[TenTec] settings for PR40, W2IHY, Orion I, and V2 firmware - FYI

[Mark DeBord]

I did not get a specific response from anyone who is using my same audio 
set-up on the Orion Classic.  Again, my current audio chain is a Heil PR-40, 
W2IHY 8 band equalizer, and the W2IHY EQPLUS.

I am no audio expert; this is all new to me, but I am having fun and wanted 
to pass along my learnings (so far). I found a way to "visually" see my 
audio adjustments on a graph by comparison.

Months ago, I had installed the latest firmware (V2.056) on the Orion 
Classic, but discovered the audio properties had changed some and really did 
not have a good way of re-adjusting my audio properties. So I went back to 
the older firmware (V1.37xxxx), since it works well for my operating  style 
(with only a few glitches ever once in awhile when using the scope in 
conjunction with BW, etc).

A few months ago, I came across a Drake R8B receiver and tried to adjust my 
audio that way, but again  was not successful because I could not adjust my 
properties using headphones. I needed some way to  measure my voice pattern 
with the old software, then make the V2 software match with adjustments of  
the W2IHY equipment.

I had bought a copy of the Hamalyzer software several months ago too, and 
decided to hook up the Drake to  my soundcard to do trace comparisons. I 
first made a plot with the V1 firmware and saved it. Next, I  loaded the V2 
firmware and made a plot. As indicated by other folks on the list that has 
done some  V1 to V2 comparisons, you can clearly see that the low end was 
gone, but the upper end was not as different.

So as it turned out, I was able to match the patterns pretty darn close. 
(BTW, I used the same text when doing the comparisons so the plots will 
reflect the same voice pattern for the same series of sentences).

Recordings and playbacks  on the computer reveal the "sound" is identical. 
As a matter of fact, I have gotten great unsolicited audio reports  from my 
"local" friends as well as comments from DX (I use the same settings for rag 
chewing and DX).

I just wanted to pass along my settings, so this might help someone else who 
does a search on the  archive with a similar set-up. BTW, my best friend 
bought an Orion Classic the same time that I did,  runs V2 firmware, and 
uses a Studio One mic. He does not have the W2IHY equipment, but his audio 
sounds great. We just had to turn things down (compared to V1).

I know there are many posts concerning this very issue and I do not wish to 
rehash old stuff; this  post is intended to be a guideline to help others 
who have struggled with this or who might need some ballpark settings to 
start them out as they "fine tune" their particular situation. The greatest 
thing about V2 is that is has been VERY stable (so far); and I did not have 
to give up my audio!

Thanks,

Orion I settings:

TX Filter BW - 3000
L.F. Rolloff - 50
Mic gain - 20
SP - off

W2IHY 8 band Equalizer settings

50 - (12)
100 - (4)
200 - (- 10)
400 - (- 10)
800 - (- 10)
1600 - (0)
2400 - (10)
3200 - (16)
(I also use the noise gate)

W2IHY EQPlus

no additional bass/treble - leave it off

comp - 10 o'clock
downward expander - your own setting according to your background
effects delay - 9 o'clock
effects level - 2 o'clock
effects switch 2



Thanks and I hope this helps someone else. As you know, your voice, your own 
liking, etc. will cause you to need to change these settings, but at least 
this is somewhere to start.

73's
Mark KA4ICK
Kingsport, TN