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Copyright © 1996 by the Virtual Publishing Company.
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A.E.A. Out of Business and Other Amateur Business ChangesExclusive Story by Ham Radio OnlineA number of radio-related businesses in the United States have recently suspended their business operations or been acquired by others. A.E.A. Out Of BusinessHam Radio Online has learned that about one week ago (mid-November), Amateur Radio equipment dealers received word from A.E.A. that the company would be suspending operations. A former employee of A.E.A. of Lynwood, Washington, has confirmed to us that for all intents and purposes A.E.A. is out of business. Friday, November 15th, 1996 was the last day of employment for most of the staff. According to reports, A.E.A. is selling out remaining stock and pledges to honor all existing warranties. The former employee tells us that during recent months A.E.A. unsuccessfully attempted to find a buyer for the business. The ARRL Letter reports that A.E.A. is continuing to look for a buyer.
AVVid Buys Amateur Radio Service Department of Tucker ElectronicsOn October 19, 1996 the amateur radio service dept of Tucker Electronics was purchased by AVVid. On October 21, 1996 AVVid was re-established as a Kenwood Authorized Service Center. On November 11, 1996 AVVid was authorized by Icom to be a service center.AVVid was an Authorized Kenwwod Service Center from 1992-1995 when it was sold to Tucker Electronics and the above transaction re-established AVVid as a amateur service center. AVVid is owned by a ham (Clif Holland, KA5IPF, avvid@onramp.net) with 15 years experience in amateur radio repair. AVVid offers rapid turnaround (<2 weeks normal) with a 30 day warranty. Rates are $50 per hour on non-warranty repairs. Call 1-800-214-5779 for more information and shipping address.
PinPoint Communications Out of BusinessIn the United States, Amateurs have access to 902-928 MHz, a multipurpose band that is shared with Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) devices, automatic vehicle location (AVL) systems, and short range unlicensed devices. Hams are secondary users of the 902-928 Mhz band which means that hams must not cause interference to, and must accept any interference from the band's primary users, which are the ISM and AVL systems.AVL system operators were very aggressive about not wanting to share the frequency band. In recent years there were Amateur reports that one operator, Teletrac, visited consumer electronics stores in the Los Angeles area and suggested to the store managers that they should not carry 900 Mhz cordless telephones because they would receive so much interference from AVL systems that customers would be displeased. One of the other leading AVL companies, Pinpoint Communications is now completely out of business. You can learn more about what Pinpoint was by visiting their web site at http://members.aol.com/expinpoint/index.html. |
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