Hmmm.
Jim, I would have my suspicions about the size of the market.
A lot of it is the "boot strap" problem. You need to get activity to sell
the radios, but no one wants to buy the radios to get activity going. You
need a "boot strap" to break this "chicken or egg" cycle.
We know what doesn't work. Giving Novices 1.25 cm repeater access was an
interesting idea... only there were no repeaters for them to access, and few
other ops on the band anyway.
And this is why the band was reduced 40% (the non-repeater/FM part of the
band) and remains vulnerable. In much of the US (and there are areas where
there is activity), the activity is so light that -- less face it -- loss of
the band would not impact the vast majority of amateur radio operators.
I'm sure that the sales people at Ten Tec, and other manufacturers as well,
have studied the market. My suspicion is that the market for 222 gear just
isn't there right now. The relatively few contesters who would buy gear (a
thousand?) might not be enough to justify the investment in designing,
building, marketing, and selling another radio for the band. (And I could
be wrong -- I'd sure love to be proven wrong on this one!)
----
Here's something to ponder, FWIW. A few weeks back, on a discussion thread
on another site regarding manufacturing, someone claimed that anyone who was
talking to the factories turning out inexpensive mass-produced FRS/GMRS and
similar gear (including the very cheap 2M HT's), usually got a response that
unless they could turn out several hundred thousand units, it wasn't worth
it for them to tool up for production.
For the sake of argument, let's assume that that's true, more or less.
Now... if someone was to make the investment for a production run of, say,
100,000 or so 222 MHz FM HT's for use in the North American market (and
anywhere else where amateurs have access to the 222 MHz band)... and it
would have to be a decent unit that could pass FCC/IC type acceptance, etc.,
let's not get bogged down in the details... and could afford to profitably
sell those units at, say, US$79 each (plus tax & s/h, natch)... do you think
the amateur radio market would buy enough of these radios to "boot strap"
interest in 222? (Obviously, you'd have to encourage some repeaters to go
up in some areas... and other infracstructure and so on... again, I'm being
very general here)
If the answer is "No," then I think it's unlikely that you could get any
manufacturer to do a relatively small production run of a contest-quality
rig at an afordable price. And remember, the manufacturer has to make a
buck at it... Ten Tec can't afford to give away radios or sell them at a
loss, or they'd be out of business.
(And if the answer is "Yes," why hasn't anyone done it yet?)
I'd love to see the rig you're thinking of. I'd even love to be able to
afford it, right now. I just don't see it happening. I could be wrong; I'd
love to be on this one, but I just don't see it.
73, ron w3wn
-----Original Message-----
From: tentec-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:tentec-bounces@contesting.com]On Behalf Of n3aws@aol.com
Sent: Saturday, August 02, 2008 10:04 AM
To: tentec@contesting.com
Subject: [TenTec] Serious market overlooked by ham manufacturers
I know Ten Tec monitors this list.? As one of the few US manufacturers of
ham radio equipment, there is a market being overlooked.? 1.25 meters.
Japanese manufacturers aren't interested.? But VHF contesters are lacking in
a supply of equipment for this band.
A simple, relatively inexpensive self contained SSB/CW transceiver running
maybe 10 watts if the price were in line with the single band units from MFJ
would fill a niche market that has no competition at present.
A cheaper than Elecraft transverter (not everyone neds a high end x-verter
for this band) could also be a winner.
American built quality.? Competitive prices.? I bet a lot of VHF/UHF
contesters would come out of the wood work and buy one.
Jim Walroth, N3AWS
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