----- Original Message -----
From: "John Rippey" <w3uls@3n.net>
To: <tentec@contesting.com>
Sent: Wednesday, February 11, 2004 16:16
Subject: [TenTec] Will Orion be Ten-Tec's Last?
> When a company loses its brainiest employee (Doug Smith), it's time for
> black crepe,
Not in this century. People come and go.
> it seems to me, rather than sentiments such as he won't be
> missed because his work was done. One thing Smith's departure shows is how
> difficult it is to recruit and retain top-notch talent in locations such
as
> East Tennessee. Virginia Tech, located not far from Sevierville in
> Blacksburg, Virginia, has the same recruiting/retention problems for its
> engineering faculty. Appalachia is not Austin, Texas, or northern
Virginia,
> if you get my drift.
Yeah, some people like the more complicated life.
>
> As I recall, Scott Robbins said on this reflector some time ago that
> Ten-Tec had no plans for a Jupiter + (or Orion -). That leaves the
Argonaut
> V, which is the world's best 20-watt transceiver, the Jupiter, and the new
> Orion. Given that product line-up, seemingly set in concrete, and no
brainy
> innovators
HUH! who was the brainy one ?
> on board (don't forget Allan Kaplan is gone, too), and no new
> rigs in the pipeline, it is somewhat of a gamble IMHO that sales of these
> three transceivers will be sufficient to keep T-T's ham business afloat
> indefinitely. Of course, T-T has other businesses and is not dependent on
> just the ham business.
Time must march on.
>
> In the meantime, as has been noted, ICOM is marketing a new transceiver to
> hams for about ten grand, but this rig is designed primarily for the
> government/commercial market and will stand or fall on its reception
there,
> where sales run into the tens of thousands over many years. Ham sales will
> be gravy. The next new ham rig from ICOM likely will be a successor to the
> 756PRO II using some of the circuitry from the ten grand rig.
>
> 73,
>
> John, W3ULS
> Owner of OMNI VI, Argonaut V, IC-746PRO & FT-920
>
>
>
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>
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