The Orion has three types of delay when returning to from transmit mode
to receive mode:
1) VOX Hang
2) CW QSK Delay
3) EXT T/R Delay
These three types of delay make the Orion quite versatile in this
respect, but it can possibly lead to some confusion for the new Orion
owner.
Vox Hang is straightforward because it is only active in the SSB mode,
i.e., it has no effect on CW delay. The VOX Hang setting is adjustable
in the VOX menu from 0.00 sec to 10.00 sec in 0.01-second increments.
CW QSK Delay is used for those who use QSK and/or use amplifiers that can
work QSK and use the TX OUT/TX EN jacks to key their amplifier. CW QSK
Delay is adjustable from 0% to 100% in the CW menu.
EXT T/R Delay (this actually is a "hang") is for those (like me) that
don't have a QSK-capable amplifier and must use the AMP 1 KEY jack to key
their amplifier (or the AMP 2 KEY jack). EXT T/R Delay is adjustable
from 0% to 100% in the TX menu.
Why Ten-Tec used "%" instead of "sec" for CW QSK Delay and EXT T/R delay
is beyond me. For both of these, it appears that "0%" is the same as
"0.0 sec" and "100%" is about the same as "0.50 sec".
I found that setting the EXT T/R Delay to 50% was about right for me, but
I noticed that the receiver would recover much faster than the amplifier
would unkey. Because of the quick receiver recovery, slight clicks could
be heard in the headphones when sending CW. It became apparent that this
was because the Orion was using QSK even though the amplifier was staying
keyed for about 0.25 seconds. The "cure" for this was to set the QSK
delay (the factory default is 0.00 sec) 50% to match the EXT T/R Delay.
For you guys who use QSK amplifiers there should be no confusion. For
those who use non-QSK amplifiers, set both the CW QSK Delay (in the CW
menu) and the EXT T/R Delay (in the TX menu) to match each other and
things will be ok.
Someone on the reflector mentioned he had key clicks in his sidetone.
Maybe this post can help.
73, de Earl, K6SE
|