I seem to have stepped on a few toes with my Ten-Tec characterization. Granted, that 'word' was
quite common in the 70s and 80s, but they seem to have gotten their act together more recently.
While I have never owned any of their gear (with the exception of a 1253 Regen) I have operated
quite a few of their different transceivers. They all worked superbly, and certainly had the
definitive QSK for the time.
Obviously if you sell thousands of anything you're going to find a few that have a problem, and
fewer still that match a problem with a 'problem' customer! One irate customer can make a lot of
noise. I certainly don't intend to diss one of the few companies that manufacture Ham gear in the
USA, but back then at least, you could ask just about any Ham and would get that 'word'! :-)
Fast forward to today's imported radios, and service is just about impossible, even for the
factory. The multiplicity of 'features' of questionable value, requiring an inch thick manual to
decode all the multiple button presses have a lot more to 'go wrong'. On the bright side, there are
probably thousands of those 'features' that don't work, but the owner either never tried them, or
figured he just wasn't getting the right rhythm on the button!! :-) This doesn't even consider
the 250 pin flat-pak ICs that were custom built in limited quantity, and are only available as a
complete board swap. The price we pay for 'progress'.
One of the nicest features of the TR-7 is that there are only a couple of somewhat difficult to find
components. ALL were originally multi-sourced, standard catalog parts, aside from cosmetic stuff.
73, Garey - K4OAH
Glen Allen, VA
Drake 2-B, 2-C/2-NT, 4-A, 4-B, C-Line
and TR-4/C Service Supplement CDs
<www.k4oah.com>
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