Yes good post . The only negative I see with the Flex
Radio is the same as the Pegasus If you lose your
computer you lose your Radio.I think I would like an
Orion like Flex Radio with a front Panel.
73
John WB4QDA
--- Toby Pennington <toby423@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Yes, that was a good post, but makes me wonder if
> maybe most of us will
> transition to SDR rigs like the one put out by Flex
> Radio as it becomes a
> mature technology in the next few years. If the
> Orion is the end of a
> transition period and the next step is SDR rigs,
> then the logical step for
> Ten Tec is to get on board and get into the game.
>
> But Hey, lets get 2.0 working right first!
> Toby W4CAK
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <Able2fly@aol.com>
> To: <tentec@contesting.com>
> Cc: <lee_crocker@yahoo.com>
> Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2006 7:13 PM
> Subject: [TenTec] Orion & SDR1000 thoughts (GOOD
> post)
>
>
> >
> > Lee, that's the best post I've seen the two years
> I've been reading here.
> >
> > Thanks, Bill K3UJ
> > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> >
> > I have one Orion and two SDR-1000's. I've had
> the
> > Orion for 2 years, and at least 1 SDR for about 6
> > months.
> >
> > My experience is the SDR is a better weak signal
> > receiver than the Orion. I have the radios set up
> on
> > equivalent full size 80 and 40M vertical antennas.
> I
> > have the outputs of the rigs into a 3 channel
> stereo
> > mixer so I can play one radio into one ear the
> other
> > radio into the other ear, or I can have both
> radio's
> > in both ears and use the mutes to switch. The
> bottom
> > line is what you can hear.
> >
> > On CW the SDR is a slightly better radio. It is
> > quieter and it has better selectivity. In a
> recent
> > contest I was able to work 2 DX stations (s3 or
> so in
> > strength) in different parts of the world that
> were
> > 50hz apart, each being called by S9 plus 20
> american
> > stations. It was a very enlightening experience.
> In
> > other words there were 2 desired stations 50hz
> apart
> > with a variable number of american stations
> calling in
> > the picture. I was not able to do the same with
> the
> > Orion, but it was close. This represents in my
> > experience a very intense level real world
> experience,
> > something the ARRL numbers really don't address.
> >
> > In weak signal work without the limitations of
> strong
> > stations a few hz away the radios are closer in
> > performance. The SDR is quieter to listen to. It
> > reminds me of my old Paragon. It has a point and
> > shoot virtually real time band scope. That means
> I
> > can view about 30khz of a band on the scope in
> > panadapter mode and I can see signals that are
> > virtually in the noise. Coherent signals look
> > different than random noise. There is a cross
> hair
> > pointer that I can place over a signal and click
> and
> > the signal is centered in the passband of the
> > receiver. It is very easy to point and click
> signals
> > even into a 100hz passband. With a steady hand
> you
> > can do it into a 50hz passband but I find myself
> > "tuning" to center the signal if I use 50hz.
> >
> > The advantage of this is that you can cover a
> whole
> > segment of a band like the low end of 80 or 160
> with
> > just a couple dozen clicks. It is extremely
> efficient
> > having the panadapter and the point and shoot
> since
> > you are basically spending all your time
> listening to
> > where stations are and almost no time listening
> to
> > where stations are not.
> >
> > It is NOT a QSK cw radio by any streach of the
> > imagination. To send CW you need to use an
> external
> > side tone. It is virtually impossible to use the
> > internal side tone. To send adequate CW you need
> to
> > use an external keyer. Using my K-4 idiom press
> I can
> > transmit 60 wpm cw and receive in in another
> receiver
> > letter perfect. I use a 3.3ghz P4 and a presonus
> > firebox which is the high end of the
> > computer/soundcard needed. It is not nearly as
> > convienent as the Orion to use. The Orion
> behaves
> > like you would expect a radio to behave. The
> > interface in the SDR is a work in progress. The
> > controls that have been chosen in my opinion are
> not
> > the best that could have been chosen, like up
> down
> > boxed instead of sliders for volume for example,
> but
> > the advantage of a software defined radio is that
> it
> > is plastic. The code is presently being
> rewritten to
> > seperate the DSP and back end functions of the
> radio
> > (like the ALC AGC Frequency determining steps)
> from
> > the interface. This will allow the interface to
> be
> > readily changed to how ever you like.
> >
> > One cool thing about the SDR is that it gives you
> a
> > lab grade receiver. The "S meter" actually reads
> out
> > in dbm. It can be calibrated against a known
> source
> > (like 50mV for -73 dbm aka S9) and what you read
> is
> > like having a calibrated scope hooked up to your
> > antenna. I intend to combine it with N8LP's new
> phase
> > reading SWR bridge and software control and I
> will
> > have a transmitting network analyzer of pretty
> good
> > accuracy.
> >
> > The SSB signal is excellent, at least as good as
> the
> > Orion. When I check into my 75M round table the
> guys
> > tend to like the SDR audio better than the Orion
> > though they think both are excellent. I have a
> studio
> > quality condensor mic on the SDR and the TT 705
> on the
> > Orion.
> >
> > The noise blanker works better in the Orion.
> >
> > As far as "service" goes I have no quibble with
> Ten
> > Tec. They have taken good care of me over the
> years.
> > I used to chat with Al Kahn on CW almost every
> week
> > when I would mobile between Chicago and Champaign
> Il
> > on Fridays using my old 580 delta and we would
> talk
> > radios. He was always interesed in what I had to
> say.
> >
> >
> > SDR service is phenomonal. I have had long chats
> with
> > the company president, and he is interested in
> what I
> > have to say, so it kind of reminds me of TT 30
> years
> > ago. I have had a lot of help from the SDR
> reflector
> > community as well. The changes in the software
> are
> > far faster and far more extensive in terms of
> > performance improvement. One guy wrote a really
> good
> > routine to balance out the quadrature signals.
> It
=== message truncated ===
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