[BC] Harris Corp. Seeks Cuts in Transmitter Business

[Thomas G. Osenkowsky]

> 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.............."

I do not intend to intervene in this discussion, but rather to comment
solely on the above. At an NAB one year long ago (Las Vegas) I
was talking to my Harris DSM. There was a UNLV student who just
asked him for a quotation for an FM transmitter/antenna as part of a
class project. He was barefoot, hippie garb, etc. The DSM scoffed
at that but had a boiler-plate prepared quote for such requests. I told
the DSM that one day that hippie might be a customer.

Some years later, I called the DSM as I was planning a $250K AM
upgrade package. He told me he needed to apologize to me. I asked
what for? That hippie was now Director of Communications for a major
University based in NJ. He was buying an FM upgrade for the University
FM station. Transmitter, antenna, transmission line, etc.

Tom Osenkowsky, CPBE