[TenTec] [Orion] Orion I firmware

[Martin, AA6E]

I don't think I've seen an "inherent flaw" in v2.  From all that has
been said, v2 has a much better technical base than v1 did.  (Of
course, you can still run v1 forever if you want.) And v2 has to work
for the Orion 2, at least.  The DSP code is probably highly similar
between the O1 and O2, so things like the SP and AN problems should be
fixable.  Only the control code should (?) differ.

Without knowing the details at TT (and I'm sure they mean to do well
by us), I'd say the problem is likely just that there are not enough
man-hours allocated for ongoing Orion 1 work (and Orion 2, probably). 
That's the danger of SDR products - they get shipped before the
software has stabilized.  After product has shipped, it's hard to
motivate investment in software development, since it's a money loser.
 They have to look toward the next wave of products.

Tell me it isn't so!

Why not offer a maintenance contract for a few hundred dollars a year,
if that would keep the ball rolling?  That would change the economics
quite a bit.

73 Martin AA6E

On 2/19/06, Toby Pennington <toby423 at earthlink.net> wrote:
> V2.0 has been a bear for Gary and company,  with many hours and weekends
> spent trying to get it right.  But they seem to be caught in a loop in which
> when one thing gets fixed three other problem pop up,  and they seem to be
> unable to escape the loop or trap they are caught in.
>
> This still leads me to wonder if V2.0  if the right way to go,  and that
> perhaps revisiting 1.xxx with new insight and direction could pay off in a
> more stable firmware without losing the fine functions of the Orion we now
> enjoy.  AS it is,  the new firmware is unusable, except for a small group of
> guys who operate the rig in a narrow and confined manner.
>
> Based on what I have heard and experienced,   I really don't expect to see
> any rapid resoution of the multiple problems associated with 2.0.  It will
> be more of the same in the future unless some new approach is taken to
> correct perhaps what could be called "inherent flaws" in the 2.0 core setup,
> which weaken or nullify the fine features we enjoy in the 1.xxx versions.
>
> Toby  W4CAK
>
>