Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
I hope we all know where that came from. I would say that >90% of amateur
radio operators world wide will recognize that written statement is one of
the pillars of our way of life in "W" land. The internet has expanded our
ability to exercise that right. With that comes to ability to respond to
another individual's comments. I wouldn't want it any other way. The only
entity that wouldn't is dictatorial establishments. I am happy that we can
voice our opinions about government AND companies and products.
The US, as well as most other countries that embrace free speech, are also
capitalist societies; find a product, sell it and get rich. There are many
'get rich quick' schemes on this third rock from the sun. The only ones
getting rich with those schemes are the perpetrators of the scam. They
don't have any repeat customers for a very obvious reason and must move
quickly to another scheme. This doesn't do well for long life cycle products.
In capitalist societies, competition is always welcome - especially by the
consumers. Competition has two wonderful effects. First it keeps prices
lower and, second, products improve. If the producer of the product wants
to get rich (or at least get a bit more money than they started with), they
must sell their products. As consumers, we always look at what we get for
our dollar, kroner, mark, franc or yen. We either want the same service for
less money or more service for the same money.
TenTec has gotten the reputation, whether by plan or circumstance, of
delivering more product for the same money. Yes, it is often difficult to
compare apples and peanuts, but we tend to think that the Tennessee cherry
sitting between Ten and Tec means, "this product is better." Looking at
ham-fest prices versus new price of the units, I believe the TenTec
products are better. They hold their value better on the used market.
TenTec also must market to the masses. There are many hard-core TenTec
users that probably have no clue if the SSB circuits in their rig even work
but they know exactly how the QSK works. There are others that would have
to read the manual to find out where to plug in a J38. But TenTec builds
most rigs for both crowds. With the advent of software defined radios this
presents a new problem to be over come. The 555 Scout had a problem of
drifting a bit at higher keying rates due to the microprocessor now having
the time to watch the frequency and deal with >35wpm keying. The drift
wasn't as bad as a Swan but it was still there. As an Extra Lite, I will
never see this problem; therefore it doesn't exist in my rig! The Scout
also doesn't have a front end with a -130db nf. Neither of these 'problems'
makes the rig worthless. The Scout wasn't designed for the high end market.
It performs to the design specification and does it extremely well. I get
better performance for the same amount of money.
6 or 7 years ago, TenTec decided to build a VHF rig. That this rig ever
made it to market is a real testament to the dedication of the powers in
Sevierville. Finding electronic components that will be around for several
years is becoming very difficult for all manufactures and TenTec went thru
several design, test, type acceptance cycles only to be blown out when the
supplier discontinued the component. Compounding this was a sudden lack of
personnel. When your lead design engineer jumps overboard it puts a real
crimp in your plans! Many lesser companies would have scrapped to whole
project and moved on. But hams like us that love radio and wanted to
produce the rig operate TenTec. And they finally did. The 526 6n2 is
available.
I own one. I waited for several years to get one. Unfortunately TenTec
probably miss calculated their market on this rig. (Despite my comments to
Scott and Eric!) TenTec really expected to market the unit to more of the
repeater crowd but it was the serious VHF/UHF group that was most
interested in the unit. The result isn't disastrous but the rig actually
fails to meet either groups expectations. But it does perform to
specifications. It does have a couple quirks but I know how to overcome
them. I would really like TenTec to let Allan 'leak' a mod for better
front-end performance - especially on the 2-meter side. On the flip side of
the argument, TenTec did some wonderful items with the rig. By actually
talking with a leading supplier of VHF/UHF/Microwave ham products, the rig
has the capability designed right in of being a wonderful IF rig.
Quirks? Yes - there is one which 2 rigs I know have experienced. As the
bridge, if you will, between mostly hardware radios and the new flash
upgradeable rigs, some anomalies might be expected. I'm sure this wasn't
from lack of testing as I saw, touched, poked and drooled on the rig before
it was ever released and am certain I was on the other end of the QSO even
before then. Yes, TenTec field tests their new rigs extensively before
being released. Maybe its part of their love for ham radio or maybe its
just one of the perks for working there but being a company of hams for
hams there will be several prototypes on the air from beautiful QTHs in the
Great Smokey Mountains. (If you've never been there, you are missing one of
life's greatest pleasures.)
But a half dozen rigs being operated by a dozen hams still doesn't
represent everything thousands of us hams are going to try to do with our
beloved TenTec. The amateur radio service has way too many modes, avenues
and facets for any one of us to ever explore - and Doug Smith is always on
the bleeding edge of technology trying to open more. The bottom line is
that today's products just can't be tested in every possible scenario with
every conceivable configuration. The advent of the software defined radio
coupled to a plethora of PCs makes the possibilities almost endless. The
folks at TenTec try to think of everything but us hams are way too
ingenious to let that happen! ;-) What the folks in Sevierville will do
though is, if there is enough demand, create a new version of the flash
code for you to download, AT NO COST!!!, into your rig and fix, correct or
upgrade that new Jupiter or whatever to the latest and greatest coming out
of the factory that week. And, in the meantime, they will connect you to a
knowledgeable engineer to walk you through diagnosing and repairing your
old PowerMite or new kit; and your only expense is the phone call!
Bottom line is that while nothing is quite perfect (except maybe the view
from atop one of the hills around Sevierville), TenTec produces very good
products that perform to specification for a broad range of us hams. They
could probably quit the ham market and have a higher ROI building
commercial or military gear but their love and dedication to amateur radio
continues to set the standard high for the rest or the manufactures. Maybe
we have come to expect too much and don't read the spec sheet? Whatever the
case, as a ham & TenTec PR guy, Scott takes some things very serious and
was/is justified in exercising his First Amendment rights in defending
TenTec and its products.
Outta breath now
73 de KD4GT
PS: Scott, I *REALLY* would like a <leak> on improving the front end of the
526!
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