Pros: Good to see Ten-Tec gathering information for a future product
development.... no GREAT! To survive and even flourish Ten-Tec must stay
competitive in product offerings. The survey itself had some problems as
it didn't enforce 'rankings' but I am sure it will provide useful
information... at least from current Ten-Tec owners that visit the
Ten-Tec home page. Is there a plan to reach out to non Ten-Tec users?
Perhaps a reader 'challenge' to please complete an independent 'what I
want next' survey in every Ten-Tec magazine ads for the next few months?
Seems to me Icom did this a few years back. Anyway....
Cons: Historically, Ten-Tec's moving to a new product development seems
to take them one step closer to 'end-of-life' product status for there
other products.... Orion and Orion II owners in this case (I already
experienced this end of firmware support with the RX-350, Pegasus, and
Jupiter). Wait a moment... we haven't seen any firmware bug fixes for
our Orions in just about a year now... and bugs STILL exist... and
improvements are STILL possible.... and add ons were 'rumored.' So why
do I feel somewhat lacking in the satisfaction department? In a time
when we are being courted to move from hardware solutions to 'software'
emulated solutions we must have a known (or at least trusted) firmware
update schedule that continues... at least on a minor level (bug fixes
rather than enhanced features) for five years OR MORE. Not just until
the next project enters development.
To me the most important product feature is buying and ownership
'confidence.'
I'm not angry, but if the Orion IS 'end-of-product' regarding firmware
changes I want to know it so I can plan accordingly. Understanding how
Ten-Tec will support their software defined projects now and in the
future will have a great impact on ownership confidence.
73 All,
Jerry, KG6TT
--
KG6TT
Ralph Jerald "Jerry" Volpe
ARRL Member, VE
FISTS Member 12304
Solano County
CM88xg
788 Chestnut Drive
Fairfield, CA 94533
USA
kg6tt@arrl.net
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