[TenTec] Tentec and Alpha is a good thing

[R. Eric Sluder-W9WLW via TenTec]

Bob,

I appreciate your view of the events at hand - nice message.

73


 
-Eric
W9WLW
http://w9wlw.blogspot.com/ 


>________________________________
> From: Bob McGraw - K4TAX <RMcGraw at Blomand.net>
>To: k9yc at arrl.net; Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec at contesting.com> 
>Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2014 8:09 AM
>Subject: [TenTec] Tentec and Alpha is a good thing
> 
>
>I agree with Jim on this point.  One of the issues we face on the bands 
>today is the crud generated largely by solid state amps. Be they the 100 
>watt class, the 200 watt class or the 1KW class.  We need cleaner 
>transmitters and amps, not more power.
>
>The solid state amp, be it the PA in the radio or external, has a very hard 
>knee where by it is quite clean up to a point and then breaching the crest, 
>it goes extremely nasty.  Thus the "nasty" is not what is heard on 
>frequency, but what is produced as products likely distributed across the 
>bands.  Tube amps have a soft knee which makes the area much smoother and 
>generates much less crud when slightly overdriven.  This over drive issue is 
>largely the result of the time constants in the ALC circuit of radios on the 
>market today.  Some are really bad and do not control peaks adequately. 
>I've measured a couple of current models and found the ALC overshoot to be 
>notably over 100 watts and one was found to be near 150 watts.  With their 
>internal solid state 100 watt PA's this spells trouble.
>
>We must realize the number of old amps on the air today, the SB-200's, 
>SB-220's, TL-922's. L4-B's and a host of others.  Hams are cheap and are not 
>willing to invest by spending $3000 to $5000 for a new amp.  Why do you 
>think Tokyo High Power went out of business.  Too expensive and not enough 
>customers.  Why the Titan discontinued?  Too expensive and not enough 
>customers.
>
>Regarding manufacturing, I think many would agree that any company would 
>prefer to make a million pieces selling for $1 each as opposed to making one 
>piece selling for a million dollars.  There's very little profit in small 
>volume production unless the mark-up is quite high or NASA is making the 
>purchase.  Thus why do we see the "less than $1000 transceivers" selling 
>quite well?  Why do you see all the products in the catalog from MFJ?  It is 
>PRICE vs. value vs. performance vs. quality.
>
>I personally view the merger/acquisition as a very positive move for both 
>companies.  Yes, there will be changes and likely ones we won't care for. 
>After all, we typically are one that resist change.  In the long run, I see 
>it a very positive move.  We just need to be prepared to accept change.
>
>73
>Bob, K4TAX
>
>
>
>
>----- Original Message ----- 
>From: "Jim Brown" <k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com>
>To: <tentec at contesting.com>
>Sent: Monday, May 12, 2014 10:10 PM
>Subject: Re: [TenTec] TenTec and Alpha merger not a good thing
>
>
>> On 5/12/2014 11:20 AM, Chuck Gerarden wrote:
>>> 1. Why can't Alpha build a relaible 1KW+ solid state amp?
>>
>> They may not WANT to do so.  At the price level of ham amplifiers, solid 
>> state amps are at least 10 dB dirtier than tube amps.
>>
>> 73, Jim K9YC
>> _______________________________________________
>> TenTec mailing list
>> TenTec at contesting.com
>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>> 
>
>
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