[TenTec] Orion 2 Firmware 2.043B Released

[Harry G McGavran Jr]

For me, there are two problems with 2.043B, one affects me
in only a minor way, the other is a major nuisance.

I live in a rural area where I rarely need NB or NR, so the
minor nuisance is the way NR works now.  The popping does
get worse with higher atmospheric noise levels, but with the
NR off it's not a problem.  I've never had enough man-made
noise to warrant running the NR very high.  

The interesting thing is though, that the side-tone is
subject to the same popping even with NR off, if the
side-tone level is set higher than 30.  What's really
interesting is that I can set the side-tone level higher and
not get the popping IF the atmospheric noise is LOWER.  With
really low background noise I can run the level up to almost
35 and not get any popping.  If I run it up to 50 or more
the side tone sounds absolutely horrible for all the
noise/popping generated with it.  This sounds like the same
stuff you get with NR set to low levels, but the side-tone
popping happens whether NR is on or off. 

The side-tone issue is the only one I've found that would
send me back to 2.039d, but it seems to be ok if I keep the
side-tone level at 30 or less.  That's really annoying as
the side-tone is a bit soft at that level -- but I think
I'll stick with 2.043B as I can manage this way until the
side-tone level issue get's fixed and I don't rely on NR
very often at all.  

Other things look fine so far -- I've managed to try to
exercise all the things I usually do and haven't noticed
anything else is a problem.  Something else may crop up, but
if not, I'll stick with this release until the next one.

I'm really happy to see the 10khz frequency offset markers
on the sweep.  Their absence in the previous releases after
2.039d were greatly missed!

	73 --
           Harry, W5PNY



-- 

Harry G. McGavran, Jr.

E-mail: w5pny at arrl.net