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Re: [TenTec] Taxes

To: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Subject: Re: [TenTec] Taxes
From: TTMaven <jrichards@k8jhr.com>
Reply-to: Discussion of Ten-Tec Equipment <tentec@contesting.com>
Date: Tue, 20 May 2014 16:23:47 -0400
List-post: <tentec@contesting.com">mailto:tentec@contesting.com>
Here is MY Dayton experience...

The two display booths were situated fairly close to each other. The Alpha display had a TenTec radio sitting by each Alpha amplifier and they were all turned on using some little adapter plug to make it appear the rigs/amps were transmitting. There were signs indicating the merger, like the banners you see on the Alpha web pages.

Kewl.


I found the new TenTec Sales and Marketing manager, John Coultas, NR04, hovering around the Alpha Amplifier display. He hails from, and says he will work out of, his Texas home. He was plenty chatty.

Kewl.


The Alpha Amp contingent, comprised of at least one management figure (Ken I think... cannot remember now) and at at least two engineering guys, all of whom focused on promoting the new Alpha auto tuner, which they claim has been redesigned, again, but will not say when it will be available for sale or what the price tag will say.

Kewl.


I tried like heck to congratulate the management figure on the merger, and express my enthusiasm for the future of the enterprise, but on Friday, he snubbed me multiple times to talk to others who had come along after I did, and on Saturday finally deigned to press my hand and move on before I could ask or say anything substantial. Looking for the silver lining, I will assume he was just busy and I was just a casualty of the hurly–burly nature of trade shows. I guess. My friend was not impressed.

Not as Kewl as we would have liked.


My friend, a commercial radio engineer for 50 years, found the two Alpha engineers helpful, polite, competent and enthusiastic, giving really good answers to his technical questions. He was impressed with them, so I am, also.

Very Kewl.


At the TenTec display, John Henry was, as usual, gracious and warmly welcomed my friend and me, giving us a brief, but insightful, summary of things to come, expressing confident enthusiasm for the future, and showing off the new Patriot.

The machine shop will go. Both John Henry and new Sales and Marketing Manager, John Coultas, NR02, said TT will remain in the Seveirville area. Engineering from RF Concepts (Alpha Amps) will move to a new Tenn location. TT will no longer make cabinets, metal stuff, or even its own radio cases, and become just a radio engineering company. The separate TT and Alpha brand names will continue.

Really Kewl.


This will enable TT to focus on radio design - for example, programmers will no longer have to take time out to program CNC machines for the metal works - this means more time to design new radios and free from competition for resources and time to do or make other stuff.

VERY Kewl


The new Sales and Marketing Manager delivered a running monolog, saying TT will focus on Facebook and Twitter feeds ... er... um ... as if that is a fresh, innovative approach. He offered no other answer or approach when asked about it, saying one could receive as many as 4 Tweets a day! Now, I don't do Facebook or Twitter, and I doubt getting 4 tweets a day from could induce me to buy anything from anyone; more likely it would chase me off completely.

Oh well. I continue to hope for the best. Maybe younger hams will like that approach, but it falls flat on me. Mr. Coultas said before he came along, TT had something like 25 Facebook "Likes" - and he has already doubled that number! Yeah... that should do it; we are moving now!

Mr Coultas was totally disinterested in my reaction, unable or unwilling to even feign otherwise - I suppose the good news is he knows it all, and will not be distracted by customer input.

Not as Kewl as I would have liked.  But I remain optimistic.


        Overall, however, a good showing for both Alpha
        and TenTec and the fact there is such serious
        movement, change, and investment - all bode
        well for the future of TenTec radios and Alpha
        amplifiers.
        
*   No question there is a whole lot of shaking going on. *

That is just MY take... your mileage may differ.

===================== K8JHR  ===================


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