Great Stories!! Back in the 1960's I had a 20+ year old National HRO-5 receiver that I had purchased from another Ham. Eventually it needed some work, but I had no manual, no schematic, and the internet was decades in the future.
So I wrote a note to National in Malden, Mass., asking if it was possible to get at least a schematic. Several weeks later an envelope arrived with a complete HRO-5 owner's manual inside and a note apologizing for the delay - one of the staff had to spend hours digging in old archival file cabinets to find it. No charge. Great companies are built on great customer service. They've been around for as long as people have "paid their way" by providing goods and services to one another. It seems to me that they're easy to forget because the stories about the "other kind" of companies are so often the ones passed around. Many people are more fascinated by failure than success. But the great companies have always been with us. Elecraft is one of the latest of a long line of them serving the Amateur community. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- Sounds like solderless kit building has arrived!! (Here's the story about the Eskimo fisherman I met while on a canoe trip to the Arctic. He lived in Tuktoyaktuk, of "Ice Road Truckers" fame, only this was 1965. He had built a Heathkit 'Fish Finder' kit and had a little trouble with it; he damaged the small motor in it while assembling it. Seems a Bolt heated over a charcoal fire in an Arctic cabin is less than an ideal tool. As it turned out I was using an identical model in my canoe to study river bottom contours and also operate ham radio ( SWAN SX(?) 250 and Master mobile equipped). I helped him get his unit working again - temporarily ( I carried the needed tools). I wrote a letter to Heath upon returning to So. Cal and told them the whole story. Got a phone call from the co president who told me he was so impressed by the details of that man's ordeal that they built a new unit and shipped it to him. They didn't have Fed-Ex yet and UPS didn't deliver the Ice Road, which hadn't been mapped yet, but I'm sure that old red barge made it up their just in time to beat the winter freeze. Talk about customer service! ) Al WA6VNN ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ In a message dated 9/16/2008 6:51:30 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I think this must be a first. Yesterday Sept 15th, I received my K3/100 kit, which was ordered on May 16th (SN 1672?). The day before we had a major windstorm here in Ohio with 70 mph gusts which knocked out power to much of our area. So last night I began assembling my K3 near a window to supply natural light, but quickly needed to break out the candles and flashlights. I'm up to the front panel assembly now, and we may not have power for several more days. Has anyone else assembled their K3 by candlelight? Boy, those split lock washers are tough to grab under a flickering candle! This will bring new meaning to the "smoke test"! Steve N9SZ -- View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/K3-by-candlelight-tp1092717p1092717.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com **************Psssst...Have you heard the news? There's a new fashion blog, plus the latest fall trends and hair styles at StyleList.com. (http://www.stylelist.com/trends?ncid=aolsty00050000000014) _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
