[TenTec] TT (Orion) Future improvements!!!

[Steve Baron - KB3MM]

We should all build our own with the features we want and then build it
<vbg>

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lee Crocker" <w9oy at yahoo.com>
To: <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 02:59
Subject: [TenTec] TT (Orion) Future improvements!!!


> Rick,
>
> I don't want to confine anybody to anything.
> Complaints abound about the display, about the
> bandscope, about the QSK, about this and about that.
> A good deal of this could easily be handled exactly
> how I describe.  Because 95% of the hams don't like my
> idea is irrelevant to me.  The question was regarding
> future improvement in the Orion.  I want a real
> improvement not just the same old rig slightly better
> or slightly cheaper, or slightly more expensive with
> the addition of a color display.  I don't want an
> Orion Pro or an Orion Junior.  I already have an
> Orion.  Even the new Icom super rig which I also saw
> on Saturday, to me is basically an Icom Pro X^2 or
> something like that.  As we used to say down on 3895
> in the old days, that thing don't have no motor, but
> it sure has some pretty meters.  Why it sits there and
> virtually bats its eyes at you.
>
> You will note the thread covered leaving out the band
> scope, leaving out the second RX, all resulting in a
> cheaper but "still really good" Orion.  My concept
> leaves out even more, resulting in a far cheaper but
> still bullet proof "Orion", and allows you to add back
> just as much functionality as you like.  You want a 19
> inch full color display, buy it.  You want 2 of them,
> buy it.  You want a pair of 48 bit DSP sound cards?
> One for the right ear and one for the left ear?  Buy
> them.  You want 100wpm QSK buy a pentiumVI with multi
> thread processor and you could have that since the
> things that slow down the rigs QSK, like generating
> the side tone could be handled by the computer's
> processor, freeing up the Orion's processor for
> mundane tasks like actually switching the radio
> quickly and correctly.  You want fancy outputs on
> multiple channels well guess what there are bunches of
> outputs available on sound cards these days.
>
> The rig can therefore cost as much as you care to
> spend.  If all you want is bullet proof rag chewing
> rig to bark at the boys down on South Cars, buy a $400
> to $500 dollar used laptop off ebay, add it to the
> Orion front end and an Extigy external sound card for
> 50 bucks and have at it.  If you want a bullet proof
> IF for your moonbounce station this would probably fit
> your bill as well.
>
> If you keep every thing in one stand alone box you
> confine yourself to a 3 or 4 kilobuck price tag, and
> stuff you don't really want, in a rig that doesn't
> have enough processing, in a world where significant
> hardware updates occur every 18 months.  Maybe it
> doesn't make any sense to you, but it makes perfect
> sense to me.
>
> As far as the flex radio goes.  I saw it at the
> Orlando Hamfest on Saturday, and to my way of thinking
> it is still more of a promise than a reality.  If the
> promise comes to fruition, and Ten Tec hasn't improved
> to the same degree, I will be buying one I assure you.
>
>
> 73  W9OY
>
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