[TenTec] Orion 2 Firmware 2.043B Released

[Steven Kline]

I loaded the new release yesterday and played with it for half a day.

I am also observing issues with the NR operation.  My observation - regardless of whether NR is set to 1 or 9, when it is selected, my audio either for cw or ssb is distorted to the point that it is virtually non-readable.  No argument that with the NR selected the noise level is extremely reduced, however, the distortion to the audible component regardless of setting makes the feature unusable on my radio.  I used standard (default) AGC settings for slow, medium, and fast, and played with programming some variable agc levels as well with no change in the distortion result. 

That is the only significant issue that I have discovered at this point, and most of my time exploring the new load was with the NR feature, trying to get rid of the audio distortion element.

Steve Kline - W5JK

On Jun 4, 2010, at 10:36 AM, Harry G McGavran Jr wrote:

> 
> 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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