[TenTec] Orion 1 & 2 "Talk Power" problem

[Merle Bone]

Grant (NQ5T) said:
"I don't recall this ever being an issue on the 565 v1.  I suspect it's
another benefit of the revised DSP code in v2/II."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I checked the "talk power issue" on V1.373b5 a few minutes ago. I ran the test on 10M using the Ameritron AWM-30 Peak/Avg reading watt meter. With the audio set to flash the ALC light on audio peaks, the AWM-30 was consistently reading 1400W Peak with my voice. The Alpha 87A Peak reading meter was periodically "peaking" at 1400W also. In the average position the AWM-30 was showing about 150W as the average (No speech processing). With the speech processing set to 7 the AWM consistently read 1400W peak and when set to average it read between 800 and 900W. I certainly don't observe a "talk power" issue the with the V1 code. 

In this article http://www.doug-smith.net/digitalagc.htm  Doug Smith describes the AGC and ALC techniques used in the Orion V1 code. While the AGC discussion is pretty clear (And rather elegant - such as in preventing AGC "overshoot"), the ALC discussion isn't so clear about what is implemented, although I agree that it is likely that the DSP code is involved in the ALC process. And, of course, all bets are off on what is in the V2 code today.
73, Merle - W0EWM