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

[Ron Castro]

By maintaining a higher average-to-peak ratio.  In broadcasting, we call it 
"masking", and it has been used by AM broadcasters for years to cover up 
audio from co-channel stations that interfere with them in the fringe 
coverage areas.  The first company to popularize that was CBS Labs with 
their famous Audimax and Volumax processors of the 1960's, which were 
advertised as being able to bring entire new communities into a station's 
coverage area, and it really did!

FM stations use heavy processing to cover up noise, especially with a stereo 
signal since the SN 'hit' a stereo signal has to take when decoding the L-R 
38 kHz DSB subcarrier is on the order of 17 dB.  That type processing became 
popular when engineers found out they could increase average modulation with 
a set of back-to-back diodes across the composite output of the stereo 
generator.  A better, more sophisticated method gained popularity with the 
Modulation Sciences CP-803 Composite Clipper.  Today, Telos-Omnia has taken 
the technology to the max with their Omnia 6ex processor.  It has around 100 
adjustable parameters that can be controlled locally or via an Internet 
connection, so I can sit in my car with a laptop and adjust the box in a 
normal listener environment.

Another poster said "I always work the cleanest clearest signal first...". 
If he can't hear the signal, he won't work it.

There seems to be a notion that intelligibility decreases when processing 
increases, and there is some truth to that when it's done poorly.  But done 
right, you can create a "wall of sound" that busts through pile-ups.  With 
SSB, more RF equals a bigger wall!  That's why the Orion "talk power" 
problem is a real issue.

      Ron N6IE
 www.N6IE.com
(Formerly N6AHA)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Barry Gross" <barry.n1eu at gmail.com>
To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2006 4:46 AM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion 1 & 2 "Talk Power" problem


> Please indulge me - I want to understand the point.  How does one
> create the QRM that keeps weaker stations from being heard, other than
> having a strong signal (max ERP at optimal arrival angle, properly
> compressed/equalized audio)?
>
> 73,
> Barry N1EU
>
> On 12/23/06, Ron Castro <ronc at sonic.net> wrote:
>> Simple...in keeps weaker stations from being heard under you.
>
>>
>> > On 12/22/06, Ron Castro <ronc at sonic.net> wrote:
>> >> That may be true, but creating the QRM needed to get out in front is 
>> >> fair
>> >> play, even though on the surface, it may not sound that way.
>> >
>> > How does "creating QRM" help one "get out in front"?  (seriously, I
>> > don't get this and I've played in my share of pileups)
>> >
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