[TenTec] Orion ocean Noise/AGC

[Joe Roth-N4ARI]

Well said Bill.

It is obvious by this thread that so many of us hams are no longer 
technicians or thinkers but appliance operators and hate to admit it. 
Appliance operators who are still in the closet would rather blame our 
frustrations on the hardware.

I put myself in that catagory although I have "come out of the closet" here. 
When I bought my Orion in Oct. 2003, I realized very quickly how much of my 
technical knowledge needs serious improvements! I still am not as good as 
many of you here and because of that I am greatful to have you folks around. 
The articles on Doug Smith's web site are a must read for any Orion 
owner--not just the manual.

Some hams just want to buy the best radio then just plug it in and go. They 
don't have the skills or knowledge to "drive it" properly. I may have a 
driver's license for my car but I sure won't put myself behind the wheel of 
a "big rig" unless I studied up.

Joe

Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 15:49:25 -0500
From: Bill Tippett <btippett at alum.mit.edu>
Subject: [TenTec]  Ocean noise

AA6VB wrote:

  >I have heard you need to reduce the gain but when you put both rigs side 
by side with no antenna the Orion has much more internal noise.  I think it 
is just a fact of life.

          Guys, especially those of you new to Orion whether original or O2, 
please read this!

1.  Orion's AGC will amplify internal noise if the threshold is set too low. 
  Orion's digital AGC is
different than what is in the MP or other rigs.

2.  As previously stated, set AF Gain to mid-scale and adjust RF Gain down 
until the noise drops.

3.  The exact setting will vary depending on how much gain your antenna has 
and what band you
are on (atmospheric noise being higher on the low bands and lower on the 
high bands, so the RF Gain setting will be a lower number on the low bands).

          I wish I had a dollar for every time I've seen complaints about 
this!  I'm now considering going into business buying Orions from people who 
still don't get it and reselling them with some simple instructions as 
above.  :-)

          Orion's AGC is phenomenal, but please take time to understand how 
it works and how to set it up properly.  More info below and in the manual.

http://www.doug-smith.net/digitalagc.htm

          Anyone still want to argue that using the S-meter to set RF Gain 
(which includes AGC Threshold) is a bad idea?

                                          73,  Bill  W4ZV