[TenTec] Brand Loyalty

[Bob McGraw - K4TAX]

Recently a close friend and one that is on the frequency where myself and 
several others settle to "rag chew" on a very regular or daily basis stated 
that he may sell the radio he had been using as he wasn't satisfied with the 
audio.  He was using his Omni VII and a 705 mike and dipole antenna.   One 
day he announced to the group that he had sold his Omni VII and had 
purchased a brand XX/model radio.  {The actual brand & model is not 
important here.} Over the next two weeks he used the new radio on the air. 
The "rag chew" group made clear and definitive statements that the new brand 
XX radio had much better audio than the Omni VII.  He "settled" on the 
suggested adjustments that were offered for that model and continued daily 
to join in the "rag chew" sessions.  Frequently he was honored with the 
comment "that new radio sure sounds better than the Omni VII" type reports.

After two weeks, he couldn't stand the pressure and announced to the group 
"well fellows you are all full of crap, as I've been using the same Omni 
VII, same mike and same antenna for the past two weeks.   There has been and 
is no new radio".  Many of the fellows were totally embarrassed and grossly 
had proverbial "egg on their faces" as they had boldly and lavishly 
complemented  the "alleged new radio" and its audio quality.

Frankly, being in on the joke from the start and hearing these exchanges, 
when he disclosed the prank,  I laughed until I thought my trousers would 
need laundry service.

I suppose this goes to somewhat prove that folks give reports seemingly 
based on radio model and brand and not of actual and accurate signal 
evaluation.  In other words, they aren't capable of hearing and reporting 
any real or significant difference, although they claim to hear dramatic 
improvements when indeed there were none.

The general word is "HYPE" that feeds one's ego.

73
Bob, K4TAX








----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richards" <jrichards at k8jhr.com>
To: "Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment" <tentec at contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, June 14, 2013 5:57 PM
Subject: Re: [TenTec] RF Speech Processor


> Personally, Gary, after reading your comments over the past couple of 
> years, and reviewing your setup procedure, I am confident you have managed 
> to ring the most out of the rig and processor, pushing it to the max, 
> while maintaining a narrow, clean, and intelligible signal.
>