[TenTec] "The End of Ten-Tec" (Yeah, Right)

[Rick - NJ0IP / DJ0IP]

Three (your forgot Elecraft).
Four if you count Palstar.
Then there are companies manufacturing amps such as QRO Technologies and
Alpha (or whatever their name now is, under new ownership).
And then of course there is Vibroplex, which is probably the oldest of all
of these companies, and still manufacturing keys!


Of the Golden Oldies, you forgot the Gotham antennas.
That's all we kids could afford. 
Then there was Raytrack, Autronix, and Galexy.

Where have all the flowers gone?

73
Rick


-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces at contesting.com [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com]
On Behalf Of Jim Younce
Sent: Friday, December 17, 2010 4:17 PM
To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
Subject: Re: [TenTec] "The End of Ten-Tec" (Yeah, Right)

I doubt that Ten-Tec is about to close the doors.  It is a fact that the 
amateur market is only a small percentage of the company's business. Their 
biggest volume is the manufacture of tools & dies and metal boxes for 
electronic OEM manufactures.  The amateur business was a labor of love for 
Al Cohn and Jack Birtchfield.  When Al sold Electro-Voice and bought Ten-Tec

a tool and die manufacture they decided to build a ham transceiver. Al has 
since become a silent key and I am sure Jack is ready for retirement or 
already has retired.  Both were great gentlemen to do business with and to 
talk to on the air.

However, I am old enough to remember when National Radio, Hallicrafters, 
Drake, Regency, Multi-Elmac, Gonset, Central Electronics, Swan Electronics, 
Atlas Radio, Harvey Wells, Morrow Radio,  Clegg Laboratories,  Webster 
Bandspanner,  Walter Ashe,  Technical Material Corp.,  Barker and 
Williamson,  Peterson Radio,  James Millen,  Hammurland, EF Johnson, 
Heathkit, World Radio Labs, Knight, Lafayette, Eico, Ameco, Hornet Antennas,

RME Receivers, Master Mobile Antennas, Collins, and several other American 
ham radio manufactures were major players in the manufacture and sales of 
ham radio gear.  Now we are down to two, Ten-Tec and MFJ.  Some of the 
exodus was caused but the failure of engineering departments to keep up with

single sideband  technology but a great deal of them fell from the Asian 
manufacture competetion.

73

Jim Yoiunce K4ZM 


_______________________________________________
TenTec mailing list
TenTec at contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec