[TenTec] Orion II v 2.042A: Not Ready for Prime Time!

[Kim Elmore]

On SSB, I have not noticed any audio distortion using RF AGC. 
However, using AF AGC, I note some audio distortion. I like a slow 
AGC for 'fone work; in addition to the other problems with the AF 
AGC, if I try to slow down the decay rate below 6 dB/s the AGC acts 
as if the decay rate jumps to some astronomical value and audio 
becomes very distiorted.

73,

Kim Elmore N5OP

At 09:44 PM 4/13/2010, you wrote:
>I keep hoping that it's something simple like a hiccup while I was flashing
>the new firmware, so I'm interested if anyone else finds the same things I'm
>finding in the behavior.
>
>             Ron  N6IE
>        www.N6IE.com
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Gene Henderson" <wb9hla at comcast.net>
>To: "Ron Castro" <ronc at sonic.net>; "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment"
><tentec at contesting.com>
>Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 7:26 PM
>Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion II v 2.042A: Not Ready for Prime Time!
>
>
> > Ron,
> > Looks like someone forgot to install this on a radio and see if it worked.
> > I agree with you
> > not even close to Prime Time
> > Gene WB9HLA
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Ron Castro" <ronc at sonic.net>
> > To: "Ron Castro" <ronc at sonic.net>; "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment"
> > <tentec at contesting.com>
> > Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 21:50
> > Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion II v 2.042A: Not Ready for Prime Time!
> >
> >
> >> Addendum to my post:  on problem #1, I'm referring to the RX audio.  TX
> >> audio (other than more drive needed and processor problem) still sounds
> >> broadcast quality.
> >>
> >>            Ron   N6IE
> >>       www.N6IE.com
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Ron Castro" <ronc at sonic.net>
> >> To: <tentec at contesting.com>
> >> Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 6:41 PM
> >> Subject: [TenTec] Orion II v 2.042A: Not Ready for Prime Time!
> >>
> >>
> >>> Here are a list of problems I found right off with the v. 2.042A, even
> >>> after doing a battery reset and two master resets and memory clear:
> >>>  1.. Very noticeable distortion on all audio.  Sounds like overdrive in
> >>> IF
> >>> or DSP section.
> >>>  2.. AGC hang in AF AGC.  S-meter goes up and never comes down!  At same
> >>> time, RF gain goes down and does not come back up.  If you manually turn
> >>> the RF Gain all the way to 0, then back up to 100, the radio is
> >>> essentially muted.  This will not happen if the "AGC Hang" setting is 0,
> >>> but then distortion is really bad.
> >>>  3.. NR does not work in AF AGC mode.  Does seem to work well in RF AGC
> >>> mode.
> >>>  4.. Much more audio drive needed on AUX input for SSB.  It looks like
> >>> about 10 dB more.
> >>>  5.. AM carrier= 1.25 Watts max!  That's at 100% PWR setting.
> >>>  6.. FM carrier= 6.4 Watts max.
> >>>  7.. SSB Speech Processor gives only around 50 Watts max peak output.
> >>> You
> >>> can get it up to 100 Watts when you crank it to "way beyond reasonable
> >>> distortion".
> >>>  8.. Could not find any sort of S-Meter calibration
> >>> Here are the good points so far:
> >>>  1.. Side tone is louder and spot level is too.
> >>>  2.. Waterfall display is much improved.
> >>>  3.. Difference in frequency between Main and Sub improved, but still
> >>> not
> >>> "phase locked".  I detect about 0.1 Hz differential which should make it
> >>> fine for true diversity antenna work.
> >>>  4.. In RF AGC mode, the NR really does seem improved, although it's
> >>> hard
> >>> to tell with the audio distortion mentioned above.
> >>> So that's the good, the bad and the ugly of it!  I'm QSYing back to v.
> >>> 2.039d, the last one that worked right...
> >>>
> >>>            Ron  N6IE
> >>>       www.N6IE.com
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> TenTec mailing list
> >>> TenTec at contesting.com
> >>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
> >>>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> TenTec mailing list
> >> TenTec at contesting.com
> >> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > TenTec mailing list
> > TenTec at contesting.com
> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
> >
>
>_______________________________________________
>TenTec mailing list
>TenTec at contesting.com
>http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec