They all carry the same stuff, they all charge the same prices and
I assume they all have the same ability to stick an address label on
a box and hand it to the UPS guy.

So, other than the obvious need to minimize sales tax, what
contributes to your decision?

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |

I pretty much stick to the local Ham Radio Outlet -- if any problems they
take care of it

--
CL -- I doubt, therefore I might be !






"Bert Hyman" wrote in message
...
They all carry the same stuff, they all charge the same prices and
I assume they all have the same ability to stick an address label on
a box and hand it to the UPS guy.

So, other than the obvious need to minimize sales tax, what
contributes to your decision?

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |

"Caveat Lector" wrote ...
I pretty much stick to the local Ham Radio Outlet --
if any problems they take care of it.

Same here. I appreciate having a storefront in my town and
I support it by shopping there. I haven't had any problems,
so I don't know how they take care of it?

They all carry the same stuff, they all charge the same prices and
I assume they all have the same ability to stick an address label on
a box and hand it to the UPS guy.

So, other than the obvious need to minimize sales tax, what
contributes to your decision?

Locality. I live and work within about ten miles of an HRO outlet.

On the down side, buying from them does involve state sales tax.
That's true even if I were to try to order through one of their
out-of-state outlets.

On the positive side, there's a lot to be said for having responsive
and near-immediate after-sale support. On a couple of occasions, when
I've been sold a radio or antenna which developed a problem within the
first few weeks after purchase, they've been quite willing to do an
over-the-counter exchange for a replacement rather than requiring me
to ship the product back to the manufacturer for warranty repair.
I've had enough *bad* experiences with warranty repair on electronic
equipment over the past thirty-plus years to find this to be a very
real and tangible benefit.

It's also a great place to run into people and hear interesting
conversations. They'll also give a small discount on accessories to
hamclub and ARES/RACES members, which makes up for part of the sales
tax on these items.

I do buy some stuff (small antennas, connectors and adapters, etc.) at
the local ham-oriented flea markets or at local electronic-surplus
stores.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Hosting the Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

Word of mouth ( Internet reviews ) is a good way. I've been doing
business with Amateur Electronic Supply for over 30 years with no
complaints. HRO is also excellent to deal with.


Ed K7AAT

"Bert Hyman" wrote in message
...
They all carry the same stuff, they all charge the same prices and
I assume they all have the same ability to stick an address label on
a box and hand it to the UPS guy.

So, other than the obvious need to minimize sales tax, what
contributes to your decision?

--
Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN |

No store nearby. Last time I bought, I went for price since they all do NOT
have the same price. There are specials. You can, of course play the "but
so-and-so will-sell-it-fir-$x, how-about-you? ploy. There is consideration
for supporting the local guy or your favorite, however, if you have one.

73, Steve, K9DCI

I haven't bought from AES, but I've bought from HRO both by phone and in
stores when I've come across one. My impression is that HRO tends to
have good prices on the big items but tries to make up for it by having
higher prices on the accessories.

I've made on-line purchases from Universal Radio and from R&L -- based
on prices of the items I wanted. I've also purchased small items from
Lentini in CT and from KJI in NJ -- in-store purchases in both cases.

"Perce" (aka Alan NV8A)


On 06/06/06 12:30 pm Bert Hyman wrote:

They all carry the same stuff, they all charge the same prices and
I assume they all have the same ability to stick an address label on
a box and hand it to the UPS guy.

So, other than the obvious need to minimize sales tax, what
contributes to your decision?

I sure with HRO had the same quality type catalog that AES has. I must
admit that the catalog is a big reason I still purchase most of my ham toys
from AES instead of HRO.


Ed K7AAT

I compared retailers advertising in ham related publications and web
sites and chose GigiParts in Huntsville, Alabama. They have low
prices, great service, and their web site is easy to manuever and use.
Two of my antennas and a dual-band mobile radio were purchased from
them.

Monte
Nashville, Tennessee USA

On 06 Jun 2006 16:30:20 GMT, Bert Hyman wrote:

They all carry the same stuff, they all charge the same prices and
I assume they all have the same ability to stick an address label on
a box and hand it to the UPS guy.

So, other than the obvious need to minimize sales tax, what
contributes to your decision?

In article ,
(known to some as Bert Hyman) scribed...

They all carry the same stuff, they all charge the same prices and
I assume they all have the same ability to stick an address label on
a box and hand it to the UPS guy.

So, other than the obvious need to minimize sales tax, what
contributes to your decision?

For me, it's the application, the overall quality of the radios
involved, and how self-repair friendly it is. Price is about third or
fourth down on my list of considerations.

Part of the issue is that I'm an engineering tech for our state's
patrol agency. As such, I have need for radios that are legal to use on
commercial frequencies (as in Part 90 type accepted) as well as amateur
repeaters.

Motorola Spectra units filled the bill nicely. Durable,
programmable, reasonably inexpensive on the used market, simple to
operate once programmed, and perfectly legal for both Part 90 and 97
operation.

For HF, I usually go after the best I can possibly afford in terms
of retired commercial gear. Sunair, Collins, and Harris are all
favorites of mine.

I'm not keen on most of the dedicated amateur gear manufacturers
because you practically need a microscope to even see the components on
the circuit boards, let alone service them.

Keep the peace(es).



--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, KC7GR)
http://www.bluefeathertech.com -- kyrrin a/t bluefeathertech d-o=t calm
"Salvadore Dali's computer has surreal ports..."