[BULK] - Re: [TowerTalk] New antenna system

[Jerry Keller]

Steve, I think you have some unreasonable expectations. FM will sell you cables with connectors 
installed and stand in back of their work. Or they will sell you cable and connectors so you can 
install them yourself, and you take responsibility for your own work. While a manufacturer might (as 
Fluidmotion frequently does) be generous and replace something you mess up, they certainly have no 
responsibility to do so. If they do so, it's an customer accomodation, not an obligation.

73,  Jerry K3BZ
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Katz" <stevek at jmr.com>
To: "'Jerry Keller'" <k3bz at arrl.net>
Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 7:02 PM
Subject: RE: [BULK] - Re: [TowerTalk] New antenna system


>
>
>> Would you blame ICOM or YAESU if you modified your transceiver and
>> something shorted out?
>>
>> 73,  Jerry K3BZ
>>
>>
>> //That would depend on what happened.  Adding a connector to a cable isn't
>> exactly a "modification," it's an expected user experience.  When
>> designing consumer electronics goods, it's SOP to fuse anything the user
>> can get his hands on, to prevent equipment damage during normal operation.
>> I wouldn't expect to blow up my rotor control box if I shorted its control
>> cable, any more than I'd expect to blow up my PC if I shorted its keyboard
>> cable (or RS232 cable, or parallel port cable, or USB cable...).  An
>> external wiring short-circuit is an expected occurrance, whether the user
>> adds a connector or not...it can happen if a squirrel chews through the
>> control cable, and I wouldn't blame the squirrel.  That was my take on the
>> "failure due to installing connectors" story.  -WB2WIK/6
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "Steve Katz" <stevek at jmr.com>
>> To: "'David Robbins K1TTT'" <k1ttt at arrl.net>; "reflector -tower"
>> <towertalk at contesting.com>
>> Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 3:14 PM
>> Subject: RE: [BULK] - Re: [TowerTalk] New antenna system
>>
>>
>> > Hi David,
>> >
>> > Very relevant question, there.
>> >
>> > My answer, thus far, would be "pretty much everybody" has had failures
>> with
>> > the SteppIR products.  At least, everyone I've spoken with who has one.
>> > Again, I've heard nothing but glowing compliments regarding service, but
>> of
>> > course I'd much rather not have the failures.
>> >
>> > Possibly some of the controller failures I've heard about are lightning
>> > related; however here in L.A., lightning is a very rare phenomenon
>> indeed
>> > and it's common to go 6-12 months at a time without a single lightning
>> event
>> > anywhere in the area.  And the two failures I referenced occurred when
>> no
>> > lightning had occurred in a very long time.
>> >
>> > WA6DKN had to return his controller not once, but twice.  He's on #3 at
>> this
>> > time.
>> >
>> > WB2WIK/6
>> >
>> > "Nobody needs more than 640k!" -Bill Gates, 1982
>> >
>> >> -----Original Message-----
>> >> From: David Robbins K1TTT [SMTP:k1ttt at arrl.net]
>> >> Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 12:27 PM
>> >> To: reflector -tower
>> >> Subject: [BULK] - Re: [TowerTalk] New antenna system
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> A sample of 2 does not a valid set of statistics make, unless that is
>> >> the whole universe.  How many others do you know who did not have them
>> >> fail?
>> >>
>> >> As for the early failures... The phenomena of 'infant mortality' in
>> >> electronics is well known and documented.  In any reasonably complex
>> >> electronic device more failures happen in the first few months than
>> just
>> >> about the whole rest of the expected life of the device.  In many cases
>> >> there is also a sudden rise in failures after some long period due to
>> >> predictable ageing of some components... this leads to the infamous
>> >> 'bathtub' curve for electronics failure rates.  High in the beginning,
>> >> low for a long time in the middle, and rising relatively sharply near
>> >> the end.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> David Robbins K1TTT
>> >> e-mail: mailto:k1ttt at arrl.net
>> >> web: http://www.k1ttt.net
>> >> AR-Cluster node: 145.69MHz or telnet://dxc.k1ttt.net
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >>
>> >> See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
>> >> Weather Stations", and lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with
>> >> any questions and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> TowerTalk mailing list
>> >> TowerTalk at contesting.com
>> >> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>> > _______________________________________________
>> >
>> > See: http://www.mscomputer.com  for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless
>> Weather Stations", and
>> > lot's more.  Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions and ask
>> for Sherman, W2FLA.
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > TowerTalk mailing list
>> > TowerTalk at contesting.com
>> > http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
>> >
>>
>