|
New to Ham Radio?
My Profile
Community
Articles
Forums
News
Reviews
Friends Remembered
Speak Out
Strays
Survey Question
Operating
Contesting
DX Cluster Spots
Propagation
Resources
Calendar
Classifieds
Ham Exams
Ham Links
List Archives
News Articles
Product Reviews
QSL Managers
Site Info
eHam Help (FAQ)
Support the site
The eHam Team
Advertising Info
Vision Statement
About eHam.net
|
| Reviews Summary for Ten-Tec Orion II |
|
Reviews: 41
|
Average rating: 4.8/5
|
MSRP: $4295.00 With Internal Tuner
|
|
Description: Premium High-End HF Transceiver
|
|
More info: http://radio.tentec.com/
|
|
You can
write your own review of the Ten-Tec Orion II.
|
NA1A
|
Rating: 5/5
|
May 15, 2008 21:33
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Outstanding ESSB Radio
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
I first saw the Orion II up close (but not too personal) at the 2007 Dayton Hamfest. Recently, I was fortunate enough to purchase a second hand (6 months old) unit with the most current software. I spent two hours at the seller’s QTH evaluating this radio against his newly purchased Icom IC-7700. I tuned around on 20M and 17M, trying to find some weak signals to see how the two receivers compare to each other. I found a New England station in QSO with a station in the midwest. The New England was very weak with some fast and furious QSB. Both radios (Orion II and IC-7700) were able to pull that weak station from New England through with no problem. However, I noticed that the when New England station went into deep fades, the Orion II was able to capture him clearer than the IC-7700. Now, this did not mean that the IC-7700 could not pull that weak signal through, both rig were able to pull it through but the Orion II just had a better clarity, thus made the readability easier.
When I brought the Orion II home and hooked it up to my audio rack (I’m into Hi-Fidelity audio), this radio just came to life! The receiver was so smooth and quiet, it literally surpassed my Flex radio.
Coming from using the Flex Radio for more than three years, I find maneuvering through the menu in the Orion II a breeze. It definitely is different from any other radios that I have had in the past (FT-1000MP Mark V, FT-2000, FTDX-9000D, IC-765PRO III, TS-950SDX), but by no means to say that it is difficult. Like most if not all menu driven transceivers now a day, one needs to spend time to read the manual and get acquainted with the menus. There is simply no quick and easy way around it.
Some of the negatives comments I’ve heard from other Orion II owners such as, the transmitter was not good, the monitor audio was tiny. I’m pleasantly surprised with my Orion II that not only the transmit audio sounds fantastic, the monitor audio is dead on accurate as well.
I’m not into contesting nor DX-chasing, so my review shall omit on how the Orion II performs under those conditions. One thing I can tell you for sure is that this radio has a brick-walled front end. I put this radio to several tests on 75M where I have a neighboring ham who is very big into AM. He has big tube transmitters that runs KW easily and he runs wide AM broadcast quality audio. Worse yet, he is only five houses away from me. Every time this OM keys up, my 75M operating is pretty much gone. For several months, I was in the dog house with my Flex radio when this happened. I could not even hear anything even when I was 100KC away! Now with the Orion II, that problem is solved. I can copy the station whom I'm in QSO with even at 15KC away from my neighbor's big AM transmission. The Orion II is a real winner in this case.
I truly believe that there is no other tranceiver in the world today that can top the Orion II, even in the 5 digit dollar amount.
|
|
DL2AVC
|
Rating: 5/5
|
May 13, 2008 14:45
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Best Receiver around
|
Time owned: 3 to 6 months
|
|
I am using the Orion II for five month now. Before I was using an FT920 from Yaesu. Also a good radio but not comparable. The ORION II is totally different from japanese transceivers. There are good things and bad things on the ORION II. Bad thing is the building quality, especially tuningknobs. The receiver is the best I have ever had. To play with the roofing filters makes a lot of fun!! You have to know how to use the receiver for the best performance. This is from time to time a little bit tricky and difficult, so you have to learn and learn how to use the ORION. You can adjust so many things! The SSB audio is very good (HEIL Proset HC4). Other stations given me always very good audio reports. There where times I love the OII and there where times i hate it!!! All in all an transceiver with a very good performance.
|
|
K4TEN
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Mar 9, 2008 18:12
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great radio!!
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
The Orion II is a fantastic radio. It is great to use on Contest weekends. It has all the tools to work DX with. It is also great to rag chew with. It’s just an all around great radio.
Comments about rag chewing on the low bands: The radio has great tools for setting up good audio. It has adjustable bandwidth transmit width, adjustable rolloff, etc. Add some external audio gear and it will sound just as good as a TS-850 which is the standard rig for ESSB. Your neighbor that uses legal limit wont blow your receive out of the water. Tune button makes it very fast to tune up an amp or adjust an antenna tuner. I put my mic on a boom and set the Orion to use the paddles to key up with. Talk about flexibility! I really like my shack set up like this. The key is right beside my mouse and it is very easy to key up! VOX works well too if that is your style. It’s a GREAT rag chew rig!
Comments on working DX: The radio has great tools for working DX. You can assign any of 3 antennas to either VFO A or B. Very easy, very flexible, very nice! You can listen to either the caller or the pileup on either receiver when working split. It’s easy to swap the two frequencies. You can set up the callers audio to either or both sides of your headphones, and set up the pileup audio to either or both sides too! Very easy, very flexible, very nice!
Comments on working contests: This radio has a fantastic front end! You just don’t hear any effects of nearby stations! You will be amazed at what all you hear between the big guns!
Miscellaneous comments: The adjustable AGC is great. The noise blankers (hardware and software NB’s) work well. The noise reduction works too and quite often will help on very weak signals. Having a bandwidth knob is great! Just crank it down until the desired effect is achieved. On some other DSP radios you set up 3 pre-selected widths and then cycle between those. The Orion method is far faster to use and far more effective. BW/PBT is far easier and better than “Twin Passband Tuning” in my opinion. Automatic notch works well. Manual notch works well. VOX works well. I like the size of the radio. The layout of the controls is good with lots of big buttons to control things. Band stacking registers with direct entry via keypad is nice. A spot button to help get on frequency fast is helpfull. The remote pod offers a lot of flexibility too!
This is a menu radio, but the menu is 1. Only for things that are not changed often. 2. Not layer after layer deep. 3. They are labeled with easily understood English words and not some hard to understand code. This is a very easy radio to setup and use!
I really like the way values are given in numbers. It makes setting things easy and repeatable. I.E. You can set the CW speed to 21, power to 65, mic gain to 50, side tone to 50 rf gain to 65 etc. Whatever you need to do you have a big range of adjustment and can always come back to that exact same setting!
Using amps with this rig is easy. I have a Hexbeam with an ALS-600 amp on antenna 1 and a windom with an AL-811H on antenna 2. The radio has separate amp control lines for each antenna, nice! Easy to setup and easy to use.
If this radio seems too “complex” to you, don’t let that stop you. The radio is very easy to use. You can use all the defaults and start making contacts. Perhaps the only thing that may confuse a brand new user might be the antenna/VFO selection, but this is easily figured out in a short time.
If you think you don't need "this much radio" well... Perhaps that is true, we all can have fun with a little Yaesu FT840 or an Icom IC718. But I have to tell you; you wont know what you are missing until you try an Orion!!
The Orion II is a fantastic radio. It does everything extremely well!!!
|
|
WA1SEO
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Feb 24, 2008 08:14
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Works well at my QTH
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
I gave the Ten Tec Orion 2 a 5/5 because it did everything the manual advertised. Before I continue, I must say that you should watch the Orion video a few times and take the time to adjust the AGC settings. Both are necessary!
After owning a Drake R4C with Sherwood modifications, I knew that I needed radio with a selective front end. I owned an Elecraft K2 for a while but grew frustrated with the annoying 5KHz tuning “clunk” that hasn’t been addressed. Realistically, I considered only 4 or 5 radios; ICOM 7700 (which is finally type accepted), used Orion or Orion 2, Elecraft K3 and the FLEX 5000. I immediately ruled out the FLEX only because it requires a computer and I ruled out the ICOM 7700 because it only had one receiver.
I got to test drive my Orion 2 before I purchased it and got to spend a couple of hours behind a K3.
The K3 was OK but didn’t handle my QTH’s issues as well as the Orion 2. (I live within 5 miles of W1AW, have several QRO stations within 2 miles, and have very strong signals from local AM broadcast stations, in addition to the locally generated RFI from various appliances.) The K3 didn’t feel as refined (functionally and mechanically) as the Orion 2. A comparably equipped K3 sans panoramic display will cost over $3700, which is significantly more than my used O2 cost.
Ultimately, I made my decision because I assumed the Orion 2 was a finished product and it worked well. I believe the K3 is a work in progress that will probably work at my QTH someday, but not right now.
Mike, WA1SEO
|
|
K1FPV
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Feb 17, 2008 14:41
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Best Rig I've Ever Owned !
|
Time owned: 3 to 6 months
|
I bought my Orion II second hand. It had an intermittent problem, and even though I didn't buy it directly from Ten-Tec, their tech support was excellent in helping me take care of the problem. Turned out to be a bad capacitor which I replaced for about 90¢ and then reload the firmware.
This radio has all the optional roofing filters as well as the antenna tuner. I use it on CW, SSB and digital modes. The receiver is second to none! I've operated CW working a weak DX station just above the noise and had a 30 over S9 local station within 1 kHz. of him. If I hadn't tuned up a bit in frequency, I wouldn't have known the strong station was there. The performance on SSB and digital modes is similar. Besides having a super receiver, I often get unsolicited compliments about my audio on SSB.
It is a pleasure to own a rig that does it all and to boot, it is made in the good old USA! Guess that is why I own several pieces Ten-Tec equipment. I have a Jupiter, Argo V, the 6N2(model 526), the 238B tuner and an RX-320D. I also own a Yaesu FT-2000. It is a really nice rig also, but doesn't come close to the Orion II.
Way to go Ten-Tec ! :)
|
|
W5AO
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Dec 27, 2007 00:43
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Best I have used
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
Took a couple of months to get used to this rig. Actually did not like it for a while, until I got the AGC settings nailed down. Now, with settings I like for each mode, it is as transparent as other rigs with lesser adjustment capability.
I have listened in contests to two stations 200 hertz apart, both 20 over S9, easy copy on CW. Brick wall filtering is not an overstatement.
I would change the following: easier adjustable tune output, although it is adjustable, and a peak audio feature, although that is probably possible if I would read the manual again.
I like the TT CW, only my 781 compared. Dialing in SSB TX audio also takes some care, but once these are done, its a breeze to operate. I ran a 756 pro III through its paces several times; it cannot compare to the ultimate performance and it is also a great rig.
No crashes at all. Upgrading software is painless. I wish the bandscope was more detailed, operating without one is like operating blind-folded once you get used to seeing the signals on the band.
|
|
PY4BZ
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 22, 2007 07:03
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
GREAT!
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
I AM HAM SINCE 2001 AND TEST MANY RADIOS ALONG THIS SHORT TIME FOR EXAMPLE ICOM, YAESU, KENWOOD. MAY IN HAMFAIR DAYTON LISTENING The ORION 2 AND SURPRISE WITH YOUR SPECIFICATIONS. RX IS SIMPLE THE BEST, EXCELLENT! The AUDIO TX STANDS IN GOOD WITH PTT OF CB RADIO! VERY GOOD RADIO!
73 FERNANDO-PY4BZ
|
|
AA6VB
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Oct 12, 2007 09:09
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
Great Radio
|
Time owned: more than 12 months
|
This is an updated review after operating the rig for two years.
The Orion II replaced the Yaesu FT1000/D I purchased in 1991. I used the two rigs side by side for several weeks before selling the FT1000. The FT1000 was slightly more sensitive and had a slight edge over the Orion II on weak cw signals during quiet band conditions. When the band got crowded, however, the Orion II was clearly superior, even though the FT1000 had the Inrad roofing filter installed. I could use the Orion II within 250 HZ of an S9 plus 20 signal and not even know he was there. Wow!!!
I also owned an FT-2000 for several months and did extensive A/B comparisons between the Orion II and the FT-2000. The FT-2000 has some very nice features and worked very well in many respects (in spite of the IMD test results). Still, I found the Orion II a better rig overall and sold the FT-2000, primarily because the AGC did not work properly on cw signals in high static conditions on the low bands and, despite claims to the contrary, there are really only "two" functioning roofing filters - 15KHZ and 6KHZ. The 3KHZ roofing filter is effectively the same as the 6KHZ filter, and the rig performs accordingly. By contrast, all the roofing filters on the Orion II work as advertised and really make the rig shine in crowded band conditions.
The Orion has performed flawlessly. Not a single issue in two years of operation. The construction quality is excellent. The rig is very well layed out and the menus are intuitive, easy to access and use. A lot of thought clearly went into this rig and it shows.
I found the adjustable AGC "very" frustrating at first. I spent hours and hours and hours trying to find the settings, under given band conditions, which would bring cw signals "out of the noise". Eventually I came to the conclusion that signals just don't "pop out of the noise" as others have claimed - at least not in my experience. So, I settled on several different settings which work in various conditions, and just cycle between them, rather than twisting those knobs searching among the infinite combinations for that "magic" setting. The AGC works well, it's just that you can drive yourself crazy trying to make signals "pop out of the noise" but it really doesn't work that way. Once I came to that realization, I really began to enjoy the radio, and have grown to appreciate what a great receiver the Orion has. Having said that, careful adjustment of the RF gain control will sometimes reduce the noise to the point where a weak signal can be clearly heard. Interestingly, I have not been able to achieve the same result by adjusting the AGC threshold.
Even at 100 HZ, there is no ringing in the dsp filter, so you can use it to eliminate band noise and make a weak signal easy to hear. The noise blanker works very well.
The color display is crystal clear, nice to look at, well organized, and has a lot of useful information. The band scope is very helpful and shows signals across the band. Weak signals do not register, however, so there is no substitute good old fashion tuning! Still, it provides a useful indication of band activity and noise levels.
I agree with others who have commented about the average power output of the rig. It does put out an honest 100 watts. However, when I used my FT1000D my Centurion amp would put out far more average power than it does when driven by the Orion II. At the same power level, say 75 watts out, the Orion II does not drive the linear to nearly as high a peak or average output as does the FT1000D. If I were more of a SSB operator I would not be a happy camper. Since my operation is 99 percent CW, this is not a big deal to me, but could be to others.
I was disappointed initially by the performance of the NR. However, this has been substantially improved and I find it works well in the CW mode, contrary to my earlier experience. I do not operate much SSB and don’t use it in that mode. I also find the numerical readout of the high and low cut PBT awkward and confusing, although all the controls work very well.
Every rig has its strong and weak points. I still think this is a great radio. All in all, I am very happy with this rig and, as a CW operator, I would buy it again in a heartbeat.
|
|
KT0DD
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Sep 8, 2007 14:48
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
update...
|
Time owned: 6 to 12 months
|
|
I was having reports of audio distortion when running my ALS 600 amp with my Orion II and was beginning to wonder if I was having near field overload of my TX audio since the manual mentiones this as a possible weakness. I did everything else...filtering, grounding, RF chokes etc. but no remedy. I took a chance that maybe the amp was at fault..sure enough...sent the ALS 600 in for alignment and they found 3 important things wrong. Got the amp back and I am getting nothing but excellent audio reports now. I'm glad I didn't settle for a Pro III and saved my money a little longer. This rig is tops in my book. GREAT job Ten Tec...73.
|
|
K0ZR
|
Rating: 5/5
|
Aug 14, 2007 18:57
|
Send this review to a friend
|
|
A great marriage of RF, IF, DSP, and audio for the serious ham
|
Time owned: 0 to 3 months
|
|
The marriage of RF, IF, DSP, and audio is excellent in this radio. The overall receiver design, which is a delicate balance of so many critical factors contingent on signal strength, is perfected here. I work almost exclusively CW and find this rig fantastic. My biggest "problem" is hearing a station calling me that is 100-200 Hz off in frequency. As a ham for 39 years and a practicing rf/microwave engineer for 25 years, I am very, very happy with this rig.
|
|
If you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about Reviews,
please email your Reviews Manager.
|
|
|
|
|
