Interesting rig.
I will say one thing for Icom... that display sure is nice looking. And it
sure presents information clearly.
<FLAME PANTS ON>
I'm sure I'm going to be attacked en masse... but IMO comparing the Orion
display to that of the 7800 (which I just spent the past few minutes
comparing photos from the link below and from the Ten-Tec website) makes the
Orion look downright primitive. Quite frankly, the Orion's display needs
some serious help both in fonts and in layout.
Here's an example of how the 7800 has a clearer interface than the Orion:
- I _believe_ that the Orion's VFO A is set to 14.270 MHz USB, while VFO B
is set to 14.021.620 MHz CW (lower sideband). I believe that VFO A is
assigned to the main receiver while VFO B is assigned to the subreceiver.
(I _thought_ that each receiver had two VFOs, but the interface doesn't
indicate this.) After staring at the Orion's screen for a few minutes, I
guess that the numbers and abbreviations around the edges apply to the
closest button status. I have no idea which VFO the bandscope applies to
(I'll assume it's VFO A). There's three bar graphs in the display... (or
are there two?)... and I assume that the two smaller ones indicate signal
strength while the larger one above the rightmost small one is a volume
barcode of sorts(?)... or perhaps the two small bar graphs are volume while
the large one is the S-meter.
In other words, as a guy who likes Ten-Tec and a person who understands what
each control on a complicated rig is supposed to do... I have a hard time
looking at the screen and figuring out what is what. This is primarily
because the interface layout is not clear... and that I do not immediately
understand it is NOT my fault but is instead the fault of the
person/people/committee that laid out the screen.
- Contrast this to the 7800 display, where it is EASY to see which receiver
is using which antenna, what the pre-amp, attenuator, and AGC settings are
for each receiver, what the S-meter is reading for each receiver, which
receiver the bandscope applies to (as well as a histogram display for the
bandscope), etc.
The 7800's display shows the value of color. It also shows the value of
choosing good fonts (the frequency settings are MUCH clearer due to the font
chosen over the Orion). In short, it shows much better UI design.
The Orion has one advantage (I believe)... and that is the fact that its
software can be upgraded in the field (something that is not mentioned for
the 7800). I think it would behoove Ten-Tec to make the investment and put
considerable effort in redesigning the display so it as at LEAST as
attractive as that on the 746 PRO.
Here's an even better idea for Ten-Tec: why don't you redesign the UI so
that end users can come up with their own display interface, by creating a
toolkit with basic barcode, text, and numeric displays, assigning IDs for
each necessary item (or having the display interface handle missing items
gracefully), and letting the end user use a resource editor (perhaps even
creating a resource compiler that works on the Windows Resource Editor
dislog output). (Hint: I would be willing to be contacted to help with
this!)
I have no doubt but that the Orion is a fine rig. I have given some serious
thought to ordering one. But... why can't it have a fine-looking display?
I'm afraid I see the history of Japanese ascendence over US manufacturers
being repeated all over again when I look at these two rigs side-by-side.
The American manufacturer has cutting-edge technology... but the Japanese
manufacturer outsells it because they have taken the time to make a rig that
looks as good or better than it performs. Ten-Tec needs to be the Apple of
ham radio (and note that Apple still has a platinum case)... otherwise they
risk being beaten by a company that has developed what they perceive to be
an Orion-killer and that intends to be the Sony of ham radio (Icom).
- jgc
John Clifford KD7KGX
Heathkit HW-9 WARC/HFT-9/HM-9
Elecraft K2 #1678 /KSB2/KIO2/KBT2/KAT2/KNB2/KAF2/KPA100
Ten-Tec Omni VI/Opt1
Alinco DR-605TQ
Icom T90A
email: kd7kgx@arrl.net
|