[TenTec] RETen-Tec future

[Jerry Stewart]

Please understand that the only reason I was mentioning selling the 
Delta II was I am literally running out of room in my shack. It would be 
silly of me to sell a used piece of gear to 'spite' the owner of c 
company who received no revenue from its sale in the first place.  I 
have a collection of PMs, Tritons, Argosies, the DII and an Orion along 
with a Titan amp and and tuners etc. If I gathered it all up, probably 
40 pieces of Ten-Tec gear. Offering one piece is hardly an indication of 
me giving up on Ten-Tec.  As an engineer, I specified and purchased many 
thousands of dollars worth of plastic injection molds from Ten-Tec, an 
outgrowth of the relationships I had developed talking with staff on ham 
gear.  As far as tying up the phone line, in 40 years of hamming, I 
probably made about 5 calls to order parts, one to get a rig serviced 
and one less than 5 minute call to the service department, which fixed a 
small issue over the phone and for which advise I would have happily 
paid.  But this from Mr Dishop, who I spoke with briefly right after he 
bought the remains of TT at Dayton and he seemed nice enough in person 
is unprofessional.  I am not a troll but do know that they exist and 
enjoy pushing buttons (Quote from QRZ excerpt):

"If not, then here is my answer to some of you posting nasty things here 
about me and making this personal. I don't need your crap. I don't need 
you to ever buy a Ten Tec. Is doesn't matter what you think. there are 
plenty of people who will buy the radios we make because they are good, 
because they are made right here in the USA and because they are 
supported and get fixed in a reasonable amount of time for a reasonable 
price if they do develop a problem. There are also plenty of people who 
understand the real world and what I am doing and why I have to do it. I 
get emails from them all the time off of the reflector telling me they 
support me and TEN TEC. You don't know anything. You aren't here. You 
aren't doing the job. I'm doing the job. It doesn't matter how I do it - 
I'm doing it. Ten Tec is open isn't it? You dumb asses just don't get 
it. It is ME or NOTHING. You don't get a choice. You don't like it just 
go away. I don't want you or need you as a customer. You are not worth 
it at any price for the aggravation you cause me. Let me tell you 
something - if you buy a one thousand dollar radio that costs me two 
thousand dollars to build once every ten years, just how important do 
you think you are? If I am not here your radios you bought twenty years 
ago that you expect to be fixed for free don't get fixed. If I am not 
here, EVERY PTO REBUID KIT and EVERY DIAL STRING KIT goes right in the 
trash. Every bit of documentation gets burned and every thing else gets 
bashed with a sledge hammer. Are we clear? This is not a democracy. You 
don't get a say. You vote with your dollar. So if you don't like it, 
throw your TEN TEC in the trash and go be a pain in Gerald's or Eric's 
ass instead of mine. I have news for you. They don't want you for a 
customer either, though they will never admit it. But then you don't 
hear the conversations behind the scenes when the ham fest door's are 
closed, do you?

Yes, I am a business owner. I am also a MAN first, not a coward with a 
keyboard, and when you disrespect me I am going to tell you to step off. 
If you do it in person chances are I'm going to reach down your throat 
and pull your lungs out if you give me an excuse so please throw the 
first punch. I'm real easy to find. Come on over and lets have a nice 
little get together. If you want to make an attack, then make it! Draw, 
coward. Put up or shut up. That is my final answer.

Have I offended some of you? Good. Get over it. Some of you are going to 
appreciate what I wrote. Maybe you will support a real fellow American 
patriot and ham enthusiast and vote for me with your dollar and buy a 
Ten Tec, Alpha or Dishtronix. Maybe you are sick of the cool aid 
everybody else tries to push on you. Maybe you want to deal with 
somebody honest who just tells you the truth. Maybe you want to deal 
with somebody just like you. I'm here and truly I appreciate your 
business now more than ever. I really do need your support. Thank you!

I find the above self-contradicting, even if it wasn't directed at me, 
some who asked legitimate questions seemed to be thrown in the mix of 
those whose business he does not want.  He is TERRIBLE at communication 
and if you don't want rumors or stupidity being spread about your 
business, YOU have to be out front.  In other posts in the same thread, 
he gave some really good info about equipment purchases and development 
progress.  But after telling people to get lost in the above rant, he 
ends it with "Yes, I am a business owner. I am also a MAN first, not a 
coward with a keyboard, and when you disrespect me I am going to tell 
you to step off. If you do it in person chances are I'm going to reach 
down your throat and pull your lungs out if you give me an excuse so 
please throw the first punch. I'm real easy to find. Come on over and 
lets have a nice little get together. If you want to make an attack, 
then make it! Draw, coward. Put up or shut up. That is my final answer.

Have I offended some of you? Good. Get over it. Some of you are going to 
appreciate what I wrote. Maybe you will support a real fellow American 
patriot and ham enthusiast and vote for me with your dollar and buy a 
Ten Tec, Alpha or Dishtronix. Maybe you are sick of the cool aid 
everybody else tries to push on you. Maybe you want to deal with 
somebody honest who just tells you the truth. Maybe you want to deal 
with somebody just like you. I'm here and truly I appreciate your 
business now more than ever. I really do need your support. Thank you!"  
So which is it?  Does he want customers and their support or does he 
want to fight them?

In other posts, he once again suggested people should pony up for 100 
non-existent Eagles to kick-start the company or buy one of $4,000 
microphones to help him build his business location.  Like I say, I 
liked him well enough in person but I have no interest in providing 
financing for a business at full retail

I am not trying to be a critic or drag his company down.  I've been in 
business, it is not easy.  But try going to a restaurant where the 
kitchen staff is cussing the wait staff and the manager is ballistic.  
If I don't walk out immediately, I sure as heck won't return.  He is 
calling people out to have a physical altercation and "pull your lungs 
out".  That is flat-out unstable and could possibly be prosecuted as a 
terroristic threat.  He needs to have a person to handle his 
communications, his talents are sorely lacking unless you enjoy the 
drama of the current political environment and perhaps consider this as 
entertainment. I just have to wonder if I do buy something and there is 
an issue, how unhinged is this guy going to get?  I don't have a need to 
deal with someone "just like me".  But I don't have a need to deal with 
someone that considers the above good business practice. Maybe if he 
gets some chill pills or production gets rolling enough, he can settle 
down and not worry about every sentence that is typed about Ten-Tec on 
the web.  I DO want him to make a success of Ten-Tec, REALLY, I do.  But 
I'm just not going to pay any attention any further until there is stock 
on the shelves, a means to look at it and someone to talk to that does 
not have an undue interest in inspecting my pulmonary system.