eHam
eHam Forums => Company Reviews => Topic started by: K2MJ on February 12, 2002, 04:28:51 PM
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Is anyone familiar with TE Systems, an amplifier manufacturer in Los Angeles?
Our local 220 repeater amplifier failed and I was advised by TE Systems to return it for repair rather then repair it myself as it would probably need modification.
They have had the amplifier for over 5 months and I can still get no scheduled repair date from them. Five months seems a bit excessive for repair turn-around time. Is the company still shipping new products to the amateur market? Has anyone had any recent experience with them?
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Sorry to hear about this. But what would one expect, buying from a company whose sole address is a Post Office Box? (Seriously.) They have only one distributor anywhere, no street address, no website. Hmph. I live in Los Angeles, and don't even know where they are located, nor does anyone I know.
WB2WIK/6
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Approximately six weeks ago I ordered two TE Systems RF amps from AES. Two weeks ago I received the 2 meter amp. It appears to be well made but the input SWR was slightly out of spec below 145 Mhz. I am still waiting on the six meter amp.
The consensus among those who have expressed opinions on the forums I frequent is that TE Systems Amps may be the best VHF/UHF "brick" amps currently available. The further consensus is that the amateur radio market is of secondary interest to the owner of the company. Apparently it is a very small operation and the emphasis is on commercial amplifiers. One gentleman reported that he had been waiting four months for his amp and another reported a similar 5 month turn around time for a repair.
73,
Brad
AA5CH
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I am no longer waiting on the six meter amp...not because I have received it, but because I called today and canceled the order. It has been almost three months with no estimate of a delivery date. This is ridiculous.
73,
Brad
AA5CH
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Several years ago, I ordered a couple of receive pre-amps by TE Systems through HRO. After about 4 or 5 months I eventually cancelled the order. I talked to the people at TE Systems in person and was on more than one occasion told that my order would "be shipped this coming Friday". That Friday evidently never came.
It is one thing to be slow about filling orders. It is another thing to tell an out and out lie to a customer.
Needless to say, my opinion of TE Systems is pretty low.
KA4P
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I like the amps. It just took five or six months to get the darn thing repaired once they received it. I'm not sure why it took so long. After SEVERAL discussions with the owner, I got the feeling he didn't do his own repairs. It may have had something to do with it, but there is no doubt that I'm not the only one that encountered this very slow repair service.
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Well......I have one to beat all these. I bought a TE Systems VHF and UHF amp for both of my repeaters. Yes TE systems seemed to have the best bang for the buck. But what is it worth if you can't get service? My UHF amp went south during the warranty period. I sent it in to be fixed it came back a few weeks later worked fine. It broke again about a year later of course out of warranty. I sent it back in.....now are you ready for this? It's been there for SEVEN years now!!!! (I had pretty much given up on ever seeing it again) My boss bumped into Dave from TE at Dayton last spring. He told him about it and Dave said he would look into it. I called Dave the next week and sure enough they found my amp sitting in a corner (probably in his garage). Here is where the story turns into a carbon copy of the other posts. Repeated calls give promises but no action. Maybe all us hams could get together find a lawyer and start a class action suit against TE systems. I understand AES no longer buys from them. Kudos to AES!!! I also understand from Dave at TE they have large government contracts.(That is why they claim to be so busy) Maybe we could let the government know about TE systems lack of performance in repairing defective amps. Maybe those hams going to Dayton next spring can tell Dave what the ham community thinks about his company. I WOULD CAUTION EVERY HAM, DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM TE SYSTEMS!!! I know the company I work for will not. I bought a replacement amp for my UHF repeater from Henry Radio. Yes it's expensive but it's been working 24/7 for 3 years now and still meets specs! And I know if I need service on it I can get it in a timely fashion. None of what I have posted is fiction, it's all fact and has not been exaggerated. Like the earlier post, buyer beware. I will never buy from a post office box ever again no matter how good the product looks. My VHF amp? Oh yes it still works but when it breaks it goes in the dumpster. (Maybe scrap the heat sink)Don’t these people realize with the Internet, e-mail, etc. how fast word travels. I guess you’d have to care first.
73's
KA9VZD
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i must admit i ordered a TE Systems amp. i sent my check to them and 11 days later had my amp. TE is in Los angles Ca. i am near Pittsburgh Pa. so figure how long it took to get them my money. and how long ups took to ship. i say that TE is pretty darnded fast.
so not sure why everyone else is screaming? i had zero trouble. jeff n3jbh.
oh yes about the PO BOX thing. did you ever think he might be to busy to have a store front? he probally didnt need a bunch hams hanging around drinking free coffie and rag chewing. and the CB crowd begging for a amp. so he simply just wanted to stay mail order and avoid the hassel's
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Perhaps TE Systems is now the only RF amplifier that is hand made. I own 6m, 2m, 200 amd 432 MHz TE Systems amps and I admit I bought them at hamfests so I understand the contempt one holds when ordering an amp and having to wait what obviously is way too long.
But if you have ever owned a Mirage amp before MFJ bought them you can appreciate quality. I know MFJ "tries harder" as the old car rental commercial boasts you realize that Mirage no longer is the quality it was before the MFJ aquisiton.
My TE Sysyems amp have operated flawlessly for 10 years and running. There is no better amp made today than TE Systems from 6m to 432.
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oppppps folks i may have posted my first post to soon. one of my te systems amp's had a problem. so i sent it back. it was still under warranty. it has been 5 weeks now. i call dave up (te systems) he says he get it ready call back tomorow. so i do just that. and his tech is to busy call tomorow. so i do that agian. same freaking story.
hey dave sorry pal but between the cost of all them calls. and return shipping cost and needless to say lost time on the warranty because of shipping time and your slow service. dont you think maybe you either send me another one or at least fix the one you have and restart the warranty on it.
i dont mean to sound so nasty but for god sakes man. honor your patrons please. jeff n3jbh
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ok dave sent me back my amp. thanks dave. and he covered all the cost. so ok there some what slow but hey it is fixed and i am happy
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Let's add another story. I have the 1452G, only one night and 10 minutes of use and the T/R relay sticks and I have a dead receive problem. I call Dave, send it back, my shipping cost. OK, after $549 and 10 minutes of use, I will ship it back at my cost (its a cost of doing business). I shipped it UPS on 7/25, received in CA at T/E on 7/31. Today is August 18, so I call Dave and inquire on the repair. He says he will try and get back to me today, he is swamped and busy.
Dave, I have been more than patient considering only 10 minutes of use. I am even a "New Yorker", and New Yorkers have short fuses. I wait and did not get a call back today. I understand he may be busy and swamped, but 10 minutes with an amp, you don't even return the call with the status of the repair??? Even a "I didn't get to it yet" is better then no status. I don't get this one. Stay tuned.
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The story ends on a happy note. I had to wait 3-4 weeks and have Burkhardt follow-up with Dave at TE put I received the amp back and it works great. 8 watts input with my Icom 746 gives about 375 watts. Thats good enough for me, I don't want to drive it hard or the amp may end up back at TE systems.
Would I buy another TE Amp? probably, but it better work right out of the box!
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I have a TE-Systems 1452G amplifier that was sent for repair. "My Fought" in early February. It is now November I have herd nothing from them. Not even word that they have received it. I had to called them 6 weeks later just to confirm they had it. I also called in April, July, & September. Each time I was told they would get to it next week. I expected about a 90 day turnaround but I believe that 10 months is a little excessive. Now that a year is fast approaching, my worry is I will call, Maybe in January and they will say what amplifier.
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I finally got my amplifier back from TE-Systems and it works fine. They had it 10 months. Feb to Dec. After several phone calls and the promise to have it next week I sent them a certified letter asking about the status of my amp. That got there attention as they stated when they called me and said they had found my amp, they apologized for the delay. "Apology accepted from me." I honestly believe it was over looked and sat somewhere.
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I've got about the same horror story as the rest of you. I bought two for my repeater, one as a backup. One of them went south and it took them a year and repeated phone calls to get it repaired and back to me. They really work well but if you're not going to service what you sell then there's really no use in you being in business. John WR8D
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Similar experience here - amp is well built. We sent it back because we needed remote switching added to it. It took about three months and we had to follow up with a bunch of phone calls. It did come back and the mod was done professionally.
By the way, they DO have a street address - it's 1511 Corinth Ave LA, CA.
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I can beat all of the TE systems horror stories. I have owned 3 TE VHF amps over many years and only have high praise for their quality and operation. My latest 2M amp that I have owned for the past 7 years developed a problem due to a faulty MFJ remote coax switch that I purchased from HRO after moving to a new QTH. HRO refunded my purchase but I never tried to get any credit from MFJ for the cost of amp repairs. The amp failed and I returned it to TE for repair. After a 3 month wait it was returned to me and I paid the fair repair cost. It failed again after a few hours and I returned it again the next day. After another 3 months it was returned repaired to my former QTH that Dave at TE had stored on my customer profile. It was lost by USPS, was never received by the owner of my prior home, and USPS has no record of anything. I have called Dave at TE 1-2 times a week for the past 6 months trying to get the problem solved. After a few additional months he agreed to build me a new amp and send it to me free of charge. Well my story is the same as many others, from maybe next week, to in a few days, it is on the test bench. During my last call to him, he sounded clueless and has no idea of when they can send me a replacement. I told him many time, he can just refund me the cost of the replacement amp, my 3 times shipping cross country, and my prior repair cost which I paid. As of today we are at 1 year and he has no idea what is going on.
At this point I am done with them and will just absorb the significant loss. It is really a shame that a company that has a good reputation for their products can’t support their customers. In some ways I feel sorry for the owner Dave, and was hesitant to post this as I wish his company no harm, but enough is enough. I would never recommend their company.
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I can beat all of the TE systems horror stories.
Howard, I thought yours is bad- now check mine out. I have posted here before I see, back in 2006 with my TE 1452G. Now its the 2252G. I sent this back to Dave in November 2021. Thats right 2021. Last year after several phone calls, e-mails with the usual oh the tech said its in process, no update, not picking up phone, I put in writing my issue to document. So, I get a call from Dave in September, telling me my driver is OK but all four transistors are blown. I said OK Dave, just fix it, I really want my 222 amp as no choices available except a 1KW Beko or now DX Shop in UK . Not spending 3K+ on 222. So, after I almost fell off my chair in September, thinking I would have my amp back its now end of January 2023 and crickets. I am aware of several other amateurs that have amps with him, and no response but some are taking him to small claims court in LA. I have reached the end of the line. he will probably charge $600+ to fix, so I will unfortunately give up. 14+ months is a joke, so buyer beware with Dave. I will probably contact Q5 Signal and get a transverter, with 100 watts. I can use it on digital too and have a reputable company to contact if I ever have an issue. Anybody considering doing business with TE buyer beware, I suspect he is at the end of the line.
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The further consensus is that the amateur radio market is of secondary interest to the owner of the company.
I would say ham is the primary market. I am a professional operating over 600 VHF/UHF tower sites. Never heard of them and would never consider using them.
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Interesting ! This thread started 21 years ago.
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Interesting ! This thread started 21 years ago.
Maybe eham could automatically close some of their threads after a few years. Just start a new thread with link to the old thread for reference.
It's kind of pointless to continue a thread that is over five years old.
At 10 years, it's ancient history.
At 21 years....that's a lifetime to some.
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"Using Windows 98 For Packet..."
I'm feel sorry for you :)
I can send you a XP laptop with UZ7HO soundmodem! hahaha
KT4WO-6:LAZY 7.104LSB/145.770