[TenTec] Merger

[Jim Brown]

On 5/20/2014 8:45 PM, Wes Attaway (N5WA) wrote:
> One of the problems I see with the markets that TenTec and Alpha are in is
> that there is a sort of a "diminishing returns" situation at work.

I like your analysis, Wes.

A major problem that Ten Tec has is that over a period of about 15 
years, the JA manufacturers have maintained their dominance of the low, 
middle, and high end of the market, and Elecraft has established itself 
as dominant with the high quality, moderate cost market that Ten Tec 
used to own. Elecraft's design concepts, pricing, modularity, high 
product quality, very responsive service, and marketing that is smart 
and aggressive have combined to accomplish that. A loaded K3 competes 
with the JA "flagships" at half their cost and many times their service. 
You can buy a K3/100 with either a P3 spectrum display or a second RX in 
kit form for the price of an Omni VII. The kits are no-solder, "screw 
together" kits, with all of the modules pre-tested. It took me about 10 
hours to build a K3/100, about an hour for the P3.

As to innovation -- compare the cute little KX3 10W QRP rig that fits in 
a large pocket with an AA battery pack and antenna tuner, covers 160-6M, 
and has receive specs better than the K3! No surprise -- designer Wayne 
Burdick, N6KR, has been designing backpacking rigs for 20 years. Use the 
same rig mobile -- it's slightly larger than a typical separation head 
-- with the 100W amp/tuner that integrates with it. And use that same 
combination on a cramped operating desk, with the amp on the floor under 
the desk! The KX3 I bought a few months ago was s/n 58xx.

The only comparable innovation I've seen from Ten Tec in the last 15 
years are the Orions and that cute little open source QRP rig. Most of 
us remember the firmware issues with the Orions; K3 owners always had a 
working rig, with firmware updates adding and improving features.

73, Jim K9YC