OK.

I was going to wait a little longer to say this, but what the hell...

It doesn't look likely that Sonicblue will be making more tuners, since
the batch size needs to be quite large ( >= 1000 units ) to make it worth
their while, especially for a no-longer-produced product.

The same problem exists for any third-part supplier that wishes to produce
the original design. There is a lot of investment, in the 80-100 kilodollar
range needed to do them this way.

I need a number of tuner modules myself, for friends, family, and the like.
Also, I get the impression that there are a few other people that might be
mildly interested if the tuners were available.

So. What to to do? After some thought, I have decided that the best solution
is to redesign the PCB of the existing tuner to be mainly through-hole, then
produce it as a kit.

Note: this is not a firm promise (yet) to do this. I am chasing the supplier
of the tuner modules for pricing and availability, and I'm still waiting for
a final price in small quantities. They're more than happy to deal with me,
but they are themselves waiting for the data from Temic in Germany. I have
also enquired as to the price and availability of the weatherband version as
well.

In addition, I have to finish the PCB (a few days work at most), work out
exactly what the kit contents should be, and decide on what case to use. This
last item is, oddly enough, the most difficult to solve.

Once the costs have been worked out, I then need to finalise a price to the
end user, and solve a few vexing questions, such as how to accept the payment
and the best way to ship the things at minimum cost. However, these are all
fairly achievable goals.

Assuming everything works out from a cost basis, I then need to make a couple
of test units to check that everything works, have one or two assembled by
someone else to check it's easy enough to do and the instructions are valid, and
work out what batch size to produce.

Based on the information I currently have, I think that batches of 25 kits at
once would be the best size to go for initially. I am estimating the final
kit cost will be approximately $150 US, but there may be some modification to
this as the prices of the parts come in.

The idea is to produce a kit containing everything necessary to allow someone
moderately comfortable with a soldering iron to build. I have neither the time
or really the inclination to build them myself for sale, but I'm sure that there
is someone present who does. So even the programmers can get one made

In addition, I intend to add a few small modifications to the basic design, ie.
bring out to some suitable connector the 3 unused A to D channels the PIC has
available, and possibly add a couple of digital IOs. It would also be doable
to add one or two thermocouple inputs, if this is of any interest.

With a little luck, it should be possible to produce the first kits for around
the middle of June.

Comments?

Patrick

Comments?

You are, obviously, The Bloke.

This is definitely a red-letter day in Empeg history... Within two minutes I read posts saying that integer Ogg libraries are available for free as in beer, and now it looks like tuner modules might possibly become available!

I already have a tuner and I'm excited, so I can only imagine how thrilled non-tuner owners are going to be at this news.

Thanks for all your efforts, Patrick, and I hope you can make all the planets align properly to pull this off.

<applause>

Thank you!!!

I'm not sure I'd want to buy a kit from this man. He's knocked out some pretty dodgy stuff over the years - jet engines that can't match their mass with thrust, wierd car stereos that don't play CD's, you name it.

Besides, have you seen his photo??

Rob

Besides, have you seen his photo??

I've always suspected that Patrick is Alan Cox's long lost, clean shaven brother...

P.S. I'll take four kits.

I think he could be Jack the freaking Ripper and people would still pay him to make tuner kits. Don't know if you've heard or not, but there's a bit of a demand.

wierd car stereos that don't play CD's

I would love to install one of these CD-less car stereos in my horseless carriage!

Oh wait, I guess I already did...

Patrick,
Sounds great. I will be in the market for two of these tuner modules.

You ARE (well, could be) da man!!

I'd say at $150 you'd need more like 100 kits with the initial build...
http://www.eden2.com/empeg/?results=1

I'd say at $150 you'd need more like 100 kits with the initial build...

It's not quite that simple. The costs to me of a batch of 25 will be several thousand dollars, and my cash flow is not unlimited. I will, at first, have to produce fairly small batches.

The PCBs, which are the most time-consuming part to get made, will probably be done in 100-off quantities to keep the price down to reasonable levels, after the prototype run.

Patrick

this is great news!

my hat is off to you Patrick for the effort you have put into this.
do keeps us informed of things as they happen
also given the demand it is possibly that you might be able to get pre-paid for a larger first round batch
finally how long do you expext to have these fits available - assuming it all goes ahead? just trying to figure out if I need to cover all my bases now, or if picking on up in the future will be on option.

This is great news! I'll take 3 of them, probably four.

BTW, the additions you mention also sound very sweet! I welcome all the additions that can be made to perfection my favourite toy with open arms! (and I'm sure I'm not the only one)

You've just made my day!

Thanks!

That's great! I'll need at least one... BTW, do you need any financial support to get things moving quicker? Just let me know if you do.

I (like many others I guess) would happily pay the full kit price in advance if that helps at all, even if the actual kit price ends up being higher than anticipated.

I could also assemble some kits for UK folks who don't feel happy tackling this for themselves.

Rue

-Tyris
"There is no spoon."

See, I told you there wasn't a spoon...

In my world, you sir, are a Fellow. Count me in as another person willing to pay up front for a tuner....

*runs off to find someone who is good at soldering*

In my world, you sir, are a Fellow. Count me in as another person willing to pay up front for a tuner....

*runs off to find someone who is good at soldering*

By the way........you are in the running for some nice beer shipped out to you.....

Normally I'm not too keen on the soldering (being a programmer and all ), but I can do it if it's through-hole, and it's just an afternoon, right?

Oh, and regarding the run size...If the design is solid, I'm sure you wouldn't have trouble finding someone with enough extra cash to get parts and put together kits -- i.e. you ship them 100+ PCBs, they buy all the components, dole them out to the kits, and sell them. Heck, I might even be able to be suckered into doing it.

BTW, approximately how many individual components per kit are we talking?

And for enclosure, I'm thinking "ball of electrical tape". Stylish and fun!

Alex

One thing that I would LOVE to see is a way to make remote antennas go up only when the radio is active, not anytime the empeg is on.

This is already built-in to version 2.0 of the software and with the antenna extension cable. The antenna extension cable (assuming it's correctly wired and is not affected by this defect) contains a separate antenna-remote-activation wire that will only turn on when the radio is on.

If you are using the main sled's blue "Amp Remote" wire to raise your antenna, then that's your problem, the antenna is up when your amplifier is on. Re-wire using the tuner extension cable correctly, and you will have the thing you desire.

Oop, didn't know that. Cool. And it's not that I have it wired incorrectly, it's just that I don't have a tuner. (and remember reading about that limitation)

Oh, and rob, will there be any problem getting SB to release the tuner design and OK these kits?

Alex

Would it help to offer two kit levels, e.g.
Kit 1: PCB, pre-programmed PIC and Temic module but no case, no discretes but possibly 'odd' parts such as the empeg mating connector.
Kit 2: (What you said earlier).

If Henry Ford's long-time example is relevant here, then offering different kinds of kits would just make it MORE difficult to get the product out the door rather than less difficult.

Well, no matter whether it's a plastic case or a bundle of electrical tape, it'll still be black.

(Boy, I hope you're talking about the same Ford quote I'm thinking of.)

One kit at a time...........some of us are tuner impaired....