[TenTec] E-Ham Bad Orion Review

[Ken Brown]

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> I know some of the older 
>generation are vehemently against putting up with any little glitches etc. that are 
>common in most computer defined electronics of ALL kinds today.
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Well, maybe I am one "of the older generation". As long as I have been 
using computers running Windows I have been annoyed by occasional 
crashes. I have never accepted this as okay, although I have put up with 
it in order to take advantage of the capabilities of the computer. I do 
not think that consistant and identical output  and functionality for 
consistant and identical input is too much to ask from a machine. I 
would say that is about where I draw the line between a good tool or 
machine and a toy. When I get in the car to drive on the highway, I want 
the car to steer to the right when I turn the wheel to the right EVERY 
TIME, not just most of the time. And I don't want to have to pull over 
(assuming I have not crashed and died) to shut the engine off, and 
restart it in order to get the steering to work right again. Now that I 
am running a computer with Windows XP it is much closer to a tool than 
any windows operating system computer I have used before, they have been 
closer to toys. I grew up with radios that pretty much did the same 
thing every time I did the same thing to the controls. That is what I 
expect out of a radio. I don't think it is too much to expect. Some 
people may put up with erratic behavior in order to get excellent 
performance (most of the time) and some people would rather have 
consistancy with almost as good performance. I have never tried an 
Orion. The performance I hear about sounds very desirable, and the 
crashes and glitches sound very frustrating.

If your computer or radio was an airplane, would you go up in it? With 
or without a parachute? I would like both my computer and my radio to 
work so reliably that my answer to those questions is: yes, without a 
parachute. Maybe that is an "older generation" attitude.

DE N6KB

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