[TenTec] An Orion II Reality Check

[Eric Rosenberg]

After reading the flood of email crossing my screen, it occurred to me 
that many, if not most writers did not take the time to read and 
understand the original posting from Ten Tec.

I spoke with Scott Robbins this afternoon for clarification, and 
learned the following, some of which has been mentioned in postings 
here on the reflector.

---------------

- The processor used in the Orion has been discontinued and is no 
longer available.  Ten Tec was therefore forced to discontinue the 
production of the Orion in its present form.  They had no say in the 
matter and had to make a choice to a) drop out of the high-end 
transceiver market, b) design an completely new radio, or c) modify the 
design of the Orion with a new processor.

This is an unfortunate, and sadly, not an uncommon occurance in the 
commercial world.  [I have personally had this happen while in the 
midst of a large government contract. To say we scrambled for a 
solution is a gross understatement.  Our decision on moving forward was 
almost exactly the same as Ten Tec's in this instance.]

- The decision to continue the production of the Orion would be 
contingent upon the availability of a compatible, available 
processor.

- The decision to discontinue building the Orion in its original 
configuration does not in any way imply or infer that Ten Tec has 
orphaned or abandoned this radio.  Ten Tec will continue to support the 
hardware and software for the original Orion.

- In its continued support of the original Orion, the firmware for the 
Orion will track that of the Orion II.  Note that they will both have 
version 2.0.  [It is my understanding that this will continue into the 
future].

- Continuing the Orion with a new/different processor allowed Ten Tec 
to add functions that were either not possible or considered to be less 
important with the original processor [this characterization is my 
editorial interpretation].   Note the term FUNCTION and not 
PERFORMANCE.

- An upgrade for Orion owners was considered, and a cost/benefit 
analysis was produced.  The cost to facilitate the new processor and 
the variable line-output enhancement [I specifically asked about this 
item] required extensive hardware retrofitting, driving the cost to 
over $1000.

- When one lines up the features of the Orion and Orion II, you will 
note that the hardware changes in the Orion II are functional. The 
radio will look the same.  An 8-pin mike connector, a color display and 
how it works, the variable line level output and the filter switching 
do not change or upgrade the RF characteristics (receiver and 
transmitter) of the radio.

- The change in the physical filters is a result of newer technology. 
The performance of these new filters will be at the same level as the 
presently available INRAD after-market filters.

Likewise, it is my understanding from both reading the email and 
speaking with Scott that the DSP code changes have not changed the 
receiver specifications.

- This new version of the Orion presents an incremental upgrade to the 
original Orion.  The market is not those of us who already own an 
Orion.  It's targeted to the ham who's looking to buy a new high-end 
radio. The potential Icom Pro III buyer, who's willing and able to pay 
$4000 for a new radio.

- The email announcing this radio was sent to the Ten Tec email 
reflector before being released to the general public in a conscious 
attempt by Ten Tec to inform its current customers of what was going to 
happen before hearing about it from a secondary source.

---------------

My personal feeling is that Ten Tec made the correct business decision 
based on the situation it faced.

I do not believe Ten Tec has violated its corporate policy to support 
all existing products.

I believe this is an incremental product entry, not a new radio as was 
the Orion when compared to the then top-of-the-line Omni VI Plus.

When the dust settles, I am certain that Ten Tec will have more 
information for all of us.

In the meantime and to reiterate the words of N1EU, sit down, take a 
DEEP breath and chill!

73,
Eric W3DQ
Washington, DC



-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.9.2/53 - Release Date: 7/20/2005