[TenTec] COST OF OWNERSHIP (COO)

[Rick - DJ0IP / NJ0IP]

Long ago Rob Sherwood began speaking often of COO, shortly after paying for
an expensive repair to his IC-7800.
Most people listening to his presentations and looking only at his
performance charts, failed to pick up on his message.
For some reason it took me several years for the message to finally sink in.

It all boils down to the transceiver manufacturers ability to support a
radio is no longer dependant on their service policy alone, but just as much
dependant on their ability to obtain good quality components several years
down the road.  Unfortunately they don't have too much control of the
latter, other than stockpiling shelves full of spare parts - which
ultimately raises the cost of the radio.

As a result, we've seen radios of many brands terminated early in production
and in some cases, unavailability of critical parts after just 5 years on
the market.  I am not referring to Ten-Tec; rather a JA brand for which
there were no more final transistors available in less than 5 years after
its End of Life.  

If we are lucky, our new toy will last 10 years or more.  But if it fails
prematurely, and it is due to one of these components which are no longer
available, the value of our toy just sunk to near zero, unless we invest
time and labor to part it out and sell it one component at a time.

Let's assume this happens to Bob and Bill.
Bob paid $8K for his flagship, but Bill paid only $2K for his toy.
Both fail after 6 years and there is no replacement part.

Bob's COO = 8000/6, or $1333 per year.
Bill's COO = 2000/6, or 333 per year.
Bob's radio cost $1000 more per year than Bills.

OK, maybe Bob's radio is worth $1000 per year more, but if we're careful how
we spend the $2K, then it's hard to believe any other radio can be worth
that much more.

As a consequence, especially being semi-retired, I have decided that I won't
be purchasing any radios costing more than 2 to 2.5 K$.  

COO is a factor everyone should consider.
What each of us can afford varies from one OM to another, but everyone
should keep this in mind when purchasing their next new toy.

My "2c worth" for tonight.

73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)