[TenTec] Orion II Reviews?-Follow up

[Ron Castro]

Indeed the Mon function works fine on the O2, although as some have pointed 
out, it's not very loud.  Perhaps with higher impedance headphones it might 
sound louder.  I have been using the external speaker from my TS-870 (a 
Kenwood SP-31) which has a headphone output on the front, and if I plug in 
there, the Main AF level affects the monitor level, which it does not in the 
headphones.  It can get plenty loud that way if you need it.

It also gets quite loud in the regular headphone output when you crank up 
the speech processor.  The SP really kicks butt!  With no external 
processing, the xmit EQ at -20, TX filter BW at 2850, LF Rolloff at 300 HZ, 
you can run the processor up to 9 with no distortion, but you'll hear much 
background noise. At any setting over 3, it will slice through a pile-up 
like a hot knife through butter.  It will blow the doors off the big contest 
boys!

I use the W2IHY 8-band EQ and EQ-Plus, and with the bass rolled off on those 
boxes and normal flat settings on the O2, SP at 4, it's great for DX and 
contests.  By bringing back up the bass on the IHY and turning SP off, the 
O2 sounds like a broadcast station.

Since I didn't have the radio before the current update, I can't compare, 
but I have noticed that the S-meter readings are overly generous above S-9, 
and a little stingy below.  I measured the response with an HP 8640B signal 
generator and confirmed that the meter reads as much as 22 dB higher than it 
should on strong signals, and about 12 dB less on weak ones. All readings 
were taken with the preamp off, and of course they get 2 S-Units or 12 dB 
higher when it's on.  It would be nice if there was a selectable option that 
automatically compensated for the preamp as there is in my old TS-870.  I 
sent the information today to Ten Tec and I'll see what the response is.

Ron
N6AHA


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Hammond" <dhhdeh at concentric.net>
To: "Ten Tec Reflector" <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 05, 2006 3:13 PM
Subject: [TenTec] Orion II Reviews?-Follow up


> Hey Guys,
>
> Since I started this thread, can I ask that we refocus
> again onto the pluses and minuses of the Orion II?
>
> What else besides AM has 2.028 corrupted? Anything?
>
> Any insight as to what the new release will be
> changing?
>
> Does the 'MON' function work on the Orion II?
>
> 73 de Dave-N1LQ
>
>
>
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>