Bob,
Collins did not walk on the water either. I operated the Collins line
at W5USA, the then 4th US Army MARS station, during a field
demonstration. We kept having intermittent fuse blowing, and shut down.
Finally, opening up the rig's power supply section, I was able to see an
arc across the tube rectifier pins. There was a cracked Mica filled
phenolic Amphenol type socket, of the types seen in many rigs in 1958.
Somehow, our new Collins had left the production line with a cracked
socket that finally arced through.
Any manufacturer can have problems. One thing you pay for with an
American made radio, is customer service that sends you the failed
component no charge if it is a minor component. Ten Tec has done that
on numerous occasions for many on this list. The other thing you get is
action in a short period of one mail or UPS cycle, unlike the import
rigs where the part may have to come from Japan, and soon, from China
and take much longer to resolve a problem.
-Stuart
K5KVH
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