"ml" wrote in message
...
In article ,
(Geoffrey S. Mendelson) wrote:
Ken chattenton wrote:
HI from Ken, G4KIR,
It appears ( from rumours ) that "Kenwood" have now ceased producing
new HF
Transceivers.
They still seem to be interested in the VHF, UHF side of our hobby
though.
Since we are repeating rumors I have heard from several sources, all of
whom
may have heard it from the same place, so all I suggest you assume is
that
it is a popular rumor, not necessarily a truthful one, is that they are
being bought by a large consumer electronics company.
If that is truely the case, their new masters may have a different idea.
As an example, the camera maket dried up a few years ago in the shift
from film to digital. Konica merged with Minolta and then went bust, Sony
bought the remains and now makes good digital cameras using their
technology.
Nikon was bought out by a different large consumer electronics company,
and they have prospered.
I would not count them out.
Meanwhile try Ten-Tec :-)
Geoff.
be a shame if Kenwood dosn't make any more nice new hf rigs,
some of the features of for ex, the ts-2000x make it really
unique.
it think it's ironic and a bit self contradictory, that while i
enjoy many of the new rigs, some look really great, some sure don't
some do in fact have some nice new features, as was stated here and
as noted here some really will dissapoint
many perhaps more than ever seem to really seek out some of the
older but good rigs
To me my Yeasu FT-102 is great and tough to beat not saying
it's perfect , I played with a friends old collins and was
really impressed at the design aka it looked nice as well as
it's performance,
it's interesting to note that some of these older rigs that are
still considered 'favoriates' were made pre computers yet
somehow guys/companies were still able to produce greatness
some of these older rigs had their own personalities, a cult
following it's definately more than sentimental
maybe some company will produce a really super rig that will
become 'the rig' and will stand the test of time, maybe it will
even be less than 10grand
cheers
-----------
I bought a new IC-756 Pro III a few months ago. I'm not impressed. Wish I
hadn't spent the money. I miss being able to go to HRO in DE and try out the
rigs first hand. Shouldn't spent that much money without doing that. A drive
to Atlanta would have taken care of that. That'll learn me.
It isn't that the 756 isn't a nice rig. It is. It's just that it isn't worth
$2,300 more than my Yaesu FT-890AT. Ditto the FT-847 I bought a while back.
I'm not impressed with it either. Should sell both of them and put the money
back where it belongs.
I also have an IC-706MKIIG that I dearly love, so my distaste for the later
rigs isn't based solely on not like software driven radios. The 706 was easy
to memorize. The latter two rigs require that I keep the manual handy. Of
course, it could be me and my declining short term memory that is the
problem. Still, if the function is controlled by a switch or a knob on the
front panel, like the FT-890, I don't seem to have a problem needing a
manual.
Also, the older rigs were easier to work on. No SMT to deal with. Maybe I'll
sell off the new 756 and the several year old 847 and look around for an
FT-990.
Ed, N2ECW