[TenTec] 'Real CW?' - What's TT to do?

[Jim Lowman]

This message caused the moderation, Buck.
References to auctions or auction sites, especially eBay, are strictly 
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73 de Jim - AD6CW

K4IA at aol.com wrote:

>The root problem is there is no Novice class license being given  anymore.  
>The entry level tech is buying a walkie talkie.  He  gets bored with it after 
>the novelty wears off but the barrier  to General and "real CW" is too big a 
>jump. He either puts the WT on  eBay or hangs around waiting for the day when CW 
>is dropped.  Little does  he know he will probably get just as bored with SSB.
> 
>Used to be we had a ton of entry-level novices pounding brass in the novice  
>bands and that is how we learned CW and the magic of HF.  With 75 watts  input 
>and a crystal, you couldn't get in much trouble but you sure did learn how  
>to have fun.   I was hooked 41 years ago and even though family and  business 
>QRTed me for 30 years, I am still hooked today.
> 
>To keep this "on-topic," let me add TT has made some great CW rigs.   Many 
>used ones are well within a beginner's budget.  The ARGO V would make  a great 
>Novice rig and a good choice if it weren't priced so close to the Yaesu  FT-857 
>(now offered for $689 at HRO).  What would be your favorite  recommendation 
>for a newbie?
> 
>Seems to me TT is trapped.  It can not produce rigs cheaply enough to  
>compete with the big guys on the low end.  It has tried, with the Orion, to  produce 
>something significantly better.  So far, it has succeeded but is TT  too 
>small to keep up?  How can they support the Orion and at the same time  be working 
>on the Orion II?  Will the latest VaporRadio from Yaesu -  the mysterious, 
>long-promised and still-unseen Ft-9000 unseat the Orion?
> 
>This is a tough business - I am glad I am on the consumer side and not a  
>manufacturer.  
>
>Radio k4ia -  ex WN4TUF a real 5 WPM Novice and damn proud of it since you  
>ask!
>"Buck"
>Fredericksburg, VA  USA
>