[TowerTalk] a ham radio marketing question or two

[Mike Miller]

Jim,

I'll reply both on the reflector and off, since my answer is both antenna related and not.

First, to take the the initial question and handle it:  I'm the kitted parts kind of person.  If there is no kit of parts available, then a good schematic, board diagram/parts layout, and assembly drawing will do for me as well.  Commercial products are nice, but more costly, and let's face it, I'm frugal (read as cheap, if you must), and I come from the Heathkit era.  My first baptism into electronics came via Heathkit, and I've never looked back.  It got me into ham radio as well, along with my father and my brother's interest, and taught me a lot.  I'd rather work with my hands and enjoy seeing the fruits of my labors, like I used to in the "old days."  I also spent a couple of years doing manufacturing engineering work for Wilcox Electric, so I'm very capable of laying out the more efficient method of building a project whether or not a kit is available...and I like a challenge, anyway.

Second, for me, no, that doesn't change if it uses a PC.  I now help support nearly 5000 PC's on a statewide network for a living, so it's no sweat off my brow to work with things in a PC environment.  Actually, it makes it more inviting.  I don't engineer software, so I need that part already hammered out, but if the software works, I can handle getting the rest to work.

Price points:  I think I already addressed that up above....I'm frugal.  I like to do it myself.  That's why I prefer to REBUILD my antennas instead of purchasing new ones, hence my rebuilt Mosley TA-36 instead of the excellent condition Cushcraft X-9 I could have purchased (which was offered at a good deal, BTW).  It's either that or build my own, as I'm considering doing for 12, 17, and 30 meters.

Design margins:  Don't you often sacrifice some of that when you hit the more frugal price points?  There are both pros and cons with less expensive gear, often times.  But, if done right, and you're building it yourself, you can correct it's issues before they become problems...as long as you take the time to try to identify them.

Ok.  I'm done now...  I'm jumping down off of my soap box, which I had to climb up on so you could see what I'd typed.

73,
Mike - WA0ZOG, ex. KA9RQW