[TenTec] Orion firmware statistics and drift info

[Ron Castro]

Martin:

Thanks for posting that information.  I have uploaded the new version, and 
AM works fine now, with 100% power equaling 40 carrier as measured with a 
Bird 43 and dummy load.  I also checked the CW output since someone had 
mentioned that on the list recently, and found that key-down output power is 
dead-on 100 Watts all bands.  I have no way of measuring PEP.

BTW, I read your posts about the slight Orion drift problem, and found 
similar results on the O2, although the O2 seems to stabilize within about 
35 minutes.   Mine still is 10 Hz high on 15 MHz (reads 10 Hz low on zero 
beat), so I'll probably set it right on soon.  I put a temperature probe 
from a Protek 608 DVM inside the chassis near the master oscillator module 
and it shows a total warm-up of 45 degrees F over the shack temperature, 
nearly exactly what you had estimated.  I'm looking at the meter now and 
it's reading 114.8 F in a 69 F shack after running about 90 minutes.  Last 
night, I tracked the frequency drift against the temperature and found a 
correlation of around +.7 Hz per degree F (again with zero-beat reading -.7 
Hz/degree) on 15 MHz.  Once warmed up, the radio stays rock stable, within 
+- .5 Hz at 15 MHz.

This information leads me to believe that this minor issue may be cured by 
simply putting a small fan on the chassis partition just in front of the 
oscillator module and blowing cool air across it. This should substantially 
reduce the temperature build-up in that part of the chassis, and if my 
theory is right, after about 10-15 minutes of warm-up time, the frequency 
should stabilize with no perceptible drift.  Should make the components last 
longer and could slow long-term oscillator drift as well.

I'll report back to the list what I find.

Ron
N6AHA

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Martin, AA6E" <martin.ewing at gmail.com>
To: <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 3:03 PM
Subject: [TenTec] Orion firmware statistics


> Here is a graph showing the documented TT firmware versions for Orion
> and Orion 2 versus months since introduction:
> http://www.aa6e.net/images/oristats.gif .  Versions for the first
> Orion were running one a day for a while at the beginning!  (Most were
> not released.)
>
> The numbering methodology may have changed with Orion 2.  I.e., not
> every recompilation gets numbered?  I can't tell.  Maybe they've
> learned something in 3 years!
>
> 73 Martin AA6E
> --
> martin.ewing at gmail.com
> http://blog.aa6e.net
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