[TenTec] Orion II repair

[Howard Smith]

Hi Gary,
I wonder if one of the keys may be stuck in the 'pressed' state.  I did 
an experiment, and if I press and hold a key, then none of the small 
encoders will work, but the VFO encoders still work.  Also, the small 
encoders will the update when I release the key that I pressed.

While this does not track with you statement that changing the CPU board 
fixes the problem, it does duplicate your problem.  While it is tedious, 
you may try this with every key, and discover that it does not happen 
with some key.  That key may be the problem.

You might also look at the connectors between the CPU board and the 
Keypad board.  Maybe a little deoxit on those pins would help.

Finally, try sending the serial string '?V<cr>' while it is in its 
problem state. It should reply with the following text: "Version 
3.032x7b-565<cr>".  This can be easily done using a terminal emulator 
program like PUTTY.  When I tried this on my Orion 2, the string 
appeared even though a key was pressed.  Yes, I know, the test was not 
on the Orion, but the two radios are virtually identical in both 
hardware and firmware for the test.

Hope this thought helps.

73..
Howard, WA9AXQ