[TenTec] [orion565] Orion II won't transmit or receive

[RaySoifer at cs.com]

Ron,

I've had my Orion II for over two years now, and have also tried the 
FT-1000MP Mk V and several Icom Pro IIIs.  They're all good radios, and which is best 
for you depends, IMHO, on the type of operating you do.  As the QST reviewer 
noted, the Orion and Orion II take some getting used to if you're used to the 
Japanese rigs as he apparently was, and if you try to operate them the same way 
you're likely to be disappointed.  Teaching myself how to make the best use 
of the O II's capabilities took me a year at least, but my call isn't W2 Real 
Slow for nothing.  

I don't know your operating preferences, or those of your friend, but most 
people who tell me that they prefer YaeComWood to T-T are mostly phone ops and 
tend toward casual operating and ragchewing.  I am primarily a weak-signal CW 
DXer.  I won't even try to go into Orion vs. Elecraft, that's a different 
subject entirely!

To each his own.

73 Ray W2RS (licensed since 1955)