[TenTec] TT (Orion) Future improvements!!!

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

On Sun, Feb 13, 2005 at 08:45:45PM -0500, Ron Notarius wrote:
> For example:  Remember the Argosy.  Back in the day, I could put an Argosy
> and a TS-430S side by side.  I'd estimate that about 90% of the time, if you
> gave it an honest evaluation on receive, it was at worst a wash, but usually
> the Argosy could hear things better with less noise.  And if you put both
> rigs on the same station & antenna & switched back and forth, I can not ever
> recall a single time that the guy on the other end said the 430 sounded
> better than the 525; either there was no difference or the other way around.
> So why did we sell about ten or more 430's to every 525?  Power output.  100
> W out vs. 50.  And don't bother telling me that it's only a 3dB difference,
> and that you probably wouldn't notice that on the air -- because it's true.
> But people who were willing to accept the lack of bells & whistles, or of a
> digital readout (until the 525D came out), or of 12 & 17 meter coverage kept
> stopping dead at the power output.  Maybe it was a convenient excuse for
> some, but the bottom line is that I kept hearing "if only the Argosy put out
> a 100 Watts!"

Ron, I disagree completely. The 430 was an entirely different rig. The
Argosy was an old timer by that time. It was a PTO tuned, analog rig
while the 430 was a digital, PLL synthesized rig, with many more features.

The 430 had a general coverage receiver, the Argosy did not. The 430
had two "VFOs" built in and could work split the Argosy could not.
The 430 received and transmitted in AM and FM the Argosy could not.
The 430 had 8 memories the Argosy had none. 

Quite simply the 430 was the future of ham radio at the time and the
Argosy was its past. 

I'm not saying the Argosy was a bad rig, I'm just saying that comparing
it to a 430 was not fair. The 430 had in one box features that an Argosy
user could only dream of. 

It's a matter of company focus. Kenwood went with the do everything
you can and do some of them well concept, TenTec went with the do
few things, but be the best. 

Geoff.

-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm at mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM
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