone else.  In fact,
some of those 90% ... well, I won't go there. Not on
Christmas Eve!

It's possible that you could have made the Orion work
for you, but it sounds like you tried quite hard. 
Maybe if you had an RF engineer come and visit with
special test equipment, you could have saved the day. 
But that's not practical.  We are amateurs, after all.

My Orion works well for my operating style, but even
so I am aware that some parts of it are, shall we say,
not over-engineered.  I am most sensitive to the
firmware issues, the underpowered CPU, serial
communications, and display.  That's what I did for a
living at one point.  Other software people I've
talked with have privately agreed.  BUT, it doesn't
keep me from making QSOs the way I like, so I can live
with it.

I believe that $3,500 spent on JA-type hardware might
have gotten a poorer spec sheet and less end-user
support, but the digital stuff would have worked
reliably. Let 1,000 flowers bloom!

To Eric, and to all the complainers AND defenders,
thanks for your lively contributions and all the best
for the holidays and the new year!

73, Martin AA6E


--- Eric SENSI <eric.sensi at skynet.be> wrote:

> Hello you all,
> 
> I'd like to say that I do not really agree with
> those who think that I'm the
> only guy complaining about the Orion, also I do not
> think we're only 4 or 5
> hams on earth having troubles with this radio; the
> great difference in my
> opinion is that I have the courage to say that this
> radio needs some radical
> improvements - a "back to the drawing board" for me
> is needed for some
> functions implemented in that radio too.
> ...