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