[BC] Why an older transmitter may be a good choice

[Glen Kippel]

On 2/22/07, chris at yipyap.com <chris at yipyap.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> A question from the peanut gallery:
>
> If new transmitters are cheaper to run (and I believe you guys
> who say they are), they why isn't the marketing department
> of the new-transmitter-company-X taking advantage of that
> to move their product in?
>
> They could come in with a spreadsheet... even go for a leasing
> program where the lease cost was cheaper than the projected
> upkeep on an old transmitter.  They could clean up.
>
> Just wondering.
>
> ----------


You make an excellent point.  It's just one of those little mysteries of
life, I guess.  At one station I kept a database on every item of equipment,
showing the cost of repair including the cost of my time.  It became easy to
graph the increasing expenditures, project future expenses, and estimate the
point at which the cost of repair would exceed the cost of replacement.  By
anticipating this point, we could keep an eye out for bargains that could be
purchased just before that critical point would be reached, and thus save
even more money.  Engineering can be more than just wielding a soldering
iron.