The sites I mentioned are basically forums where people ask questions, and get answers from knowledgeable hams who have either worked on the TEN-TEC rigs or have rigs of their own so they can answer "how do you run the Orion with xxx cat program and get audio?" etc. Not repositories of schematics or other literature. Many people in those forums do have schematics, and other information, but the most complete set of documentation (one would think) is still on the engineering file server at TEN-TEC.
Wait a minute , you are going to charge for a tech phone call over 5 minutes from a customer who has purchased your product ??? Isn't this the cost of doing business ? Sounds like my gas, water or electric company here. The money charged to look at the unit is normal, but at $140 ?? I've sat in the shop and watched the tech trouble shoot my IC 746 and it took him exactly 13 minutes to figure out the problem. A $140 charge, I would have stripped it and sold the components on fleaBay. But who am I to say what is a fair price.
I wish the new owners all the success In the world. It is a tough row to hoe out there in the business world.I Hope that the new owners give the same high quality service that Ten Tec has always provided. VE7DXH Garnie in Nanaimo.
Re-read the original post. "Ten Tec will charge the customer for any telephone call or email that consumes more than five minutes of technician time. That time will be billed in quarter hour increments at the prevailing service rate." Not that you will get flat out charged $140. If you take up 30 minutes, then plan on getting charged 1/2 the service rate, not the full $140 which is the actual initial de-boxing, first hand rig inspection, etc. time. That is why I have suggested that people who have questions about their rig, or think they have an issue, first "vet" your question to the public forums listed earlier. On contesting.com or any one of the specific yahoo groups, there are hams who can answer all of the "how do I adjust VOX in the Eagle?" or other questions. Use them as rig specific elmers. I'll bet that 85% of hams will get all the info they need there. If it isn't resolved through their inputs, then at least you have saved yourself a lot of time already in hopefully narrowing out your original thoughts on the issue, and are better prepared to give a more exacting description to TEN-TEC service, saving you and them time, saving you money. Remember, saving technician time .... 1 - it gets him off of the phone calls that take hours and hours. The interruption in and of itself breaks his thought process on a repair and it takes time to get back into his train of thought on the rig on the bench. Possibly turning a 15 minute remaining repair time into 30 minutes. 2 - it let's him continue the analysis/repair work on a given owners rig so he can send it back to the customer quicker. Hams will be happier with service if the backlog of Orion repairs goes from 6 weeks to 2. (6 to 2, probably an exaggeration on my part). Granted, certain repairs may take 6-8 weeks anyway when the failed part is not in stock and needs to be ordered. Those times are out of TEN-TEC's control.
This is nothing more than sour grapes on the part of the new owner. He is in debt up to his eyeballs and is looking for a way to stuck it to the little guy. Price increases and service fees will drive away sales. I understand time is money, but a little courtesy goes a long way in the sales business.
I'd suggest building transceivers that don't look like they are made of Plastic as well.I'm amazed at how BUTT UGLY a Ten-Tec radio is & looks are important to some of us even though it may not make it work any better it sure makes it easier too look at & find acceptable on my operating desk. Let whoever designs the amplifiers have a say in the layout & design of the transceivers & don't follow the other companies with the idiotic touch screen transceivers.Less menus is also a Big Plus because simplicity can go a long way in making any rig enjoyable too operate. Clayton W4KVW
I appreciate everyone's inputs. The good, the bad, and the ugly, I have always felt that one needs to listen to all inputs. Because even in the ugliest of inputs, there are words of wisdom and truth that are hidden there, that one needs to listen to in order to improve, get better. Dishop will do what he can to keep TEN-TEC as a brand alive. Again, the alternative was the brand name would have died this year. I for one will help where ever I can in creating new product to make his attempt a success. Eventually, hopefully, sales may get back up to a point where he can afford to have an unlimited call no charge policy. Time will tell. I'll bow out of this "mess" er uh discussion for a while, and let y'all discuss whatever on this you want to. But remember, Dishop is attempting to bring it back to life, off of life support. And, so far, he has brought it to a more sustainable state in the short term he has owned the brand than the previous owners since the original TEN-TEC. I would hope that everyone would wish him luck, and see where this roller coaster ends up in the coming year, or two, or twenty.... 73, KI4JPL John Henry
I too once worked at Drake for a short time. But after the glory days after the old man was gone. I thought my OMNI VII would be my last HF rig, at least for a very long time. So far it plays and I have the schematics for it, but it is all surface mount and computers. So what if the front is plastic? This is not the 70s anymore, and look at a lot of rigs that are imported now. But I do like my boatanchors and heavy metal too. If something happens to TT, well I can at least box it up and save it, as some day in the future it will be maybe maybe a desireable classic collectable, if anyone is still doing HR at that time.
Good aesthetics are expensive. Bob Heil was showing off a new PTT mic base a few months ago and stated the design would have been cost prohibitive to make a few years ago, but 3D printing/prototyping has changed everything. One injection-mold prototype was $25k, just for a test mold that may be scrapped. That's probably why Ten-Tec used simple plastic shapes and buttons without excessive styling details. Even going back to the old Tritons and Omnis, the VFO dial used the same bezel design for many years on different rigs and accessories. Old TT experimented with open-source microcontrollers in the Rebel and Patriot models. I think it'd be cool to see a touchscreen design around a system like Android that would allow the customer to install new apps directly on the radio for different functions, or even design their own. Building kits have gotten to the point where there's not much new to learn, or they're so integrated that you're really only screwing boards together. I like the idea of being able to customize and develop new software apps for the rigs. I really hope the Rebel and Patriot can stay, but with a new mid-to-high-end pricing model, and the loss of the metal fab, that may not be possible.
Having been in the "service industry" for many years, let me say this about that: If a service tech can fix a radio in a short amount of time, that does not mean that the problem was trivial. If it was, the customer would fix it themselves. What you are seeing is an experienced person doing what they do best. Years of experience fixing equipment may make it look easy, to the uninitiated, but you cannot discount the time and effort tools and machinery required to make a proficient, confident technician. Also not to be discounted is the difficulty of fixing any thing over the phone. This is one of the most difficult things to do, especially when you factor in the pure unmitigated stupidity factor. Let's face it, we all do dumb stuff. Imagine how difficult it must be for the poor tech on the other end of the line who has to guess at your competency level, and then assist to rescue you from your self! Then when all that has happened, and your radio is back off the injured/ disabled list what do you do? Do you thank them for helping you out, or do you run immediately to the internet to complain about some aspect of the service and generally run down the folks that helped you? Just judging by some of the posts here on QRZ and other sites over the years, I'm thinking the rants get all the attention so that's whet we see and hear. Hardly anyone gives out "Atta Boy's!" these days.
Sadly, the original Ten Tec facility on Dolly Parton Parkway has already been torn down and replaced with a Walmart Market. Just across Industrial Park Road there lies a vacant lot where Electro-Voice once stood. Looks like Sevierville has lost another notable icon! I visited the Ten Tec factory a few years back over Christmas. Though most employees were on holiday, the deafining quietness throughout the facility left me with an eerie sense of trouble brewing. Best of luck to the new owners! I would highly recommend studying the Elecraft business model very carefully, for there lies future successes.
Its not an amendment to an existing contract, the contract was with the old company. You are going to pay return shipping anyway, so either pay them for the repair at the new rates, or take it elsewhere. I like this guy. This is how you turn ar0unad a business.
