[TenTec] What Radio?

[Rsoifer at aol.com]

Although Bill was writing about the original Orion, he has pretty well  
summed up the wish list for an Orion III (or Orion II MkII):
 
1.  Sub RX identical to the main RX
 
2.  First IF output with no user mods required
 
3.  Timely firmware support
 
T-T, are you listening?
 
73 Ray W2RS
 
 
 
In a message dated 8/31/2011 2:37:52 P.M. GMT Standard Time,  
btippett at alum.mit.edu writes:

K8AC:

> Anyone who believes that the K3 is an overall  better rig than the 
Orion II probably hasn't tried an Orion  II.

I was an original Orion owner for  4 years and much prefer 
the K3 for the following reasons:

1.   The K3's sub-RX is identical to its Main and close-spaced IMD 
performance  is much better (~30 dB better) than Orion's sub-RX.  In 
crowded  conditions such as major CW contests, Orion's sub-RX becomes 
unusable  because of the IMD birdies.  -65 dB at 2 kHz (ARRL 
measurement) puts  it in the same league as an FT-2000 (ugh!).

2.  Orion's sub-RX is  not truly phase-locked in diversity mode.  This 
creates a  fixed  2-6 Hz warble between channels depending on the 
unit.  I use  diversity nearly all the time on the low bands and the 
K3's implementation  is excellent.  The only other rig with true 
phase-locked diversity is  the Flex 5000.  BTW the Yaesu FT-5000 has 
similar diversity issues as  Orion since it also uses non-identical 
receivers.

3.  Firmware  support on the Orion's v1 firmware became non-existent 
with the  introduction of Orion II's v2 firmware.  Many original Orion 
users  found v2 was inferior to v1 (well-documented on this 
list).   Hopefully support has improved since John Henry (kudos!!!) 
took over from  Gary Barbour but meanwhile Elecraft has set a high 
standard for firmware  support.

4.  Orion's internal spectrum display is poor compared to  alternative 
options.  Here's a short video showing the combination I  use (IF 
Out > LP-PAN > Audiophile 2496 soundcard > CW Skimmer)  which cost 
~$375 (excluding  computer):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZDXuOgUQJ0

Blind  Skimmer mode for very rapid S&P as above is legal for 
unassisted  contest categories.  Outside of contests its "599" mode is 
amazing  for busting large pileups.  I recently used this to snag ST0R 
for  #332 on Topband and never even listened to the pileup!  I just  
clicked latest "599" decoder dot which sent my K3's TX to that QRG 
and  ST0R was in the log...so easy I almost felt guilty!

In summary, I believe Orion's Main RX is one of the best  
there is.  You'll never notice the difference between it and other  
top rigs.  However if you use the Sub-RX in crowded conditions, need  
a high performance spectrum display or are concerned about timely  
firmware support, there may be better choices.

73,  Bill  W4ZV  

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