[TenTec] TT hamfest

[Wade Staggs]

*I can only speak for Saturday. Due to the time change, we arrived just in
time for the 11:00 AM Tour. The factory is very Neat and Clean. Of course
there were taped off areas where the general public could no go but,
overall we did see most of the factory. The machine shop, injection molding
and such were all very interesting. What I had come to see was the Radio
Part. What I found was a much smaller operation than I would have imagined.
We did see the SMT ovens where the circuit boards are made and a few other
areas. To my disappointment, the area where all of the parts pickers and
screening of circuit boards are done was not a part of the tour. One very
interesting thing that I did learn is that there do not seem to be any Wave
Soldering Machines for the Mass Soldering of Thru the Hole Components. Upon
asking about this we learned that the Thru the Hole circuit components are
still Populated and Soldered by hand. In my opinion a good thing. Having
worked for Teledyne and several other Electronics Mfgs..... The Factory was
Impressive in Layout and Design. Just wish that I could have seen more. The
Repair section had all of the equipment needed to do the job and then some.
There were Banks of Shelves where New Radio's are Broken In....... We were
told that the new radio's are set to about 30 Watts Output on a Good Dummy
Load and left to run for a 24 Hour burn in. This is not true for most
factories and they were correct that most problems with a New Unit will
occur in the first 24 hours. I Was Impressed. *
*            The Ham Fest itself included most of the standard stuff. The
Wireman, Fiberglass Antenna Poles and in genreal a pretty good Bone Yard.
It was just too bad that between 12:00 Noon and 1:00 PM the Rain came
tumbling down. Bone Yard stuff of all sizes and description.  i saw a
complete UHF Repeater System including Duplexer for $ 100.00 ..... Sure
wish my budget was not so tight. Audio Connectors, Large Broadcast Tubes,
RF Connectors and even several things that I don't already have in my
Extended Junk Box..... Too bad the rain came and lots of folks folded up
early. I still have a little left in the budget for another old Boat Anchor
Receiver. I would have loved to have picked up an old Super Sky Rider for a
really good friend and surprised him with it after restoration. W5SRR/Cary
is pushing the Centennial Mark very hard and is still active on 2 meters
and HF. I was also looking for an old J-38 Straight Key which was not
found. With Epay so busy inflating the prices of the used stuff, it was
kind of hard to find any good deals. After not finding a friend to trade my
Omni D/b to we made the drive back home to Middle Tennessee after what I
thought was a really good day. Guess it is because of the big tourist trade
but, we found the business folks much friendlier. My cigarette purchase and
Burger King stop was amazing. Being called Honey and Sweetheart or Darling
by the female clerks just made this ugly old mans day. And that is my view
and experience from the Ten Tec Ham Fest. *
*                                                             73 and May
God Bless de Wade/KJ4WS*
*P.S. It was nice to finally meet John Henry, Paul Clinton and Bob/K4TAX
......*

On Sun, Sep 30, 2012 at 8:11 AM, Paul DeWitte <k9ot at yousq.net> wrote:

> Any reports on the TT hamfest?
>
> 73 Paul K9OT
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