Phil B. and Keith H.

Apparently your not the only one having a wee bit of trouble getting an answer out of Hamilton as of recent. Read a few posts in other places where some folks have been waiting on enclosure and other parts for several weeks.

The worst case situation I heard about involved a Rangemaster unit mounted up on a school building roof and along came the wind and broke the whip off, causing a huge gaping hole at the top of the case allowing rain and dirt inside. Fortunately the unit was not powered on at the time and a little "Blue Shower" equivalent cleaned it right up.

One of reasons why I do not use my Rangemaster is because winds here in Wyoming can reach 50mph and above on a calm windy Wyoming day...and gusts can hit 80+. Just ask any truck driver who has been down the I80 west corridor.

Now the other unit, the Procaster, with its die-cast aluminum case...holds up nicely against these heavy winds no problem. And the antenna does not rely on a single point mount at the top, its on the side with two mounting bolts and the antenna is a 1/2 inch diameter aluminum pipe.

I have yet to hear about any Procaster box requiring any replacement itself or case replacement parts.

Hope you get an answer soon.

RFB

sounds like we may have an LPB type situation going on with keith. their demise started out in a similar fashion and took years before they finally went bust.

my guess is though that if this is the case with keith it will take a significantly shorter period than it did for LPB.

i hope this isn't the case.

the antenna situation can be remedied with a simple heavy duty spring to ease up the tension placed on the antenna connector and/or use of large heavy washers on inside and outside of case to add more strength at the connector and to spread out the workload across the case.

I only know what I read on the forums. Hamilton has not posted anywhere in months, hiding since the KENC disaster. PhilB is using this forum as a marketing tool, but he posts sparingly, and only if it is to his advantage. Maybe this public discussion will get him to respond about the returned transmitter.

i'm not all too worried about phil B. not hearing from him for few days is not unusual just wondering if anyone has heard from him.

it is unusual for keith to not return messages within a day.

i have never really taken issue with either of them using the forums as a marketing tool.

they sell a product that forum members are interested in and is a product that directly relates to the topic of the forums.

now if they were selling pyramid schemes, viagra, or other such nonsense i would take issue with that.

scwis says that the manufacturers using this forum for selling is okay with him, so it's okay with me. If I can ever figure out how to make a Part 15 transmitter and antenna system that works (it's not easy), maybe I'll be selling it here too!

The Part 15 hobby or profession is a very special category, and the people who become involved love it all their lives. The special individuals who go to the great extent of developing and bringing to market the transmitters for our use are exceptionally special, and without them we'd be stuck building our own or not participating.

The Crow's Part 15 Map seems to show a lot of Part 15 activity, but the numbers need to keep expanding to generate a demand for transmitters, since most of us go with one or only a few purchases.

We'd probably like to get one of each kind just for the interest of it, but the expense holds us back; or a sane wife says "No."

I try to recruit new low power enthusiasts, but most people humor me for being a little odd, and they get back on their cell phone or watch cable TV for the whole day.

Don't take this the wrong way, but we are a little bit "special," if you know what I mean. The manufacturers of Part 15 equipment even more so.

I don't think either is hiding. I get responses from Keith anytime I email him. I also follow ham radio sites and there are those that think engineers from Ten-Tec for example, should chime in when there is a discussion or disagreement. Like Ten-Tec, I would hope that Phil and Keith had more important things to do then worry about comments made on this and other sites. Just my 2 cents and we all know what that is worth. 🙂

"use of large heavy washers on inside and outside of case to add more strength at the connector and to spread out the workload across the case."

Another approach is to take fishing line and a few tie wraps and create a guy system for the whip. Don't forget to place red rags or colored marker tape somewhere on the fishing line/guy lines so they can be seen. Do not want to get "clothes lined" by your own antenna! 😉

RFB

well i didnt say phil was hiding but keith on the other hand i have emailed him several times over last week about question directly related to obtaining parts for one of his products i own with zero response.

Maybe Keith is delivering transmitters to occupy wallstreet.

One of the things I consider very important in either purchasing a kit or designing one is the life cycle.

For example, although not a kit, the LPB transmitters are designed with long life cycle in mind. All of the electrical components can still be easily obtained. Another example is any of the Panaxis kits, again designed with components still easily obtainable, thus they have a very long life cycle.

There is a point where using specialized components or hiding part numbers does not pay off down the road no matter what efficiency is obtained today. This delay issue in response to parts requests may go for a long time. If your having to rely on the maker for electrical components exclusively, that pretty much leaves you at their mercy.

As far as the mechanical parts, well there are ways around those issues without relying on anyone but your own imagination.

RFB

I have heard of some of the Part 15 transmitters with "secret" parts, either because they were not marked or were sealed in a block of glue. That is an unpleasant thing to discover about a product in which we place or faith.

I hasten to mention that we are NOT talking about SSTran products, which feature very "out in the open" marked and available parts.

But I will not mention the (at least two) manufacturers we are talking about, although perhaps the buyer needs to be fore-warned.

Any kit that is "open source" will not only have identifiable and obtainable parts within, but also listed clearly in the parts list of the assembly manual as well as the parts sources.

Another consideration is the initial costs. For such a high investment it better have a long life cycle to it IMO.

RFB

and at an 800.00 price tag you would think a certified transmitter would include the schematic and parts list.

i remember way back when almost every piece of electronics, consumer, cb, ham included a schematic and parts list.

what the heck happened to those days. it's getting harder to even find a schematic with ham gear anymore.