[TenTec] Question?

[Ron Notarius W3WN]

 As the current owner of an Omni VII, OmniVI+, Corsair II, PM2B, and a small assortment of other items...

I share the concern about certain parts becoming Unobtanium.

But let's all be honest for a moment.  It is unrealistic to expect (hope, maybe, being another story) for ANY major manufacturer to keep a large or near-unlimited supply of spare parts for rigs older than 10 years.

As some of us, and some of our fellow amateurs have found out, some manufacturers don't stock parts more than about 5 years out.  Some don't even stock parts for more than a few months after the rigs go out of production.  We've all heard the horror stories about a given rig... I won't bore everyone with a recital.

Ten-Tec has traditionally been excellent at providing repair, advice, and parts for rigs going much further back than 10 years... some going back 30 or more.  But there are limits.

And this doesn't mean that the parts are necessarily unavailable.  It is simply not cost effective for Ten-Tec to reorder these parts.

We are seeing more of these situations, as time goes on, because (a) the parts stockpile is dwindling or has gone bare on some parts, and (b) there are simply more rigs aging that need TLC these days.

So this does not mean that anything has gone "wrong" at TT.  It simply means that time has caught up to all of us.

73, ron w3wn

On 09/26/15, Paul Gates wrote:

You are right in my opinion. I have a Tentec radio, the 580 probably
manufactured in 1979. I had it checked out with Tentec 3 0r 4 years ago.
But I reckon it will not be possible now although I do not know for sure. I
remember the days with TenTec with they would exchange parts that were
needed for free. Those days are gone also!

On Sat, Sep 26, 2015 at 7:04 PM, Gordon Jacobs <gordonjacobs at att.net> wrote:

> I was just wondering why such high end rigs were being offered at such
> deep discounts. I was informed by Ten Tec that they could not completely
> support The OMNI VI +. That they did not have some of the parts for the
> logic board. I always liked Ten Tec because I could always get parts and
> service. I guess those days are gone. I know the days I can fix one are
> gone and at $110 per hour you can't have much of a problem and afford to
> have it fixed. I have an OMNI VI+ and am in the process of acquiring a
> Jupiter. I hope I can get a few good years out of them before I have to
> junk them. 73 Gordon KA5ZTI
> From: Peter Bertini <radioconnection at gmail.com>
> To: "tentec at contesting.com" <tentec at contesting.com>
> Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2015 2:24 PM
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Question?
>
> I suspect there is a bit of apprehension relating to the two recent
> transfers of ownership for Ten Tec and Alpha to RKR. I'd guess more than a
> few hams are waiting for news as to the viability of RKR to carry the Ten
> Tec brand forward. Many of these radios are board level replacement. SMD
> board level is expensive to repair and troubleshoot. And, Ten Ten service
> documentation has always been almost non existent. I own a few Paragon and
> Omni VI rigs, but I am confident I will be able to keep them running. I'd
> dearly love to own a Orion series, but if I invest in one, how can I be
> sure that parts or service will be available into the future?
>
> RKR is showing several Ten Tec products as awaiting production runs. I
> sure wish they'd share some insight as to the future of Ten Tec or
> Alpha.... but I can also understand the extreme cost pressures they must be
> experiencing.
>
> Pete
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