[TenTec] Orion III (was: Orion firmware gripes!)

Mon Feb 25 20:56:16 EST 2008

Interesting comments Bob!  I have to agree about being a pretty happy
camper with my O as well.  Perhaps above everything else, I value the
listenability of the receiver - it's easy to listen to for hours at a
time with causing fatigue.

In terms of my O3 priorities, having two equal receivers is first on
my list and I gladly give up general coverage capability to allow for
narrow roofing filters at the first i.f.

It should remain a BIG radio - give me more dedicated knobs for
important functions and a big display of all the settings every time.

And it should have a wideband i.f. output for external panadapter
solutions like the $150 LP-PAN that will feed a high performance
soundcard and support CWSkimmer etc.  By next fall, I expect many
serious contesting stations to already be set up with a panadapter
decoding cq'ing stations and creating its own bandmap.  The SDR-5000
and K3 support this now and Ten-Tec needs to join the party.

73,
Barry N1EU

On Tue, Feb 26, 2008 at 1:25 AM, Robert Carroll <w2wg at comcast.net> wrote:
> As is Barry, I am waiting for the Orion III which I figure could be targeted
>  for the next year or two.  I am pretty happy with my Orion 1 at the moment,
>  perhaps because it is one TenTec swapped me when after a couple of years we
>  could not resolve the flaky RIT problem.  This "new" Orion 1 seems to be
>  almost trouble free as compared to the terribly buggy first one I bought,
>  which seemed to have experienced just about every strange problem I could
>  imagine.  Anyway, despite limitations noted on this reflector for 1.373 and
>  the various V2 releases I am a pretty happy camper, especially when for some
>  reason I go back to my sentimental favorite, an FT1000MP, for a few days.
>  In a contest or on 160m there is no comparison between the two.
>
>  I have to compliment TenTec for working through the problems with me.  The
>  problems were very frustrating for me to deal with, and I am sure TenTec was
>  frustrated with dealing my recurring problems, but they stuck with me and
>  got them resolved.
>
>  On my list for the Orion III are the following:
>
>  1)Totally stable firmware of course
>  2)Thoroughly optimized gain distribution
>  3)AGC which is not adversely affected by lightning crashes or other QRN
>  "pops" (several on-line resources address this for digital AGC in sets other
>  than the Orion)
>  4) Left and right constant level line outputs which are not affected by how
>  the main and subreceiver are set up audio gain-wise.
>  5)An architecture so that the internal antenna tuner which can be used on
>  either antenna port
>  6) The availability as an option of ordering two "main" receivers instead of
>  a main and a sub.  The sub just can't handle sifting through a massive
>  pileup looking for that weak split signal.  Ad to that no subreceiver
>  "blowby" which appears to be a digital imaging problem as noted on this
>  reflector.
>  7) More audio gain built in (my Orion 1 comes close to full AF output at
>  about 75% of indicated full range)
>  8) The ability to select "Pod Controls VFO A" or "Pod Controls VFO B" from
>  the pod so there is no need to go into a menu to change this.
>  9) A careful look at the board soldering process.  The cause of the flaky
>  RIT problem which quite a few of us have encountered is unknown, but quite a
>  few of us are pretty sure it is a soldering problem of some sort of other.
>  The last time I talked to Paul he did not agree with this--but at least the
>  last time we talked he had not found the culprit either.  I know there are
>  other areas--such as on the power distribution board where Ten Tec resolders
>  target areas to clear SOME flaky display problems.  I have never seen a
>  joint that looked suspicious, but given the experience at least with the
>  Orion I, I think taking a look at how to do things better would be
>  warranted--or maybe an improved process is already in place for the Orion 2.
>  10) Concentration on improving the QSK.  I know there are limits in a DSP
>  machine--and various limits have been noticeable in the various releases of
>  the firmware--but somewhere around 30wpm the ability to hear between letters
>  starts to evaporate--and then there is the statement that external keyers
>  cannot be used above some lower limit which I forget.  My experience has
>  been that you can key externally at higher speeds but that the QSK backs off
>  to "listen between the words."  To me that is a limitation for an otherwise
>  superb CW machine.
>  11) A headphone output which won't blow the AF amp if you plug in a mono
>  headset--or if you mistakenly plug a key into the headphone jack.
>  12) Why would you plug a key into the headphone jack?  Because the black
>  embossing on a black cabinet is very hard to see in a low light situation.
>  Its good not to have white labeling which will rub off with use, but the
>  embossing needs to be made more visible.
>
>  Finally, a number of us have been waiting for that legal limit solid state
>  Elecraft amp which was shown at Dayton a number of years ago but which is
>  still not available.  I am convinced that tube amps are entering their swan
>  song days.  I notice things like the 4CX800 used in the very nice ACOM amp
>  being unavailable, the 3-500Z dwindling down to one reputable
>  manufacturer--who is farming it out, and the horribly escalating prices for
>  "real"  8877's and 3CX800's.  Those tubes will be around for a number of
>  years, but it looks as though their prices could soon  price them out of the
>  ham market.  It seems to me that TenTec has an opportunity to get ahead of
>  the wave and bring out a reliable state of the art solid state legal limit
>  amp for a lot less than the price of a top of the line autotune tube amp
>  (almost $10k--grab one before they go up).
>
>
>
>  I'd be interested in hearing what you want to see in the Orion III.
>
>  Bob W2WG
>
>
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]
>  On Behalf Of Barry N1EU
>  Sent: Monday, February 25, 2008 5:42 PM
>  To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
>
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion firmware gripes!
>
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 25, 2008 at 10:17 PM, Sain'T Tom <dxhawg at windstream.net> wrote:
>  >  I'm waiting on the next Omni to make my  technological update.
>  >
>
>
>  Similarly, I'm waiting on the Orion III to make my next firmware update.
>
>  Planning on sticking with v1.373b5 until the O3.  I have no
>  expectation that my v2 pet peeve (subrx filter blowby) is ever going
>  to get fixed.
>
>  73,
>  Barry N1EU
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