On May 25, 2010, at 1:30 AM, Susan A Walker wrote:
I've often wondered why Ten-Tec didn't keep its engineering in
Sevierville and outsource production to the east. Certainly the build
quality and QC of its locally-produced transceivers are nothing
special.
This is something completely different. The original radio was
designed and manufactured in China. It was first sold as a kit via
mail order. Then they were sold fully assembled. A relative of the
factory owner lives in Canada, and started selling them in on Ebay.
TenTec is taking the radios as they are built in China, slapping their
name on them and selling them. In the computer business this is called
OEM'ing, with TenTec being the OEM. (OEM in automotive terms is the
exact opposite).
There were complaints about a firmware bug limiting receiver
performance, I expect they have been fixed by now.
The big difference between is the TenTec is 2 band, the original is 3.
I don't know, but I expect there will be a firmware patch on the
internet to make it three band unless there is a hardware limitation.
So far they are using the same schematics in their manual as the 3
band version, so I doubt it.
My expereince with Chinese manufactured goods is that they do not have
the quality control the US consumers demand. If you watched the Orion/
factory tour video, TenTec burns in their radios for 24 hours before
they are released for shipping. I expect that they will do the same
with the Chinese rigs. If not at first after a few months of a 5%-10%
return rate, they will.
Perhaps slapping a Ten-Tec logo on a radio made in China is a first
tentative step in that direction, although in the past Ten-Tec has put
its label on Astron power supplies, I believe. Don't know where
they're made.
Who made their 2m HT?
Geoff.
--
geoffrey mendelson N3OWJ/4X1GM
Jerusalem Israel geoffreymendelson@gmail.com
New word I coined 12/13/09, "Sub-Wikipedia" adj, describing knowledge
or understanding, as in he has a sub-wikipedia understanding of the
situation. i.e possessing less facts or information than can be found
in the Wikipedia.
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