snip
With Drake dropping out of the ham radio business for good by ending
the production of the R8, with a claim there will never be an R9, that
leaves "two men standing" in the U.S. ham radio business. MFJ and Ten-Tec.
There are others, but their business is very small in comparison.
One of these "small" companies is SGC and their smart antenna tuner is a
fine business tuner. Although they cater to the marine crowd, they do have
some radio equipment used by hams, the SGC 2020, the SGC cube, the SGC 2000
etc. I must admit that the SGC 2000 while advertised in QST was not an
ideal "CW" rig.
snip
IMHO the company that wins will be the one that comes out with something
similar to a 2m FM mobile/base rig with HF and a $500 or less price tag.
To be honest, if you cut out CW, you could bring it in cheaper and faster
and unfortunately not enough people would care. I know that's not desirable
because it fosters a "CB" image, but if it brings new hams to the bands,
it might be worth it.
Geoff.
_________________________________________________________________
Get live scores and news about your team: Add the Live.com Football Page
www.live.com/?addtemplate=football&icid=T001MSN30A0701
|