what planet are these people on?

[K1JJ]

I've found the "latest ricebox" collector types usually don't last in the hobby very long. I remember a wealthy group of gentlemen on 75M who talked every night about who had the latest ricebox and who had the earliest delivery and serial number. They always seemed to say, "Oh, it has SUCH a great receiver!"   After a while, one by who they all got bored and disappeared. How much can you talk about stuff like that?

The vintage Collins S-line guys have quite a set of roots established, so they will be around for a long time. I once had two S lines. I thought they were "romantic."  Collins S-line front panels have the most honest faces in ham radio..  Probably more the memory of seeing it at Hatry's in Htfd as a JN in 1965, but couldn't afford it. It was the Holy Grail at the time. Corky said to me one day, as I was about to trade in another boat anchor for the 20th time, "Get rid of the shit and buy some Collins."  

But all in all, to pull out the very weak ones - for raw performance - I've never used anything better than my FT-1000D. I'm sure the new SDR RX's can do better, but I like the computer-less TX and RX all in one dual diversity package.   When the SDR guys start cleaning my clock hearing into Eu, then I'll take a closer look...

T

[Bill, KD0HG]

I sold the S-Line the better part of 10 years ago.

The thing that made me keep it for so long is that Collins was one of last HF sideband rigs ever made, and probably the best, that you could fix and/or modify with nothing but hand tools, a soldering iron and basic test equipment. I suppose you could add the Drake 4-Line to that list.

[N3DRB The Derb]

loved my s line. I think I paid $150 for it in 1984.

[WQ9E]

I like my S line and I think it is one of the nicest looking stations out there-of course for the original price and current collectors pricing it should be.  I paid a bit more than Derb for mine but nowhere close to the crazy prices that the gear commands now.  For overall operation and performance, I much prefer my Drake 4 line stations (and they also do AM and 160).

But coming back to looks, both ham and non-ham visitors are attracted to my S line setup so it does have "the look".   I think if Ten Tec had hired someone to provide a better "look and feel" to their gear they would have had a lot more commercial success.   Ten Tec has some good performing gear but for some reason (in my opinion) it doesn't photograph well for advertisements.  Also some of the design features (like the excess power protection feature in my Century 21) seem a bit quirky.