[TenTec] Orion Review

[Bill Tippett <btippett@alum.mit.edu>]

Hi Yuri!

        Nice job on your review.  Here are some initial comments
which you can do with as you wish.  I feel some of the issues
(especially tuning step size) may depend on how different ops
use Orion, so I'm publicly posting these for others to see.

<Lamps illuminating the meter are LED yellowish type

        Am I the only one who loves this color?  To me it
reminds me of the warm light of vintage meters using bulbs.
How about you or someone with an HP 8640B (or equivalent)
Sig Gen providing calibrated dBm equivalents for S-meter
readings, preamp on and off?

<There is no provision to set the side tone to particular level and have it 
stay there during the transmit. It will fluctuate with main volume setting 
(ouch!)

        I have truly not noticed this problem.  Orion's AGC is
so good I am left wondering why anyone needs to change
AF Gain much once it is set correctly.  I CAN see the need to
mute sidetone completely to avoid operator fatigue in lengthy
contests, but you can do that by simply setting S-TONE to zero.

>The CW connector requires stereo 1/4" plug for either key, keying line 
from the computer, or paddle for internal keyer.

        Your comment applies to the front panel only.  Other
options are available on the rear.  (Direct KEY paddle input
on the rear using 1/8" stereo plug, plus AUX I/O which
allows computer/external keyer inputs in parallel (with a phono
Y into the supplied cable).  Thus there is NO need for any
key input to the front panel.  You can key Orion from 3
different sources simultaneously...external keyer, computer
or internal keyer.  BTW, my headphones are always plugged
in to the front panel jack, and slightly disengaged if I want to
listen on the speaker (very seldom do this).  Thus I have never
experienced the problem of plugging my CW key into the Phone
jack.

>TT recommended a fix for steady tone leakage during receive is to insert 
resistors in the leads. That is more of a masking of the problem rather 
than a fix. It seems weird that a $3.6k radio can't have audio circuits 
feeding "normal" headphones

        I use old Heil Pro-Sets and have NEVER heard any
tone leakage in my August vintage Orion.  Surely these are
the most "normal" contest/DX headphones in the world.

>I found that when turning the knobs while doing fine tuning at slow 
speeds, the knobs have a jerky feel to them.

        After initially adjusting the drag which took about
10 seconds, I have never noticed this problem.  Mine freely
spin if I need to do that.

>Most operators will probably find the maximum setting of FAST and 10Hz 
steps most practical, and simply accept some tone jumping in 10 Hz steps 
when tuning slowly across the CW signals.

        10 Hz is what I use for S&P, and I have not noticed problems.
I've been thinking about this issue and suspect it is because I use very
wide BW settings (>1 kHz) when dong S&P.  If you try to use 100
Hz BW, 10 Hz steps and attempt to tune rapidly, you will surely have
problems!  ;-)  Here is what works for me in RUN and S&P modes
for CW (note for SSB, I use 10 Hz for Run and toggle X10 to 100 Hz at
nominal 2000 Hz BW when doing S&P):

Mode            BW              Step            Enc Rate
RUN             500-1000        1-10            Fast
S&P             1000-2000       10              Fast

1.  I seldom adjust VFO much in RUN (for 1 Hz Step, 1/2 knob turn =
125 Hz) and I use my brain's DSP to separate signals.
2.  To switch to S&P mode, I simply toggle VFO A for X10 mode (10
Hz steps) and widen BW significantly.  I find I can scan rapidly and do
not feel I'm tuning past signals.
3.  To go back to RUN, I toggle VFO A again (1 Hz steps) and narrow
BW back to <1000 Hz.

I feel the key here is to consider BW in addition to Step size and
Enc Rate.  I personally cannot imagine trying to rapidly scan across a
band with any less than 1000 Hz bandwidth in CW.

>Above the VFO A there are six knobs, that are used as operating optical 
encoders.

        You missed several features enabled by depressing these 
knobs.  Depressing
Multi when in AGC Menu resets factory defaults, depressing PBT/BW resets
PBT = 0, depressing RIT/XIT resets to 0, depressing AF Gain knobs mutes 
audio of
VFO A and VFO B, etc.  There may be others I have not discovered!

>In the top right hand corner there is a keypad serving as band selector 
and numeric keypad for entering the frequency.

        You omitted the 4 band-stacking memories per band.  This is very
useful for DX'ers to store favorite mode/frequency/BW settings per band, or
an alternative (more friendly?) way for a contester to save pileup frequencies
in contests (same modes but different frequencies).  BTW, I've never
bothered to learn Orion's memory functions, but I never used them in the MP
either.

        Nice job so far and please take the above as constructive comments.
Looking forward to the remainder of your review!

                                                73,  Bill  W4ZV





_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec