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| Ermak - Ermak-TT - TT Phoenix |
It's been a long time since Mike Dishop N8WFF took over Ten-Tec and made a list of claims on how the company would begin producing new products.
His faithful comrade, John Henry KI4JPL, provided a kinder, gentler outline in 2015 of what us TT fans might see in the coming months. Ten-Tec transceivers, amps, etc.
Those months turned into years, and now a decade has passed.
History repeats itself:
From 2013 to 2018, Elio Motors took deposits totaling $28 million on the promise of a soon-to-be-available automobile that would cost $7000 and get 84 mpg. The release date kept getting postponed, ad naseum.
One of my former co-workers was a victim of the scam, otherwise I probably would never have heard of Elio.
In 2019 the company went silent and their website went off line. Some of their would-be customers got their money refunded; most did not.
Ten-Tec currently has an "upcoming product" and, in true TT v2.0 style, it is met with a mix of claims, counter-claims, showmanship, denial and maybe a dash or three of Bee Ess.
That product is the Ten-Tec Phoenix. Or is it an Ermak?
So far, it's neither - but, like the Elio - it will be here "soon".
The latest news from Ten-Tec is that they are partnering with Konstantin Trapeznikov UT2UK , who has a page containing info on both the Ermak and an Ermak-TT (in Russian but some browsers will translate it).
The most current word from Dishop is that he hopes to begin delivering the TT Phoenix to customers by Dayton 2026. This will be the fourth Dayton Hamfest at which a product from Ten-Tec has been "forthcoming".
From Dishop: "The Phoenix is 100% assembled in Dayton from US and foreign components. Circuit boards are assembled HERE IN house. Production metal and paint is HERE in DAYTON."
Potential buyers are asked to provide a $500 deposit, leaving a balance of $3250 for the delivered Phoenix.
Although I won't be a buyer, I hope the Phoenix becomes a reality.
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I wish Mike success but have become doubtful TT will ever deliver another amateur transceiver. I was about to pull the trigger on an Eagle when the company croaked a few years ago. Now that I've started to dip my toes into the SDR world (still gotta set up this darn 10e!) I don't know if I will ever go back to hardware defined radios or radios with lots of buttons and knobs on them.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, a good post, John.
73!
Hi Michael - I like the what the Phoenix appears to offer and if Ten Tec can't bring it to the market, I hope Konstantin will, under his own brand. I won't buy a radio that pricey since my circumstances no longer justify it but it would be a major new product either way and I hope it makes it out into the Real World.
DeleteI'm loving my 10E!
73,
John
I'm reminded of the Phoenix, "Come to save our ashes". I'll pass.
ReplyDeleteSame here - a re-branded Ermak at best.
Delete