I understand the desire of many of you for a new flagship radio, but in the
interest of survival of the TT brand, I hope they do not do it.
Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu, - ALL are daughter companies of large enterprises in
many other business areas.
They won't go out of business if a particular ham radio flops.
I don't know anything about RF-Concepts, but Ten-Tec was owned mainly by two
families, neither of which currently have a family member actively
participating in the business. Up till now, TT has survived on its own
accomplishments. There was no mother company to bail them out.
Let's learn from the recent past.
In 2006, the rumor at the Friedrichshafen Ham Fest was that Kenwood was
going to exit the hf market space.
Their two old mares in the race (TS-2000 and TS-480), though decent radios,
were long in the teeth.
In 2010 there were new rumors that Kenwood would return; 2011 they did, with
the TS-590.
IMO, the TS-480 had been the best buy (most bangs for the bucks) on the
market for many years.
Perhaps it still is. If anything has replaced it, it is the TS-590.
You can currently get a 590 for about $1500/$1600. Despite its known
shortcomings, that's a lot of radio for that price!
The 590 radio gave Kenwood a great come-back into the hf market.
The TS-990S followed later. IMO, they chose the right strategy.
Show the mother company that there is still demand for Kenwood hf products
in order to get more resources for the development of the Flagship.
The Flagship market is too small, the Japanese currently own the low end
market, and the Chinese soon will (next 5 years).
The focus of Ten-Tec's engineering should be on the mid range.
The target price has got to be $200 more than that of a TS-590.
People will pay more for made in America, but not a lot more.
The Argo VI has shown us that the RX quality can be maintained, even in a
transceiver costing just 60% of the entry level Eagle, and even with cheaper
roofing filters.
Now what's needed is a box in the middle, merging the two.
It should be somewhat larger than the Eagle and priced such that Wade and
Rick can afford it.
I'll bet there are a lot more people out there, recently retired or coming
up on retirement are or soon will be in this category.
The K3 has shown us how to do it. modularity.
In its basic entry level version, it is affordable for most people, though
that price needs to come down by $600.
In its full blown version it can compete (on performance) with most
Flagships.
Fancy stuff like the scope is an external box, not built-in, but perfectly
matched.
IMO, this AND the innovation Ten-Tec has already shown in the area of open
source, coupled with matching products from Alpha, is how Ten-Tec will have
a bright future.
Alpha should have a low end amp, sold under the TT brand, matching the rig
above.
73 - Rick, DJ0IP
(Nr. Frankfurt am Main)
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