HB-1a, MyDel or Ten Tec?
As olde Billy Shakespeare said, “What’s in a name, yall?”
The Chinese-made HB-1a seems to be getting re-branded – surprisingly, by Ten Tec and MyDel (sort of).
I say surprisingly for two reasons: First, Ten Tec has always been innovative from Day 1 in the QRP field. In my opinion, they popularized it by making several pre-Argonaut rigs back before QRP had the significant following it has now. For them to now take on a non-Ten Tec designed rig seems counter to all they’ve done before. Secondly, I’ve seen many blog posts and posts to QRP-L of new owners of the HB-1a and then…nothing. No enlightening follow-ups to how they like the rig or any of their experiences with it.
Oddly, the Ten Tec variant of this rig is only offered as a dual-bander – 20/30 or 30/40 meters rather than the triband HB-1a. Maybe a flaw in the original version or perhaps some marketing scheme? I think a lot of people might buy this rig with the Ten Tec name who might otherwise be skeptical of buying a Chinese rig via eBay.
China, via Tennessee. QRP to the Field with General Tsao’s Chicken and a side of grits & black-eyed peas, por favor.
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Themocracy
I talked with a TenTec rep at the Dayton Hamvention about the future of their QRP products. No, they have no plans at this time to produce another high-end QRP rig. But that could change, they said. In the meantime, they are rebranding the Chinese HB-1A with the two versions you mention. The reason their rig will have two instead of the three bands offered on the original version has to do with some FCC type acceptance issues. Apparently the radio will sell for about $250 and they begin shipping in about July, I was told. While I might eventually buy one these radios, it’s not what I am looking for in terms of home station use.
73, Dave, N4KZ
Thanks for the info, Dave. I bet they’ll sell a ton of them. I just read elsewhere that the three band version couldn’t meet harmonic suppression specs.
On a side topic, I notice that Ten Tec’s new logo mentions that they are the “SSB Company”. I guess their well-known performance among CW ops only provides them with a smaller slice of the pie they’d like to have. I imagine the hope is that by now by positioning themselves a *THE* SSB company, a larger pool of buyers will consider them viable.
I didn’t know that Ten Tec was re-branding it. My curiosity is piqued as well. As far as I know MyDel is just a re-branding by one of the UK dealers. It’s the same thing you can buy on eBay with a sticker on the front.
My HB-1A is actually on eBay at this very moment. Not because there is anything wrong with it, just that it doesn’t do anything my FT-817 can’t do and I got it mainly out of curiosity of seeing what a Chinese made radio was like. And my verdict: nice first effort, plenty of room for improvement.
It’s kind of sad to see a company that made and then discontinued the Ten Tec Argonaut 516 and the matching 6n2 526 selling this low spec Chinese rig. I wish I’d imported those two rigs when they were available (unfortunately they were never imported by the Ten Tec distributors here.) Anyone with a 516 or 526 to sell, drop me an email.
Sadly, this is the thin end of the wedge, wait for the “ssb company” to start importing all their radios.
Then, their extinction is assured.
I think Jim’s comment merits some consideration. I’ve never owned a Ten-Tec radio, despite growing up only 30 minutes away from Sevierville, but I wonder what their faithful will think of this move? I guess if the price is right, they won’t care? Out of curiosity, have any of you seen the Chinese radios that resemble the old Swan gear at any of the hamfests you’ve gone to recently? I’ve noticed a few – let’s say, “shady” – individuals hawking them wrapped in plastic here in North Carolina.
73, Ed N4EMG