Art,
You won't be sorry getting the Orion II. I sure am not sorry I made the
change, even though I thought I was being foolish when I did it!! Even more
fun. Jack sure made a lot of nice points in his email. I agree fully with
each and every one of them. I hope to work many of you on your Ten Tec gear
eventually when the tower is back up. The old vertical just doesn't hold a
candle to the 4 element quad I got spoiled with before the crankup tower
crashed.......but that's another story for another reflector, hi. 73 all!
Don, WB5HAK
----- Original Message -----
From: "Art Lewis" <wa8vsj@ameritech.net>
To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2006 4:53 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Thank You Fellow Hams (World's longest post,
Warning,Multiple Topics)
> Jack
>
> I totally agree with your comments. Seems people like to nit pick this
> fine
> radio. I am operating the Orion 1 and expect to be using the O II within
> the
> next 24 months. I am still using 1.366 that was in the radio when I
> purchased it a few years back. No problems and it runs rings around my
> Yaesu
> FT 1000MP.
>
> I also buy American when I can. Main station is the Orion, Dentron 3000A
> tuner, Henry 3KD amp, Skyhawk tri bander and cushcraft A3WS with 30
> meters.
>
> Hope you get moved and back on the air soon
>
> 73 Art WA8VSJ
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jack Emerson" <w4tje@lexcominc.net>
> To: <tentec@contesting.com>
> Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2006 12:57 AM
> Subject: [TenTec] Thank You Fellow Hams (World's longest post,
> Warning,Multiple Topics)
>
>
>> Within the next couple of weeks, I will temporarily leave this reflector
>> while my family and I move to a new QTH.
>> When I joined this reflector over 3 years ago, I owned 1 Ten Tec amp. I
>> am
>> proud to tell any ham who will listen that I am taking with me to the new
>> shack 2 Ten Tec amps (Titan and Centaur), an Orion 2, a 238B Tuner, and
>> the
>> Ten Tec remote encoder.
>> So please, I ask you, put my name on the cult list.
>> 3 years ago, I operated 99% SSB, and 99% on 15 meters. I had not operated
>> CW since I passed my 20wpm exam in the early 90's. I still remember
>> telling
>> the examiner for that test that if he passed me, I would promise to never
>> operate CW again.
>> But after joining this reflector, it sure got the creative juices flowing
>> again. I still remember Tommy, W4BQF, talking about his QSO's at or near
>> 100 wpm, and thinking he was a nut. But you know what, it got me to
>> listening to CW again. And a funny thing happened, I put the pencil down,
>> and started at about 10wpm trying to copy it in my head. Now I'm up to 30
>> wpm in my head, actually more if the fist is good, and I am having the
>> time
>> of my life. I realize that CW is an art, and no dumbing down by the
>> powers
>> that be can kill it, as long as we continue to use it.
>> 3 years ago, I used a kenwood rig, and thought that Ten Tec was for CW
>> buffs only. But in recent years I had told Stan at Ten Tec that if they
>> would ever design a big radio to compete with the FT1000 series, that had
>> Kenwood's audio on SSB, I would consider it. They built it, and I lived
>> up
>> to my word, and boy am I glad I did.
>> I must say admit that 9-11 played a small role in this as well. After
>> 9-11,
>> I have tried my best to buy American made products as long as I believed
>> the product to be equal to the foreign competition. It's hard to explain,
>> but that's what I'm doing, and as long as my country is engaged in a war,
>> I
>> will continue to do this. So that partly explains my decision to purchase
>> the Orion, but it has nothing to do with how happy I am that I made that
>> decision.
>> Now here's some more random thoughts and acknowledgements for anyone that
>> is still awake:
>> Having used both the Orion and Orion 2 side by side for 3 weeks, I sold
>> the
>> Orion. I would have kept it, but I couldn't figure out a way to keep both
>> radios gainfully employed.
>> The Orion with the early software worked fine on SSB, but would
>> occasionally lock up on CW, especially if the sweep was on. I learned to
>> keep the sweep off, and never had any more problems.
>> The audio on the version 1.3xx software was better than anything I had
>> ever
>> heard on the air. So if ur a fan of great SSB audio, and you own the
>> Orion,
>> go back to that software if you think the audio was better in the early
>> releases.
>> The NR feature on the early software for the Orion was amazing. Under the
>> proper band condx and signal strength, I could listen to perfect received
>> audio with no background noise.
>> On the Orion 2, the NR feature sounds different, depending on who I am
>> listening to. On the Saturday morning QCWA net, for instance, the NR
>> feature brings out the audio for some stations, and they sound great,
>> while
>> other stations on the same net sound terrible with the NR on. So I would
>> say the NR is not broke, but it is different than the way it worked on
>> the
>> 1.3xx Orion software.
>> As for the audio, the Orion with 1.3xx software sounded perfect to me, as
>> I
>> said. But I worked AE4BC last Sunday, and his Orion 2 sounded just as
>> perfect to my ears as any Orion that I have heard. The audio settings on
>> the Orion 2 and the Orion with 1.3xx software are way different. Ten Tec
>> told me on the phone there was no difference, but I think they were
>> simply
>> wrong on that. However, once you find the proper settings, The Orion 2
>> sounds great, at least to me. Just 3 weeks ago, on 15m, a European
>> station
>> told me that the audio on my Orion 2 sounded better than the audio of the
>> 1.3xx Orion that was on frequency with me. At the same time, there have
>> been times when I have heard a rough edge on occasional words spoken on
>> Orion 2 radios. I don't know if it is coming from improper settings, rf
>> issues, or software issues. But I have heard it. But remember, when the
>> Orion came out, it took about 2 months before anyone figured out how to
>> properly tweak the audio on those rigs. I remember many a Sunday
>> afternoon
>> listening to Orion ops on the Ten Tec net marveling about their wonderful
>> new Orions, and thinking how for that kind of money, their audio sure did
>> sound very vanilla.
>> OK, here's my "thank you's"
>> W4BQF, Tommy, Yes I thought you were a nut, and I was wrong. Then I
>> thought
>> you were mean for disparaging the Orion. Then you and I started working
>> each other on the air, rather than arguing on the internet. I then
>> learned
>> what a patient cw op you were, and you helped me greatly. CW will never
>> come naturally to me, but it has come to me, and I am still plugging
>> away,
>> and you have played a major role in helping me. Tommy, I still have no
>> idea
>> at what speed you top out at, but I am in no position to dispute it. It's
>> fast.
>> N4LQ, Steve, another ham that I argued with here, who called me up on 80m
>> cw one evening and was as patient and courteous with me as could be.
>> N4TN, Don, runs circles around me on the bands because he is just a flat
>> out great CW op. As with Tommy and Steve, tnx for helping me along.
>> W4ZV, Bill, inspired me to try the low bands. Tnx to listening to ur
>> activities on 160m cw, I installed some beverages, put in some radials,
>> arose before the sunrise for 2 years, and finally worked a JA on 160m.
>> From
>> listening to you, I also learned that 25wpm is a good operating speed to
>> shoot for in cw contests when condx are marginal.
>> Additional kudos to WB4BQF and W4CAK.
>> But the biggest tnx goes to Ten Tec for their products. Ten Tec, you have
>> played the greatest role in the pure enjoyment of being on the air than
>> at
>> any time since I became a ham 29 years ago.
>> Finally, I hate to end on a sour note, so I will say this as nice as I
>> can.
>> The negative comments on this reflector do adversely affect sales for
>> this
>> company. 3 weeks ago, I received a telephone call from a ham who had just
>> received his Orion 2 that day. He was having trouble setting it up, so I
>> got on the air with him and we sorted it out. During the course of the
>> conversation, he told me that he had wanted for some time to buy an
>> Orion,
>> but after joining the reflector, all the negative comments about the
>> Orion
>> and Orion 2 had scared him to death. He said that if he had not heard me
>> on the air with mine, and W4WTB with his, he doubted that he would have
>> gone through with it.
>> Last week, he called me up and told me that he was absolutely amazed at
>> how
>> good this radio actually is. Having used the Orion 2 for a couple of
>> weeks,
>> he said that he still cannot understand the nit picking on the reflector.
>> I
>> told him to love the radio, but to tolerate the reflector.
>> I am only on 1 other reflector, but it seems that reflectors can be free
>> speech run amuck. I learned in the Marines the simple rule to compliment
>> in
>> public, but to criticize in private. When I have found issues with Ten
>> Tec
>> equipment, I picked up the phone and called them, or sent an e-mail to
>> dits
>> and bits. I didn't get on the reflector and have a nervous breakdown. It
>> works for me.
>> Lastly, here's a product that works wonderfully with the Orion series,
>> the
>> Six Pack by Array Solutions. If you have multiple antennas and/or 2 amps,
>> it is extremely handy.
>> 73 de Jack W4TJE
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> TenTec mailing list
>> TenTec@contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> TenTec mailing list
> TenTec@contesting.com
> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>
_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
|