[TowerTalk] Antenna Market Consolidation

[Bryon PAUL Veal n0ah]

The big problem I see in the antenna market right now is how many smaller antenna companies or those sold off for what ever reason, have gone to distributors to manage their sales.  In many cases, instead of them grinding the wheel and making sales, some seem to revert back into the shop and have another company do the selling.  Really a shame especially when they then compete with other similar product lines the distributor has.  For example, I don’t get the Comtek product line going to DX Engineering. On one hand, they made a good decision not to move the prices, but they already have a line of similar products. Same goes for MFJ with Cushcraft and Hygain.  And then as a result of these mergers, sometimes the new distributor  is not quiet prepared for the on-sought of orders for parts and over-all questions.I found this to be the case when I needed 15M trap replacements this summer and was told by MFJ they were not yet tooled up to make them, and the supply that Cushcraft had was sold out- I was told it could be an extended period of time before the trap was available.  And look at the lack of supply of MA160V antennas- Besides AES, thery seem gone from the market- 

And then there is the misinformation one gets when ordering accessories for antennas only to be sold something that is not compatible with the system.  Distributors might have some great ads to get the calls in, but recently, after a few bad experiences, I plan to only order what someone makes and sales, not just distributes. Retailers are different and tend to provide better customer service, but still, if I can buy direct from the maker, I’ll do it-  Every industry needs middlemen and retailers, but bad distributers don’t always represent their companies well in product knowledge, price points, and over all customer service due to lack of product knowledge with just added product lines and of course the needs of their bottom lines based upon the costs associated with retail advertising.  And it can be very frustrating for all parties involved.

All that said, I have found that MFJ these days tends to have better QC, and DX Engineering is awesome in service- but you still sometimes feel that the product they make,  gets all of the attention vs the the new product line a third party company might begin to sale through them.  Typically, prices of the new product in these situations goes up, seller knowledge of the products has a learning curve, and finding someone who well versed with what you want to purchase is putting you on hold to call the maker of the product!! 

I hope we are done with some of the consolidation of the antenna industry for a few years.  Now it is wait and see what products go to the chopping block and what products remain under their trade names it took years to create a market share-  All I know is that from now on, with the luck I’ve had in the past couple of months, any company tagging itself as a distributor for a product is now a big red flag for me-    

73  Paul  N0AH

73   Paul-