[TenTec] Screen impact

[Ron Notarius]

Let's keep things in perspective.  One of the things from Dayton 04 that
stands out in my memory is that it was almost impossible to talk to Scott,
there were so many people standing around him and most of the other TT staff
there, and all wanting to talk about the Orion and other rigs.  To say
nothing about the crowds that I constantly saw (2 or 3 deep) around the
Orions that were there.  And frankly, I saw more people waiting in line at
the Yaesu booth to talk to OH2BH (and get a ZA1A or other QSL from Martti &
company) than I saw around the Pheasant Under Glass on display there.

In any event... in terms of performance, I have no doubt that the Orion is
one of the top-of-the-line rigs available today (I can not say with absolute
confidence that it's THE top of the line rig as I haven't used that many of
the other more-or-less comparable rigs out today).  But we all know, it
won't stay that way; sooner or later, technology will push the envelope out
further and eclipse the rig, just as the S-Line, the C-Line, the TS-930/940,
etc. have been eclipsed.

So let's be brutally honest.  How important is a color screen going to be in
the Orion II (or whatever it's called)?  And there are two categories to
answer:
(a)  is it important from a FUNCTIONAL standpoint?
(b)  is it important from an ESTHETIC standpoint?

Let's also hope that the cost of small color screens continues to drop so
that when the time comes, the cost of adding color to the O2 will be so
insignificant as to be a moot point.

But I do have to agree with Scott.  $3300 is still a lot for a radio, even
one as fine as the Orion.  What I can't understand is how ICOM & Yaesu can
truly justify a $10k radio... and isn't it odd that Kenwood hasn't joined
the party yet?  Hmmm...

73, ron wn3vaw


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ten-Tec Inc. Amateur Radio Sales" <sales at tentec.com>
To: <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, June 11, 2004 10:40 AM
Subject: [TenTec] Screen impact


> At 11:34 PM 6/10/04 -0600, W6LX wrote:
>
> >Wow. This is very, very interesting. Does anybody remember the uproar
> >surrounding the Orion's price when it was first announced? Thirty-three
> >hundred dollars, and everybody practically fainted. Just go back and
> >read the threads and feel the anxiety: How could they charge that much?
> >How can the little guy afford it? Does it really do that much more?
>
> And on the "Ten-Tec listens to customers" theme, I can assure you that
> the commentary about how $3300 was very high for an HF transceiver
> back in 2002 definitely had an impact on our decision to not put a color
> screen in the Orion.   That was the whole point of bringing out the Orion
> at the 2002 Charlotte Hamfest - so we could get direct feedback on
> what we were doing.  Same motivation for Icom and Yaesu showing the
> IC7800 and FTDX9000 well in advance of availability.
>
> In 2002, I thought $3300 was a lot of money for an HF transceiver -
> even one as good as the Orion is.  I still think so today.
>
> Scott Robbins W4PA
>
>
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