Okay so for 2020 the excuse is Covid-19. What then was the excuse for the previous three years that kept the new TenTec from returning to the amateur market?
I keep hearing it takes time, it takes time. At the current rate most of the loyal customers from the old Ten Tec will be transmitting from that big tower in the sky.
We've been over this ground before.
But for the benefit of those who don't know or have short memories... and apologies if this is a TL:dr type post...
When Tec Tec was sold to RF Concepts, the sale did NOT include the physical factory building. So RFC had to find a new location. (The old TT site is now a Wally World)
The site that RFC found, allegedly inside an industrial park, was allegedly inadequate and expensive.
By the time RKR had taken over RFC (including Alpha Amplifiers, BTW), they were allegedly bleeding money. (Which the original TT never was). The full story as to what happened between RKR and RFC, and why the "K" in RKR, the only one who was actually an Amateur Radio Operator, left the company and abandoned his investment, has not been made public, and at this point, probably never will be.
Regardless... RKR began liquidating both Ten Tec and Alpha, piece by piece. THAT is why TT no longer has the NOS parts inventory, injection molds for front panels, and everything else that one would have expected in a working company.
So what Mike N8WFF bought from RKR was NOT a working, operational company. It was NOT a "turn key" acquisition, where new management simply sat down in the chairs just vacated by old management. No, it was the pieces of a company about to be dissolved. (And the same thing also happened when Mike and some silent partners bought what was left of Alpha. now Alpha RF Systems.)
So, why has it taken years? A new location had to be found. Staff had to be hired or rehired. Parts had to be acquired. A new source for cabinets had to be found (the cabinet part of the business got sold off). All this takes time.
Most importantly, Mike chose to do all of this with out-of-pocket funds. No investors, no loans, no financing.
Some people criticize him for not immediately jumping back into the Amateur marketplace. Thing is, he first went back to commercial/government markets, and the profits that are being made on those sales are what are financing the slow rebuilding of the Ten Tec amateur side of the shop.
You may think it's taking too long... and I sure wish it had happened sooner, but I understand why, so that is regrettable and unfortunate but necessary... but that's the way it is.
But Ten Tec is a working company again.
They are in the process of building new equipment, albeit not in the Amateur market yet.
They are repairing equipment, and have a 12 week backlog at last report... and are trying to hire more staff to help catch up.
A new factory is under construction in the Dayton area.
Will they ever return to the Amateur market? I don't know. I sure hope so. We shall see. But it will happen when the owner decides it's time. Not before.
The important thing is...
They're back from the brink. They're not dead. Not yet, at least.