[BC] Harris Corp. Seeks Cuts in Transmitter Business

[Robert Meuser]

No argument. I am merely repeating what I was taught as a kid by some 
very accomplished engineers. I will, however, stand by my comments 
regarding Gates 1 2.5 and 5.  As long as they work, great. When they 
quit, I hope you have a contortionist on staff to do the repairs.  
Regarding catalogs as a kid I got every Collins, Gates, Continental and 
RCA catalogs publish up until they longer existed.  Maybe it was your 
regional guy. At one time Gates (or was it Harris) had a street level 
store front in NYC.

R


Douglas B. Pritchett wrote:

> You don't have anything else to do on a Sunday morning but start a fight?
>
> Robert Meuser wrote:
>
>> Maybe I am spoiled, but I never had to work on original Gates gear. I 
>> was taught that it was inferior and real broadcasters used Collins or 
>> if high power they used Continental or they used RCA. 
>
>
> You expect a civil response to that? Real broadcasters use what they 
> can afford and what's available. The Gates equipment was solid, 
> reliable, affordable, but not pretty. And from past experience, trying 
> to get someone from Collins to even ship you a catalog was a PIA. I'll 
> explain at the end.
>
>> That being said, my real world observations pretty much agreed with 
>> what I was taught.  When the Gates One came out, my impression was it 
>> was named that way because it was a cheap transmitter that adhered to 
>> the old Quincy Tin Works standard that Harris after many years had 
>> purged from their newer gear. 
>
>
> Our station (what you would not call real broadcasters) uses a Gates 
> One and it's been reliable and trouble-free.
>
>> I have had to work on those and they certainly are not up to current 
>> Harris standards. 
>
>
> Don't take this the wrong way Robert, but with that kind of attitude, 
> I would not want you working on my gear.
>
>> Then there are a number of other brands that could not meet the 
>> Quincy Tin Works standard on a good day. 
>
>
> Robert, dude, you've got to work on this attitude of yours.
>
>> Then there is Nautel that learned well from Continental in their 
>> glory days.
>
>
> Good companies, both. But, when we needed a transmitter on a tight 
> time line, Nautel was very gracious, but could not make our deadline. 
> BE could, but wanted to ding us for the rush. Harris had one ready and 
> we drove to Quincy, drove home, and it worked right outta da box.
>
> About Collins. In the early 70's as a student, I was tasked with 
> putting together the action plan for upgrading our carrier current AM 
> and Class D FM facilities. With a CP in hand for 3kw for the FM, I 
> called Collins and was told to write for a catalog. I did, on 
> station/University letterhead. I received a terse reply from the 
> Collins rep stating ( and I've kept the letter ) "since I don't see 
> your name in the Broadcasting Yearbook as a principal of the station, 
> and since I don't have any record of your so-called construction 
> permit, we can not send you a catalog. Douglas, you are probably a 
> student looking for an easy way to complete your homework assignment. 
> As you continue with your education, you will learn that companies can 
> not waste money sending expensive equipment to every broadcasting 
> student at you college. Best wishes.............."
> Harris sent a catalog, as did every other manufacturer. Needless to 
> say, the university spent their $255,000 budget elsewhere.  I never 
> specified Collins anywhere I went. And yes, I had the chance many times.
>
> Robert, you are entitled to your opinion about Gates being garbage. 
> I'll stick with my opinion that Collins we're elitist snobs, and I'm 
> not for a moment saying you are.
> Happy Sunday.
>