[TenTec] a couple of questions

[RICHARD ANDREN]

Interesting!  This was a very informative post.

Rick Andren N9THC
n9thc@foxvalley.net
andrenr@ul.com

------------Original Message-------------
The microphone you are looking at is either the 214 or 215 series microphone,
maufactured by us in the 70's and 80's.  This microphone was cast from
Electro-Voice molds, which is why it looks like that series of mic!

I have a minute to wax nostalgic, so here goes:  Al Kahn, K4FW, founder and
chairman of the board of Ten-Tec, was one of the two founders of the 
Electro-Voice corporation back in the 1920's.  EV was named by none other
than the great Knute Rockne ("The Gipper").  Al had set up a microphone
and speaker system on the practice football fields of Notre Dame in 1927
for Rockne to use in directing the Irish practices, and Rockne called the
set-up his "electric voice", hence the name.  Al Kahn is originally from
South Bend, In. and that is where Electro-Voice was founded, moving just
over the border into southwest Michigan in 1946 to bigger production
facilities.  

Al was instrumental in the founding of Heathkit in the post-WW2 period. 
Heath was located some 25 miles away from the EV factories in Michigan
and Al provided a traincar full of war surplus electronic parts that
evolved into Heath's first kit project, an oscilloscope.  The rest was
history...

In 1965, Al came to Tennessee to open two Electro-Voice plants, one in
Sevierville, TN (home of Ten-Tec) and one in Newport, TN, 20 miles away.
To this day the Sevierville EV plant is located directly across the
street from Ten-Tec.  Al always had an interest in manufacturing
amateur radio gear.  He's been a fanatic CW op since the 1920's (is still
on 40m CW daily), and in 1968 sold his interest in Electro-Voice, bought 
15 acres of land across the street, put up our building and he and co-founder 
(still president) Jack Burchfield, K4JU (a former EV employee) started doing 
tool and die work and building QRP ham gear at that time.  
Here we are, 29 years later.  

Ten-Tec is 100% owned by current and former employees and their families. 

Have a good weekend!

73, 



Scott Robbins, W4PA
Amateur Radio Product Manager



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