Hi Neal,
Well, as a "new" (to me) owner of an Omni VI since last fall, of course this is
of more than academic interest to me. I like this rig! I'd hate to see it
become nothing more than a paperweight and a display item in the shack.
Also, we need to keep in mind that this is not just an academic discussion for
the Omni VI, but will happen with more and more radios of that era going
forward as time goes by. And not just those by Ten-Tec.
I guess the first specific question I'd have in mind (and I don't know who at
Ten-Tec could answer this) is whether or not the original bare circuit board
either is available or if a few more could be run off? If that's possible,
then the next obvious question is what part(s) are now made of Unobtanium &
what would be involved in replacing them?
That would strike me as the most cost-effective way of coming up with a direct
"plug-in" replacement. And it MAY be a case that IF someone was willing to
build a quantity of the boards on behalf of Ten-Tec, a deal could be worked out
to do just that... or if not on behalf of Ten-Tec (as that may not be practical
for any of an unknown number of reasons), on behalf of those willing to service
their radios themselves.
However: If the original board is no longer available and can not be
recreated, we are dealing with a complete re-engineering effort. At what point
does it become worth it regardless of the cost?
This all being said, we are now getting into a realm beyond my own level of
knowledge, and I don't want to make a presumption on what can or can't be done
when I don't know what I'm talking about. (I know, famous last words).
But at least Ten-Tec's service people were willing to talk to you. I know
quite a few owners of, ah, radios of other (off-shore) manufacturers who have
questions of a similar nature, and simply get told "sorry, can't be fixed" and
nothing more.
73
Jan 19, 2011 11:14:33 AM, tentec@contesting.com wrote:
Hi Ron,
I'm happy that other people are thinking about this! It's complicated.
>It sounds to me that the solution would be for a third party to
>design, build, and stock a replacement logic board.
Whew! That's quite a task, and as you alluded to, but I don't imagine
the company would be interested in helping - and they might have
intellectual property issues with some of this, too. It's one thing to
do a run of custom chips if there was a SPECIFIC part that was
failing, but to re-engineer a board ... The other idea would be to use
a "daughter-board" scenario where an add-on board with replacement
circuitry would plug into an IC socket.
But this is all academic unless we can zero in on a specific part of
the board, and apparently we are not going to get that from the
company. Someone has to troubleshoot to the component level, be willing
to pay for it, and then share the information. Or a user group takes a
collection and pays for a radio to be fixed. How much are you going to
donate to the cause? It could easily be in the $500 range. 10 people X
$50 = Hmmm.
--
Neal, NL7VL
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On Wed, 19 Jan 2011 09:41:57 -0600 (CST)
Ron Notarius W3WN wrote:
>It sounds to me that the solution would be for a third party to
>design, build, and stock a replacement logic board.
>
>Easier said than done. I don't know how much information is still
>available on the technical aspects of the original design, what parts
>are no longer available (and would have to be replaced, which may
>entail some re-design), and if Ten-Tec would have any interest in
>helping someone with such a project.
>
>And of course, the question of how much this would all cost is an
>issue. Assuming that there is someone willing & able to do this,
>would they be able to do so and not lose money in the process? It's
>one thing if a replacement board would be, say, under $200. It's
>another if it's over $500.
>
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