well if he isn't answering my emails I'm certainly not going to call a phone number that he chose not to make public on his website.
Perhaps..if not there already, at the back of the assembly manual should be a full sized PC board etch pattern print including mounting holes. There would be your template for drilling.
RFB
i have politely emailed phil and asked him to explain to me why other people seem to get replies in a matter of 48hrs while i never seem to get a reply. we shall see what his answer is. i am trying very hard not to be a d$%k, but it is getting increasingly difficult to keep that attitude.
i have also finally had it with folks at eham, radio talk, and hobby broadcaster, and was booted from radio-info for being subbed to hobby broadcaster so i am basically only on this forum now. its the forum i started on and the one i'm staying with and the one which seems to have the most tech info and membership.
I haven't had time to look at part15.us for quite a while. I just noticed Robert's posts about me not replying to his email. I went searching and found it in my McAfee Anti-Spam folder. How it got there is a mystery because McAfee has until now been 100% reliable for not rejecting any real personal email. In fact, it normally lets a fair amount of spam through to my in box.
Anyway, the outdoor version of the AMT5000 with the NEMA box should be ready for market toward the end of January. I've been swamped with Christmas orders for the last couple weeks. I should have time available for the outdoor version after Christmas. It will involve a change to the instruction manual to include the option for installing the vertical-mount pots and jacks in the step-by-step assembly instructions and a new chapter on assembling the unit in the NEMA box. The web site will be updated to add the new AMT5000 outdoor model.
For those who want an easy way to mount the AMT5000 in their own box, I recommend using four of these adhesive-backed nylon PC board mounts:
http://www.mouser.com/catalog/specsheets/EPD-200446.pdf
They are available from mouser.com at:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Eagle-Plastic-Devices/561-500TAB/?qs=jyuMPHuZ7%252b1BY3OVFo8okg%3d%3d
Snap the mounts into the four holes on the AMT500 board, rotate them so the square adhesive pads are all oriented the same way, peel off the protective paper, and carefully lower the board into the box and press down to affix the adhesive pads. You can remove the board by gently pressing in on the locking tabs one at a time while lifting each corner of the board. No box drilling is required.
As soon as that outdoor version hits the market my order is ready to place. The AMT5000 will be the heart of my first outdoor stick being built bit by bit.
Also, earlier today, a HAM military veteran I talked to asked what the best AM transmitter was, as he is contemplating getting into Part 15. Naturally I told him about the AMT5000, so his order might be in the works any day.
Now before anyone guesses wrong, I am merely pointing something out.
"I just noticed Robert's posts about me not replying to his email. I went searching and found it in my McAfee Anti-Spam folder. How it got there is a mystery because McAfee has until now been 100% reliable for not rejecting any real personal email. In fact, it normally lets a fair amount of spam through to my in box."
Apparently it is not the only time this happened.
"Using one's own spam filter
Submitted by Ermi Roos on October 22, 2011 - 19:57.
Using one's own spam filter as an excuse for not receiving e-mail is pretty lame. It's another case of my dog ate my homework."
Remember that one? While that thread was on-going and approaching page 2 of posts, Phil was located posting in this thread http://part15.us/node/3031 while kc8 was still asking had anyone heard from Phil.
"Submitted by kk7cw on October 22, 2011 - 17:55.
To obliquely infer that a lack of a speedy response is in some way personally denigrating, or mysterious, is foolishness. Lack of planning and preparation on your part does, not for me, an emergency make. It doesn't seem logical, or right, to criticize based on a personal decision to buy without realistically considering the time and effort required to finish the task.
Neither Phil nor Keith require a defense on how they conduct themselves. Past performance is the indicator these folks are quality developers and marketers of pretty good products. If you can find better people or products, go buy them. Otherwise, I enjoy listening to the drone of criticism from folks who have never developed or built a better product than what they are currently using."
That is from the first thread of "Where O where is Phil". Now you say Phil does not need a defense, then why do you post something like that to begin with and answering for another person who had yet to even respond to the thread OR kc8's emails!!! DAMAGE CONTROL!! DAMAGE CONTROL!!
I don't know about you or anyone else, but when I make a purchase from a vendor I expect that vendor to live up to the high standards of business practices and have a bit more respect to the one putting food on their plates.
Now me personally I don't give a rat's rear about how good others "think" of this or that product, I don't care what others think of what I think about this or that product.
What I DO care about is a merchant being responsible enough to at least REMEMBER previous mishaps of BS spam filter excuses and take steps to prevent them.
So Phil...how many other customer's emails got redacted into your spam filter box? Be honest now. A good merchant is an honest merchant.
So far...other than owner's of the AM5K units experiences are the only thing keeping my attention to the unit itself. As to the habits of the seller, well his "LITTLE" problems with spam filters and such won't become my concern. Until there is a better avenue of communication with said merchant...I tend to follow kk7's advice....buy from somewhere else.
Customer service after the sale is FAR more important to me than a mere percentage of efficiency increase costing 160 bucks more than the previous.
I get faster customer service from the made in China CHZ transmitter people...same day...and replacement/spares obtained within 1 week. How's that for an over-seas merchant that can't even speak English very well, but DOES understand business and how to run business properly and how to treat ALL their customers as if they ALL were important, no matter what.
I suggest finding some new ways to do things SS and overcome these petty problems if your expecting good review.
How about adding a support ticket system, or a simple web page based customer support request form, which both will prevent unwanted spam emails and keep the legit emails from customers from ending up in your filtered in-box.
Good comments and praise over a device is pathetic when the maker cant even keep business communication from falling into the wrong in-box going unanswered more times than one..from the same customer too..and the first customer of the AM5 to boot!!
:/
RFB
I want in on this rage fest.
Moving from the particular to the general, I complain about the nature of communicating on the internet!
Many of my e-mails to everyone go unanswered. Many people constantly say "I didn't get that one," or, "I read your e-mail but I didn't notice the part where you said such-and-such."
Many people write to me about something on their mind but I don't know what they are thinking so I have to ask, "What are you talking about?" In that case some writers have no communication skill.
On this website here at Part15.us a lot of comments I post go unnoticed and are lost and unanswered in the maze of threads because this is a jumble, a landslide of data with no live secretaries to keep things straight. For example, kc8gpd was looking for a build-it-yourself FM transmitter with stereo generator. I found one. But my addition to his original thread has gone down the list into last week's posts and no one saw it.
I'm going to blame someone for the mess called the internet, but it won't be PhilB. I don't believe that PhilB would deliberately ignore a customer's inquiry about a product. It isn't reasonable to think such a thing.
someone did make a comment about your post regarding the ba1404 based Stereo Gen.
I was looking for a Professional Grade Stereo Gen feat. Balanced inputs and discrete components
i admit having very little patience and poor communications skills though i try to improve on these issues all the time.
No, no, no, kc8gpd. I wasn't saying that you, personally, have bad communication skills. My message was "general" (about many people) and not "particular" (about one person).
Just about everyone needs to keep a grip on communications skills. It is so easy to misunderstand what someone says or their reason for saying it or their reason for not responding.
It is so common for people to not quite get what we are trying to say. It happens to me. It happens to everyone. The internet doesn't care. The internet has no soul and will not do its part to help us out.
I love complaining, so I think I will continue ranting from one thread to the next which could go on for a long time.
Carl, don't feel bad about being "lost" down the list.
Reference your "Big Talker", I went to the expense and trouble of building the END FED DIPOLE to see if it would fit into your project.
The 3 posts regarding the antenna got some reads and not even a mention. I at least expected RFB to tell me I'm an idiot for wasting everyones time with a rediculous antenna such as this with it's power robbing RF choke.
Some people just like to rant...
By the way, 400 mile contacts on average with probably less than a watt at the antenna.
RFB:
You wrote: "So Phil...how many other customer's emails got redacted into your spam filter box? Be honest now. A good merchant is an honest merchant".
Answer: none that I am aware of.
The reference to SPAM in the thread
http://part15.us/node/3034
was written by Keith Hamilton, not me. He apparently had the same problem with an email from Robert.
The Internet header in the email I got from Robert contained, in part, the following lines:
X-MSKTag: [SPAM]
X-MSK: CML=10.000000
I spent a little time searching the Internet for this tag and didn't see anything conclusive other than the general idea is that it is inserted up the line somewhere either by the hotmail source or my ISP. My ISP offers "Spam Assaisn", but I have always operated with it disabled.
I currently get an average of about 75 spam emails per day. That is the price paid for publishing my email address on the Internet. I'm sure Keith gets a ton of spam too for the same reason. As I said, the filters are doing a good job and missing emails due to false flagging as spam hasn't been an issue until just the past few days.
My honesty, as well as Keith's, has not been questioned on the internet except by a very few who seem to like to go on the attack for unknown reasons. I expect this from the wild and woolly web. I will stand by my reputation for honesty. It is a huge factor in keeping my business successful. I don't think any internet business will be successful without honesty and integrity. There are just too many places on the web for people to publish problems. Google makes this information instantly available to virtually everyone.
Update on silent response top the End-Fed Antenna Project.
The recent two photographs showing your End-Fed Project have been downloaded and are set to appear as a LOW POWER HOUR feature, as well as a report on the results you've had with far away receptions.
I tried to add a comment to the pictures, but they are IMAGE threads, and do not take comments.
I think I did mention somewhere that I am so struck by the beauty of your tower that I don't see how I can live without a tower.
Still to come...... I will be somehow getting my RF transmission line out the wall and I am fairly sure that the End-Fed Antenna will be the starting choice because it will fit better than a center-fed dipole.
Your effort has succeeded in contributing to the ongoing Big Talker and all other shortwave projects.
Thank you, sir.