You might add ``No, because I already own a tuner''.

Sorry, can't edit a poll once it is created. Hopefully the "no I wouldn't buy" is enough.

I think it is. Thanks for making this. Maybe SB will see it. I sure hope they make more. The thought of never seeing my empeg with a tuner is very sad

Well, I'll not vote, then, in order to not send a negative comment.

We're not interested in how many "No" votes there are - just how many "Yes" votes.

Rob

Just shuffling the poll to the top of the list again, to make sure people see it...

The results of this will be interesting, but we're going to do something more official within the next couple of weeks. I suspect the only way we will be able to manufacture more tuners will be if we have firm pre-orders. Even if we pass the design to a third party, they will want to be sure of selling sufficient units.

Rob

Yes, yes.

Just put in a radio module that can scan the police freqs. as well....


TommyE

Back to the top.

Certainly a firm order here!

Do you have a sense of how many Yes's it takes to make it a possibility?

Mike

Well, as of now we have 66 tuners that people would like to buy. The original batch the factory made, as stated by Hugo, was 1000. Obviously, they won't be making that many in the new batch (if there is one), but I guess it's hard to say. They already have the factory set up to make them, so it might not take a whole lot. I'd guess about 300, but what do I know?

I'd guess we'd need to make at least 500 to get similar pricing, maybe more. Considering there are some 3000 Mk.2 and Mk.2A players without tuners, I'd hope that would be a reasonable goal.

Of course, it may be that there are substantially fewer players installed in cars, what with everyone buying 1, 2, 3 or more "spares".

Rob

Yeah, plus there are the people who are using second head units for radio.

Of course, it may be that there are substantially fewer players installed in cars, what with everyone buying 1, 2, 3 or more "spares".

Yes, but I want a spare tuner module, too.

BTW, do you have any idea of how many unique customers you have? I know, it is hard to tell how many of 'spares' will end up as real spares, and how many on eBay or as presents...

Can we get a bonafide "movement" going here to ensure that those of us without tuners will eventually get one? What do I need to do? Can we chip in to buy the reg list off SB and then do a mass e-mailing to all owners asking for pre-orders??

I ain't goin' out like this! ;)

You don't have to do anything at this stage - Hugo is working on it. As Director of Engineering for Audio Applications he's probably well placed to determine the options that are available.

Rob

Good deal! I would just hate to lose my factory head unit (w/ Tuner) only to find out I just kissed FM radio goodbye...

Here's hopin'
Fingers are crossed.

>plus there are the people who are using second head units for radio.

Like me. But I actually have one tuner unit as well, which is being wired into my in-home (office) "docking station" instead. And I'd love to have another tuner for my other unit as well.

Cheers

-ml

Back to the top, for the last time.

i would probably buy it at the $69 rate it was at before, but probably not at the $99 mark, man i didt relize those were going to sell out faster than the players.. i feel the need to stock up on extra stuff for it not .. like remote and extra power supplie.

Hi Rob,
May be you could put (a link to) this pol on riocar.org (in the 'polls area').
Only few people see it here.
Happy new year!
David.

yes, I would have bought a tuner, If I hadn't been given one with the empeg.
-and the case!! he he he

I have submitted a news article on this subject to riocar.org

I am using a 2nd head unit for the radio now too I also purchased a tuner when it was released just in case I wanted to remove the extra head unit but now I have had to give it to my roommate.

I hope they do make more tuners so I can get one again the urge to remove the 2nd deck keeps getting stronger. but I can't if it means I will have no radio.

I know of at least two or three guys here at work that have all realized that they need a tuner and are unable to get one.

I know I said this in another thread, but I wanted to make sure it appeared in the correct thread as well.

I know of 4 other people in my office that will be needind tuners. I've asked them to register and vote.

So, how hard would it be for those of us with a little EE background to build one of these? I didn't open mine up when it arrived, so I have no idea what the complexity of the unit is.

I think the biggest problem would be sourcing the tuner module itself, it is a very specialist part.

Yes, the module itself would be tricky to get hold of, they're not a part that is sold into distribution. You order n hundred from the manufacturer, wait up to 3 months, and then they deliver them to you. To give an idea, they are something like $25 each when you buy 1000 of them.

You then need the PCB and fairly off-the-shelf components; it's all surface mount though. The controller is a TSSOP PIC which is a pain to program (you need a socket adaptor) but everything else on the board, with the possible exception of the antenna connector, should be buyable from places like Farnell. ISTR there are about 50 components on the board (module, ~4 ICs, ~6 transistors and lots of passives).

The case needs custom punching though, which could well be an issue unless you get it done in volume.

All in all, it'd be a lot simpler if we (or maybe someone else) collected orders and got the original factory to do another production run.

I suspect if someone approached us who has experience with dealing with turnkey manufacturers and was willing to collect orders, finance the run, and then sell the modules for a reasonable profit (I suspect that we're looking at making something like 30-40% margin if sold at the same prices as before in 1000-off volume) then we could do something about licensing them rights to make the design. It's probably going to be easier to do this than get SONICblue interested in making more parts for an EOL product.

Hugo

It sounds like until someone steps up with the upfront cash, this isn't going to happen. You'll never get enough pre-orders from people willing to pay up-front to do this. Perhaps a group of ~10 people who want to put up the cash... Shrug.