[TenTec] Orion VFO vs RX philosophy

[Tommy]

Kinda funny. Everyone wants what they want...me too! I want ALL of the
firmware problems fixed! And for me, there are only three 'major' firmware
problems remaining, i.e., Keying Loop (so the Orion can be used full QSK
with a Ten Tec amp), random loss of rcvr audio, and the loud random audio
popping when your using the keying loop. As far as I can  tell at the
moment, the remaining issues are cosmetic.

CHANGE happens! But we all always resist it. Just look how  many horses are
plodding around in the fields TODAY still waiting to be called on to pull a
wagon!

Initially, I though the whole Orion layout was quite crazy. But after I
allowed my brain cell to accept the 'VFO is not a receiver' concept and then
started using the Orion in earnest, the whole front panel quickly became
quite effective for me. Initially I had brain cell freeze when I saw the
audio controls so close to the VFO knobs...thinking as a costester, I just
knew it was going to be a disaster. It certainly has not turned out to be
that way with me. I've found during high activity contesting, everything is
very intuative and easy to get to. Everything except programmable AGC, that
is. I think a certain contester had a lot of input to the front panel layout
design..thank goodness!

For me, I seldom use (so far) the SubRX. Simply because the split VFO
operation, after v1.370, has just been excellent. I LOCK the Main rcvr VFO
on the run station, which negates my bumping the VFO A knob (which I seem to
have a knack of doing!). If your transmitting on  VFO B, just a quick press
of the MAIN rcvr button to VFO B, lets you check activity on your xmit
frequency. I prefer this because I get somewhat annoyed when folks are
calling the run station while he is transmitting, and I don't want to listen
to that. That kind of operation certainly can be achieved in a heck of a lot
shorter time than it takes to explain it.

Tom  - W4BQF


----- Original Message -----
From: "NJ0IP" <Rick at dj0ip.de>
To: <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2004 7:18 PM
Subject: RE: [TenTec] Orion VFO vs RX philosophy


> All nice thoughts Martin, but I guess if we let our imaginations run, each
> of us would come up with our own unique panel layout.
>
> It begs the question, do we "really" need a legacy front panel?
> Yuri seems to think not and has left it out of his DR1.
>
> I think I've mentioned this before but I'll say it again:  When we first
> began having digital displays in our radios about 25+ years ago, we users
> demanded that the VFO knob's skirt still be calibrated with 1 kHz
markings.
> We simply couldn't imagine a world without it.  Today, no radio has such a
> thing and nobody is complaining.  My feeling is that most other features
> which we "think" we need are not really needed.
>
> Where I think the user interface will go is to a virtual front panel,
> displayed on a normal [External TFT] computer screen.  I currently have a
> 15" screen with no base (or foot) sitting directly on top of my ORION.
When
> running N4PY software, I get a fantastic display and wonderful colors.
What
> will ultimately happen (in my opinion) is that either Ten-Tec or some 3rd
> party software vendor will give us tools to design our own virtual front
> panel.  We'll be able to configure the controls where we want them.
>
> For all of you "nay sayers" out there, I can only say "if you haven't
tried
> it for a length of time, you are being unfair".  Of course when you try it
> for the first time it feels clumbsy, but the more you use it, the more it
> feels natural.  You have to give it an honest chance before you find out
if
> you realy like it or not.
>
> So here's what I want:  Someone should design a small black box which is
> effectively a dual POD. It is designed such that the TFT monitor can sit
on
> top of it.  It has two VFO knobs and a number of push buttons and a couple
> of knobs (to be determined).  ALL of these are user-definable.  The radio
> sits under the table or on the shelf, out of the way.  Let's place a
memory
> card reader in it so that different users can plug in their personal
> configuration.
>
> I think it will be 5 years before we begin to see this emerge, but in 10
> years it will be standard.
>
> 73
> Rick
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com
> [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]On Behalf Of Martin Ewing
> Sent: Monday, July 12, 2004 8:47 AM
> To: tentec at contesting.com
> Subject: [TenTec] Orion VFO vs RX philosophy
>
>
> Mark has a great point.  Frequency step is clearly a "VFO" property, but
> it is assigned to the main/sub receiver.  You might (or might not) say
> the same for RIT and XIT.  Anything that sets or modifies the frequency
> is a VFO thing?
> <SNIP>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TenTec mailing list
> TenTec at contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec