On Jan 28, 3:25pm, rohre wrote:
> Subject: RE: [TenTec] The demise of manufacture
> Jim,
> I don't believe the Omni VI+ existed in the time frame from 1965 up to 1970's
> on I was discussing. :-) Of course it is High End today! All Ten Tecs are
> high end in their time, but at reasonable prices for what you get! :-)
>
Good point. I am no longer miffed.
> You have a good point IF many CB'ers who became hams then did buy import; as
> of course most of the CB stuff was imported. I am not sure many of the
CB'ers
> became hams. CB ran its fad cycle, and many more dropped out for various
> reasons.
>
Crowding, lack of spots, got married, had kids, went to Vietnam.
> Neglected to mention the Sun Spot cycle influence on all this, and THAT in
> this last low point, was an issue in the decline in HF upgrades by all
> accounts of ARRL folks I have heard. After perhaps 1969, we were surely on a
> decline in sunspot cycle, given the 11 year period, with 1957 being a high
> point.
>
Probably a very BIG reason. Recent down turns on amateur radio seemed to
happen on down turn of the spots. Coincidence? I don't think so.
> The first Icom Ic 22 I opened up does not appear to have been assembled by a
> machine. That came later. Much later, in the 80's?. Early Trio Kenwood
> (Remember the Trio name?) radios were also hand soldered, just like a Collins
> KWM 2, and other American brands.
>
I'm not sure when the board stuffers came on line. But there was a slight
difference in pay between the american (union?) worker and the average
Japanese worker. When you have a high laber content this is important.
I've seen labor content in a computer go from 16-20 hours to 2. Better
computer also.
> Another possible factor early on might be that import radios were soon
lighter
> than American ones, save for the compact Atlas line. Heath kept metal cases,
> while off shore pioneered molding plastic radio cases.
>
Or light weight Aluminum cast cases.
> However, no matter what factors all entered in, there was a slow down in teen
> agers coming into ham radio, and that is unfortunately reflected in the aging
> ham population today.
>
And still to this day there is a slow down of teenagers taking up engineering.
Big shortage is software types.
> I like the other thread comment someone made to donate a Ten Tec kit to a
> young person or school ham club near you. Especially, the simple direct
> conversion radio kits are available in club discount quantity buys, as are
the
> other kits.
>
> We need to encourage young people into ham radio, to provide continued demand
> for Ten Tec kits and assembled products.
>
Yeah, and probably a good place to start is on the internet.
73, Jim, WA6SDM
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