[TenTec] An Update from Ten Tec

Fri Dec 2 12:25:15 EST 2016

Also there is the Ameritron 1306 that adds 6 meters and computer control 
to the 1300.  I have one and like it.

Carl Moreschi N4PY
58 Hogwood Rd
Louisburg, NC 27549
www.n4py.com

On 12/2/2016 12:12 PM, rick at dj0ip.de wrote:
> Need to update my own Post:
> http://www.gbhs.it/Prodotti21.html
> and
> http://www.gbhs.it/Prodotti11.html
>
> Don't let the name fool you.  These are made in Italy, not Brexit.
>
> Sooooo, that brings the total to 10 solid state amplifiers currently on the market; 11 if we count the little Ameritron ALS-500.
>
> However, "cheap" they are NOT!
>
> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of rick at dj0ip.de
> Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2016 5:06 PM
> To: 'Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment'
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] An Update from Ten Tec
>
> Well there is this:
> http://www.rf-power.it/index.php/en/products/hvla700
> and this:
> http://www.rf-power.it/index.php/en/products/hvla1k3
> and this:
> http://www.linearamp.co.uk/gemini_HF.html
> and this:
> http://www.jumaradio.com/juma-pa1000/
> and this:
> http://www.acom-bg.com/products/amplifier/acom-600s-6m-amplifier
> and this:
> http://www.ameritron.com/Product.php?productid=ALS-600Y
> and this:
> http://www.ameritron.com/Product.php?productid=ALS-500M
> and this:
> http://www.ameritron.com/Product.php?productid=ALS-1300
>
> ... but other than those 8 solid state amps, I can't think of any either. ;-)
>
> 73 - Rick, DJ0IP
> (Nr. Frankfurt, Germany)
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: TenTec [mailto:tentec-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Barry N1EU
> Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2016 4:24 PM
> To: Mike Dishop; Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] An Update from Ten Tec
>
> IMHO, you guys should come out with a $3000 1KW small form factor solid state linear amp.  You could sell boatloads.  Evidently Elecraft's $2300 500W KPA500 sells extremely well and the SPE Expert 1KW and 1.5KW amps have long backorder wait times.  Not much else out there in terms of solid state amps.
>
> 73, Barry N1EU
>
> On Tue, Nov 22, 2016 at 1:27 PM, Barry N1EU<barry.n1eu at gmail.com>  wrote:
>
>> Thanks for the update Mike and I wish you every success!
>>
>> As far as the Eagle production, I believe it would be a tough sell at
>> $1699.  Every indication is that transceiver architecture is moving
>> quickly to direct digital sampling (e.g. IC-7300) and I'd suggest
>> pointing your design resources in that direction or risk missing the
>> hf xcvr boat entirely.  It is very possible Ten-Tec could leverage
>> their previous development in dsp firmware (Orion, Omni7, Eagle) to
>> accelerate the design cycle, which is apparently what Icom did with the IC-7300.
>>
>> 73, Barry N1EU
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 21, 2016 at 1:36 PM, Mike Dishop via TenTec<
>> tentec at contesting.com>  wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>   Greetings Friends and Fellow Ten Tec Enthusiasts,
>>>
>>> Iwanted to update you on what is happening in Sevierville.  The
>>> SmokeyMountains are literally fogged in with smoke in some places as
>>> Tennessee hasmany wild fires burning. I was there two weeks ago and
>>> have never experiencedanything like it. Driving down Jellico Mountain
>>> on I75 it became literally IFRconditions with near zero visibility from the smoke.
>>> Assome of you know Ten Tec has been occupying office condominium
>>> space behind thesite of the former factory were now a Wal-Mart
>>> Express is sitting.  Thissite is not appropriate for our needs.
>>> Starting last week, weare moving out of this location into a more
>>> industrial friendly space.Unfortunately this location is not zoned
>>> for commercial walk in traffic, so thedays of someone showing up at
>>> the factory door unfortunately have come toan end. After an entire
>>> year of searching for any possible opportunity tomove, this is all we
>>> have been able to come up with. Commercial realestate is completely
>>> out of control in Sevierville county because of thetourist industry,
>>> and unless we have about a half million dollars toinvest in the
>>> factory location you can just forget about it.  Ten Tec is"too small"
>>> to receive any incentive, tax breaks or help from the localso called
>>> "Economic Development" office. My opinion is thatthe State and local
>>> government of Tennessee is about as economically unfriendlyto a small
>>> business or start up business as is possible.  For example, inother
>>> counties in TN the standard is to create 10 new jobs to get
>>> anyincentive. Sevier County arbitrarily requires 25 jobs.  By
>>> mycalculations, 25 jobs would be around a million dollar pay roll if
>>> the jobsaveraged 15 dollars an hour to the employee with a 25% more
>>> overhead to theemployer.  Any business having that kind of payroll
>>> better have about 10million in gross receipts which would put it at
>>> DOUBLE the IRS definition of asmall business and QUADRUPLE the IRS
>>> definition of a microbusiness, so it isobvious that the economic development offices do not have any mandatewhatsoever to support or help ANY small business reason the scale of
>>> anindividual person's finances.   The fact that Ten Tec must
>>> havecontributed millions of tax dollars to the local economy over the
>>> last
>>> 50 yearsmeans nothing.  In many states, these economic development
>>> offices arepartially funded by the local Chamber of Commerce. It is
>>> my opinion theseoffices function as intelligence gathering units to
>>> forewarn their members ofany possible competitor entering their area.
>>> If small business is truly theeconomic growth engine of the United
>>> States it is apparent to me why we havegrowth problems if we depend
>>> on these organizations to help us as individuals.It seems ironic that
>>> the company named TEN TEC for Tennessee Technologies can'tget any assistance at all in Tennessee considering the
>>> state's advertising oftheir "Tennessee Technology Initiative".   If you are
>>> wondering why I wrote all thisabove it is to head off the endless
>>> string of expert recommendation that Icontact TVA and the local
>>> economic development. I’ve done it and nobody is going to help Ten
>>> Tec in the State of Tennessee.
>>> Toget back on track, I stated above we are moving the remainder of
>>> this month.You all know what that means. Service will be slow this month.
>>> Robertdecided not to have you send in radios this month so we
>>> wouldn't have to movethem.  There is no cause for alarm or
>>> speculation.  Service willcontinue just as soon as we are moved. I
>>> hear and read all kinds of gossip andcomplaints and this and that
>>> about our service, and none of it even close toaccurate. We have
>>> serviced hundreds of radios this year and have a bunch ofhappy
>>> customers.  You will see in the reflector some guy complaining
>>> orsaying he is worried and then five people saying everything was
>>> fine.  I'mso sick of it.  Really it is so frustrating, especially
>>> when some of youcall or write me up in Ohio about your twenty year
>>> old radio.  I can'thelp you. I'm not in Tennessee. The people there
>>> run things and do their jobessentially under Boyd's supervision. I
>>> don't want to sound condescending oraloof or unreasonable or
>>> unfriendly but please see this from my perspective.There are
>>> thousands of you and one of me.  I am responsible to run thiscompany
>>> and pay the people who work here whose families depend on me.  Iam an
>>> electrical engineer and my time needs to be spent getting the
>>> newproducts developed and out the door, not with a dial string for
>>> your old thingthat I neither sold you or received any benefit of
>>> selling to you.  Canyou directly call the president of Icom?  Does
>>> Eric answer the telephonewhen you call Elecraft?  It is just not
>>> possible for me to answer everyemail and every telephone call about
>>> service issues. If you call me atDishtronix and leave a message
>>> asking me to call you about your Ten Tec I'm notreturning your call.
>>> If I answer I'm going to tell you we have put up theprocedure that
>>> you email service at tentec.com.  Yes, I have a telephone atTen Tec and
>>> no, you can’t have it.  We are short staffed because we do nothave
>>> sales volume at this time to support a large overhead.  This
>>> way,Robert can go through all of the email and respond at one time in
>>> the morning,then spend the rest of the day shipping radios and parts
>>> orders without beinginterrupted. He is there three days a week, so
>>> you don't get answers onMonday or Friday. Sure, I know some of you
>>> don't like it. There is no needto tell me about it. I don't like it
>>> either, but until we start having alot more cash flow that is the way
>>> it has going to have to be. For those thatcomplain about how long it
>>> is taking, please understand this is a milliondollar endeavor and
>>> money like that just doesn’t grow on trees, at least forme. Of course
>>> any of you wealthy gentlemen looking for a good cause to donatesome
>>> money too -  I would love to have the cash on hand to turn thingsaround tomorrow. Until then I’ll be working 16 hours a day seven days a weekwith no days off and scrimp and save and spend carefully and build up slowlyjust like every other hard working guy has to do.
>>> WhatI am going to try to do next is set up sort of an email hotline
>>> for critical caseswith Bob if he will do it. I just thought of this
>>> and have to talk to him aboutthis.
>>> OK,enough about that.  Let’s get on to some better stuff. Many of
>>> youknow that under RFC and RKR Ten Tec quit doing their PCB assembly inhouse.
>>> Those of you who have known me over the decades at Dishtronix knowmy
>>> shop suffered heating issues that made it tough for the machinery to
>>> run inthe end of January to February artic blasts.  Well, I have a
>>> new and verynice double insulated, heated and cooled free span metal
>>> building where I'vemoved my PCB assembly operation and this is
>>> something I'm very excitedabout.  The building has a metal skin
>>> totally covering the inside withgood overhead fluorescent lighting
>>> and conduit encased electrical outletsevery 12 feet around the
>>> perimeter.  I have retired the older ContactSystems placement
>>> machines in favor of newer MYDATA (Micronics Sweden)placement
>>> machines. I installed the first MY9 machine this last June and
>>> havebeen using it to build boards for the RX340 commercial orders we
>>> have beenfulfilling.  Ten Tec did have a MY9 when they were building
>>> boards inhouse. The MYDATA machines are the choice for high mix
>>> medium volumeproduction, especially when equipped with the Agilis
>>> quick change feedersystem. Feeders usually cost more than the
>>> machines in this business, and I'vebeen growing my collection all
>>> year.  I am about a third of the way tohaving the collection of
>>> feeders I would like to have. Earlier this month I gotlucky and was
>>> able to purchase the bar code software which will allow me toload and
>>> unload components from the machine by just scanning with the
>>> barcodereader, and it is done offline.  It will help with inventory
>>> control andcomponent management which is a real nightmare considering
>>> Ten Tec has
>>> over7000 different line items.
>>> TheMY9 machine has a capability to hold up to 96 different components
>>> and has asingle mounting head. As I write this, an air ride big rig
>>> is getting closerand closer to Ohio hauling a MY19 machine in from
>>> San Francisco which can hold anadditional 160 different components
>>> (total 256 8 mm tapes) and has 8 mountingheads!  Hopefully this
>>> machine will be brought online successfully and notbe damaged or in
>>> bad shape as I've bought it sight unseen.  I've alsomoved the 8 zone,
>>> lead free capable, pin chain conveyor equipped ElectrovertBravo 8105
>>> oven to the new building last weekend.  This gives us thecapability
>>> to process double sided surface mount and the ability to
>>> reliablyprocess BGA chips.  I've also purchased this summer but not
>>> yet installedan X ray machine to do 100% inspection of the BGA reflow
>>> solderingprocess.  With the existing equipment (stencil printers,
>>> board
>>> washers,etc.) this will give us what I believe is the most well
>>> equipped and modern PCBmanufacturing of any amateur radio
>>> manufacturer in North America.  Ibelieve the other guys outsource
>>> their board assembly.  It may be thesmart thing to do, but I
>>> personally prefer to buy and house my own componentsin house and to
>>> have total control over my assembly process.  I find itrequires more
>>> time to outsource and get constant bids for things like this thanto
>>> just own the equipment and do it myself. I think you get a better
>>> product atless cost. Of course the best reason in my opinion for
>>> doing it all in house isI can do as small of a production run as I
>>> want, IF I am willing to spend thetime to set up and do it. Hence the
>>> decision for the quick change capability ofthe MYDATA system.  So,
>>> all in all what this means is the Phoenix isrising. I am rebuilding Ten Tec and preparing to do some serious manufacturing,which brings me to my next point.
>>> Mostof you know we have been bogged down and overwhelmed with the
>>> commercial sideof our business this last year since I officially
>>> assumed the helm in January.With trying to replenish the hard to get
>>> /  long lead time /  lasttime buy /  obsolete parts, rebuild the PCB
>>> assembly operations, moving,and so on we just haven't had the
>>> horsepower to build any amateurtransceivers.  Well, the good news is
>>> we have caught up on our commercialcontracts.  Be glad we did this.
>>> You know all the stuff I wrote aboutabove?  The commercial contracts
>>> paid for that. Without this TEN TEC wouldnot exist right now. We are
>>> at a very important cross roads right now. What do we do next?
>>>
>>> Someof you know we are developing new products.  Those are still off
>>> on thehorizon.  What I need to know is how many of you would purchase
>>> Eagles ifthey were available?  I'd like to do a run of 100 of them
>>> next. It is agreat radio.  I like mine every bit as well as my Orion
>>> II.  The DSPfunction is superb.
>>> Wehave to talk a little bit about price.  When the Eagle was launched
>>> it wasa $2100 radio with no accessories.  You all know the story of
>>> the blow outsales and the liquidation as the previous owners sold
>>> everything that wasn'tnailed down on their way out.  Some of you got
>>> fully loaded radios
>>> for$1299 or whatever.  You know they didn't even cover their assembly
>>> cost onthat, right? Some of you got real bargains.  Of course only
>>> the last 35radios or something were sold at that price but you get the point.
>>> Youwill never see a price like that again.  If I have to sell and
>>> Eagle atthat I will close and lock the doors and be done with it.  A
>>> strip modelneeds to sell at 1699 at least.  The more you are willing
>>> to pay for aradio the faster the new radios can come out.  We want to
>>> build radios andsell them so we can keep the production team in place
>>> so we can meet the demandwhen the new radios come out. Everything we
>>> do tomorrow depends on how much yousupport us today.
>>> I'mcertain some of you have heard that I and two partners acquired
>>> Alpha and thatI've been officially at the Helm since August.  It is a
>>> separate companyfrom Dishtronix / TEN TEC.  Of course I will be
>>> building the circuitboards for those products as well.  I'm after
>>> something business peoplecall economy of scale, essentially having
>>> enough product flow through the doorsto totally occupy the machines
>>> and infrastructure.  I'll be making apost on that reflector as well to update those customers also.
>>> Bythe way, we do have RX340s available to build on short notice now.
>>> Letme close by wishing you all a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving holiday,
>>> one of myfavorites and of course the reason I see my dentist in
>>> November for my prefeast tune up.  The Sevierville team and I
>>> appreciate your support for TenTec, where we believe we are once
>>> again Making America Great - One Radioat a Time.
>>> VY73 DE MIKE N8WFF
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> TenTec mailing list
>>> TenTec at contesting.com
>>> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec
>>>
>>
>>
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