Orion Mic Hook-up

From the Ten-Tec Reflector December 11, 2004

For those that may not have seen a post by Paul Clinton with TT, I'll repost it here for your use.

Orion Mic Wiring (Later Versions -around June of this year I believe, could be a little earlier)

Orion Mic connector:

• Pin # 1 = Mic Send +
• Pin # 2 = Mic Return -
  • Shield to mic connector through to the Mic body (or Pin # 1 if your using XLR connectors)
• Pin # 3 = PTT
• Pin # 4 = 9+VDC

Good mic cable (as sold by Heil) will have the Mic + and Mic - wrapped in the shield.

To verify whether you have an older version of Orion, take an Ohm Meter, set to measure resistance, put one lead on the Orion Mic connector, put the other lead on the ground wing nut on the back of the Orion……..you should read a direct short……..no resistance whatsoever. Older versions of the Orion had you using Pin # 2 as ground as shown in the operations manual.

Hope this helps a few

73
John / N0KHQ

December 11, 2004

Using a mic with XLR such as the Goldline wire it as follows:

• XLR = Pin # 1 (shield/gnd) to mic connector case - this shield wire comes back out of the connector and is secured by wrapping it around one of the screws you tighten down to hold the mic cord in place.
• XLR = Pin # 2 This is the Audio Send (+) it wires to Pin # 1 on the Orion mic connector.
• XLR = Pin # 3 This is the Audio Return ( - ) it wires to Pin # 2 on the Orion Mic connector

If you are using a Foot Switch or separate PTT switch, wire as follows:

• PTT or Foot Switch wire one side to Pin # 3 on the Orion mic connector, the other wire wires to the shield (chassis ground) at the Orion mic connector.

Or

• You can bypass the mic connector all together for the PTT or Foot Switch and use the AUX I/O as shown on page 28 of the Orion's Operations Manual.

Or

• You can use the CW 1/4" phono plug on the front of the Orion and in Menu under CW change SSB: CW Jack PTT = On. (this is what I use)

If I can be of further help let me know

John / N0KHQ / St. Louis

December 19, 2004

If you want to know if you have the later version of the Orion, take a multi-meter and set it to OHMS. One lead will go to the Orion mic connector, the other lead will go to the ground wing nut on the back of the Orion. If the meter shows a direct SHORT, you have the later version (this is because the Orion mic connector is chassis grounded). If the meter shows an OPEN or any resistance at all you have the earlier version. (Orion mic connector not chassis grounded).

Assuming Orion later version: (Orion mic connector grounded to chassis)

There should be 2 wires coming off of the mic Element. Possibly white and (red or black). If you look real, real close at where the wires are soldered to the element you may see a + sign and a - sign. Maybe! If not, I would choose the white wire as being the Audio hot lead (+ send) and the other wire would be the Audio ground lead (- return).

If I were you, I would purchase some good quality mic cable. This cable will have 2 wires (usually white and red) that are surrounded by a shield wire. Additional wires may be in the cable but they will be by them selves (not wrapped within the shield) these wires can be used for PTT or whatever). Heil sells excellent mic cable, very well shielded.

The shield of the cable connects between the mic housing case and the mic connector on the other end of the mic cable. Thats all it does.

One of the wires that is surrounded by the mic cable shield wire will become the audio hot lead + (send) usually white, the other wire will be the audio ground lead - (return) usually red.

The Audio + lead (white (send)) will go to Pin #1 on the Orion, the Audio - lead (red (return)) will go to Pin #2 on the Orion. PTT wire (PTT grounds to chassis) (1 wire only) will go to Pin #3 on the Orion. Inside your mic PTT switch you may have to run a wire from there to the mic housing shield.

Or

You can send your Audio in through the rear of the Orion like I do at line level and say "to hell with the Orion mic connector". There are 3 ways to key the Orion, 1 is through the rear of the rig. The other is a 1/4" mono phone plug inserted into the "CW" on the front of the Orion (requires a Menu change) and 3rd is to use the mic PTT Pin #3.

You have a whole lot of choices, just choose the right one for you.

Happy Holidays.

John / N0KHQ

– July 16 2021 –

In case RF feedback keeps poking around despite the correct cabling as described above you might need to focus on RF proximity and how to route that somewhere else.

But first how to diagnose if RF feedback is occuring.

1. Turn down power to 5 watts 2. Turn down hw mic gain to 0 3. Turn down mic gain while transmitting and talking until the ALC led stopped following your voice.

At the point the ALC led stopped following your voice you know you need to set the mic gain higher in order to activat the ALC. Turn up the mic gain a little to activate the ALC led at your voice.

The ALC led is very fast and will blink at each peak while talking.

Once you found the correct mic gain level you should not need to change the mic level anymore. Running low or high power should not need a change in mic gain. Period.

Here is the symptom which occurs when you have RF feedback; the moment you increase RF power and you notice the ALC led does not follow your voice like it did at low power your likely having RF feedback.

The confusing part is that due to the sdr process and the associated delay between your speech and the actually tx signal you won't notice it right away. Often the start of the transmission is good and than in a few seconds it starts becoming more difficult to activate the ALC led. Turning up the mic gain might feel like the solution but be aware your not amplifying your voice but most likely RF feedback. The result is less optimal voice quality.

Two reasons for the misunderstanding;

1- the ALC led is connected to the forward voltage and follows the actual tx signal.

2- your voice is being processed by the DSP and hence there is a delay.

You cannot compare your actual voice peaks with the tx signal. There are not in sync.

When you run low power and the ALC led is blinking at the correct pace with your voice all is well. When you increase your output power and the ALC led is slowly declining it's blinking rate it's not good.

Anothe way to test RF feedback is to set the mic gain as suggested above and in addition enable speech processor at 9. Yes that's the highest level. When RF feedback is lurking around you won't need much audio to get the speech processor going nuts on RF feedback. In my case I could not run speech processor at level higher than 3 without spontaneous max output without speaking.

I recommend testing your setup using the simple steps as described above.

For me the remedy was the following;

I am using an inverted V which is about 5 meters above my shack. I have opted for a 450 ohm balanced feedline connected to a true balanced tuner right on top of the Orion.

Here is what happens. The inverted V is not balanced despite same length for each leg. It's suboptimal dues to it's surrounding. This means the

Regards Onno pa1ap