Hello to the group. Interestingly, while reading the threads here about the delay in the shipment of the K3, I have just concluded a most interesting book by Jay H. Miller (KK5IM) called A Pictorial History of Collins Amateur Radio Equipment (Trinity Graphic Systems, publisher). I was amused to see the similarity between what Art Collins went through during the late 50's introduction of the "S-Line" series and what Eric and Wayne are presently dealing with. For those who have the time, you may find this interesting reading and, I believe, appropriate here. I'll quote and/or paraphrase some points from Jay Miller's book: In mid 1957 Chuck Carney, WØGDJ, accepted an offer to become manager of Collins' amateur radio product line. One of Carney's first assignments was to move the line from the already successful KWM-1 to what would become known as the S-Line. Reporting to Carney, Gene Senti, WØROW, headed the group which set about to create the next generation of equipment, the S-Line. >From Miller's book: "By late 1957 engineering prototypes were cobbled together and Carney and Senti took them home for testing. To manufacture the new equipment, the company retooled the KWM-1 production line set up in the old creamery building on Garnavillo Street in the nearby town of Anamosa. Carney went to work setting up the introductory promotion plan which was scheduled for a fall 1958 kick off." "Carney and the advertising department developed an advertising campaign and started to "leak" news of the new project to the dealers. Manufacturing models of the new S-Line were unveiled at the Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE) Convention on March 24." "Much of Carney's job dealt with keeping the cadre of Collins dealers happy". "In concert with the dealers, a coordinated roll-out of the S-Line was scheduled for November 8 through December 8, 1958 in what was to become known as "S-Month". "Hundreds of hams visited dealers' stores to try out the new S-Lines. Bookings were heavy but there was no product to sell! [emphasis by poster]. The plant ran into problems building the rigs as changes were made right up to the last minute. All the rigs in the first batch had to be rerouted through the line to be modified." "To make matters worse, after the first production run was fixed and shipped, the dials started sticking due to an assembly process failure. The line was shut down until the problem could be fixed. Every single rig in the plant had to be taken apart, new dials manufactured and replaced. To top it off, all the equipment previously shipped used the same dial material so they had to be recalled and new dial parts installed." Later in the book, Carney goes on to discuss headaches with vendor delays, quality of parts, engineering changes, added features, etc. It appears that the Collins' famous S-Line was at least 6 months off their original ship date. The book is interesting reading as we sit here, comfortably (anxiously) awaiting our new K3, just a couple of weeks off target at this point. Being a partner in a small business myself, I realize that no business has unlimited resources. You staff for the norm. When the norm becomes the unusual, you scramble to minimize the impact and the delays. Collins didn't do too bad with their S-Line. My hat's off to those here who have seen fit to give the folks in Aptos the "elbow room" they need to get us the best possible product in the most timely manner, in spite of unexpected surprises along the way. 73, Terry, WØFM _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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