[TenTec] Orion III Survey

[Jim M.]

Panel is fine. My only complaint is that the Auxiliary audio has neutral on the rear requires more drive than my USB sound device can produce (US Navigator).  I had to insert an audio amp in line to get enough signal.  This with the Aux input gain set to maximum in the menus. 

Now some ideas:

Keep the DSP firmware but go to a more modern TMS320xxx family DSP chip (or whatever it is) to provide more "headroom" for added functionality.  The current 320 version in the O2 appears to be maxed out.  

Ideally you would use the same firmware in all future radios so you don't have to maintain a different version for each radio platform. Apple has only ONE OS for iPhones and iPads. Use that model. That means a stable architecture foundation. 

The current "no nonsense" approach to operator controls is best in my opinion. Your competitors are busy adding bells, whistles, touch screens, etc. to their line of radios and then calling it an improvement. It's not.  It's nothing but eye candy to reel in another geek. And it adds. Let. I probably use only 10% of the O2 front panel functions in day to day operation.  Keep it simple.  

A USB port instead of the antiquated RS-232 would be good. 

Don't go down the direct sampling rabbit hole, just because it's sexy and claimed to be so-called "state of the art". The dynamic range and quantization requirements of a suitable A/D converter could be a problem, without adequate front end Preselectors.  Continue to do filtering and processing at IF.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 

And one last idea:  modern digital waveforms like M110a and others are now being used by hams in MARS, and may become legalized by the FCC. These are "wide and" 3 kHz bandwidth waveforms.  They are also used by commercial, military and maritime services. There's a whole new customer base.  Provide plug in DSP options (or processor headroom) whereby firmware for advanced waveforms could be hosted internally.

God luck,
Jim N4BE

Sent from my iPad