[TenTec] IC-7800

[ki3b at juno.com]

Some of the discussions on the new Icom here remind me of the old Mac vs PC wars on the newsgroups. I used to follow them for laughs. It was really amazing how emotional some of these arguments used to get. 

One comment came up explaining the fierce arguing over Mac vs PC. Most of the emotional arguing was due to people having to convince themselves and others that they made the correct choice, since (at that time) it was lot of money they're spending, and outside of comparing body parts, they ended up spending more time dissecting and arguing over small insignificant points of the machine and it's operating system than they spent using the machine for what it was intended for. 

Same thing goes here, if you haven't put the maximum you can into your antenna system, and feedline, it won't matter if you have a 756 Pro II, Jupiter, Orion, IC-7800 or Yaesu FT-90,000,000, ya ain't gonna work anything new. 

You can't cheat physics and the same goes with antenna systems. I work part time for one of the major dealers and we tell guys this all the time, put 99 cents of every dollar in your antenna and it'll pay off results tenfold what a new rig will do on the old system.

I honestly don't think that Ten Tec has anything to worry about here. They make an excellent product which is reasonably priced. I've been a ham for 25 years now and I still enjoy using my Ten Tec gear and working at the store, I can select anything else from the big three, and I'd still rather keep and use my Ten Tec gear. It beats the Jap stuff hands down. I'll tell you, sure there's going to be a group that has to spend 10K on a new rig, but I'll tell you after the bragging contest is over, and the hoopla ends, let's see how many people belly up to the bar to fork over the price of a new car (Kia or maybe a Hundai) for something to sit in their basement for a hobby. I don't think there will be that many at all, and the Orion and Jupiter, and other Ten Tec gear will still be working the DX and contests, because their gear works, and is just plain better. 

The new Icom hoopla also reminds me of some of the high end stereo stuff I used to be into. You spent so much time fooling with the tonal qualities of the music you never really have time to enjoy the song. Same thing here.... 

73 all,

Joe KI3B