[TenTec] re: 60M - solution, BUY NEW GEAR (rant)

[Ken Hopper]

<rant>
In all the interesting and passionate discussion about 60M and vendors' 
responsibility, I didn't see anyone say that TEN TEC STAYS IN BUSINESS BY 
SELLING NEW EQUIPMENT.

It may come as a surprise to some that Chevy, Ford, Chrysler and other 
automobile mfgrs don't stay in business by maintaining your old car - but 
rather by moving NEW iron, aluminum, steel and plastic off their lots. Why 
would you expect Ten-Tec to put any precious resources into old gear? I don't 
believe the Ten-Tec Engineering group is paid by revenue generated by 
designing upgrades for discontinued models.  Does anyone remember the "Packard 
Bell" department store computers? where are the Gigahertz mods for those old 
work horses? when did you last see a major upgrade for a Dell, Gateway or IBM 
Laptop? probably you bought a NEW one instead.

If the OMNI-VI+ community has the energy to complain, how about putting that 
energy into forming a new company that offers mods and upgrades for that 
model? I don't believe you will find a lender that will believe your business 
plan, but hey, give it a shot :-)

How about supporting a great AMERICAN company by purchasing one of their FOUR 
NEW UPGRADABLE models (Pegasus, Jupiter, Argonaut-V, or Orion) that all have 
the capability to be upgraded with many new features including new band 
coverage.  That way Ten-Tec will stay in business a long time and continue to 
offer us leading edge engineering and exceptional equipment value for our 
hobby.  I for one feel very lucky to have the freedom to choose [vendors] and 
I will demonstrate it with my wallet.
</rant>

my apologies to those I may have offended,
de ken n9vv
P.S. Another great American company, Elecraft, has announced the 60M upgrade 
for the 100W K2 and possibly for the K1 see http://www.n9vv.com/k60x.html