[TenTec] Orion/O2 Drift Problem-who is interested in a fix?

[Ron Castro]

I exchanged e-mails this week with one of the new owners of INRAD with a suggestion about marketing an low-drift OCXO mod to fix the warm-up drift problem on the Orions and Orion II's, and he wants to know what level of interest there might be in such a product.  The stock radios drift about 20 Hz (15 MHz WWV) in the first 10 minutes, then very slowly correct themselves to the starting point over a period of about 3 hours, plus they tend to drift with shack temperature.  I often hear Orions on the air, especially on the TT Sunday net, and very often they are 20 Hz low in frequency.  The fan mod on my website mitigates the problem to some degree, but it's only a band-aid.

In my opinion, a mod like this would simple (a direct replacement of the existing 4-pin TCXO) and would be a welcomed improvement that would make the radio function better as well as bring a higher resale value, much the way many of the other fine INRAD after-market mods do.

If you have even a remote interest in this mod I would like to hear from you, either here or off-list!  Note that I have no connection with INRAD or Ten Tec other than being a customer.

      Ron N6IE
  ron at n6ie.com
 www.N6IE.com
(Formerly N6AHA)