My apologies to Carl.
I had inadvertently swapped his name and Steve's in my reference below.
I guess the words "open reply to steve cook" were the equivilant of
looking for sox in the sox drawer. My only excuse is a possible
repeated instance of being dropped on my head as a young lad.
73/jeff/ac0c
Jeff Blaine wrote:
> Steve,
>
> I agree with your expectation. But the problem with these custom
> projects is that they are a moving target some of the times and hard to
> nail down on the cost side until it's time to pull the trigger. OK for
> business but hard for individuals who need to contemplate the costs vs.
> benefits for awhile as I do anyway.
>
> I would be very interested to see what EPD comes up with for you. That
> may be the solution for you. The capabilities of suppliers I'm sure
> must vary and not knowing the tx market, would guess that there are an
> infinite variety of material sets to use - and what is a standard
> offering for one guy may not be the same in another case. The trick is
> to find the magic combination for your needs - from a guy who has that
> magic combination as part of their normal product set.
>
> Good luck!
>
> 73/jeff/ac0c
>
> Steve Cook wrote:
>
>> Good points Jeff...
>>
>> My problem was always getting any kind of commitment -- you know, "I
>> can build you this, for $$$." Never could get an actionable response
>> except the dollars kept going up and the size transformer kept going
>> down, with never an intercept.
>>
>> It's simple -- when someone shows up at your door with $$$, tell them
>> what you can and if the like it, a deal can be made. Two months
>> later, I still never got a price and performance commitment.
>>
>> Leeds me to conclude he does not want this sort of work.
>>
>> Sure would have liked to know that weeks ago...
>>
>> -S
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> *From:* Jeff Blaine <mailto:keepwalking188@yahoo.com>
>> *To:* Jim Monahan <mailto:K1PX@msn.com>
>> *Cc:* amps@contesting.com <mailto:amps@contesting.com>
>> *Sent:* Saturday, February 28, 2009 11:46 AM
>> *Subject:* Re: [Amps] Open letter
>>
>> Gentlemen,
>>
>> For context, let me say that I am a sales and management teams
>> trainer
>> by profession, and an engineer by training. Which means that I do
>> have
>> long experience from both the viewpoints of sales and engineering -
>> typically these viewpoints are not the same.
>>
>> And I would like to say that Carl has a point - in that Jeff is very
>> good at telling you what cannot be done.
>> However, I beleive the issue here is that this approach, one of a
>> somewhat conservative outlook, is very typical of the engineering
>> outlook. In my case, it's justified because I'm trying to get 20
>> pounds
>> of goodies to fit into a 10 pound space. It could be
>> characterized as a
>> "under promise and over deliver" outlook.
>>
>> Jeff spent about 50 minutes with me on the phone the other day
>> without
>> asking for the order, or even a follow on. [Bad boy, from a sales
>> standpoint.] But from a confidence building standpoint, following
>> that
>> discussion I am 100.000% sure that what he were to supply me would
>> meet
>> (and by a stretch, far exceed) the specs he is willing to sign up
>> for.
>> The guy clearly has his engineering hat on and was not looking to
>> close
>> the sale. I have corresponded with him on quite a few other subjects
>> over the last year and found his replies informative and timely.
>>
>> The trouble as I see it is when a guy is in the marginal area, as
>> I am,
>> where the union of conservative design and desired performance just
>> cannot match due to the space restriction. That can lead to
>> frustration
>> simply because we as buyers want to hear that our dreams can be
>> manifest
>> even if it means disregarding the physics we are constrained by.
>> Jeff
>> will just not give me the "to get to x, you need to be willing to
>> sacrifice y and z" kind of answer. He is strictly conservative in
>> his
>> comments, construction and discussions. Again, reflecting a pretty
>> traditional engineering view point. In my case, the $$ are mid
>> range;
>> but I really can appreciate the trouble guys who want to buy a
>> "big boy
>> sized transformer" are running into. The cost of entry onto the
>> dance
>> floor is really high...
>>
>> Having pontificated on those points, my suggestion to end the arguing
>> and come back with facts would simply be to identify a competing
>> company
>> that can meet Carl's performance and price goals. So far I've not
>> found
>> another guy that was willing to chat me up about my requirements
>> as Jeff
>> did. Absent another vendor who is willing and able to provide "a
>> better deal" (be it price, performance, delivery, etc), the
>> benefit of
>> the doubt has to go to Jeff. He's like the local hardware store in a
>> small town. The selection and price may not fit your needs
>> exactly, but
>> he's a known entity and has a proven ability to deliver.
>>
>> Despite not being able to get the answer from him that I wanted
>> (yet...), I do find his straight-forward approach refreshing in an
>> era
>> where "over promise and under deliver" is more of the typical case.
>>
>> My two cents...
>>
>> 73/jeff/ac0c
>>
>> Jim Monahan wrote:
>> > I would
>> like to add my testimony to indicate the satisfaction
>> > I have had in my dealings with Harbach Electronics and Jeff.
>> >
>> > I have purchased several components for my older Heath equipment
>> > and a spare 8877 pull tube for my AL-1500 which came with a 30 day
>> > warranty at a very good price.
>> >
>> > All were delivered in a timely fashion and I had no problems with
>> > any defects.
>> >
>> > Jim, K1PX
>> >
>> > K1PX at msn.com
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Amps mailing list
>> > Amps@contesting.com <mailto:Amps@contesting.com>
>> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/amps
>> >
>> >
>>
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>
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