[TenTec] Orion & SDR1000 thoughts (GOOD post)

Thu Mar 30 21:40:08 EST 2006

Yes good post . The only negative I see with the Flex
Radio is the same as the Pegasus If you lose your
computer you lose your Radio.I think I would like an
Orion like Flex Radio with a front Panel.
73
John WB4QDA

--- Toby Pennington <toby423 at earthlink.net> wrote:

> Yes,  that was a good post,  but makes me wonder if
> maybe most of us will
> transition to SDR rigs like the one put out by Flex
> Radio as it becomes a
> mature technology in the next few years.   If the
> Orion is the end of a
> transition period and the next step is SDR rigs, 
> then the logical step for
> Ten Tec is to get on board and get into the game.
> 
> But Hey,  lets get 2.0 working right first!      
> Toby  W4CAK
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <Able2fly at aol.com>
> To: <tentec at contesting.com>
> Cc: <lee_crocker at yahoo.com>
> Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 7:13 PM
> Subject: [TenTec] Orion & SDR1000 thoughts (GOOD
> post)
> 
> 
> >
> > Lee, that's the best post I've seen the two years
> I've been reading  here.
> >
> > Thanks,  Bill  K3UJ
> > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> >
> > I have  one Orion and two SDR-1000's.  I've had
> the
> > Orion for 2 years, and at  least 1 SDR for about 6
> > months.
> >
> > My experience is the SDR is a better  weak signal
> > receiver than the Orion.  I have the radios set up
>  on
> > equivalent full size 80 and 40M vertical antennas.
>  I
> > have the  outputs of the rigs into a 3 channel
> stereo
> > mixer so I can play one radio  into one ear the
> other
> > radio into the other ear, or I can have both 
> radio's
> > in both ears and use the mutes to switch.  The
> bottom
> > line  is what you can hear.
> >
> > On CW the SDR is a slightly better radio.   It is
> > quieter and it has better selectivity.  In a
> recent
> > contest I  was able to work 2 DX stations (s3 or
> so in
> > strength) in different parts of  the world that
> were
> > 50hz apart, each being called by S9 plus 20 
> american
> > stations.  It was a very enlightening experience. 
>  In
> > other words there were 2 desired stations 50hz
> apart
> > with a variable  number of american stations
> calling in
> > the picture.  I was not able to  do the same with
> the
> > Orion, but it was close.  This represents in  my
> > experience a very intense level real world
> experience,
> > something the  ARRL numbers really don't address.
> >
> > In weak signal work without  the limitations of
> strong
> > stations a few hz away the radios are closer  in
> > performance.  The SDR is quieter to listen to.  It
> > reminds  me of my old Paragon.  It has a point and
> > shoot virtually real time  band scope.  That means
> I
> > can view about 30khz of a band on the scope  in
> > panadapter mode and I can see signals that are
> > virtually in the  noise.  Coherent signals look
> > different than random noise.  There  is a cross
> hair
> > pointer that I can place over a signal and click
> and
> > the  signal is centered in the passband of the
> > receiver.  It is very easy  to point and click
> signals
> > even into a 100hz passband.  With a steady  hand
> you
> > can do it into a 50hz passband but I find myself
> > "tuning" to  center the signal if I use 50hz.
> >
> > The advantage of this is that  you can cover a
> whole
> > segment of a band like the low end of 80 or 160 
> with
> > just a couple dozen clicks.  It is extremely
> efficient
> > having  the panadapter and the point and shoot
> since
> > you are basically spending all  your time
> listening to
> > where stations are and almost no time listening 
> to
> > where stations are not.
> >
> > It is NOT a QSK cw radio by any  streach of the
> > imagination.  To send CW you need to use an 
> external
> > side tone.  It is virtually impossible to use the
> > internal  side tone.  To send adequate CW you need
> to
> > use an external  keyer.  Using my K-4 idiom press
> I can
> > transmit 60 wpm cw and receive  in in another
> receiver
> > letter perfect.  I use a 3.3ghz P4 and a  presonus
> > firebox which is the high end of the
> > computer/soundcard  needed.  It is not nearly as
> > convienent as the Orion to use.  The  Orion
> behaves
> > like you would expect a radio to behave.   The
> > interface in the SDR is a work in progress.  The
> > controls that  have been chosen in my opinion are
> not
> > the best that could have been  chosen, like up
> down
> > boxed instead of sliders for volume for example, 
> but
> > the advantage of a software defined radio is that
> it
> > is  plastic.  The code is presently being
> rewritten to
> > seperate the DSP  and back end functions of the
> radio
> > (like the ALC AGC Frequency determining  steps)
> from
> > the interface.  This will allow the interface to 
> be
> > readily changed to how ever you like.
> >
> > One cool thing about the  SDR is that it gives you
> a
> > lab grade receiver.  The "S meter" actually  reads
> out
> > in dbm.  It can be calibrated against a known 
> source
> > (like 50mV for -73 dbm aka S9) and what you read
> is
> > like having a  calibrated scope hooked up to your
> > antenna.  I intend to combine it  with N8LP's new
> phase
> > reading SWR bridge and software control and I 
> will
> > have a transmitting network analyzer of pretty
> good
> > accuracy.
> >
> > The SSB signal is excellent, at least as good as 
> the
> > Orion.  When I check into my 75M round table the
> guys
> > tend to  like the SDR audio better than the Orion
> > though they think both are  excellent.  I have a
> studio
> > quality condensor mic on the SDR and the  TT 705
> on the
> > Orion.
> >
> > The noise blanker works better in the  Orion.
> >
> > As far as "service" goes I have no quibble with 
> Ten
> > Tec.  They have taken good care of me over the
> years.
> > I used  to chat with Al Kahn on CW almost every
> week
> > when I would mobile between  Chicago and Champaign
> Il
> > on Fridays using my old 580 delta and we would 
> talk
> > radios.  He was always interesed in what I had to 
> say.
> >
> >
> > SDR service is phenomonal.  I have had long chats 
> with
> > the company president, and he is interested in
> what I
> > have to say,  so it kind of reminds me of TT 30
> years
> > ago.  I have had a lot of help  from the SDR
> reflector
> > community as well.  The changes in the software 
> are
> > far faster and far more extensive in terms of
> > performance  improvement.  One guy wrote a really
> good
> > routine to balance out the  quadrature signals. 
> It 
=== message truncated ===

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