[TenTec] Orion 2 Firmware 2.043B Released

[Rsoifer at aol.com]

Opinions seem to vary on the NR.  I find that if I set AGC to Slow,  AGC 
Slope to 1:10 and NR to 9, the popping is reduced somewhat.
 
Another issue is that power output on AM is only 11 watts.  That  problem 
had existed with some earlier versions of firmware, but 2.041XT fixed  it..  
Now it's back.
 
73,
 
Ray W2RS
 
 
In a message dated 6/4/2010 3:37:11 P.M. GMT Standard Time, w5pny at w5pny.com 
 writes:


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



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