Here is another one that might explain the behavior of some of the rabid defenders. I guess they
think they will get some sort of reward or something.
There are two types of rabid. Rabid supporters and rabid non-supporters .
There is also a small, one could say statistically insignicant group that is somewhere it the middle, some trying to stay objective more than others.
Some companies annoy me more than others.
TenTec is one of the companies that I noticed back then in the old days when I would look at a picture of a TenTec Omni in the 1980 Handbook under candlelight, walking uphill both ways, in the rain.
So far the only TenTec i ever owned was the 20m to 6m transverter.
The only damn complete transverter offered in the US market that didn't look like an unfinished science project (sorry DEM - another company on my like list)
Now, on the subject at hand.
Sending an email asking for troubleshooting help, and how long the reply should take.
Anything less than a perceived fast reply will be reported as too slow.
As for the three month turnaround whcih by the way is only 1/4 of a year or 270 days if you want to make it sound worse, most people offering repair services are backlogged.
That's what spare of backup radios are for.
To be able to get on the air when the smoke comes out and you don't have the part waiting to be installed. Even if you do, turning on the backup rig is faster than taking the covers off, even if the board is accessible, even if the part is in your hand and the soldering iron is already warmed up.
Back to the email.
It seems someone was troubleshooting a radio, as a favor, for fun, profit , savings or all of the aforementioned and needed help.
So an email was sent to the company that charges a fee just to put the radio on the bench.
And it took them a week to reply.
I bet they were busy putting radios on the bench.
If my car has a problem I can send all the emails in the world and the answer is going to be something along the lines, of "drop your vehicle off".
In the end, you either "know" and "can" or you "don't" and "can't".
A radio operator that is not of the type to take the covers off, probably has a backup rig because if something happens they expect to "send it out".
Same reason why when you have kids in school you keep extra toner cartridge stashed away and now with online instruction, spare router.
So yeah...emails of the "I know you charge money for working on radios but since I'm reaching you over email can I have a free answer soon?" do see to take "a long time" to get answered.
I feel the US ham market is better with TenTec around than without.
Now if there was a way to get Elecraft to design better enclosures....but that's a rant for another day
