[TenTec] re Scout...the VW bug

[Rob Atkinson, K5UJ]

>Rob, to educate you a little; the modules are not hard to change.  Each has 
>a lever mechanism.  You can place your thumb on the radio, (right handed); 
>then reach down with index finger and flip up the lever which jacks the 
>module out of the socket.

Granted if we look at it as a cheap customizable single band rig, it seems 
somewhat acceptable (but I don't think they were THAT cheap when new).  I 
simply think there are, or were, other, perhaps better, options out there.   
A used TS450 for example.  About the same price as a used Scout these days.  
I'd go with the 450.  To me the module architecture seems half-done.   If I 
were a lone minority on this, I think Ten Tec would be making more module 
type rigs.  They aren't as far as I know.

>Putting in a module is simply a matter of sliding it in and pressing firmly 
>with the thumb on the center of the lever bar.  When the module edge lines 
>up with the radio panel it is flush and seated.

That's okay if you stick to one band.  I'd like to know how many band 
changes these things can go through before the mechanisms wear out.

>The $1 Icebox box is the perfect size to hold the other eight modules, and 
>NO, it did not come in at a kilobuck rig to buy all modules.

Let's step into my time machine and go back to 1997:

http://web.archive.org/web/19980221023712/www.tentec.com/pricelis.htm

We see a new Scout listed for $549.  The modules were $29 each.  power 
supply was $79.
So, a new Scout for all bands 160 through 10 meters with a p.s. totaled up 
at $889.  Okay, I stand corrected; not a kilobuck rig and I apologize for 
that error.  But if I had had 889 bucks, i'd have picked up something else.

73,
rob / k5uj

>Stuart
>K5KVH

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