OK, time for my $.02.
In the last month I have bought 2 transformers from Jeff, and other
stuff as well. He has been helpful & straight-forward in all transactions,
and both transformers were designs by Peter he had not yet made since he
purchased the rights to the designs. One he modified for me slighly at my
request, no sweat. Compared to what I had priced previously over the last
couple years Jeff was VERY reasonable, and great to deal with as well. I am
pleased he is carrying on the Dahl line, and my experiences with him
demonstrate to me he is doing so in the best tradition he can.
Does it stink that a good HV transformer costs 3 or 4 figures- YES!
That said, the market is the market, and Jeff has been open about all of it
with me. He is entitled to a profit, and even with that he has been open &
honest. Do YOU work for free? Are you entitled to even a small profit? I
find him competative, or even better than other (unknown quality)
manufacturers. Hams are cheap and you all know it. If you want a bargain
hamfest price from someone who doesn't know what they have, you darn well
better attend and bargain-hunt. Otherwise quit moaning on the list about
prices of new components for amps that, by the way, are obviously built for
broadcast output. If you want a transformer NOW with the correct specs & a
proven design, see Jeff. Otherwise build it yourself (and yes, I looked
into that too).
David Craig N3DB
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike, K6BR" <noddy1211@sbcglobal.net>
To: <amps@contesting.com>
Sent: Friday, February 27, 2009 11:11 PM
Subject: Re: [Amps] Open Reply to Steve Cook
> Jeff,
>
> As they say "You can please some of the people some of the time, but you
> can't please all of the people all of the time). I for one appreciate the
> things that you do supply at a very reasonable cost, most of which cannot
> be
> found anywhere else.
>
> Mike, K6BR
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: amps-bounces@contesting.com [mailto:amps-bounces@contesting.com] On
> Behalf Of Jeff Weinberg W8CQ
>
> Hi Everyone,
> I am not going to drag this out. I will make one reply to Steve's
> comments and leave it at that. He is telling his side and I will tell
> mine.
>
> I tried to help Steve with a custom design using some of Pete's old
> designs for similar units. In order to get the voltage and current
> ratings he wanted, an A-0550 core was called for. This particular core
> is made by Magnetic Metals and their product code is MS-314B. The price
> on a pair of those cores alone is over $1600 and with the freight
> charge, the cost of cores alone is almost $2000 (weight just shy of 175
> lbs shipped from California to the east coast brings the core cost to
> almost $2000).
>
> Pete's old design used this core. I had assumed that the current price
> of that core would be similar to the old price of almost 5 years ago. I
> was wrong in my initial estimate of the core cost. I tried to make a
> design that would meet Steve's requirements, but I could not do it based
> on current core pricing.
>
> I don't know what else to do. He told me that someone else could make
> the transformer for $2400 or $2500, so I politely told him he should buy
> it from them.
>
> Keep in mind, I went though about at least 8 hours of design changes and
> iterations to try to make Steve happy at no cost to Steve, but I could
> not do it. I could not match someone other manufacturer's price and
> that should have been the end of it.
>
> I guess Steve has to vent his frustration and that is his right. I just
> wanted to tell my side also.
>
> By the way for Carl KM1H, who do you think helped me with the design of
> this unit? Chris, from MagCap, my business partner. There you go!
>
> Jeff W8CQ
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