[TenTec] TEN-TEC Announcement January 4, 2016

[Gary J FollettDukes HiFi]

I Charge $85 per hour, and I don’t have overhead than TenTec has.

What is Icom’s shop rate? $25 per hour? I doubt it!

You SHOULD be able to repair the Triton IV’s yourself. They are almost as simple as a flashlight.

An Orion or Omni 6 is another matter. I doubt many Orion/Omni 6 repairs will take more than 2 hours anyway. Especially if that’s all you need to work on. At some point you should become familiar enough (as a technician) to repair jus about anything that can go wrong with an Orion in 45 minutes.

When I worked at Zenith Radio, many years ago, I only needed to repair ONE MODEL of stereo amplifier. That was my job. I repaired 90 amplifiers per day including parts changing. That’s because I got so familiar with them that I knew what was wrong immediately from the scope waveform on the test fixture.

I would be happy to pay a tech who KNOWS my radio to fix it at $125 per hour than have some hack tinker for 6 hours at $80 per hour.

If I sound like a Ten Tec “homer” here, sorry, I am not. Many things they have done over the years set me off, which is why I still have some Icom radios here, and my primary radio is an Icom.

I still respect Ten Tec products as they have always gone for ultimate performance over fluff. In a heartbeat I would buy an Orion 2 with software written by Icom (including the Notch Filter inside the AGC loop!). The Orion 2 is far better ultimately than any Icom, just clunky to operate compared with the Pro 2.

But we need to be realistic. If they are to make a go with a market size as small as the Ham market, they do need to operate their service department at sustainable rates. 

It’s hard to make a buck developing a new high end radio design when the maximum unit sales is in the range of 40,000 units, probably a lot fewer than that!

Gary W0DVN


> On Jan 4, 2016, at 10:20 PM, John Henry <jshenry1963 at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> $140 is the cost of the hour it takes to handle it in receiving (computer
> entry, rma, etc.) unbox it, store packing material, take initial look at
> rig, and the subsequent time after a repair for boxing it, collecting
> payment, calling customer, etc.
> This covers probably more than an hour in administrative time, service
> techs time, billing time, etc.
> 
> If you decide not to repair it, then that is all you'll pay (plus
> shipping/taxes)
> 
> If you decide to repair it then that starts the next hour of repair. $125
> per hour.
> That means your minimum repaired item would be $265 plus parts shipping tax.
> 
> For a $300 rig, yes, this might be high, but for some, if they can get
> their beloved Argonaut V or OMNI C repaired for this, then they don't care,
> they will do it. For some, yes, this will be a deciding factor to go
> elsewhere.
> 
> For those that do stick with TEN-TEC, they will hopefully see TEN-TEC come
> back to life.
> 
> If you want to go to one of a dozen other people to get your gear serviced,
> then you should. You do what is right for you.
> 
> I do want to say something I said in another forum.
> If it were not for Dishop buying TEN-TEC assets / brand name from RKR, then
> the owners of QSC would have shut it down. Then the legacy of Al/Jack would
> have been lost Some argue it would have been better to let it end already,
> before now, but, there is a fighting chance that it can continue, and that
> you will see innovative products come out of Sevierville again
> Already, there are new products in design, Dishop is working on a couple,
> I'm working on a couple, and others are volunteering as I am or contracting
> work to work on new ones.
> Who knows if they will make it to market, but, with a bit of luck, they
> will.
> 
> It is very very easy to be skeptical, heck, I am too, but, with a bit of
> luck, TEN-TEC will survive and rise again......
> 
> ok nuff cheerleading crap, let's see where this goes this year, proof is in
> the puddin
> 
> 73, KI4JPL
> John Henry
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