| KW4Z |
Rating:  |
2023-09-24 | |
| It's simply amazing! Best Radio of countless of others. |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I've owned so many radios, Kenwoods TS130, TS520s, TS530s, TS440s, and latest a TS890s as well as two ICOM IC7300's and an ICOM IC7100 and IC 7610, as well as an ICOM IC7800, a Ten-Tec Omni VII and Flex 6400 as well as six different Yaesu radios: FT101E, FT757GX, FT1000 Mk V field, FTdx3000, FTdx101D, and my latest an FTdx10 and FT710AESS. I've edited my original review because I've also added a few other radios to compare including the Kenwood TS990s, Yaesu FTdx101MP, and ANAN7000 DLE MkII and still the Orion II out performs all of them, hands down. Of all those radios none has the receiver that the Orion I has (and the Orion II which I also have). There was/is a learning curve to learn using the Orion to its strongest and best performance but once you start using the two separate and independent receivers together they totally support and reinforce each other and give you such armchair copy that no other radio can compare.
The Orion is also hyper-sensitive while reducing the natural band noise that is almost always there. Use of the RF gain along with the Digital Noise Reduction provides you almost FM quality audio and such band noise reduction that you won't think about using another radio as your primary go-to radio if you love using it for general rag chew type QSO's.
One other thing about Ten-Tec is they are simply designed to be superior CW operating radios and the Orion doesn't disappoint in this mode either. Yes, there are more, newer, radios but this Old Ten-Tec is able to best them all. If you never have tried one you just don't know-how it can diminish band noise and provide easy listening audio for whatever QSO you are in.
There may be better contesting radios and newer radios that have better spectrum analyzers built-in or waterfall displays but none of them will match the receivers that were designed into the Ten-Tec Orions whether you have the model 565, Orion I or the model 566, Orion II. they are just simply amazing radios for their time, way ahead in design and performance. They are big and yes could be altered to make a more friendly radio but as they are designed they just work and work in an amazing way. I only wish they were still in production.
As for the difference between the model 565 and the model 566 (Orion I & Orion II) the model 565, Orion I, has a grayscale display, a 4 pin microphone connector, and the receivers filter unit is designed a bit differently. The model 566 or the Orion II has a beautiful color display and an 8 pin microphone jack that will also work with 8 pin round microphone connections. Other than that there may be a few other very minor differences but both Orions are fantastic radios and I don't plan on selling or divesting myself of either my model I or model II. When I become a silent Key I'm sure they most likely will come up for sale just like most other Orions. If you see one for sale it's usually from an estate because these are such great performers that people don't let go of them.
Lastly with regards to the optional RX366 Optional 2nd receiver. I've been told, by Ten-Tec employees that the Optional RX366 2nd receiver is essentially a Ten-Tec Eagle receiver inside the Orion. Fact is that every Orion I or Orion II comes with two independent and separate receivers. The main, first, receiver is much more filtered and has a preamp function however even though it isnt' the optional 2nd receiver that the RX366 is the standard 2nd receiver is great and I actually prefer it over the optional one. It is a general coverage receiver whereas the RX366 is a ham band only receiver, just like the main receiver so if you want to receive General Coverage, out of Ham Band transmissions, then you really only need the standard 2nd receiver that comes standard in either the Orion I or the Orion II.
They are simply wonderful radios that never should have seen a stop in production and are still among the best radios ever produced with receivers that will challenge the most expensive Amateur Radios that are made including the new SDR radios and new SDR Hybrid radios.
I also can say that I've always heard that given most every Amateur Radio made that one radio may have some slight advantage over another or feature over another but in the end usually you won't hear or be able to work a weak station on one radio that you can't work on a given other. That's not the case with the Orion as I have had times when I couldn't work a station on my ICOMs or my Kenwood or Yaesu's and had to use my Orion in order to understand the weakest of stations in part, many times due to high band noise that the Orion simply was better at being immune to. It's truly amazing.
I have essentially the exact same things to say about both the Orion I and/or the Orion II that the reviews are simply the same. If I was blind I wouldn't be able to tell them apart. They can, with their Noise Reduction circuits, be set up to sound like listening to FM Radio with such Robust audio coming from the speaker(s). The saddest thing is to think that the Orion series may end with the I and II models and that there won't be an Orion III. |
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| G4YVM |
Rating: |
2022-10-12 | |
| Superb radio. A genuine keeper. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I sold a ftdx5000mp because I had to. That was the best rig I'd owned in 40 odd years of amateur work.
Then I used my tentec argonaut 515 a lot and thought, hmmm, this is good. I wonder what a newer one is like? So I bought the orion 2 .
What's it like? Its fabulous.
I've owned ftdx3k,5k, elecrafts all of em, icom 7600, ts590, and most of the others youd expect in 45 years operating and some youd never expect or guess...this orion 2 is the best of them all.
Keep 1? Keep this.
The Internal tuner is excellent. But the receiver is wonderful. Weak signal working has never been as much fun. The display is clear and bright. The band sweep function is 100 percent useless, I mean totally useless, but hey, it's a radio not a telly.
I hooked it up to N1MM and L32 and it works flawlessly. Dx comes marching in
I hooked it to my yaesu fl2100z linear and more dx comes marching in...really weak signals.
The audio is magic somehow.i can listen for hours and hours without fatigue. The qsk is not real. It cant be. It just has to be magic as well. The user interface has been designed by someone from Apple...it just works.
The rig is big, really big, but very light weight. Build quality is good...typically American but it works and I like the styling...it grows on ya.
Sub rx feature is good and working splits is the simplest I've ever come across. Seriously. Makes the ftdx5k and 3k and k2 seem like hard work.
This tentec is superb. I cant praise it highly enough.
Mind you...all tentec stuff is the same. I cant see why they didnt sell better in europe to be honest.
If you want excellence, buy one. But be warned...you cannot own just ONE tentec...I already have 2 and my 3rd is on the horizon.
Edit 2022.
I have another ftdx5000mp now and its sat next tommy O2 for serious comparison. Its very disappointing to have to repeat that the O2 beats it hands down onnalmost all scores. The 5k is prettier but simply not as good all round as the older TT offering.
Edit 2, 2022. What can I say? After using the FTdx5k exclusively for two months, I switched on the O2 and the difference is startling. I have now sold the 5k...again. |
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| W9SA |
Rating: |
2022-07-26 | |
| Wonderful Rig |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| Last week I acquired an Orion II that had been purchased in 2012 and put on a shelf, in the box. Needless to say it is like new and works perfectly. It came with the switching power supply, a Regal 707 mic, and has the internal antenna tuner. I've owned a lot of rigs and my "main" rig is an Elecraft K3S. I'm not going to rehash all of the details of the rig but suffice it to say I really like this radio. I plan on making it my dedicated 40m SKCC rig and will also use it periodically on other bands. What a beautiful rig and I'm enjoying the daylights out of it. |
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| VK2EAT |
Rating: |
2021-07-21 | |
| A lovely radio/keeper |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
I wanted an Orion for a long long time and finally talked a local vk to part with his. Its has all the latest upgrades to boot.
It is a large piece of kit, the biggest transceiver ever to sit on my ops bench. That said it will stay! Learning to pilot this rig takes a bit of reading an setting yourself up to do so gets you in, this is an operators radio. One who likes to tune, employ all the onboard tools you have. Just love it when I can make an interfering signal just disappear!
The color screen an options for colors is great with clarity there. The sweep could be a little better but you can still see when a big signal enters the band.
Filtering is sharp its not sdr but close considering what you pay for this rig.
The onboard audio tailoring I don't use much as I have my own equipment to do just that and if you like essb you will love how neat you can be on the band. My signal on 40mtrs is a sharp 2.4khz and I can step it up but reports are again ' don't touch anything' so why would you.
I paid over 2k for this radio not bad for all that came with it. I would certainly recommend if this is one you've been seeking to add to the bench go for it you won't regret it, its an operators radio you will love all that you can control.
Thank you Martin it is in good hands!
See you on the bands! |
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| W4USA |
Rating: |
2021-04-04 | |
| Super Radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I have operated the Orion-II for over 2 years.
It is a super radio for the serious radio operator. Great design - great people.
I have every brand of HF radio and have operated over 30 years. My Orion-II is where I go when I need that extra edge to pull-out those weak stations or filter-out those who need to qsy to 2 meters. The ORION-II is worth every penny.
A must for the serious DXer.
NOW 10 Years Later, Still my #1 Radio. Nothing Like the Orion II |
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| KC8HXO |
Rating: |
2021-03-06 | |
| Oh, how we miss TenTec..... |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| .... the LEGACY TenTec, that is. Fine design from the folks at Tennessee Technologies back in 2005. Only way I would have sold my Orion at this point, was this upgrade to an Orion II. Love it. All of the good things I said about my Orion still hold true with the deuce. Best deal in radio right now. Compare features.... features you will USE. Price radios. Tell me they aren't a GREAT deal. |
|
| W5RG |
Rating: |
2020-06-12 | |
| STILL ONE OF THE BEST |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| I bought one of the last one's made and it still is one of the best out there.. I sold it after buying a Elecraft K3, they are still very high up on Sherwood's list and beats out some of the newer high priced rigs. The Orion ll is a great rig and now you can buy a used one for a great price. If I had a problem with it I would not send it back to TenTec for repair.. find someone else to repair it!! |
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| OK1RP |
Rating: |
2020-06-12 | |
| Last competitive high performer from TT |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Even although the Orion II is old (produced 2005-2013) it is still amazing and one of the best performer for HF bands weak sigs and contesting operation on the market.
Excellent QSK, fully adjustable AGC system, still ranked very high on the ARRL and Sherwood receiver charts (95-97dB BDR for 1kHz closed-in sigs space!), NR that nails noise hands down, especially super on CW when you narrow BW and kick in SAF...
It is last competitive high performer from TenTec!
Nothing like that is available from them at that moment...
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| G4GZG |
Rating: |
2020-02-26 | |
| Still a great performer |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I've had my Orion 2 for about 5 years. I bought it off a local ham who needed the cash. It is a 2005 model with the 2. upgradedFirmware and built in ATU. I took it home and used it for a bit , was impressed but also felt my K3 was a better rig at the time.
Fast forward to 2018, I retired from work, moved house and recently had the chance to upgrade the firmware and replace the memory battery. In the interim I also read the manual properly and started platying with the programmable AGC.
Since then,I've been using it quite a lot and also acquired a TS890S last year. Although the 890 has a real state of the art receiver, the Orion 2 runs it a close second and often beats it on weak signals. Replacing the memory battery really brought the rig to life again and is easy to do ( lots of screws to remove though). The firmware upgrades stopped at 3.0xx when TenTec pulled production but for me the rig is perfect. All I now need to find is an RX366 sub receiver as mine has the original, but this isn't a complaint. |
|
| W1SMC |
Rating: |
2018-10-26 | |
| Great Radio |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I’ve had my O2 since 2006 (original owner) and have been on and off the air as I moved around quite a lot so I did not use it all that much.
Though I have had this radio for going on 13 years it is an SDR radio and it does have a what TT calls a “real-time band sweep display”. It’s nothing like the SDR radios of today but it does work well.
Now that I have settled here in Vermont and have been operating this radio daily I have to say TT got it right with the Orion’s. It is such a pleasure to operate. I continue to get great audio reports.
Also, about 4 years ago, I sent the rig into TT too have it tuned up since it sat for a few years in its box in my closet. They replaced the caps and I had it back within two weeks and it was not an expensive experience.
If you ever have an opportunity to pick up one of these radios I would get it. It’s a classic ….. In it’s day it had the best receiver available …..
Mine sits alongside my TT Eagle which I use exclusively for the Digital Modes …..
I hope TT turns things around and comes out with an Orion 3 …
https://www.qrz.com/hampages/w1smc/shack.JPG
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