Ten Tec Tour

There was a time in our history when most of the products we used were American made. Today we often have trouble finding brands with a familiar U.S.A. trademark and even then, the item is often manufactured outside our borders and sold with a domestic name like Chevrolet, RCA or Westinghouse. Frequently, the final assembly is performed locally from foreign components. These practices have led to many heated discussions as politicians press for bills such as the Fast Track legislation, opening our borders with free trade to Canada and Mexico.

In theory, our nation will become stronger in the long run by setting a global example of open trade relations with third world countries. This is one of the few areas where United States policy is not determined by short-term goals, to the dismay of many working-class Americans who are labeled Protectionists for their views on keeping high-paying manufacturing jobs at home. These folks are responding to the evolution that is now taking place, transforming our nation from a manufacturing to a service-oriented state. Average educated citizens must accept lower paying jobs with fewer benefits and little or no retirement packages. Only the highly skilled and extensively educated will earn the corporate positions with respectable salaries and benefits, yet even they are not likely to accumulate more than a few years seniority with any single employer.

As a radio amateur, I fondly reminisce of bygone days when our radio equipment was almost entirely domestically produced. Most of these companies grew from a single individual with a garage workshop into the corporations they were later to become. Names like Collins, Drake, Hallicrafters, Hammarlund, Johnson, Swan and Heathkit have now been replaced with others such as Yaesu, Icom, Maha, Japan Radio and Daiwa. The new technologies resist home building to a large degree, being about as practical as building your own cell phone.

One American electronics company that has not only endured, but actually leads the way in technological advancement, is right here in our home state. Named Ten Tec for Tennessee Technologies, it continues to produce quality, American-engineered and manufactured equipment for radio amateurs and remains to be an important supplier to the United States government. Many hams prefer to purchase Ten Tec products over the rice boxes being promoted by leading retailers in the electronics industry. Crossville's own Walter Morris, W4PTI, is one of those individuals. When a trip to tour the Ten Tec facility in Sevierville was announced at the local ham club meeting, Walt was quick to accept the invitation.

I talked with Walt as we traveled east on I-40 and discovered that he had learned Morse code in the military in 1946, becoming a career radio operator that brought him through the postwar era, Korea and even Vietnam, as he was called up on special assignment. As an amateur radio operator and member of the Plateau Amateur Radio Club, Walt continues to provide world emergency communications from his home on a Ten Tec transceiver. He recently sold his Pegasus radio to club president, Joseph Koester and has made plans to buy a new Omni VI Plus.

The Pegasus has no control panel and appears to be only a box with some cables connecting it to a personal computer. Software provides the image of a radio face on the computer monitor and the radio is controlled entirely by the keyboard and mouse. One of the most incredible features I saw on the Pegasus, was a graph illustrating an entire short-wave band and all transmissions occurring therein. It is no longer necessary to tune along the band to see what is going on, but only to glance at all of the spikes on the graph and click on each one to monitor the respective signal.

As we drove into the Ten Tec lot and parked in the visitors area, I noticed another long standing manufacturing facility just across the street. It was Electro-Voice, manufacturer of broadcast and commercial microphones. The building now stands empty, the employee lot devoid of any vehicles and a for lease notice is draped across the company's marquee. It was eerie to witness another fine company, now barren, as we stood in silence for a moment in an effort to comprehend it. I wondered what all the employees and staff were doing now. Some probably had moved away. Others are likely employed in Sevierville's entertainment, tourist or food service industries at a considerably lower wage. I was encouraged by the prospering presence of Ten Tec.

Scott Robbins, W4PA (Amateur Radio Product Manager) greeted us warmly at the sales counter and gave a brief history of the company. Ten Tec was a culmination of the efforts of two men who became partners in creating a product from modest beginnings. Al Kahn, K4FW, continues as president, leading the organization since 1968. I was greatly inspired and impressed as Scott showed me through the manufacturing processes that have been developed to overcome fierce world competition. Few U.S. companies in the business have managed to survive, let alone lead the industry in innovation and technology. Near the end of the tour I saw several new Jupiter radios on the burn-in rack, completing final testing before being shipped to customers. I could sense the pride of the people at Ten Tec in producing this latest model and I felt very proud to be an American and a Tennesean, sharing a day in the life of their success story.

Scott Robbins, W4PA (Amateur Radio Product Manager)

Just down the hall from their showroom is the radio room where all Ten Tec radio models are set up and functioning for the evaluation of visiting customers. Walt switched a cable from the beam antenna, outside, to a Pegasus and showed me some of it's many features. Knowing I had recently purchased a Scout, he then went over to the Scout installation and began making a contact with a fellow in England. The radio has Iambic Keying that automatically sends dits when a pair of paddles are pressed to the left and dahs when they are pressed to the right. I watched as Walt manipulated the paddles to send a string of Morse code that sounded to me almost like a packet transmission. This was my bread and butter for many years during my career in the military. he explained. Walt wasn't writing anything down. He was just listening with his head cocked a bit to one side and interpreting verbally to me: This fellow is near York... his name is Geof... he is operating a Kenwood rig... with a dipole antenna. The code was coming back at about the same rate that Walt had sent it. It was so fast, I could only pick out an occasional letter from the character string as I marveled at the expertise demonstrated by these two veteran operators.

Walt Morris, W4PTI on the paddles at Ten Tec.

During the ride back to Crossville, Walt and I talked of the changes he had seen over the years. I began paying more attention to the many homes flying flags honoring the United States and Tennessee and yes, even the Confederacy. These are some of the things that have made this country great and the people who have been a part of it. What a wonderful day!

Author, Johnny Angel W4XKE

You can visit the Ten Tec factory at 1185 Dolly Parton Parkway, Sevierville, TN 37862, USA or online at their web page http://tentec.com or by phone at (865) 453-7172.