[TenTec] Ver 2.054 update - comments

[Tom Whiteside]

I've been playing my Orion I pretty hard since downloading the new firmware yesterday morning.   I've had a chance to use it mostly in CW including some weak signal stuff on 10M and 12M (3Y0X) and also 160M.     All I can say is this release is VERY impressive...   My radio was back at the factory getting a new RIT/XIT shaft encoder last September and they did the display mod then apprarently.      The new sweep function is much more responsive and stable - I am not used to having it on but it was on continuously during my testing - not a hickup.     Now I can click on packet spots and do whatever I want with the subreceiver and not lose subreceiver audio - that is so so nice - I was so fed up with rebooting my radio to be able to hear the pileup - and you would lose it at the worst times...   I use the RF "gain" AGC threshold adjustment aggressively and like the feel of the new version.     I was commenting to my bride about how clear the signals were on 160M last night before reading the posts of others making this comment - probably just conditions but maybe that audio AGC action now eliminated really does help - not sure about that....

Based on the comments folks made about the microphone and compression settings, I tried these backed way off based on these comments but ended up using my normal settings during a sked tonight - I had no way of really measuring the compression settings other than I was using the monitor function.   So that seems fine.

I'm sure there will need to be some tweaks after such a major release but I am very pleased.

Tom Whiteside N5TW