Let's get this out of the way. The most talked about experience at Dayton
was the rest room facilities (or lack & cleanliness thereof) so the less
said about that, the better.
Number two talked about: Rain Thursday. Cold Saturday & Sunday. Record Lows
(35 Sunday Morning) For those of us who had flea market spaces . . .
miserable.
Number three talked about: $ 5.00 for the Hamvention program, which nobody
was buying . . .
Now, on to Ten Tec:
I sneaked in early ( went in the side door while everyone was waiting in
line) and had a good look at the Orion and talked to Scott (about something
else) but was impressed by what I saw (my first viewing of the Orion) . . .
not interested in the qrp rig, so ignored it. Bought the new speaker to
match my Omni V.9 (and got another Omni V while I was there, so there's
gonna be one up for sale soon).
The biggest problem I see with the Orion is probably the same problem they
"might" be having with the Jupiter . . . and that's competition . . . the
dealers were dropping their drawers on products in Dayton . . . Icom 706 for
less than $ 700 . . . free shipping / no tax . . . Yaesu 920 for around a
thousand . . .
Like it or not . . . not everyone cares about "specs" as most of the time,
most operators don't work anyone who is so far down in the mud, or QRMed on
each side that it doesn't matter that much. Sometimes it's fun just to play
with the rigs . . . and there's a lot of "playability" with the Japanese
rigs. They look good and they're fun to play with and when they want to,
the dealers, bolstered by specials from the manufacturers, drop their
prices to unload them . . . I suspect that if the 60 meter band becomes a
reality, the Japanese manufacturers will be flooding the market with their
leftovers to make room for the new rigs with that band included.
I'm guessing that the best bet to try out an Orion would be at the TT
hamfest this September . . .
Just a couple of cents worth here . . .
73 de Rick, WQ8Q
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