[TenTec] S-meter and RF Gain

[Duane - N9DG]

Sounds to me like another example of something that should in
reality be a user settable choice in the setup menu
somewhere. It really shouldn't have to be just one way *or*
the other, this is a software radio afterall. 

Duane
N9DG

--- Bill Tippett <btippett at alum.mit.edu> wrote:

> W4CAK:
> 
>  >Alas,  both the O2 and the 2.0 firmware for the old Orion
> have the s meter
> working like it does in the foreign imports.  The lower the
> RF gain the
> higher the s meter will be stuck.
> 
>  >Change is inevitable,  but don't like this one.
> 
>          Toby, you mean you don't like Collins,Hammarlund, 
> Hallicrafters, Drake, etc?  It's
> how S-meters and RF Gain controls have worked
> for at least 60 years!  This wasn't invented
> by "foreign imports", it's simply the result
> of how the S-meter interacted with RF Gain
> in analog rigs.
> 
>          The "change" was when Ten-Tec decoupled
> the two in Orion.  I feel this will make it
> much easier for people to set RF Gain correctly
> (the same ones who now complain about Orion
> being "noisy" because they don't know how to
> set RF Gain properly).  Instead of setting Gain
> by ear, now they can set it by simply adjusting
> the S-meter deflection to be slightly above
> noise peaks.  What could be simpler?
> 
>          Actually Sinisa YT1NT first suggested
> this in his March 2004 white paper when so
> many folks could not figure out how to set
> AGC Threshold correctly.  I think this is
> actually a good move making Orion much easier
> to use.
> 
>                                          73,  Bill  W4ZV
 


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