Hi.

Well.

The previous thread broke all records, so has achieved it's purpose and given me a warm fuzzy feeling (although that might just be the cat) However, it's gotten to the point that it's a little top-heavy, so I'm starting another one, lovingly handcrafted from only the purest ingredients.

The current status of the tuner kits is as follows:

I have many, many tuner modules.

I also have many, many PCBs.

What I don't have is a sufficient quantity of MAX4544EPA SPDT mosfet switch ICs. There were thousands in stock a couple of weeks ago or so, but when I went to order a couple of hundred last week, I was told I could have 23, which was the sum total of (apparently) the entire existing world supply. Some awkward sod of a very large company seems to have bought the lot. I have been calling every Maxim supplier in Europe, and some further afield, trying to get more, but no-one seems to stock the damn thing. So I will have to wait for a while until the little Maxim gnomes carve some more.

The 23 parts I ordered haven't yet turned up, but I have half a dozen or so which will suffice for the alpha-build testers. I will be sending those test kits out soon, once I have written the manual. Unfortunately, pressure of work (needed for the cash-flow to pay for all this) is quite high at the moment, with at least two different projects on a 'finish-yesterday-if-not-before' basis. As a result, I won't be able to do the manual for probably a week or so. Rest assured that it will be done as fast as practicable. If nothing else, I need to shift some kits fairly soon since I'm so far about 3500 quid in the red on this project!

The first batch of 25 will certainly be able to be shipped, but it will be a couple of weeks after that at least before I can get the parts for more. If anyone on the list happens to work for Maxim and know where I can get some of the right chips, I would be very grateful!

In addition, I will soon be setting up the website where orders can be placed. This also will be at least a week, for reasons discussed earlier (you are taking notes, I hope. You will be tested on your knowledge...). Once this is up feel free to place orders, although I would appreciate it if people would be reasonable and not order dozens for themselves, at least until I am in a position to make them in larger quantities.

Please DON'T email me placing an order, or say you want one here and expect me to remember it! I simply don't have the facilities or the time to winnow out orders from statements of interest and the like, and things will get lost in the shuffle. Place orders via the website when it goes live, which will be announced here.

By the way, a kit in the first batch has been reserved for you, Loren, if you want it It seems only fair.

pca

By the way, a kit in the first batch has been reserved for you, Loren, if you want it It seems only fair.

/me wipes small tear from eye...

Maxim website shows a 6 week lead time. Digikey list about 3 week lead time. I will contact my local disti's for you. How much should you be paying?

Edit: And what sort of quantity are you after?

Did i mention that this is the best user community on earth? 'Cause it is.

Patrick, thank you for making my otherwise bleak day a good one.

I have been quoted between 4 and 8 weeks from Maxim and all their distributors, who all say a new crop is waiting to ripen. No one seems to have stock.

The price I'm getting the things for is about 60 pence (just under a dollar US) each. I guess if someone could find some, I'd order a couple of hundred. It seems likely that I'll sell at least that many tuners. I have a hundred on order at the moment, with as I said above 23 supposedly shipping this week.

pca

Hey, someone has to be on the side of good to balance out all the rest

pca

Well, you could get lucky and find a disti with some just sitting there in stock. I'll ask mine.

pca... you make many people happy with your work on this project. i sincerely hope that you've added in enough cost to make it worth your while. my smashed empeg is off on it's way to the hospital, and when it comes back, i hope to eventually have one of these wonderful gadgets to attach. good luck getting the gnomes to cooperate!

Unfortunately it's not a commonly used part, at least in Europe. No one seems to ever keep stock of it bar Maxim themselves, they just order it on demand.

pca

Oh, don't worry, I come out a little ahead. Not a huge amount, but I feel I'm worth it

If nothing else, I need to make money on the thing so it can be self-supporting.

pca

You are a great, great man, sir. So when I order the tuner, who do I list as the receiver/builder for my tuner?

I have no hope of building one of these things myself, and unless there's someone in either the DC Metro area or in the Williamsburg Virginia area, I'll have to ship it to someone. I'd be willing to pay a fee.

I'll be saving up my nickles and dimes waiting for this web page to go live. A tuner would really complete my installation and let me seal up the dash for good...

That being said, who in the sf bay area is interested in teaching people (or learning) how to do basic assembly of these things? I have no experience with a soldering iron short of dripping large drops on things, and wouldn't want to go at this alone. I'd prefer to learn how to instead of just mailing it off to someone for a quick assembly job. Pizza/Chinese/Indian food, a large table and some good lighting could all be aranged...

Matthew

What I don't have is a sufficient quantity of MAX4544EPA SPDT mosfet switch ICs.

One of the MAX462x switches won't work for this?

I have searched through about 4 of 8 chip distributers I know. I have seen prices ranging from 55 cents to 1.20 dollars a piece. Hopfully tomorrow they will call me with quantities in stock....

I can only hope for the best...
(I am going to buy 2 tuners!!!)

Two words: Woo hoo!

Maybe a video guide is needed?

David, you're really a closet video producer, aren't you?

Nah, I just don't have any kids or the money to go on exotic holidays, so need something else to use iMovie for.

If I get hold of a tuner kit and Hugo will lend me his DV camera, I'll do a build video.

I've never seen a closet video before, is it rude?

Would it not be a good idea to start a thread of Empeg people around the world who feel capable of offering an assembly service at a realistic price?
The price offered would have to take in a realistic indemnity insurance, which I'm sure that a good commercial broker would quote for.
I need an extra tuner, I'm in the U.K. and my last electronics project was a valve amplifier with resistors bigger than some contemporary amplifiers. A healthy liking for beer and wine means that the tip of my soldering iron generally prescribes a 1/2 inch arc over the subject matter - I'll pay through the nose!

There seems to be stock from brokers. Check here and RFQ:

http://www.broker1.tv/index1.html

Has Mark Lord offered this service yet, if not, do you plan to, Mark?

Try www.usbid.com and others, there are parts out there.

Chris

TunerI vs TunerII:
differences???

Well, I contacted them and they say they have a minimum order value of $1000 US per line, which is about 1800 chips. So no go there.

pca

I have a distributer who can get them for me from Asia in about 7 days, assuming they make it through customs... He quoted me $1.50 a piece in US dollars. I live in Pennsylvania, so I assume I would have to ship them to England... I know he wont do any better on the price, but maybe he would ship them right to England for me (you are in England arent you???)

It seems the only source of these chips left are in Asia... the next batch that is coming out will be available in the US, but not for a while...

My DV cam is currently on long-term loan to my brother. As a new parent, it's just unnatural not to have a camcorder to record his offspring's first (insert bodily function here), so I lent it to him.

Hugo

Mmm.. dunno, I haven't had a look at the kit/parts/whatever yet.

I think that if I were to do this, I might just buy a bundle of kits from pca, assemble them, and then resell here in Canada/USA.

Cheers

Good idea, I can certainly see there is merit in your proposed approach versus someone buying a kit and having it shipped to you for assembly. At least, that way, the risk to the buyer is minimal except you'd own the risk of a non-working tuner yourself.

Ignoring pinout/form-factor is that the only CMOS switch that will work? What about a small daughter card that adapts the pinout of a more available part? Or is the part even needed? What is it switching anyway?