[TenTec] Knobs & Buttons

[Martin Ewing]

de K4TAX:

>I just took a closer look at this thing.  Best I could count is 38 knobs and
>86 pushbuttons.  And some appear to have more than 2 functions.  As I've
>seen recently most folks have only 2 hands and 10 fingers.  That's a lot of
>controls to expect to get correct before take-off.
>
>73
>Bob, K4TAX
>

Well, in my Orion, there are "38 knobs and 85 pushbuttons".  It's just 
that they're mostly buried under layers of menus and all controlled by 
the "Multi" knob. (And they don't all work as advertised!)

The complexity is part of the digital landscape.  I agree that it's 
asking a lot for an average (let alone a beginning) op to configure 
everything properly before take-off.  Adjusting everything for maximum 
clockwise won't get you far...

One of these days, we will get some AI (Artificial Intelligence) along 
with our DSPs that will let you set up properly for particular modes: 
SSB, CW, PSK, local/dx, etc.   It's like what you get when you buy a 
digital camera -- there's always a "point and click" mode and some 
pre-set modes for close-up, portrait, etc.  If you're a die-hard, the 
expensive models let you go to full manual.

73, Martin, AA6E