I kind of Hijacked an earlier thread thinking it would be a great point for
discussion and maybe result in helpful feedback to all involved.
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JIm said:
We can thank the three major US manufacturers, Ten Tec, Elecraft, and
Flex Radio for top quality radios at affordable prices, many of them
"best in class."
73, Jim K9YC
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And I agree completely but would carry things a bit further. I think at some
point in every DXers life you reach a point where there are some personal
minimum requirements for a so called Top Tier DXers radio.
I know I certainly have reached that point with the following that I refuse to
do without:
Dual receivers. Not just dual-watch type of multiplex receive...which gets the
job done but doesn’t provide split headphone outputs so one can monitor the DX
in one ear and the pileup in the other. It’s nice that the two receivers have
the same specs but not completely necessary for me.
Split RX audio. Actually an extension of Dual Receivers. I DX under headphones
90% of the time and the split receive is a must on split frequency operations.
I think it makes full use of the processing power our brains have to offer as a
DSP filter of sorts...
Dual VFO knobs. I can do the toggle thing but why. The Orion system is ideal
and even better is having the remote VFO/Keypad set to the sub receiver and
next to the CW key. The remote VFO/Keypad is really a nice touch and seems to
be catching on as Icom has just introduced one. Again Ten-Tec leading the
industry. Not one of my minimums but again a nice touch.
Up to this point I have managed to eliminate Icom and probably Kenwood. The
IC7800 and the TS-990 are the only current rigs that meets the above spec and
Icom is way out of my price range...the Kenwood is on the high side for me as
far as pricing. (more on that later)
Knobs. I just can’t get excited about my radio being a mouse and a keyboard
and a computer screen. Now I don’t have issue with computer control of my
conventional rig but that is a bit different in that I use it to tune the rig
to spots and to collect data from the rig for population of fields in my
logging program. I still drive with the knobs.
Sorry Flex...
BIG Knobs. As we age it gets harder to see and sometimes dexterity suffers
making it difficult to manage tiny knobs placed so close together. Ten-Tec has
done a great job on this with the Orion.
BIG Radio’s. Front panel real estate is a must to keep from ending up with
tiny knobs, concentric knobs and multi layer menus resulting in many multi
function buttons and knobs. It’s too difficult to wade through all that in the
middle of a pileup or running in a contest. Besides this is a base station rig
that never leaves the shack. There is no good reason it shouldn’t be sizable.
Elecraft is a bit small for me but...
Support. Well what can I say here...the best support is coming from the US
manufacturers. I’ve experienced the Japanese level of support and it wasn’t
fun so I don't really want to go there again. I can get decent support on Icom
because i’m friends with the local Icom dealer and he National sales manager
but again I can’t justify $13K for a 7800. That pretty much leaves Elecraft
and Ten-Tec and the Elecraft is a bit on the small side for a base radio to my
likings but it does perform and is supported well.
All this and affordable: Well what about price.... Needs to be under 5 to 6K
for a top tier rig for me to begin to justify it with the features mentioned.
The sad part is that pretty much eliminates all the current top tier radio’s
but probably the Yaesu FT-5000 and Elecraft that meet my personal minimums but
I’ve not been happy with Yaesu support and their current product line and
direction so I won’t buy their products. Were back to Elecraft and Ten-Tec. I
already own an Orion II...the decision based on the above clearly but the Orion
has been discontinued. So if I didn't own the Orion and was having to make a
purchase decision.... Things would be pretty much the same...I would search
out a nice used example of the Orion II. There is really no other choice for
the way I operate and the features I’ve deemed a personal minimum.
The question is what does the future hold for guys like us?
Who knows but I am glad I have the Orion II...it should serve for many years
along with the Centurion it’s paired with...till we get a glimpse of what’s to
come.
Of course this is subjective and YMMV so don’t beat me up too bad....
Cecil Acuff
Gulfport MS
K5DL
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