[TenTec] K4VUD & Titan 425

[Merle Bone]

Doug said:
"I was told (no names) that tentec didn't read the reflectors as they got tired of all the whiners who could never be made happy."

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Actually I really don't think much is lost if Ten-Tec has stopped reading comments from their Orion customers. It certainly seems that they have stopped trying to fix the remaining problems with the Orion - like losing the main receive audio if you transmit with the subreceiver in the AM mode - and others. Anyone in business who thinks "their customers are whining" really should be looking for work in ....... I don't know where. 

It has been quite a learning experience, seeing how Elecraft interacts with their customers on their list-server. Not only do they answer questions and provide understanding, they listen to issues and sometimes change the firmware in near real-time to resolve issues/requirements. 

I recently communicated with Ten-Tec Service, via e-mail, about an issue with my Orion - winding up in a state where neither the main receiver or transmitter would work but the subreceiver worked just fine. After I described the problem I received the following comment via e-mail:
"Sounds like it needs to be sent for repair. This is too complex a problem to solve by remote control."

I sent the Service department a note saying that I was working on a theory that the problem may have been caused by a software program polling the Orion for frequency data - I was using that to drive the interface for a STeppIR antenna. I didn't hear anything from them about whether they had seen that before or not. I turned the polling off and have not seen the problem for 10 days - the problem had been occurring after 5 to 8 hours of operation. And although I am running the latest firmware, this issue apparently was not resolved by the software rewrite. Of course, the faster scalar processor in the Orion II may obviate such issues. I certainly have learned that how you use the Orion definitely affects what problems/issues  you see, or don't see, with the radio. Straight CW, using just the main receiver, seems to use very little of the Orion's capabilities.  

Engineering and servicing a software defined radio is very different from a radio built in hardware. Many manufacturers have had issues with their software defined radios in the last couple of years and I don't think Ten-Tec is any exception. There have been a lot of companies/industries where the "critical success factors" changed dramatically with a significant change in technology. What was true about a company's performance with the old technology is often not true about their capabilities with new technology. 
Merle Bone - W0EWM