AZDEN LEAVING THE US HAM RADIO MARKET
A player in the US ham radio market since the 1970s, Azden is leaving the Amateur Radio business in this country as of August 31. A letter from Azden's Lew Reinberg, W2BIE, cited "the worldwide decline of the business" as the reason for the move. "We entered the US market through this office very late in the game and with older product," Reinberg's letter states. "The lack of growth of the end-user base made it impossible for us to spend the huge amount of capital necessary to design and tool up for a more advanced model."
Azden's pullout applies only to the US market. Azden Vice President Ken Bush said this week that Azden radios continue to be sold in Japan.
Among Azden's product lineup were similar FM mobile transceivers for several bands. The company also marketed some H-Ts and a headset. The company's remaining ham radio inventory has been sold to Amateur Electronic Supply (800-558-0411; http://www.aesham.com; e-mail help@aesham.com).
Reinberg said that while Azden will stop selling ham radio gear in the US, the company will continue to repair its radios at its Franklin Square, New York, headquarters "for the foreseeable future." Parts and manuals for Azden gear will continue to be available as well.
Sid Wolin, K2LJH, manager of Azden's Communications Division, reportedly plans to retire. Reinberg says he will remain at Azden's Franklin Square office to handle customer questions and process service and repair orders. Tnx: ARRL Letter
For more information, call Azden at:
*Landline: 516-328-7500
*e-mail: azdenus@aol.com
*WWW: http://www.azdencorp.com
TARA FUND DRIVE REPORT
Saturday September 13th will be the last day for our Summer/Fall Fund Drive spearheaded by William St. Jean, N2YNP. So far Bill is very excited and optimistic that this year will set a new record for the raffle. Bill said the big difference this year has been the amount of tickets our members sold throughout the summer months. Plus we had a strong show of support from our members/guest recently at our "Picnic Night" in Green Island.
If you haven't yet purchased your tickets what are you waiting for? Get off your best intentions and give Bill a shout. Better yet, come join the TARA gang at the Ballston Spa Hamfest on September 13th, starting at
7:00 AM. We still need all the support we can get. Do your part to help!Frank Jourdanais, KB2ZOW and Jim Hannell, W2JHO, have both volunteered to handle our Fall Candy Drive, starting September 10th. This year TARA will be selling Hershey brand candy bars for $1.00 each in an attempt to raise a few needed dollars for club projects. They've already had a few members that have volunteered to sell a box of these candy bars on behalf of the club, but they need a lot more. If you could help us by selling a few bars of candy we would greatly appreciate it. Volunteers are kindly asked to call Frank Jourdanais, KB2ZOW, at 238-2170
.N2TY BBS Developer Resigns
We are sad to announce that Kim Fan, N2ZLA, will be resigning his position as TARA's BBS/NODE Chairman, effective immediately. Kim was the driving force and one of the key persons that helped us design and build our current N2TY BBS into a "first class" system. We all owe him our deepest gratitude for a job well done.
Packet GoKit
Mr. Bill, NY2U, is searching for a volunteer(s) that would like to take on the responsibilities of setting up a portable Packet Radio display at our monthly meetings. This station would be used to help others with hands-on training on the use of packet.
Also we would like to have this same setup available for field use during emergencies if it were needed.
If you have an interest in Packet Radio and if you'd like to share that knowledge with others, please call Mr. Bill at 273-9248. We would like to see something ready to go by the October meeting if possible.