[TenTec] Thank You Fellow Hams (World's longest post, Warning, Multiple Topics)

Sun Apr 16 17:53:54 EDT 2006

Jack

I totally agree with your comments. Seems people like to nit pick this fine 
radio. I am operating the Orion 1 and expect to be using the O II within the 
next 24 months. I am still using 1.366 that was in the radio when I 
purchased it a few years back. No problems and it runs rings around my Yaesu 
FT 1000MP.

I also buy American when I can. Main station is the Orion, Dentron 3000A 
tuner, Henry 3KD amp, Skyhawk tri bander and cushcraft A3WS with 30 meters.

Hope you get moved and back on the air soon

                       73 Art WA8VSJ
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jack Emerson" <w4tje at lexcominc.net>
To: <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2006 12:57 AM
Subject: [TenTec] Thank You Fellow Hams (World's longest post, 
Warning,Multiple Topics)

> Within the next couple of weeks, I will  temporarily leave this reflector
> while my family and I move to a new QTH.
> When I joined this reflector over 3 years ago, I owned 1 Ten Tec amp. I am
> proud to tell any ham who will listen that I am taking with me to the new
> shack 2 Ten Tec amps (Titan and Centaur), an Orion 2, a 238B Tuner, and 
> the
> Ten Tec remote encoder.
> So please, I ask you, put my name on the cult list.
> 3 years ago, I operated 99% SSB, and 99% on 15 meters. I had not operated
> CW since I passed my 20wpm exam in the early 90's. I still remember 
> telling
> the examiner for that test that if he passed me, I would promise to never
> operate CW again.
> But after joining this reflector, it sure got the creative juices flowing
> again. I still remember Tommy, W4BQF, talking about his QSO's at or near
> 100 wpm, and thinking he was a nut. But you know what, it got me to
> listening to CW again. And a funny thing happened, I put the pencil down,
> and started at about 10wpm trying to copy it in my head. Now I'm up to 30
> wpm in my head, actually more if the fist is good, and I am having the 
> time
> of my life. I realize that CW is an art, and no dumbing down by the powers
> that be can kill it, as long as we continue to use it.
> 3 years ago, I used a kenwood rig, and thought that Ten Tec was for CW
> buffs only. But in recent years I had told Stan at Ten Tec that if they
> would ever design a big radio to compete with the FT1000 series, that had
> Kenwood's audio on SSB, I would consider it. They built it, and I lived up
> to my word, and boy am I glad I did.
> I must say admit that 9-11 played a small role in this as well. After 
> 9-11,
> I have tried my best to buy American made products as long as I believed
> the product to be equal to the foreign competition. It's hard to explain,
> but that's what I'm doing, and as long as my country is engaged in a war, 
> I
> will continue to do this. So that partly explains my decision to purchase
> the Orion, but it has nothing to do with how happy I am that I made that
> decision.
> Now here's some more random thoughts and acknowledgements for anyone that
> is still awake:
> Having used both the Orion and Orion 2 side by side for 3 weeks, I sold 
> the
> Orion. I would have kept it, but I couldn't figure out a way to keep both
> radios gainfully employed.
> The Orion with the early software worked fine on SSB, but would
> occasionally lock up on CW, especially if the sweep was on. I learned to
> keep the sweep off, and never had any more problems.
> The audio on the version 1.3xx software was better than anything I had 
> ever
> heard on the air. So if ur a fan of great SSB audio, and you own the 
> Orion,
> go back to that software if you think the audio was better in the early
> releases.
> The NR feature on the early software for the Orion was amazing. Under the
> proper band condx and signal strength, I could listen to perfect received
> audio with no background noise.
> On the Orion 2, the NR feature sounds different, depending on who I am
> listening to. On the Saturday morning QCWA net, for instance, the NR
> feature brings out the audio for some stations, and they sound great, 
> while
> other stations on the same net sound terrible with the NR on. So I would
> say the NR is not broke, but it is different than the way it worked on the
> 1.3xx Orion software.
> As for the audio, the Orion with 1.3xx software sounded perfect to me, as 
> I
> said. But I worked AE4BC last Sunday, and his Orion 2 sounded just as
> perfect to my ears as any Orion that I have heard. The audio settings on
> the Orion 2 and the Orion with 1.3xx software are way different. Ten Tec
> told me on the phone there was no difference, but I think they were simply
> wrong on that. However, once you find the proper settings, The Orion 2
> sounds great, at least to me. Just 3 weeks ago, on 15m, a European station
> told me that the audio on my Orion 2 sounded better than the audio of the
> 1.3xx Orion that was on frequency with me. At the same time, there have
> been times when I have heard a rough edge on occasional words spoken on
> Orion 2 radios. I don't know if it is coming from improper settings, rf
> issues, or software issues. But I have heard it. But remember, when the
> Orion came out, it took about 2 months before anyone figured out how to
> properly tweak the audio on those rigs. I remember many a Sunday afternoon
> listening to Orion ops on the Ten Tec net marveling about their wonderful
> new Orions, and thinking how for that kind of money, their audio sure did
> sound very vanilla.
> OK, here's my "thank you's"
> W4BQF, Tommy, Yes I thought you were a nut, and I was wrong. Then I 
> thought
> you were mean for disparaging the Orion. Then you and I started working
> each other on the air, rather than arguing on the internet. I then learned
> what a patient cw op you were, and you helped me greatly. CW will never
> come naturally to me, but it has come to me, and I am still plugging away,
> and you have played a major role in helping me. Tommy, I still have no 
> idea
> at what speed you top out at, but I am in no position to dispute it. It's
> fast.
> N4LQ, Steve, another ham that I argued with here, who called me up on 80m
> cw one evening and was as patient and courteous with me as could be.
> N4TN, Don, runs circles around me on the bands because he is just a flat
> out great CW op. As with Tommy and Steve, tnx for helping me along.
> W4ZV, Bill, inspired me to try the low bands. Tnx to listening to ur
> activities on 160m cw, I installed some beverages, put in some radials,
> arose before the sunrise for 2 years, and finally worked a JA on 160m. 
> From
> listening to you, I also learned that 25wpm is a good operating speed to
> shoot for in cw contests when condx are marginal.
> Additional kudos to WB4BQF and W4CAK.
> But the biggest tnx goes to Ten Tec for their products. Ten Tec, you have
> played the greatest role in the pure enjoyment of being on the air than at
> any time since I became a ham 29 years ago.
> Finally, I hate to end on a sour note, so I will say this as nice as I 
> can.
> The negative comments on this reflector do adversely affect  sales for 
> this
> company. 3 weeks ago, I received a telephone call from a ham who had just
> received his Orion 2 that day. He was having trouble setting it up, so I
> got on the air with him and we sorted it out. During the course of the
> conversation, he told me that he had wanted for some time to buy an Orion,
> but after joining the reflector, all the negative comments about the Orion
> and Orion 2  had scared him to death. He said that if he had not heard me
> on the air with mine, and W4WTB with his, he doubted that he would have
> gone through with it.
> Last week, he called me up and told me that he was absolutely amazed at 
> how
> good this radio actually is. Having used the Orion 2 for a couple of 
> weeks,
> he said that he still cannot understand the nit picking on the reflector. 
> I
> told him to love the radio, but to tolerate the reflector.
> I am only on 1 other reflector, but it seems that reflectors can be free
> speech run amuck. I learned in the Marines the simple rule to compliment 
> in
> public, but to criticize in private. When I have found issues with Ten Tec
> equipment, I picked up the phone and called them, or sent an e-mail to 
> dits
> and bits. I didn't get on the reflector and have a nervous breakdown. It
> works for me.
> Lastly, here's a product that works wonderfully with the Orion series, the
> Six Pack by Array Solutions. If you have multiple antennas and/or 2 amps,
> it is extremely handy.
> 73 de Jack W4TJE
>
>
>
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