TEN-TEC 566 Orion II

TEN-TEC 566 Orion II

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TEN-TEC 566 Orion II HF Transceiver is no longer in production.
This is a support and documentation page.

• ORION II continues the high-performance legacy established by the original ORION transceiver. ORION II adds a brilliant color screen, a new roofing filter system (with a slight increase in receiver performance vs. ORION), new audio routing for line level outputs and an 8-pin microphone connector.

• Two 32-bit floating-point ADI SHARC DSP processors and a new 32-bit control processor using the latest generation Freescale DragonBall Super VZ chip. Provides faster front panel control response and accelerated remote operation via RS-232. This new processor also provides the horsepower for a future planned “HIGH SPEED SWEEP” accessory. Features, price, and availability of accessory to be determined.

• Full dual receive capability. An amateur-bands- only main receiver, (10 through 160 meters) utilizes selectable crystal roofing and IF-DSP bandwidth filtering. The sub receiver uses a single crystal roofing filter and IF-DSP bandwidth filtering and is general coverage to 30 MHz. Both receivers can be used simultaneously on any frequency, with no compromise in performance. The two receivers can share a single antenna or each can be fed from a separate antenna. Bandwidth, AGC, PBT, Hi-Lo Cut, AF and RF gain, attenuator, DSP noise reduction and notch are all selectable independently on each receiver.

• The main receiver accommodates up to seven crystal roofing filters in the first I-F stage. Four of the seven filters at 20, 6, 2.4, and 1 kHz are standard. Optional filters for 1.8 kHz, 600 Hz, and 300 Hz can be added. This all-new ORION II roofing filter system adds a subtle dynamic range increase over the original ORION transceiver. The roofing filters can be cascaded with any of 590 selectable IF-DSP bandwidth filters (100 Hz–6 kHz in 10 Hz steps). The sub receiver has its own set of 590 bandwidth filters that are selectable independent of the main receiver filtering.

• Very high RX intercept points, superior close-in dynamic range and an industry-best extremely low phase-noise synthesizer make ORION II’s main receiver performance unmatched by any other HF transceiver.

• Programmable AGC response time for each receiver. FAST, MED, and SLOW are adjustable, and the new programmable mode is groundbreaking. Users may build their own personal AGC characteristic by selecting threshold, hang and decay rates. More than one million possible AGC combinations can be selected. Each receiver retains its own programmable setting.

• True diversity reception. Both receivers can be simultaneously fed from two separate antennas on the same frequency and controlled using a single VFO tuning knob. Superior low-band DXing capability using two separate receive antennas, on two receivers, and transmitting on a third TX antenna. Three antenna connections are provided: Two SO-239 connectors for transceive or receive antennas, a third via phono connector for RX-only use.

• Continuous real-time spectrum display allows monitoring of band activity. Five selectable sweep ranges allow user-definable limits to the amount of spectrum being monitored.

• Superb SSB audio is yours at a touch of the AUDIO button. Audio equalization is provided in both transmit and receive. The transmit response can be adjusted to have more bass or more treble. Separately, receiver audio can be EQed for bass and treble response. 18 selectable SSB transmit bandwidths to a maximum of 3.9 kHz are provided.

• Ten-Tec’s Panoramic Stereo receive feature. Listening with stereo headphones, you can turn PS receive on and hear signals in stereo. As you tune across the band, signals move from one side through center to the other side in your headphones. Better than so-called “binaural” reception, this unique Ten-Tec feature can be used in SSB modes as well as CW. You’ve got to hear it to believe it!

• Nine adaptive DSP noise reduction filters let you select the right amount of NR for elimination of broadband hiss, noise, etc., plus DSP automatic notch for auto filtering of interfering carriers in SSB modes. Manual notch filter is also provided with greater than 60 dB of cut and with adjustable width.

• Dual noise blankers. Both a traditional-style analog and an IF-DSP noise blankerwith a 9 stage selection control are provided for suppression of line noise and other pulse-type EMI.

• All local oscillators are locked to a 1 PPM master TCXO. Drift correction circuitry assures ORION II stays within 1 PPM across full temp range 0º–50º C.

• ORION II is Flash-ROM updatable. Connect ORION II to your computer via a serial port cable, and send the software to the radio. It’s that easy!

Documentation

Orion 565&566 User Manual Addendum V3 Firmware	74474_Orion565n566_User_Manual_Addendum_V3_Firmware
How to Update Firmware	HowTo
566 User Manual	566_manual_release4_1006
S-meter 565 / 566 Calibration Procedure	S-Meter_565_566_Calibration_Procedure
566 Enhanced Programmable AGC System	02Orion_AGC
Radio Society of Great Britain Review	18_20_radcom_aug06
566 Synthesizer Design	566_syn_article
National Contest Journal Article	Transmit_audio_adjustment
566 Schematics	Orion_II_Sch
AT566K manual	AT566K_manual_74437
566 Brochure	566_orion_2_brochure
566 Manual Revision History	566_manual_update_history
Firmware Revision History	566History
Firmware v3.033xe	566-Setup-3.033xe.exe
Firmware v3.033xd	566-Setup-3.033xa.exe
Firmware v3.029	566-Setup-3.029.exe
Firmware v3.028	566-Setup-3.028.exe
Firmware v3.026	566-Setup-3.026.exe
Firmware v2.044a	566-Setup-2.044A.exe
Firmware v2.041XT	Orion_II_-Setup-2.041XT.exe
Firmware v2.039d	Orion-Setup-2.039d.exe