[TenTec] interesting eHam review

["Rob Atkinson, K5UJ" <k5uj@hotmail.com>]

eHam 7800 review with an interesting take on the Orion and 7800....

rob / k5uj

KY6R   	 Rating: 5/5  	 Jun 28, 2006 12:33
Superb (with a caveat)  	Time owned: 0 to 3 months
I kept my mouth shut during a recent divorce and received a windfall that 
afforded me this rig and a PW-1 Amplifier. I replaced an Orion and Titan III 
station - so I do have something that is also "the cats meow" to compare to.

I moved from a 5 acre antenna farm to a .33 acre wooded lot. I decided to 
get rid of the tuner and go with SteppIR BigIR vertical and a 2 element 
SteppIR Yagi on a Force-12 LPT-1242 crank up - all painted green and very 
much hidden in the redwoods.

Anyway back to the rig. I wanted 6M and the built in RTTY / PSK encoder / 
decoder and 200 watts (I used a Mark V and wire antennas with 200 watts or 
less to get 8BDXCC and 291 all time new one's - so only use an amp when I 
absolutely must). I started out as a die hard QRP-er way back when - oh well 
. .

The 7800 and PW-1 combo, along with the SteppIR antennas are the most fun 
station I have ever assembled. Bar none.

But, I must admit - the 7800's receiver is no better than the Orion 
(original Orion), in fact, I am quite sure that the Orion is a better 
receiver. This isn't a lab test - just the ears of a DX-er at 308 entities 
looking for new one's - the really rare ones where everyone and his kid 
brother and screaming for.

If I didn't care about RTTYand 6M and 200W I would have purchased the Orion 
II - that is THE best rig for the money at any price point!

But I have fallen in love with RTTY and love using 200 watts again - and the 
amp very little to work "all time new one's".

If you want value for the money - seriously look at the Orion II and Titan 
III. Or maybe wait until the 7800 starts selling on the used market.

But while I feel a little foolish - I must admit, I am having the time of my 
life with this station.

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