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Re: [TenTec] Orion VFO Knobs

To: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion VFO Knobs
From: Steve Berg <wa9jml@frontier.com>
Reply-to: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2018 16:57:23 -0500
List-post: <mailto:tentec@contesting.com>
I remember being called a lot of nasty names in Urdu, because Motorola made a cheap radio that a lot of taxicab drivers bought. To replace the final amplifier transistors, required taking the radio out of the case, then removing two soldered in shield cans to gain access to the transistors.  At $65 an hour, plus the cost of the final transistors, the final bill was almost as expensive as buying a new radio.  Hence the outraged Pakistanis!

Steve WA9JML



On 8/8/2018 4:49 PM, Bob McGraw K4TAX wrote:
Yep, that is what I was doing when performing contract service for Kenwood, Icom and Yaesu and a few other public service products.    Fortunately most was warranty service and the customer was not required to pay.

For those ham radios costing less than $500, toss 'em in the electronics recycling trash.   You will find it cheaper to buy the new model.

73

Bob, K4TAX


On 8/8/2018 4:45 PM, Greg S via TenTec wrote:
Television model life cycles in the 1970’s thru the 1980’s were pegged at 3 years. It is currently 3 MONTHS and shrinking. No factory service department does component level troubleshooting or repair any more. Board replacement is the name of the game.
Watch your top knot.
Greg, KC8HXO

Sent from my Linux device

On Aug 8, 2018, at 16:48, Steve Berg <wa9jml@frontier.com> wrote:

Hear Hear!

We have been spoiled by the service we got from the original Ten Tec company.  Paul Clinton and his techs were always very helpful, and that costs money.  David is trying very hard to keep the company functional, but had to make some changes.

When I was a tech at the Motorola Midwest Service Depot in Schaumburg, Illinois in the late 1970s, they were charging $65 an hour for my services.  From that sum, I was paid $6.50 an hour. Inflation since then has taken its toll, and I find that the new Ten Tec service rates are not excessive at all.  If they can find the parts, they can still fix most of our old radios.  I just ordered some ceramic filters from a place in Australia, so I can keep my Argonaut V alive for some time.  I have also bought final amplifier transistors for most of my old Ten Tec rigs.

I once owned a Kenwood TS-790A VHF/UHF multimode radio.  Once it had passed the time they supported it, I could not get it fixed at all by Kenwood.  I had to get it fixed at a shop in Southeast Iowa.  This is going to be the case for whatever brand of radio that you purchase from now on.  Product life cycles are getting ever shorter, too.

73,

Steve WA9JML



On 8/8/2018 3:31 PM, Rick@dj0ip.de wrote:
David, you didn't start a firestorm.  To the contrary, you triggered a very
important twist on the thread of getting old radios repaired.
Fundamentally:  forget it.

And the lesson to be learned is, it will only get worse.
Consider that when making purchase decisions.

I will conclude my contribution to this thread by saying anyone blaming the current Ten-Tec owner for anything in the past, or failure to be able to repair radios that he never sold, is . . . not only unfair, but damaging our hobby by discouraging others from continuing to invest in the manufacturing
side of it.

73,
Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)

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