David, you didn't start a firestorm. To the contrary, you triggered a very
important twist on the thread of getting old radios repaired.
Fundamentally: forget it.
And the lesson to be learned is, it will only get worse.
Consider that when making purchase decisions.
I will conclude my contribution to this thread by saying anyone blaming the
current Ten-Tec owner for anything in the past, or failure to be able to
repair radios that he never sold, is . . . not only unfair, but damaging our
hobby by discouraging others from continuing to invest in the manufacturing
side of it.
73,
Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec <tentec-bounces@contesting.com> On Behalf Of David J. Ross
Sent: 08 August 2018 19:17
To: 'Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment' <tentec@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion VFO Knobs
Didn't mean to start a firestorm guys. My comment was based on my own
personal experience. I bought the Paragon used...always wanted one but
never had one and jumped at the opportunity. It arrived physically damaged
and with several let's say common ailments. I was dealing with service on
the problem and in fact service recommended the upgraded knob rubber...I
agree it is better. This was late Oct or early Nov. They couldn't have been
more understanding or accommodating. At that point there was no indication
of any supply problems. One week later...all messages phone or emails went
unanswered. I started to read threads from others experiencing this...even
on this page.
My comments were not meant to cause a war...rather reflect my sadness
about the current state of affairs for whatever reason they exist. I'm
especially saddened to think it happened one month after I ended my 30 year
wait to own one. I'm listening to the Paragon right now as typing this.
It's still a little quirky especially in the PLL department. Maybe someday
I'll find the problem....short of pull all the components off and clean the
board with a Dremel tool I've done everything else. But, when it is
working...it's the best radio I've ever owned. Long live TenTec.
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec <tentec-bounces@contesting.com> On Behalf Of Rick@dj0ip.de
Sent: Wednesday, August 8, 2018 12:13 PM
To: 'Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment' <tentec@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion VFO Knobs
Bob, your email is a great lead into what Rob Sherwood has been preaching
for about 6 or 7 years now:
"Consider Cost-of-Ownership (COO) when buying a new radio."
Potentially, every radio, regardless of cost, can become immediately
obsolete if for some reason one of its critical components suddenly goes
End-of-Life.
That is why I personally have opted to never spend more than $2K for a new
radio, regardless of how good it is.
Before retirement, it was not such a big deal, but for most of us,
retirement means tighten the belt.
It seems now the destiny for most radios is, keep it as long as possible,
then sell it broken for parts.
With that in mind, about the only two radios that I would even look at twice
are the IC-7300 and TS-590S.
I fear if Ten-Tec ever does bring out a radio, it will be above my $2K
limit.
73,
Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
-----Original Message-----
From: TenTec <tentec-bounces@contesting.com> On Behalf Of Bob McGraw K4TAX
Sent: 08 August 2018 17:59
To: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion VFO Knobs
In many cases, the original supplier of the parts has discontinued specific
items. The new ownership has little to nothing to do with this fact. Some
parts were custom made for Tentec while some were made in their own tool and
die shop or injection molding facility. Those of course no longer exist.
Unless someone builds after market items, many parts for older radios {those
10 + years} simply won't be available.
This also is the same for many other brands as well. I've encountered this
fact with my attempted repair of Kenwood, ICOM and Yaesu products and is one
of the reasons I've stopped repairing radios. No parts available in many
cases. In other instances, the supplier has a minimum of 100 piece order.
If I have to order 100 pieces just to get one or two, this makes the repair
very expensive. Certainly is not profitable for me.
Folks, we must realize that anything older than the Omni VII {now 10+ years
old}, Eagle {now 8+ years old} and Argonaut VI {now 6+ years old} are, in
many instances, in trouble with regard to parts. With my former company,
having been in charge of repair parts for products that are no longer in
production, we did forecast and purchase inventory to support products for 7
years. In most cases the supplier or vendor informed us that this was the
last production run on these items. This is inventory that takes space on
the shelves, and must be paid for in advance. Hence we have to spend
dollars for parts that may set on the shelf for 7+ years. The accountants
do not like this and the facility manager may say "why do we need to use
this space for obsolete parts"?
And in many instances our "forecast" was not sufficiently accurate and we
simply ran out of parts before expected. In some cases we were forced to
limit purchase quantities to prevent hoarding.
With Tentec and other brands, just be thankful you can get any service work
done and parts being available. Yea yea yea I know you're saying your 30
year old radio still works and I can get it repaired. In general that is
correct.........until one of those unique parts fail. The Orion series
has several unique parts and many to most of the PC board assemblies are no
long available. If either fails, look for a "parts only radio" and hope
the part is good that you need.
This is no different than looking for a brake controller for anti-lock
brakes from a junker at the auto junk yard. Oh, the Dealer has them for
$650. That's 1/2 the value of the vehicle. Radios are much the same
way.
73
Bob, K4TAX
On 8/8/2018 10:18 AM, David J. Ross wrote:
> Sorry to hear that. I bought the parts for my Paragon just last Nov.
> I
had heard that service parts were drying up under the new ownership.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TenTec <tentec-bounces@contesting.com> On Behalf Of km4bsham via
> TenTec
> Sent: Wednesday, August 8, 2018 11:10 AM
> To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
> Cc: km4bsham <km4bsham@aol.com>
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion VFO Knobs
>
> Naturally "out of stock, try back at a later date ". Thanks
>
>
> Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
> -------- Original message --------From: "David J. Ross"
<rossdj@verizon.net> Date: 8/7/18 6:32 PM (GMT-05:00) To: 'Discussion of
Ten-Tec Equipment' <tentec@contesting.com> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Orion VFO
Knobs I purchased one directly from TenTec but there was a $25 minimum
order. I needed the plastic panel end ears so the ring was a price padder.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TenTec <tentec-bounces@contesting.com> On Behalf Of Dave Beghtel
> via TenTec
> Sent: Tuesday, August 7, 2018 6:04 PM
> To: TenTec@contesting.com
> Cc: km4bsham@aol.com
> Subject: [TenTec] Orion VFO Knobs
>
>
> Is there any source for the newer vfo knobs with the solid rubber ring?
> Thanks, Dave KM4BS _______________________________________________
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> TenTec@contesting.com
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>
>
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