[TenTec] New Orion I v2 Firmware version: 2.062a

Sat May 26 08:47:24 EDT 2007

Carl-

I have seen your suggestion recommended.  I have tried playing with the hang
time with very minimal if any effect.  I have also played with the threshold
and decay time.  No effect.  A strange characteristic of the rasp or fuzz is
that the degree of it on a given weak signal can vary from very nasty to not
as nasty over a period of a few letters or words.  I suppose this is because
the signal level is varying somewhere around one high enough to bring it out
of the fuzz.  By the time you get to s5 or s6 the degree of rasp or fuzz has
started to decrease.

I found it interesting that another reflector member found the problem not
to exist in 2.056, despite it having other warts.  That's the version I have
gone back to.  The difference is dramatic on my set.  

I am puzzled by the wide variance of opinion on the latest releases.  Of
course that has been true on most of the releases.  It makes me wonder if
hardware variations between Orion 1's could be involved.  That seems
unlikely.  But the rasp/fuzz on the latest release on my Orion is so very
very bad on weak signals--a DXer's bread and butter-that I don't think any
moderately cw-oriented op could miss it or ignore it.  It's not just a minor
rasp resulting from a primarily digital rx versus an analog one.  

I would like to hear from Orion II cw ops.  As one way out of the swamp I
might consider trading the I in on a II.  But I wouldn't want to throw good
money after bad if I am going to run into the same thing.  

73
Bob W2WG

-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]
On Behalf Of Carl Moreschi
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 11:26 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] New Orion I v2 Firmware version: 2.062a

Is this the noise that is eliminated when you add just a little hang time to
the AGC?  Set the AGC hang time to at least 0.12 and see if the rasp goes
away.

Carl Moreschi N4PY
121 Little Bell Drive
Bell Mountain
Hays, NC 28635
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Carroll" <w2wg at comcast.net>
To: <kg6tt at arrl.net>; "'Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment'"
<tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 11:18 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] New Orion I v2 Firmware version: 2.062a

> Jerry-
>
> I have just sent additional information to TenTec which is essentially the
> same as you report, and had contacted the factory yesterday with initial
> information about it.  I had not seen your email, but am glad to know that
I
> am not the only crackpot who has experienced this.  I went back to the
last
> V1 beta release and as you, found the fuzziness ( I called it rasp) was
> greatly reduced over the latest releases but as you said still there and
> fatiguing.  (I believe it was Bob Sherwood who reported that though the
> Orion I produced excellent measurement results in his tests, he found it
> inexplicably fatiguing to listen to for long periods) I then back to v2056
> which at least in my case produces very clean cw audio, though it does
have
> some widely reported SSB shortcomings.  As did you, with 2060b I find the
cw
> audio on strong signals to be pretty clean.  It is the weak signals where
> the rasp ( and it is not a slight one in my case) becomes noticeable and
> fatiguing.  It sounds to me as though some sort of noise/signal mixing is
> going on.  Tonight I got out a spectrum analyzer and looked at the audio
> spectrum.  With the v1365, the 1373b3 and 1375b5 and 2056 releases I found
> the noise spectrum to cleanly follow the DSP filter shape, which sat
nicely
> above the noise floor outside the passband.  With the 2060b release I
found
> the noise in the filter passband to be much closer to the out-of-passband
> floor, and that floor to be filled with something that was clearly not
white
> noise.  Interestingly enough the audio taken from the Orion accessory
socket
> sounded clean when run through a good audio amp and that it looked clean
on
> the spectrum analyzer.  It's as though something further on in the audio
> chain is causing the problem.  Of course we two seem to be the only ones
> experiencing this shortfall!
> 73
> Bob W2WG
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]
> On Behalf Of Jerry Volpe
> Sent: Friday, May 25, 2007 6:08 PM
> To: tentec at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] New Orion I v2 Firmware version: 2.062a
>
> The main issue that I have with this version (really a carry over issue
> for every version since 2.x) is the slight (slight?) audio fuzziness I
> hear, especially noticeable in headphones (I typically use a Heil
> Proset). To my ears it is a distortion that produces hearing fatigue
> rather quickly. It is most noticeable on weaker stations. Binaural
> listening clearly moves this distortion to the left earpiece (higher
> side). Binaural off centers the distortion in both earpieces, but it is
> still there. AGC settings seem to effect the nature of this distortion
> slightly but I haven't found an AGC setting that significantly reduces it.
>
> I went back to version 1.3x firmware code to see if there was any
> significant difference in this audio distortion.... and it is less but
> still there.
>
> My next step was to try different headsets. After six different models
> it became clear that the one that was significantly less sensitive to
> this distortion was my Kenwood HS-5 headsets that I had converted to
> stereo (an easy thing to do). My other headsets were similar to the Heil
> Proset in perceived audio distortion. Interestingly all of the other
> headsets except the Kenwood HS-5 had fairly broad frequency response
> ranges. Their input impedances varied but that only seemed to effect
> volume and not sensitivity to distortion. The Kenwood HS-5 is rated at 8
> ohm input with a frequency response of 150-4000 at -6dB, so they have a
> noticeable roll off at the high end. Sadly, the Kenwood is the least
> comfortable of the bunch and I can rarely wear them for more than an hour.
>
> So after 18 months of Orion ownership I still find no firmware relief to
> the woes that effect me the most.... how it sounds. Ten-Tec folks... are
> you 'really' listening?
>
> 73,
>
> Jerry, KG6TT
>
>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Ralph Jerald "Jerry" Volpe
> Amateur Radio Operator KG6TT
> 788 Chestnut Drive
> Fairfield, CA 94533
>
> kg6tt at arrl.net
>
> 510 325-7724
> 707 399-8838 FAX
>
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