[TenTec] Orion firmware statistics and drift info

[Duane A Calvin]

Interesting, but what is the lowest resolution you can read on the
display?  If it's 10 Hz increments, then you're within the digital
accuracy of the display, which is always +/- 1 count.  If it's 1 Hz, then
that's a different matter.

        73,  DUane


On Tue, 7 Feb 2006 16:42:50 -0800 "Ron Castro" <ronc at sonic.net> writes:
> 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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> >
> > 
> 
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> 


Duane Calvin, AC5AA
Austin, Texas