K4YZ wrote:

Mike Coslo wrote:


Hoping that they can sell enough to expand the concept, because it is a
good one....


I don't think that's going to happen, Mike.

First off, I don't think very many folks will drop $3K to $6K on a
radio that comes incomplete, computer or not. I can spend a heck of a
lot of LESS money and get more radio AND computer for my bucks!

Secondly, it's a "kit" only in the sense that it does come
"disassembled". The potential buyer is actually paying the
"manufacturer" for the privilege of him (the "manufacturer) not having
to pay an assembly line.

Lastly, he brags about the "kit" being "built in America" because
the owner "builds it right here in America". I wish I had the spare
change to drop to buy one for no other reason than to see where all of
the pre-assembled boards are actually assembled. No doubt in some
PacRim nation where the guy who REALLY built it wouldn't be able to
afford it in a lifetime.

There aren't nearly as many components built in the U.S. as in the past,
Steve. Even back in the late seventies and early eighties, most solid
state devices were produced in Mexico, Maylasia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc.

Among the reasons that I continue to use Ten-Tec gear is that families
in the U.S. receive pay checks when I do so. Ten-Tec manufactures their
enclosures, plastic components, variable caps and the like. When I
telephone for service, a real person answers the telephone and directs
my call. A service tech in the U.S. handles my inquiry. If my
equipment needs service, I ship it a relatively short distance, pay a
fair price and it is turned around in short order. Parts are on hand
for most Ten-Tec gear produced.

My "made in USA" Orion is filled with components manufactured in the far
east. Everybody's else's rig is filled with 'em.

I have, within the past couple of years, bought Japanese gear. I used
to use a Paragon as an IF for two Ten-Tec transverters and one Microwave
Modules transverter for VHF/UHF bands. The switching became a pain.
I decided on an FT-847 because it had separate antenna ports for HF, 6m,
2m and 70cm. I bought an Icom IC-706 MkIIG for a mobile rig because
there simply wasn't room for even a Ten-Tec Scout to be mounted in my
Neon--and I still wouldn't have addressed the need for a 2m and 70cm rig.

For me to buy this latest assemble-it-yourself transceiver, it'd have to
be considerably better than what I have now. From what I've read, it
has numerous features which I see as having dubious value.

Dave K8MN