It's too bad that more hams didn't stop by Ten-Tec, but I think there are
several reasons besides technical inability among current hams:
* Most of the other companies (especially the Japanese companies) make
products that can be used by Techs (HTs, VHF/UHF radios). That in and of
itself gets a lot of interest. Brand loyalty is very strong (look at the
Ten-Tec loyalty on this reflector), and YaeComWood get an advantage for
upgrading hams because Techs have had good experiences with their VHF/UHF
products.
* Most hams aren't into ultra-competitive contesting or DX-ing. I can buy a
100w HF rig from YaeComWood for under a grand. Sure, it's stripped down but
it's still under a grand, and it works fine for WAS CW and SSB, and
Americas-wide PSK31. The closest Ten-Tec competitor is the new Argonaut V,
and Ten-Tec should up the power to 100w and up the price by $100.
* Hams are like everyone else... they judge the insides by the outsides. For
instance, I think the display (LCD) on the RX-350 looks 'cleaner' (easier to
decipher, more aesthetic) than the Jupiter. And while I'd much rather have
an Orion than a 756 Pro II or III, and a Jupiter over the 746 Pro II, the UI
on the Icom 746 Pro and Pro II look lots better (neater, cleaner) than the
Jupiter and Orion. Ten-Tec needs to spend some programming $$ on making
their UI look better (for the Jupiter and the Orion). No, it won't make the
radios work any better but it WILL make 'em sell a lot better. I'm not
saying it makes sense, but, why did the black and white PalmOS PDAs sell
better than the original color WinCE PDAs? (The PalmOS units were elegantly
aesthetic with a clean and simple UI -- why can't the black-and-white
Jupiter and Orion displays be as nice-looking as the PalmOS interface? C'mon
guys, choose/design a nice font for the text and letters!)
* Ten-Tec faces a lot of tough competition, and although (IMO) they make a
better-performing rig at the particular price points than their competitors
do, a lot of hams don't want to have to fool with computers or downloading
firmware. They'd rather buy a rig that they feel is 'finished' like the 756
Pro or Pro II, because what I perceive as an advantage (the ability to
upgrade firmware) comes across to them as a shortcoming (the firmware is
unfinished). I'm not saying it makes sense, but...
* YaeComWood have the marketing thing down very well (Icom especially).
Their ads are very attractive, their radios have obviously been designed by
someone who has extensive experience working on consumer electronics
devices, and they tend to look the way many hams expect an HF radio to look.
The Orion is a definite step in the right direction here (although I find
the Paragon/Omni V/Omni VI line to be very attractive rigs).
I learned many things from running my own business for a decade. Perhaps the
most important thing was, get the customer to want what you offer either by
offering what he wants, or convincing him (through advertising) that he
wants what you have. And customers want benefits, not features. They don't
want the ability to upload firmware, what they want is the assurance that
their radio will always be up-to-date with the latest factory offering. They
don't want a 600 Hz roofing filter, they want to be able to isolate one
signal regardless of how close another strong signal is to it.
In my opinion Ten-Tec has yet to run an ad for the Orion that does it
justice from a BENEFITS point-of-view (I know the web page touts benefits,
but then goes into an extensive feature list). Someone there should take a
list of the hot features, come up with a corresponding benefit, and then run
an ad with the benefits touted and the features in the fine print. Of
course, Ten-Tec is having trouble keeping up with demand for the Orion, so
perhaps their advertising is doing just fine, too! (Actually, I think there
is a pent-up demand that still hasn't been met, and once sales slow down the
marketing has to get new customers.)
I'd also like to see the same sort of ad being done for the Jupiter, and
comparing it to the offerings from Icom, Kenwood, and Yaesu in the same
price range, along with a clean-up of the UI to be as nice-looking as an OS
1.0 Palm device. That shouldn't be hard.
- jgc
John Clifford KD7KGX
Elecraft K2 #1678 /KSB2/KIO2/KBT2/KAT2/KNB2/KAF2/KPA100
Ten-Tec Omni VI/Opt1, Centaur, 238B
Alinco DR-605TQ, DJ-V5
Icom T90A
IRLP #3978
email: kd7kgx@arrl.net
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