[TenTec] Lousy eHam review?

[William Lee]

Jerry, now that was a good objective review of your experiences and opinions 
about Ten Tec radios.
Well worded and a good read.
Thanks.
I am a Ten Tec fan and enjoy my Paragon and Pegasus but have been strongly 
considering the Orion.
The only thing that has kept me from buying one has been the cost  HI Hi.
However, I have been hearing more and more good things about the Omni VI+.

Is the VI+ reciever really that much better than the Paragon or is it a 
matter of features and controls?

Perhaps I should find a good VI + (within my curent budget) and wait a year 
or so to see where the Orion will go.

William Lee  N5WRX

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jerry Volpe" <kg6tt at arrl.net>
To: <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2006 12:41 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Lousy eHam review?


> It is too bad that the poster did not bother to try to explain himself.
> And of course the '0' rating is a dead giveaway of someone who is having
> a very bad day. :) However I think there is a tendency to 'circle the
> wagons' whenever someone speaks out against the fold!
>
> I don't think that there is anyone who actually knows me that could say
> that I am not a Ten-Tec fan. I currently have and use twelve different
> Ten-Tec transceivers and amplifiers in my shack and had my first Ten-Tec
> well over 30 years ago. And I always enjoy an opportunity to 'share the
> Ten-Tec' experience with others. It was rather amazing to see two very
> experienced CW contesters at Field Day who had never seen a Ten-Tec
> before. They were amazed at how well the Omni-IV+ worked... how
> intuitive too. Fact is that there are probably hundreds of thousands of
> hams in the US who have never actually seen a Ten-Tec in person. Shame.
> Having said that, and getting back on topic, let me add my own
> observations and experiences regarding the Jupiter and more importantly
> perhaps some recent shifts in attitudes and abilities at Ten-Tec. Some
> of my own 'Jupiter' experiences genuinely soured me a bit and have
> actually kept me from investing in an Orion as yet.
>
> 1. I bought a new Jupiter a bit over two years ago and used it as my
> primary rig for six months. Used it every day. Fought the RF demons et
> al. There were aspects of the Jupiter that I did appreciate.
> Nevertheless I had many dissatisfactions. Far too many for a rig that
> cost me nearly $2000 delivered (ps, speaker, keypad, etc). So when
> someone volunteered an even trade.... my Jupiter for their Omni-VI+ it
> didn't take me long to say yes and I have never looked back! I LOVE the
> Omni-VI+. It nicely fills the need in my shack for a serious DX and
> contest machine. There is simply no comparison between it and the
> Jupiter. Now of course Ten-Tec will be the first to say you can't
> compare Apples and Oranges. Yet I say you can as the same money a ham
> has to spend for the Jupiter will net them the Omni-VI+ (topic for a
> different discussion).
>
> In fact, of all the Ten-Tec rigs that I have owned then sold or traded
> only two come to mind as non-regrets.... the Jupiter and its brother the
> RX-350.  Never-the-less I would not give either a '0' rating, but
> probably a '3' and feel comfortable doing so. Had Ten-Tec sold these for
> about $400 less I would probably rate them a '4'. Remember, my opinion.
>
> 2. This part bothers me far more than the quirks of the Jupiter.... the
> subtle but very apparent shift in attitudes at Ten-Tec these last years.
> Technical support and development appears to be generally strong, yet
> there is a sense that they are 'over tasked' and I think it shows at
> times. In addition there appears to be a slow reduction of Ten-Tec
> offerings as well. Inside information suggests that a key developer
> responsible for the core of Ten-Tec's DSP technology left the company.
> This had to have an impact. It did when I worked as an engineer at
> Heathkit and someone with a unique skillset to a product development
> left the company. It is also my sense that the Orion project seriously
> depleted other Ten-Tec enterprises for the past perhaps three years,
> maybe four.... and to me that is unfortunate. I guess for Orion and
> Orion II owners though it only seems fair. I have my doubts though as
> there are far larger markets that could be addressed more effectively.
>
> Lastly there is a sense of marketing insincerity taking place at
> Ten-Tec. Who writes their ad copy??? One only needs to look at the
> Jupiter (and previous Pegasus) ads and the trumpeted statements like
> "Never Gets Old...... New Updates"... blah, blah, blah. Yet those of us
> who bought the RX-350 (which hasn't seen an update since 2002 and has
> definite 'bugs'.... yes BUGs) only to be told that development ceased on
> this product some time back yet the 'forward thinking' ads continue....
> And the Pegasus?... And the Jupiter? Yes there was finally a mild
> firmware update to the Jupiter earlier this year, but it was rather mild
> and inconsequential overall. Oh let us not forget the original Orion
> owners who would still like to finally benefit from the version 2
> firmware work and have a genuinely stable and reliable Orion (1), but
> there most certainly hasn't been a lock-step in development between the
> two transceivers. Maybe this means nothing. Maybe it simply means that
> there are limited resources and the lion's share goes to the darling of
> the moment. Maybe it explains why so many Orion owners are dumping a one
> or two year old transceiver to buy the newer version. My gosh! We have
> become Icom!
>
> Have a great Fourth of July!
>
> Jerry, KG6TT
> Fairfield, CA
>
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