[TenTec] Orion 1

[Michael Marx]

Hey guys,

I picked up an Orion 1 from an estate.  I knew the guy who owned it and it had been working a while ago, however, he hadn’t used it in quite a while.

When I hooked it up today, it did not work.  Here are some of the symptoms:  It takes a while to boot.  It always asks if I have the RX-366 installed and then it says “master reset completed”.  When it finally has booted, there is no receive.  Transmit works, but not correctly.  If I key the mic on USB or LSB, I just get a 100 watt carrier.  Closing the key doesn’t show any power output, but it does display the SWR.   

My thoughts are that the memory battery is bad.  This is an early Orion and I don’t think the original owner ever replaced the battery.  Do you guys agree or should I be looking at something else?  I don’t know if Ten Tec is selling parts like this yet.  I emailed them and I’m waiting for an answer.  My understanding, from reading the Ten Tec Wiki, is that I may be able to order the battery from DigiKey?  

Thanks in advance for the help.

73,
Mike WB0SND


Michael Marx
sndtubes at vacuumtubes.com
636-939-9190