Special Note on v. 2.042A

The new firmware came out on 4/13/10, but had so many bugs that after trying for an hour, I went back two versions to v. 2.039d.  Here is part of a post regarding the topic I made on the TT reflector:

Here are a list of problems I found right off with the v. 2.042A, even after doing a battery reset and two master resets and memory clear:
  1.. Very noticeable distortion on all RX audio.  Sounds like overdrive in IF or DSP section.
  2.. AGC hang in AF AGC mode.  S-meter goes up and never comes down!  At same time, RF gain goes down and does not come back up!  If you manually turn the RF Gain all the way to 0, then back up to 100, the radio is essentially muted.  This will not happen if the "AGC Hang" setting is 0, but then distortion is really bad.
  3.. NR does not work in AF AGC mode.  Does seem to work well in RF AGC mode.  Similar problem in 2.041XL.
  4.. Much more audio drive needed on AUX input for SSB.  It looks like about 10 dB more.
  5.. AM carrier= 1.25 Watts max!  That's at 100% PWR setting.
  6.. FM carrier= 6.4 Watts max.
  7.. SSB Speech Processor gives only around 50 Watts max peak output.  You can get it up to 100 Watts when you crank it to "way beyond reasonable distortion".
  8.. Could not find any sort of S-Meter calibration
Here are the good points so far:
  1.. Side tone is louder and spot level is too.
  2.. Waterfall display is much improved.
  3.. Difference in frequency between Main and Sub improved, but still not "phase locked".  I detect about 0.1 Hz differential which should make it fine for true diversity antenna work.
  4.. In RF AGC mode, the NR really does seem improved, although it's hard to tell with the audio distortion mentioned above.
So that's the good, the bad and the ugly of it!  I'm QSYing back to v. 2.039d, the last one that worked right...

Summary of 2.041XL Beta Firmware on Orion II

This version is still considered a beta, and hence is a ‘work in progress’, but indeed progress!  I will update this list as I learn more from my own observations and testing and from the users on the Ten Tec reflector at Contesting.com.  Please feel free to give me your feedback.

Changes noted with 2.041XL

1. S-Meter and Sweep do not change while tuning main dial.  I have found this very annoying!
2. AM carrier seems to “stay put” much better than earlier versions, but only runs 13.5 Watts carrier.  Peak mod looks good.
3. With new Band Scope display, ability to change bandwidth of display is gone.
4. NR works much better (RF AGC)
5. Choice of RF or AF derived AGC.  A note from TT that indicates the radio has to be restarted when switching between these modes is wrong.

New Features:

1. NR works much better in RF AGC, although this was not shown in the change documentation.
2. Bigger Band Scope, and red ‘sustain’ indicators.  Also, there is now a cursor that follows the tuning across the scope until you stop, then it returns to center.
3. Bandwidth of scope no longer adjustable.
4. Waterfall Display option.
5. Better balance of volume between headphones and speaker, but only in RF AGC mode.
6. “Band by Band” mic level/power settings
7. AF-derived AGC (option) which places the Notch, AN and NR in the AGC loop when in AF AGC mode.

Bugs Found So Far:

1. Red Screen problem.  Sweep goes to weird red lines and/or background.  Big signals were initially thought to be problem, but tests of up to 0 dBm could not recreate the problem.  This seems to happen only rarely but it is a PITA.
2. Spot level is many dB below S-Tone level. They should be about the same.  They increased the side tone volume, but forgot about the spot tone, which adjusted with the same control.
3. S-Meter and Sweep do not change while tuning main dial. This bugs me more than I thought it would!
4. Popping on AF AGC (setting AGC constants very slow mitigates but does not eliminate problem)
5. Low level on AF AGC relative to RF AGC of 10 to 20 dB
6. Reports of “noise crash” on AF AGC when Notch on AN pressed. (Many people saw this initially, but it seems to have gone away on its own…go figure!)
7. NR in AF AGC: sounds like it needs more level.

Suggested Changes:

1. Add back gradicule, scale or ‘tic’ marks for frequency on band scope.
2. Waterfall: White on Black instead of Black on White or selectable?
3. Put RF/AF AGC menu option at the top of the menu list for faster change.

Final Analysis:

While I appreciate the new features and changes, I found the bugs to be annoying enough that I went back to 2.039d which worked pretty well overall.

Ron’s Orion II ‘Wish’ List:

Updated 3/9/09

1.   Fix S-meter discrepancy that causes readings to be 2-3 S-Units low below S-9 and up to 22 dB high above S-9.  Make menu option to automatically reduce reading 12 dB when preamp is on, and to increase reading 6 dB when Main RX and Sub RX are sharing the same antenna. Basic inaccuracy could be fixed by silk-screening a new meter face with the correct calibrations, which would also be an opportunity to fix a frequent complaint that the meter “clanks” on the end-stop when keyed at 100% power.  By making full-scale power 120% on the meter and lowering the forward power calibration control in the radio, this would be fixed.  Also, the power calibrations could be fixed...right now, the meter is not accurate accept at full power.  The digital PWR setting though is surprisingly accurate.

2.  “Talk Power” Problem: The ALC seems to have very fast attack and very slow release characteristics and seems to be a result of the software ALC overriding the hardware ALC (Yes! It has both).  While this may be great to prevent CW key-clicks, the parameters result in what looks like a very low average output on SSB.  Many folks think something is wrong with the radio. Reducing attack and increasing release constants when in SSB mode should fix this problem. UPDATE 3/2/09: Tests have shown that the audio level needs to be pushed hard to make the radio perform at a better range in the ALC.  This appears to remedy the problem.  It also makes the Speech Processor perform much better with real improvements in average power. Tests are on-going to verify that this works.

3.  PBT and BW: One stays in the band register and the other does not.  So you set your BW at 2.4 kHz and PBT at +250 on a crowded band like 20.  Switch down to 75 m for your rag-chew and the 3.0 setting you had there kicks in, but the +250 PBT travels with you.  Set it to 0, later go back to 20, and the BW goes back to 2.4, but the PBT stays at 0.  Not a major flaw, but life would be easier if either both changed or neither changed!

4.  VFO Encode Rate:  Someone suggested this on the TT reflector: allow for the tuning rate to be “SLOW” for CW and “FAST” for all other modes!  I like it!

5.  Multi Encode Rate:  Various functions such as NR, NB, AN and SP have a 1-9 range.  When turning the Multi knob, 9 ‘clicks’ represents only about 25 degrees of turn of the knob for the whole range.  A slight re-programming of the encoder could spread that around over maybe 270 degrees, much like an analog ‘pot’ would work.

6. Automatic Notch and Manual Notch:  Change from just eliminating the sound of the carrier to causing the AGC and S-meter to behave as if the carrier or other QRM was actually removed from the IF.  The original Orion with v 1 firmware works this way…v 2 broke it.  UPDATE 3/2/09:  v. 2.041XL adds an optional AF-derived AGC similar to the scheme used in the Orion v. 1 which corrects the problem when AF AGC is selected. Note that AN and Notch are still outside AGC loop in the RF AGC mode.

7. Fix Monitor on AM.  You can now hear yourself in the headphones on AM, however, the quality leaves a bit to be desired.  There is a digital “ringing” (aliasing) on the high end.  Fortunately, this is not how it sounds on the air.  This same sound is heard on the FM monitor.  SSB sound always sounds excellent.

☺8. Fixed in v. 2.041XL!  Low level in CW Sidetone, low headphones level: Several of us complaining that the CW sidetone makes only 50 mV, unloaded, on the headphone output at 100% setting, which is OK, but could be louder.  In general, most headphones require that the gain be cranked way up, and when you pull the plug on the headphones, you get blasted out by the speaker.  Raise the bridge or lower the water, but they should be more in line.   An artifact of this change is that the Spot level is now way too low!

9. Funny sound in CW Sidetone:  It only happens when the Sub Receiver is routed to the headphones, and as best I can describe, it sounds like echo.  I have noticed that changing the Rise/Fall timing effects this, with longer times having more echo and what sounds like increased CW weighting.

10. Fix offset between Main RX and Sub RX.  Currently they are a constant at 6 Hz different regardless of band.  This may be a DSP issue that can be trimmed +- several Hz for synchronization in a menu item adjustment.   UPDATE 3/2/09:  This is apparently not a fixable problem since it involves very complex synthesizer math relating to the difference in frequency determining schemes between the Main and Sub RX’s.

        UPDATE 4/13/10:  This problem CAN be fixed and IS in v. 2.042A!  It's not 'phase locked' but the two receivers are within 0.1 Hz of each other.  Unfortunately, 2.042A has way to many bugs, so it's back to 2.039d.

☺11: Fixed by factory! RF Feedback getting into headphone cable.  I used to need an external ferrite loop to keep RFI out of the headphone cable, but in January, 2007, I got an e-mail from Jack Burchfield at the factory about a hardware ‘fix’ in the form of a small board that plugs in series with the internal cable from the headphone jack to the audio board.  He sent me a prototype to install on my O2 and it worked!  Absolutely no RFI!  It takes about a half hour to install and requires dropping (but not disassembling) the front panel.  No soldering required.  All the new O2’s will have them when they leave the factory, and anyone else who encounters the problem can contact the factory and get the board free.

Note on v. 2.038k:  This was the most “fixed” firmware available as of April 26, 2007.  There was a serious problem with the AM that cropped up in 2.033, as well as artifacts in the Notch and Auto Notch.  Both of those are now fixed.  Other problems you may have heard about involving AM not working at all, or a QSK problem existed in earlier versions but are gone now. 2.038k also fixes a problem with AM TX that caused the carrier to slowly ride up and down as audio levels changed.  It’s now rock stable, and AGC action keep modulation near 100% regardless of input level and with no pumping, distortion or ‘upcutting’ of the audio.  It also fixed the AM receiver problem that was caused by the wrong detection scheme in the DSP.  It’s a dramatic improvement!

2.038k also adds an icon that shows which of the four band stack registers is active on each band, as well as an on-screen indicator that shows when the radio is in split mode.  Both very nice additions!

2.039d made some minor fixes and was highly recommended.  Here are the changes:

Band register selection now remembered on each band.

Modified AGC Slope to give maximum gain if FLAT is selected.

Corrected audio roll-off in Voice Recorder.

Modified AGC to make it less sensitive to short duration RF pops.