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
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