[TenTec] AM Receiver distortion in Orion II,

[Rob Atkinson, K5UJ]

It's not too surprising that there's a difference between the Orion's AM 
audio and the TS870.
There are probably at least two reasons for this.  The 870's dsp is a 24 bit 
system; Ten Tec went with 16 bit dsp, which produces a slightly "grungy" 
sound at times.  This is true for the Jupiter/Pegasus but even if it is not 
for the Orion, there is Ten Tec's claimed frequency response specs, which 
they neglect to say are flat, because they are not.  It was revealed here 
last year that with one of their rigs, either the Jupiter or the Orion, I 
can't remember which, the claimed ~4 KHz wide response was in reality, 
around ~2 Khz, if one were only measuring the flat portion of the curve.  
Yaesu also has an inferior dsp audio processing circuit--perhaps not in the 
FT2000 which I have not heard, but the dsp in the 1000MP Mk V is pretty low 
fidelity.  I say this partly to make it clear that I am not mindlessly 
anti-Ten Tec and pro JA.  The 870 however, is perfectly flat on receive from 
zero up to its maximum upper limit:  6 Khz on ssb, 7 Khz on AM (i.e. 14 
KHz).   Kenwood's experience in consumer audio product engineering and 
manufacturing clearly come into play here.

73,

rob / k5uj

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