I doubt that Ten-Tec is about to close the doors. It is a fact that the
amateur market is only a small percentage of the company's business. Their
biggest volume is the manufacture of tools & dies and metal boxes for
electronic OEM manufactures. The amateur business was a labor of love for
Al Cohn and Jack Birtchfield. When Al sold Electro-Voice and bought Ten-Tec
a tool and die manufacture they decided to build a ham transceiver. Al has
since become a silent key and I am sure Jack is ready for retirement or
already has retired. Both were great gentlemen to do business with and to
talk to on the air.
However, I am old enough to remember when National Radio, Hallicrafters,
Drake, Regency, Multi-Elmac, Gonset, Central Electronics, Swan Electronics,
Atlas Radio, Harvey Wells, Morrow Radio, Clegg Laboratories, Webster
Bandspanner, Walter Ashe, Technical Material Corp., Barker and
Williamson, Peterson Radio, James Millen, Hammurland, EF Johnson,
Heathkit, World Radio Labs, Knight, Lafayette, Eico, Ameco, Hornet Antennas,
RME Receivers, Master Mobile Antennas, Collins, and several other American
ham radio manufactures were major players in the manufacture and sales of
ham radio gear. Now we are down to two, Ten-Tec and MFJ. Some of the
exodus was caused but the failure of engineering departments to keep up with
single sideband technology but a great deal of them fell from the Asian
manufacture competetion.
73
Jim Yoiunce K4ZM
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