[TenTec] Orion 565 Main Receiver Issue

art N4UC n4uc at hotmail.com
Sat Mar 22 11:14:42 EDT 2014 

Sorry. Never uploaded anything to youtube before. Maybe this will work...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=287q99crPjY.

73, Art/ N4UC

> From: prosolar at sssnet.com
> Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 00:05:25 -0400
> To: tentec at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion 565 Main Receiver Issue
> 
> art,
> 
> your youtube video says private 
> 
> Mike, WB8VGE
> SunLight Energy Systems
> The Heathkit Shop
> http://www.theheathkitshop.com/
> J e e p
> o|||||||o 
> 
> A man with one clock knows what time it is. A man with two clocks is never sure. 
> 
> 
> 
> On Mar 22, 2014, at 12:00 AM, art N4UC <n4uc at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> > I de-mated, cleaned, and re-seated all connectors, both the TMP coax as well as board connectors to the backplane.  No joy, situation unchanged. Then I resorted to the old fashioned push and jiggle test on all the boards and connections. Again no luck. 
> > 
> > For what it's worth I uploaded a crude video to youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=287q99crPjY&feature=em-upload_owner) showing the problem in real life. The video begins with a cw signal being received by the SUB receiver and then I bring up the audio of the same signal on the MAIN Rcvr.  Keep in mind this is happening on 20M only. 
> > 
> > Any comments or thoughts are welcomed. In the meantime, I brought the old TS-940 down off the shelf. I'd forgotten how heavy those old radios were!
> > 
> > 73, Art   
> > 
> >> From: Rick at DJ0IP.de
> >> To: tentec at contesting.com
> >> Date: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 12:26:10 +0100
> >> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion 565 Main Receiver Issue
> >> 
> >> The original "pre-production" Eagles did not have gold contacts either.
> >> Carl, you probably had one of these, as did Bob and I.
> >> I later sent mine back to the factory and had the motherboard swapped, so
> >> now I have gold contacts too.
> >> 
> >> ALL PRODUCTION UNITS HAD GOLD CONTACTS, so if you bought an Eagle, don't
> >> worry!  Yours has gold contacts.
> >> 
> >> I doubt we will ever see any non-gold contacts again from these two
> >> companies.
> >> 
> >> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> >> (Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
> >> 
> >> 
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Carl
> >> Moreschi
> >> Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2014 1:42 AM
> >> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> >> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion 565 Main Receiver Issue
> >> 
> >> Elecraft had the same problem with the K3.  But they now do a free upgrade
> >> to gold contacts.
> >> 
> >> Carl Moreschi N4PY
> >> 58 Hogwood Rd
> >> Louisburg, NC 27549
> >> www.n4py.com
> >> 
> >> On 3/19/2014 8:08 PM, Bob McGraw - K4TAX wrote:
> >>> It's not only related to Tentec products or Orion radios. For years 
> >>> I've dealt with service and maintenance on products costing 5X to 10X 
> >>> or more of what the Orion's. cost. These products have been found to 
> >>> have the same issues. Some interconnection methods are better or worse 
> >>> than others. It is a matter of cost vs. space along with a few other
> >> factors.
> >>> 
> >>> Just exercise the connectors, clean the pins and apply a very small 
> >>> amount of contact cleaner. It will serve you well until next time.
> >>> 
> >>> 73
> >>> Bob, K4TAX
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carl Moreschi" 
> >>> <n4py3 at earthlink.net>
> >>> To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec at contesting.com>
> >>> Sent: Wednesday, March 19, 2014 3:16 PM
> >>> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion 565 Main Receiver Issue
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>>> The Orion and Orion II have shown a history of problems related to 
> >>>> corrosion building up on the cable connections in the radio. These 
> >>>> connections should have been gold plated but they are not. In 
> >>>> particular, the cable connections behind the front panel have over 
> >>>> 100 connections. Many times the solution is to remove the front 
> >>>> panel, which is not at all difficult, and unplug the cables, spray 
> >>>> them with a contact cleaner, and then while they are still wet, plug 
> >>>> them in and out 10 times or more to clean them. This fixed all the 
> >>>> intermittent problems on my Orion. And with so many connections, 
> >>>> almost any symptom is possible.
> >>>> 
> >>>> Carl Moreschi N4PY
> >>>> 58 Hogwood Rd
> >>>> Louisburg, NC 27549
> >>>> www.n4py.com
> >>>> 
> >>>> On 3/19/2014 3:38 PM, art N4UC wrote:
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> Here's a brain teaser for all you Orion experts. My 565 running ver
> >>>>> 3.032 has developed a couple of problems that I was hoping would be 
> >>>>> a firmware issue but it's looking more and more like a hardware 
> >>>>> problem. I'm looking for some ideas about where to start 
> >>>>> troubleshooting.
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> In a nutshell the two problems (which may just be different symptoms 
> >>>>> of one problem) are these:
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 1. All signals received by the main rcvr on 20M only are extremely 
> >>>>> garbled and distorted. This condition is not dependent on mode and 
> >>>>> all other receiver functions such as S-meter operation, AGC, BW and 
> >>>>> PBT functions seem to be unaffected. Operation of the sub-receiver 
> >>>>> is normal. One interesting note is that a signal disappears when I 
> >>>>> engage the hardware NB, which is probably just an indicator that the 
> >>>>> NB thinks it's seeing noise and just doing its job.
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 2. When both VFO's display the same frequency, there is a difference 
> >>>>> in received frequency between the two receivers. This is present 
> >>>>> regardless of band, but the difference is not the same from band to 
> >>>>> band. The worst I've noticed is 200 hz offset on 20M, but other 
> >>>>> bands exhibit 50-100 hz delta between the receivers in spite of 
> >>>>> displaying the same frequencies. It doesn't matter how the two 
> >>>>> receivers arrive at the same frequency, either by pressing the A>B 
> >>>>> button or configuring both Main and Sub recvrs to be controlled by
> >> VFO-A.
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> This all came on as an intermittent condition. I would notice that 
> >>>>> during operation on 20M, received signals would suddenly jump by
> >>>>> 100-200 hz and I would have to re-tune to get back on frequency. I 
> >>>>> was assuming that the transmitted frequency was jumping as well, but 
> >>>>> I haven't verified that as yet. Anyway, after the "jump" occurred, 
> >>>>> the signals would sound warbly and quivery (technical terms for 
> >>>>> "trashy"). No matter their signal strength they sounded watery like 
> >>>>> they were coming from over the North Pole. If I were to select a 
> >>>>> different band and then return , the receiver would "slide" a few 
> >>>>> hertz back onto frequency before settling.
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> I have
> >>>>> sometimes noticed that just before this would happen there would be 
> >>>>> a rise in noise level, like precipitation static. While the rcvr is 
> >>>>> off-frequency, there is a lot of noise/hash that is in sync with 
> >>>>> other signals some as far away as 50 khz. It resembles being at 
> >>>>> field day in close proximity to several transmitters. Even though 
> >>>>> they are way out of the bandpass of the filters and too far away to 
> >>>>> hear a cw tone, I can copy them by listening to the hash.
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> I have re-flashed the firmware and performed a few master-resets, 
> >>>>> etc... with no change. The problem is no longer intermittent and I'm 
> >>>>> looking for ideas while I decide how much $$$ I want to put into 
> >>>>> repairing a really fine, but old, radio.
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 73, Art/N4UC
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> 
> >>>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>>> TenTec mailing list
> >>>>> TenTec at contesting.com
> >>>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
> >>>>> 
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> TenTec mailing list
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> >>>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
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