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Author Topic: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?  (Read 1009 times)

ZS5WC

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Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« on: November 27, 2022, 02:37:48 AM »

 :(I am in South Africa and the Proud owner of the Ten Tec Orion 1.
I was given the radio as an non working unit, and worked through it step by step to get it operational.
I wrote to TT several times to obtain an Alignment manual or procedure as you would get with the Japanese rigs to do an complete alignment.

Sad to say no amount of begging , coercing got any sort of result. Yes there are basic schematics on the TT web, but no PCB overlays or alignment instructions.
So it would seem at the time, by not making this info available , you were forced to ship it to the manufacturer for repair, something that is not worth the 16000Km of shipping or the crazy expense!.

Yesterday I read the TT service and repair dept. is closed due to the "global chip shortage".
WTF!.. So all TT users are now stuck with rigs which they have little info on and of which no parts are available for.

So sad since besides the quality / reliability flaws of the Orion, it was a darn great rig!.
TT how about making PCB overlays and service instructions available for these rigs?.
How come the Japanese are still churning out rigs and supporting them?.

Maybe time to go back to basics and use readily available garden variety parts , and allow users to fix their own equipment. 8)
73 de William, ZS4L / ZS5WC
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W1VT

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G4AON

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Re: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« Reply #2 on: November 27, 2022, 03:50:49 AM »

This notice on the TT web site explains why you haven’t had a response. Sad that another manufacturer is in the doldrums.

73 Dave
———-
”Effective June 18, 2022, the online store is closed until we finish moving inventory to Ohio.

There is no one in Tennessee and there is no support available whatsoever at this time.

We should be open again at the end of summer.

Thank you.

Mike N8WFF
President”
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AC3Y

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Re: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« Reply #3 on: November 27, 2022, 04:16:09 AM »

Back when the Orion was introduced, Ten Tec had a legendary service department and they would help us fix our own gear...but that was then and this is now.

Apparently there is no service manual.

Some of us who own Orions share info on the contesting.com Ten Tec Mailing list or the groups.io Orion group.

Most common problems are well known and some are easily fixed such as A9 board cap replacement and dead memory battery, but if the antique main processor goes, replacements are pretty much unobtanium.

I agree that the Orions are fabulous radios. I never had a problem with my Orion II and I'm hoping it stays that way. Enjoy it for as long as it lasts!
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K4GTE

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Re: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« Reply #4 on: November 27, 2022, 04:37:31 AM »

Unfortunately, Ten Tec is out of the amateur radio business. The company was sold, moved locations, and the new owners are only keeping the government contract side of the business going.
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SWMAN

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Re: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« Reply #5 on: November 27, 2022, 06:56:35 AM »

 Just curious, what do they make for the government ?
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KD6VXI

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Re: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« Reply #6 on: November 27, 2022, 07:04:47 AM »

Just curious, what do they make for the government ?

The computer controlled receiver.

Although Dishop will come on here and tell us we are all idiots, that we should never denigrate his grandness (like he has with both Ten Tec and Alpha), the writing is on the wall.

Ten Tec is pretty much a wash.  It might come back, in some way, but don't expect the service level you got 20 or more years ago because Mike isn't into that.

Everything he has touched has been monetized in regards to his companies, for better or for worse (and that is a fine line that needs to be walked, to be honest!  I can't fault him for not wanting to pay people to answer his phones and not be reimbursed for their time, but at the same time, that's called overhead......).  I worked for a guy like that once.  He got tired of IT being a cost center.  So, he monetized our time.  50 dollars an hour (which is still REALLY cheap) for every trouble ticket other deparments people put in.  Minimum 1/2 hour.

He lasted about 6 months after implementing this procedure.  He was a Director of the company.  And they threw him out.  BUT, IT was never given the short end of the stick for the amount of money we cost the company again!

--Shane
WP2ASS / ex KD6VXI



Incidentally:  https://www.opweb.de/english/company/Ten-Tec/downloads/Ten-Tec--Orion_565--service--ID2975.pdf
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W1VT

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Re: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« Reply #7 on: November 27, 2022, 07:45:34 AM »

Ham radio companies have long prioritized other more profitable customers.

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ZS5WC

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Re: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« Reply #8 on: November 27, 2022, 08:14:50 AM »

 ;)Interesting Comments!.
Seems money talks, TT like Collins / Rockwell they followed the money trail.

Call me simple minded or a pain in the butt-I fail to see that a service department would NOT have pcb overlays, voltage and waveform alignment points.
That would mean that every engineer in that department would have to know that Rig, whatever it was like he designed and built it.
Even so, I cant recall everything I did and where all the chip caps are in any of my HB gear.
Just no logic to it, for speedy service , TT must have had more info.

As far as my Orion 1 Goes, I am babying it but it does have quirks on occasion.
Once you have had one, I dont think any other rig can match the lookup table 'S' meter, smooth audio and agc.. Certainly not some of the newer Japanese rigs with terrible 'S' meters, agc POP and noise overshoot.
RX is a bit hissy, but I can live with that.
LOVE the old American Tank!..

73 de William, ZS4L / ZS5WC
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W3WN

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Re: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« Reply #9 on: November 27, 2022, 10:04:01 AM »

What some of the previous posters are not aware of, or conveniently overlooked, is that Mike Dishop did not buy a working company.  He bought the remnants of a working company that the previous owners were in the process of liquidating.  And he has spent years and $$$$ trying to put Ten a Tec back as a viable firm.

You cannot blame him for the loss of a legendary service department that was already gone when he stepped in.

He has not abandoned the Amateur Radio market.  He has put the plans to revive that part of the business on hold while he gets it back on a firm financial basis.  Huge difference.  In fact, he has indicated he plans to resume manufacturing (and presumably service) at the new facility In Dayton once he can obtain parts... and a small company like Ten Tec is not currently high on the priority lists.
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KA4DPO

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Re: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« Reply #10 on: November 27, 2022, 10:19:52 AM »

Just curious, what do they make for the government ?

They might make radios for the government, but I doubt if they are Ten Tec brand.  The RX-331 is pretty old, not sure that the US goverment would want those anymore, they are into SDR, multiple receivers in a single server. 

Doesn't really matter anymore anyway.  Japanese and American companies are turning out radio's in spite of the chip shortage, and hams are buying them.
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W3PX

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Re: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« Reply #11 on: November 27, 2022, 12:16:27 PM »

. . . I fail to see that a service department would NOT have pcb overlays, voltage and waveform alignment points . . .

You know they have them. They have to have them. They just don't want US to have them.
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KD2E

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Re: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« Reply #12 on: November 27, 2022, 04:14:48 PM »

Well, they've been out of business for a couple years now!

« Last Edit: November 27, 2022, 04:38:09 PM by KD2E »
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K7LZR

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Re: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« Reply #13 on: November 27, 2022, 04:50:04 PM »

But remember......Proudly made in the USA is ALWAYS better! Forget those Japanese rigs with their inferior technology and support! 
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KD0REQ

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Re: Ten Tec , Iconic Ham Radios, support?
« Reply #14 on: November 28, 2022, 09:26:23 AM »

3PX, well, Collins thought they had a great deal buying Continental Radio for the renowned broadcast transmitters, also. got everything in the warehouse. then some stock guy tossed all the documentation as clutter. dead money, active stations with no support. had awful hum on a Devils Lake AMer for over a year when the power supply choke died. then their new Gates transmitter arrived....
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