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

Wed Apr 14 10:58:50 PDT 2010

They probably should have released this as a beta first.  In fact, I wish TT 
would return to the days when they had volunteer beta testers in the field 
to give them valuable feed-back.

            Ron  N6IE
       www.N6IE.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Wes Attaway (N5WA)" <wesattaway at bellsouth.net>
To: "'Ron Castro'" <ronc at sonic.net>; "'Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment'" 
<tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 10:42 AM
Subject: RE: [TenTec] Orion II v 2.042A: Not Ready for Prime Time!

> It sounds like TenTec has someone "new" working with the software and who
> doesn't have a firm grasp of what is going on.  It is definitely hard to
> understand why they released something with so many defects.
>
> There is obviously a lot of interaction between many of the functions so
> whoever is doing the programming would need to have a real good
> understanding of how the radio works.  They would also need to be able to
> turn the radio on and use it.  Based on user reports, it doesn't sound 
> like
> this is the case.
>
> All-in-all, it is a baffling situation.  It has to make everyone wonder
> about TenTec's commitment to the O and O-II.
>
> If the code and appropriate notes were released into the public domain 
> then
> maybe some of the users could do a better job.
>
>
> ------------------ Wes Attaway (N5WA) ------------------
> 1138 Waters Edge Circle - Shreveport, LA 71106
>    318-797-4972 (office) - 318-393-3289 (cell)
>        Computer Consulting and Forensics
> -------------- EnCase Certified Examiner ---------------
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]
> On Behalf Of Ron Castro
> Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 10:50 AM
> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion II v 2.042A: Not Ready for Prime Time!
>
> I'm glad we're only test piloting software and not airplanes, or I'd be a
> goner for sure!
>
>            Ron Castro
>  Chief Technical Officer
>     Results Radio, LLC
>                N6IE
>       www.N6IE.com
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <Rsoifer at aol.com>
> To: <ronc at sonic.net>; <tentec at contesting.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 7:34 AM
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion II v 2.042A: Not Ready for Prime Time!
>
>
>> Ron and others,
>>
>> Many thanks for your fine work.  After playing with 2.042A overnight,
>> I've
>> re-installed 2.041XT and will await T-T's next try.
>>
>> 73 Ray W2RS
>>
>>
>> In a message dated 4/14/2010 2:45:00 A.M. GMT Standard Time,
>> ronc at sonic.net
>> writes:
>>
>> 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
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>  _______________________________________________
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>>>  http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>>>
>>
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