Would you buy a tuner(s) ?

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.

...if there were some pre-ordering site that I could put my credit-card where my mouth (and 3 other mouths) is, I'd be pre-ordering at least 2 personally.

If the mother company is apathetic, I am sure there is still some infrastructure left in Cambridge to handle this.

Don't take the response level from this BBS at face value -- two owners at work have had their units for almost a year and they both want tuners but both have NEVER BEEN TO THIS BBS.

Anyway, if you make the site, they will come.

There still seem to be people out there that are only just realising there are no tuners available, so I am sending the poll to the top of the list again.

By my sums we are up to at least 170 tuners wanted now.

Sorry, you can't edit a poll once it has been created.

I went back to the eStore, found the tuner again, and tried to order more. I got an email from a human saying they really are gone =(

Hmm well thats my vote anyway. Not sure I need 2 tuners for
2 units.

Up to 182+ now...

Just the fact that they are up to $250+ on ebay should tell you there is a huge demand for tuners. Not to mention the 200 tuners people on this board said they would buy, and how ever many tuners people who are too lazy to register would buy. (Heck, I went for weeks wanting to submit my vote, but not wanting to register. I'm sure there are others)

Well, looks like we have made it to 200 now.

Looks like some new owners haven't spotted the poll yet.

We are up to 225 now (I and I have decided that when tuners become available I will be buying at least 3, rather than the 1 that I voted for).

I would like to buy TWO. I have TWO players and wont pay over 160 on ebay (most go for 300). WHERE IS THE PRE-ORDER SHEET????? Sign me up for two!!!!! I want two tuners. I'll even pay upfront if they will quote me a price and ship date...

Add one to the list

Put one more down on the list, I was going to just use my old Alpine Head unit but I don't have a Double-DIN dash, so it would be easier to sell it and get a tuner.

Where is the poll ?
How can I vote ?

DDA

You posted your question within the poll thread itself. Just go back to the first message in the thread and the poll is there.

I would be delighted to put cash down before I get a tuner.

cheers

Ok, back to the top again, as there seem to still be people who have missed the poll.

It seems that you can't change your vote.. If I could, I'd change my original vote from 1 to the 3+ choice (6 actually).

It seems that you can't change your vote

Yes it's a pain. I'm tempted to setup a page for people to vote on properly.

Damn, I'll take two, one for use and a backup. We need to get these built.....my sig says it all.....

when I first posted I only owned one empeg now I have three and need three tuners two more than I put on poll.

I also happen to know my cousin, MK2 owner but non BBSer would buy at least another one, if not two.

My brother, also a non BBSer would buy at least one.

I think that if a manufacturer were to make a run of 1000 of these, they would sell them all in a matter of days. I mean really, they go for $3-400 on ebay, I would think selling them at/around $100 is not going to be a major problem....

Just remember that a lower quantity will result in a higher price. Currently there are only about 300-350 requests for tuners. 1000 is a far way from that.

From what the empeg/sonicblue guys have said, the tuners will cost more than the original cost which I think was US$79 or US$99. The way they were talking was around US$150 I'm guessing. And that was for a 1000 quantity. I'd probably budget around US$200 to be safe. It's still better than US$300-400 being extorted on ebay .

I am currently investigating the possibility of an external group buy of either completed or kit form tuners.

The real killer on the price will the price of the tuner module I believe.

*bumb*

The only reason I said NO is because I already have one.

In reply to:

---

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

---

Ahh.. now there is an idea. I already have a tuner, but if there was one with expanded frequencies to play with, then I would upgrade.

I'd definitely be in for 1.

I would buy a tuner as well.

I would buy two tuners, only if its price doesn't go over $100. It's still a high price in my opinion...

Miguel
Madrid

Count me in for 2.

You will probably be out of luck then.

I have to agree with that. At $100 that would be like giving them away. If it's a good product people will buy it.

I would pay double the price for the ability to scan other frequencies like weatherband, police, CB, EMS, FRS, and more.

Calvin

I might pay triple the price if the tuner has a built in radar detector. A radar detector connected to a *computer* would be indispensible, especially if the GPS project rips loose so the computer can catalog radar hot spots by location and time.

Calvin

Calvin

lol, how about we focus on getting some am/fm action first.. maybe some xm, lol./

I would be intrested in two and maybe a third.
Might also be looking for a spare sled in the future - what is the availability of these?

a later comer to the party

i would be interested in one, however im in new zealand and the price will almost triple because of our peanut money used here. so up to $150US would be my limit, as i have to worry about both the currency conversion plus international shipping, if they came out at the original price of $79 or $99 then id get one without any question, but perhaps that goes without saying for anyone? since someone said if they came out at $100 it would be giving them away

Whoa, hold on.

Things like radar detector / wide band receiver are very unlikely to happen if a small scale tuner run is done. A run like this will only produce RioCar tuner clones and nothing else. Not saying it will never happen, but if I have anything to do with a tuner run it won't.

Remember there would be a fair amount of R&D involved in this sort of stuff. Also remember that in some places in the world (like Oz) things like radar detectors are illegal.

In terms of price, I'm (wildly) guessing (and hoping) around US$150 judging by what other people have said. I am still waiting to find out a price on the actual pre-fab tuner modules from Microtune.

Count me in for one.

I would buy if I could get a different firmware programmed
into the PIC, but the hardware identical.

Marius (Escort Cab + Mark II)

What would this different firmware do? I would say that we would only get the binary and not the source code from sonicblue so modifications to it would not be possible.

I would pay quadruple the price if it included forward-looking infrared (FLIR).

lets walk before running......lets build some tuners!

A comment from Hugo indicated that the PIC has several analogue inputs that are not in use. If the PIC could just send the value of these down the line once in a while (wth some sort of identification), I would be very happy.

I'd then make my own adjustments, and include a voltage metre, a thermometre, and maybe other such analogue devices.

Marius (Escort Cab + Mark II)

Hi.

Yeah, some analogue inputs on the "new" tuner module would be extremely useful. I have an old compass for example that can be read as an analogue resistor value (from 100 to 1000 Ohm IIRC). I would also like to attach a thermometer or two (inside/outside) etc.
It would be really cool if those analogue inputs where made available somehow.

cu,
sven

Just to make sure everybody understand...
These inputs are on the hardware in the present tuner,
but the firmware does not use them, and the firmware
cannot be re-programmed.

Marius (Escort Cab + Mark II)

Hi Jane.

Right, they are in the hardware and the firmware can't be reprogrammed to use them. But even if the software was reading them, I would need to solder on the tuner module, which I would like to avoid. It would be absolutely great if the new module would have some two or three mono jacks (one for each input), where I could just plug my external hardware into the module. Just like one plugs in the Sony remote.

cu,
sven