[Amps] Buyer beware!

R.Measures r at somis.org
Sun Oct 30 06:13:03 EST 2005


On Oct 30, 2005, at 2:33 AM, Paul Whatton wrote:

> If anyone is thinking of buying gear from a US amateur please be very
> careful.
>
> About three months ago I put a message in the group to say that I was
> looking for a G3SEK tetrode board. Ian was out of stock as was Toms
> Tubes. A US amateur emailed me to say that he had a kit which was
> surplus to his requirements and offered it to me for $150.00. He didn't
> have a Paypal account and I don't like Western Union so I arranged for 
> a
> friend in the USA to send him a USD postal order by recorded delivery.
> It all checked out. His address is the same as qrz.com and his callsign
> quite well known, the emails were friendly. He gave me his cell number.
> A Google search brings up several references to him.
>
> He received the postal order on 16 August and acknowledged it by email
> to me. But as of today I have still not received the boards. On four
> seperate occasions by email or when I have called him he has promised
> that they will be mailed "tomorrow" and made the excuse he has been 
> busy
> and I shouldn't worry. For the past month he has ignored my emails.

What is his name, callsign, and address.  What frequencies does he 
frequently operate on?
>
> Half of me (the warm hearted half that believes in ham spirit) thinks
> this is all OK, that the boards will arrive eventually and there is a
> reasonable explanation. The other half of me is getting twitchy.
> Repeated promises and excuses. Surely it doesn't take over ten weeks to
> mail a packet? It has also been very frustrating because I have a
> project ready to install the boards in.
>
> If any of this is ringing any bells and you have a similar story please
> contact me so we can compare notes. If any of you are thinking of 
> buying
> something from a US amateur, please email me off-board before parting
> with your cash.
>
> In the meantime I'm taking advice and looking at ways I might either 
> get
> my boards or my money back. But it's not easy when the transaction is 
> in
> the USA and I'm in the UK. I'd welcome any suggestions or advice.

Tetrodes don't need sophisticated circuitry, they need appropriate 
design and, for those with handles, they need a 3AG fuse in the primary 
of the screen PSU xfmr.  Also, all tetrodes need a shunt screen current 
bleeder to handle reverse screen-I.

cheers, Paul
>
> Regards
>
> Paul G4DCV
>
>
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>

Richard L. Measures, AG6K, 805.386.3734.  www.somis.org



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