[Elecraft] Broadband Antenna

[Jim Brown]

Someone wrote:

>Had a wander over to the Ten Tec web site for a look at the opposition 

Please don't take this as a slam, but I MUST set the record straight. 

Ten Tec could hardly be called "the opposition" -- Al Kahn, K4FW, has
founded two of the finest companies with whom I've ever done business,
and two of the finest in their industry at the time he owned them.
First, he and the late Lou Burroughs were the two engineers who in the
1930's founded ElectroVoice and built it into a well respected leader
in pro audio. When he and Lou decided to retire (in the late 60's),
they sold the company to Gulton Industries. Al took his money and
started TenTec (I hear that they are across the street from EV's
factory) in Tennessee.  Al is in his 90's, still hosts an annual
gathering of former EV employees, he still owns Ten Tec. 

BTW, Lou Burroughs was also a class act. When they owned EV, you could
send them a pro mic that had obviously been run over by a truck and
they would send you a new mic. TenTec still supports products they sold
25 years ago. You'll look a long time to find another company that does
that. 

It is fairly well known that Al Kahn gave extensive "behind the scenes"
support to Heathkit, which was only a few miles away from EV's
headquarters in SW Michigan.  I'm told that he also supported the many
surplus houses that used to flourish on S. Michigan Ave in Chicago,
where hams could buy all manner of small parts cheap. All of that is
long gone now, as our manufacturing is too. 

On page 9 of  the current issue of QST, the editorial acknowledges Al
Kahn's long time support of ARRL with this: "Key QST advertisers such
as Al Kahn, K4FW, then of Electro-Voice and still active today at age
97, helped keep the magazine in circulation and the organization
afloat." 

>Nothing you can't find in the ARRL Antenna Book.
>I'm not sure about the $250 for one matching transformer, two loads and a
>200 feet or so of wire, I guess we've all got to eat.

Yes. We should all spend a lot more time reading things like the ARRL
Antenna Book. Then we wouldn't have to pay someone to teach us how to
build an antenna that has been a classic for much longer than I've been
a ham (48 years). 

73,

Jim Brown K9YC