> they have included yet a fourth processor,
> >and maybe even another rcvr, just for the sweep scan
> >display!
And of course, it isn't free, so there must be some customer demand driving the
need to provide a high res (essentially) spectrum analyser (??)
> Once upon a time when I had a Heathkit SB-301 and SB-401, both purchased
> already built from separate parties, I got a SB-620 ....Overall it was kinda
> fun to play with..
I'm of the same opinion. Fun to play with, but not terribly useful in a
practical sense. I rarely turned the scope on on my IC-781, except to verify
that what sounded like a dead band was or was not. Weak signals tended to be
too buried in the noise fuzz to pick out on the scope, and I didn't need it for
the strong ones. I tried in vain many times to use it as a way to find the
weak DX that was being called by all of the 60 over S-9 overprocessed signals,
and gave up the display for the rather crude approach of tuning and listening.
The transmit display was even less useful. On the other hand, it kept the
lower half of the screen from setting a burn :-)
While I can't disagree with some of the comments about the Orion spectrum
display, it's hard to get excited about it.
There were some early rumors that the DragonBall in the Orion could be
underpowered. I'm beginning to believe that may be (fuzzily) the case, but
relative to what is an open question. You have to ask what you think it should
be doing for you? Is a radio a radio or a PC running
Unix/Linux/Windoze/whatever with a peripheral that does some RF stuff? I
prefer to keep the PC the PC and the radio the radio. It's easier to deal with
that way. And the speed of the control processor doesn't help the RF end of
the radio in the least.
The good news and bad news is that modern "radio" technology (by that I mean
DSP processing power and control processing power) is changing at rates that
far exceed the ability of the manufacturers to keep up in delivered product.
The Orion control board and even the unreleased IC-7800 were probably cast in
stone with specific chip types and clock speeds quite some time ago. By the
time even the 7800 makes it to the street, the four DSP's could likely be
replaced by two at half the cost, and the control engine(s) likewise will
appear "underpowered" as new applications emerge. The rumored on-board PSK-31,
etc. capability of the 7800 may be outmoded entirely by the decoding
requirements of the "new" digitial technology du jour sometime during it's
useful life. The ascii "reader" technology in the IC-781 with it's (as I
recall) 32 character line was obsolete by the time I bought mine a year after
the radio's release, and really even sooner. And so forth.
And there will always be something better on the horizon .. no matter what box
one currently has sitting on the desk .. :-)
The interesting thing about the post that started this thread, is that most of
the "issues" tend to fade into the woodwork after a while. For example, what
does one need to record in a voice keyer that runs for 15 seconds? That's a
lot of time to be repeating CQ TEST. (I'd just as soon do away with voice
keyers all together, but I'm sure to be outvoted on that one :) ... There are
some things about the screen display that could be adjusted, and I noticed them
once upon a time and never see them any more.
There are some things that need attention, however. It is about time for a new
Orion release .. and like everyone, I have my personal list of favorites for
things I hope get adjusted .. just so I don't have to send a whining note to
Ten-Tec :-)
Grant/NQ5T
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