[TenTec] Orion Sidetone Level vs. AF level

Barrett Thompson barrettthompson at comcast.net
Thu Mar 16 10:41:39 EST 2006


Ron Castro (N6AHA) observed

>Just checked the Sidetone level, and indeed it sets the Spot level.  It
was at 
>60 with the 200 Ohm phones, now at 12 with the 32 Ohm ones.
>Another neat thing I found...You can change the sidetone pitch by
holding down 
>the Spot button while turning the Multi encoder.  I never knew that!

A few other notes on the operation of these controls that I've observed.

1.  The volume of the Sidetone (when keying CW or spotting) is also tied
to the Main AF control.  This is a small problem for me because I like
the sidetone rather low for CW sending, yet often ride the Main AF up
and down based on the signal I'm listening to and when "up" will
unexpectedly blast my ears when I go back to the keyer.  Would like to
see the Sidetone level de-coupled from the main AF level. 

2.  On the other hand I like the Spotting volume to be rather loud so it
will "beat" well with the signal I'm trying to match.  Ideally, I'd like
to set the Spot level independent of the CW Sidetone level, and have
both of these stay put regardless of the AF level.  Others may prefer to
have them ride along with the Main AF, so how about a user setting to
control this?

3.  One very minor item that I'm pleased to report is fixed in 2.055 has
to do with Spotting tone and BinRX.  Under 1.372, if you were in BinRX
mode and pressed the Spot button, you'd hear the spot tone centered
correctly L-to-R.  Using the Multi knob to change the spot tone
frequency would cause the tone to shift in the L-to-R field, and
correspondingly any signal you 'spotted' would no longer be centered in
the stereo field.  Cycling the power would cause the new tone to be
re-centered, however.  I tested this today on 2.055 and the spot tone
stays centered in the stereo field as you change the frequency-- great!

Barrett / KE4R






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