[TenTec] V 2.054

[Bill Ogden]

Updated my Orion I and did the hardware modification.  Needed two master resets: one after the software update and one after the hardware change. The HW update is not difficult, but it needs a good work table, good light,  a good magnifying glass, and an orderly disassembly.

The sweep and display are certainly much better.  Some controls feel a little better.  I agree the noise blankers and noise reduction functions are not very good --- fortunately, I do not need them often. There are audio glitches at times with the audio compression and sometimes with other controls.  I seem to need different audio aux input levels between RTTY and BSP (with a Rig Expert)--this was unexpected.  I do not work enough SSB to detect problems with the audio; a few informal contacts say it is OK. Personally, I do not like the new S-meter operation but it does not actually hurt anything. Several people mentioned lower background noise levels on the low bands; I have not observed this. 

I will stay with the Beta and hope the next one addresses the audio glitches, and maybe the noise reduction area.  I am willing to let TT experiment for a while. Signal processing via DSP programming has a well-developed theory, but is still a work of art in practice. The theory skips over such things glitches that occur while changing DSP operations on a running system. 

My wish list would be to discard the CUT function and use the knobs for something more useful (or, at least, more useful to me.)  For example, use the MULTI knob only for RF gain and move the other MULTI functions to the CUT controls.  Do others find the CUT control useful?  It seems to mostly duplicate the PBT and BW interactions.

Bill
W2WO