Hi.

OK, everyone, this is the curent start of play.

First, I must apologise for the long delay in getting this thing off the ground. Just about when I was ready to begin shipping, several other, very important/time critical contracts popped up, and I had no choice but to drop everything and work on them. Since then, I haven't even had time to more that glance at the BBS, or do much tuner work. The useful bit about this work is that it has stuffed the kitty full enough that she makes little clinking noises when she walks, so I should be able to do more kits at once.

I am still having issues surrounding the credit card facilities, since they want a silly amount of (in my view) redundant and irrelevant documentation. It's taking a long time to get sorted, but sorted it will be. In the meantime, I may just use Paypal or something similar, to avoid any more delay.

I have also been looking into the issue of business insurance and legal disclaimers against people sodding up their empegs and blaming me, which could get expensive. I fully realise that 99% of the prople on this BBS are both well aware of their abilities and most unlikely to cast unwarranted aspersions, but I can think of at least one person who could be a problem in this regard. You know who I mean. I have to take at least basic precautions.

The tuner kit is finished, and thanks to the critiques from Tony Fabris and the other beta-builders, the documentation is done and will be uploaded soon. 50 kits will be ready to ship just after christmas, and the difficult parts (tuner module, maxim mosfet switch, etc) for more are on order and will hopefully arrive soon after.

The guy who was going to do the web-site had to go away on business for a while, but that should also be up after christmas.

So, to sum up: All going well, and the various bits of outstanding issues being sorted in the next couple of weeks or so, shipping should begin in earnest by mid-january.

I've even bought 50 little cardboard boxes to ship the kits in, and a tape-gun.

As a little 'sorry', the first 50 orders will receive a 10% discount. As soon as the web-site is up and ready to take orders, I will make an announcement to that effect.

Thanks for the relative lack of criticism on the delay, and sorry once again for the time taken. I had hoped to ship before christmas, but life... What can you do?

Pca

Tuners! I'm excited. I can't wait, thanks for going through all of this just so we can listen to the radio. Of course now I'm going to have an excuse to check this board even more in the upcoming weeks.

Matthew

Can I just sign a waiver holding you harmless of any liability

Email me your paypal info and I'll purchase immediately


This is too cool.... (Barney Fife voice <sniffle> "Yeahhh, I built that tuner myself...)

Later

[email protected]

Woohoooo!!!! Tuners! :P Drool! No probs about the delay! The longer the wait, the sweeter the tuner LOL

The useful bit about this work is that it has stuffed the kitty full enough that she makes little clinking noises when she walks

*spew...drip drip drip*

coffee moment.

It's Christmas in empeg-land!

YEAH! Good things come to those who wait.

@whee!
I don't think anyone minds the delay (or minded?).. The people that did were ungrateful nats.
I'm just happy that my new Mini Cooper will have a complete (?! Is there such a thing?) Empeg now!

Many, many thanks!
Me.

Greetings!

Excellent! Thanks for the update and the fantastic work with the tuners!

Although, not to put down the tuners, I am curious to see how many people who purchase them will be posting messages of how bad broadcast radio is, once they get the tuners installed. I have had the original tuners and the factory radio installed in my car as aux in, and I have not used them more than once (listening to a football game) since getting the empeg years ago.

will have a complete (?! Is there such a thing?) Empeg now!

Well, there's always the video out add-on...

/Michael

I just need it to catch the traffic reports (atlanta traffic blows) and news every so often. I don't believe I'll ever use it to listen to music...too many commercials!


later,

In reply to:

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(atlanta traffic blows)

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Aah! You're in Atlanta? Cool! Same here. Do we have any PTS/TA stations here?

Me.

Will there be a limit to the number of tuners that an individual can buy in this first lot?

Thanks, really looking forward to buying one.

Well, the old stereo had "RDS" and "TA" features; while I have always had TA turned on I've never heard a traffic announcement chime through. Now on the otherhand if I tuned to 96.1 it would say "96Rock" on the display, 99x would say "WNNX", 90.1 would say "INFO" (I guess since it was a news channel) and a few other stations would use it. You could also do a search on a few different genres but all in all in this town it seems to be a pretty worthless feature unless you're from out of town and are searching for a rock or country station.

TA will definately become a welcome feature in atlanta if and when it comes about.

Will there be a limit to the number of tuners that an individual can buy in this first lot?

Yes, I think to be fair I will limit it to a maximum of two units per person. I don't really want someone grabbing the lot then pushing the price up.

pca

I haven't been paying close attention to the this tuner issue 'cause I didn't think I needed one, so this might be a dumb question. Is there a waiting list for tuners already? If not, I would be interested in receiving one of those first 50, please PM me your Paypal info so I can purchase one if they are available.

Yes me too, I would really like to be one of the first 50 (i guess me and everyone else) and no need to wory about me building the tuner, I am a electronics repair tech and I have been soldering since I was 9 years old, and started building kits when I was 12 (I'm 27 now by the way). I have also done lots of smd work. I just need a tuner soo bad right now, I am restoring my jaguar xj-s and dont want to go in the dash more than I have too

This is the moment we have waited for. I for one will be hitting his website 24 hours a day 7 days a week constantly untl it is time to order.

The For Sale board is about to go crazy with horded or discarded original turners!


Can someone list the differences (read:superiority) of the kit turner over the original one?

In reply to:

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This is the moment we have waited for. I for one will be hitting his website 24 hours a day 7 days a week constantly untl it is time to order.

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Did he post his site yet? I haven't followed the originaly Tuner's thread, mostly because I had already made the decision to get one. Just wanted to get it before getting my empeg installed in my Cooper.

And personally, I don't care if I'm one of the first 50. I'll be glad to pay whatever he asks for, as long as I get one.

Me.

Excellent news, Patrick. This is going to be a good Saturday project in the shop putting the tuner together. I've been lazy and haven't put my Eutronix digital output soundcard in yet - I'll probably do that too!

To answer some of the other questions here, I do not believe there is a waiting list (yet). If you keep your eyes peeled here on the forums, you won't miss any new and pertinent info regarding tuner kit availability.

Did he post his site yet? I haven't followed the originaly Tuner's thread, mostly because I had already made the decision to get one.

In the first message in this thread Patrick said:

As soon as the web-site is up and ready to take orders, I will make an announcement to that effect.

Without sounding like I'm whining (I'm not!), would it not be 'fairer' to limit it to one per person from the first batch to allow the maximum number of owners to experience the wonders of radio? I mean, it'd be so annoying not getting one from the first batch, but knowing that there's people out there who managed to get two!

Adrian

In reply to:

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Without sounding like I'm whining (I'm not!), would it not be 'fairer' to limit it to one per person from the first batch to allow the maximum number of owners to experience the wonders of radio? I mean, it'd be so annoying not getting one from the first batch, but knowing that there's people out there who managed to get two!

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I agree, at the end of the day, everyone should be able to get their hands on a tuner if they want it. I personally spend a fair bit of time 'on-site' and usually only manage to log on in the evening. By limiting the maximum number of units to one in the first batch, then theoretically that means 50 different people can get to experience the tuner. Obviously someone could cheat by ordering two with different credit cards and different delivery addresses but that would probably take a lot more effort than waiting to get another from the next batch.

BTW, pca, well done!!!!!!!!!!!!

How much $?

I'm in the USA.

Thanks

Now that the tuner is completed and we are all anxious to get one, can someone start working on a XM tuner for the empeg? Once you experience XM on a long road trip you will never tune into FM/AM again!

Once you experience XM on a long road trip you will never tune into FM/AM again!

And once you experience the empeg on a long road trip, you'll never tune into XM again...

And once you experience insanity on a long road trip, you'll never eat wild mushrooms again....

Once you experience XM on a long road trip you will never tune into FM/AM again!

And once you experience the empeg on a long road trip, you'll never tune into XM again...

Haha, you couldn't have said that any better. I beleive they sell little add-on XM tuners that allow you to mount a small display on the dash somewhere, and just run it in through the line in. But, why bother, if you already have an empeg?

I can't imagine it's worth it for me to pay for their arrangement of music I already have (since they're not talking to me, right?) so what exactly would I be buying?

With XM you buy - the ability to listen to new music without commercials.

No matter how you look at it an empeg will only play old music.

With a tuner it will receive new music, as well as commercials.

In reply to:

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No matter how you look at it an empeg will only play old music.

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maybe YOUR empeg only plays old music.

So if I don't want new music, I don't care, right?

This is good news. Along with everyone else, I too wish to be at the top of the list. Sign me up for two tuners.

If you don't care, I don't care.

As for me, I frequently look for new music to add to my empeg. Or old music I've forgotten about.

Old music I've forgotten about might be a reason to care.

Sign me up for two tuners

Patrick isn't taking any orders yet, he will post details of how to order when he is ready.

Doesn't anyone read threads before replying to them nowadays?

Doesn't anyone read threads before replying to them nowadays?

Preach it, brother!

In reply to:

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And once you experience insanity on a long road trip, you'll never eat wild mushrooms again....

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Been there, done that... (Once you drive US50 - 'The Lonliest Road', and are bored with seeing how fast you really CAN drive, your mind wanders..)

Me.

In reply to:

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As soon as the web-site is up and ready to take orders, I will make an announcement to that effect.

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Aahh... dam. That's what I get for not reading messages. (Althoth that other one, where they'll be "watching the website 24/7 until it's ready" got me there..)

Me.

Booh! :-))

Only wanted to know if there are other people like me who sleep next to the computer to not missing any entry in this golden thread...

Hope that I'll get a tuner, too. One for each customer should be ok. I could imagine that there are armys of people watching the thread and there are "only" 50 tuners for sale at the first try.

By the way: Thanks to everybody, I feel so good with my new empeg and this great community (and my wife feels good if I got my tuner and don't talk about it anymore ;-)).

rolf

Everyone calm down...just set the board to email you when there are new posts and set your email to foward to your cell phone. Easy.

What makes you think you'll stop taking about it? In fact, I'd wager you'd talk more!!

Paul, I am thinking the same as you. My player has been with David for a month due to lack of money to get it repaired. But it should be on its way home now. But during this time I have had a handful of CD's in my car, and the radio. Now I can truly say I hate the radio. It's not until you go without an empeg for a long period of time that you really see how much you NEED it. Yes the withdrawals you go through at first are bad, but not as bad as the long haul. So now I am posed with the question... Tuner or no tuner... I am running my empeg into the aux inputs of another deck now... decisions decisions... and I still need a digital out card!

With XM you buy - the ability to listen to new music without commercials.


I'll bet you $20 right now that by 25th December 2005, commercials will feature on 90%+ of the chanels in the ''basic XM' monthly package, and that the commercial free stations surreptiously move to a higher rate service. Bronze, silver, gold, plaitinum, whatever-you-want-to-call-it-inum, but extra $$$ whichever way you want to llok at it.

Wasn't the 'commercial-free' marketing spin originally used for cable TV?

YES! I just got back from a disappointing job interview and was feeling like hell until....TUNERS!!!!! Can't wait for the release!

Hmm..

I just drove from Atlanta, Georgia to Portland, Oregon this past fall.. Had my Empeg the entire time, and can honestly say that over the entire trip, I never heard the same song twice.

However, I still want to get a tuner.
Why?
Because there are times when I (at least) need something 'fresh' (besides the point 'fresh' may be from the 60-70's..) It may be because I hear a human voice..
Sometimes I like to listen just to see how Classic Rock stations do things differently in different parts of the country. (That may be because I used to work in radio..)
In either case, I often (2x a year?) drive between Atlanta and Denver (1700 miles.. 2738 km for those across the pond.) and find myself channel surfing, at least for a short while, every now and then.. even with my Empeg. (I can do that now, I'm using my radio's aux-in.. Once I get my Empeg really installed, however..)

Me.

I did read the thread, I was responding with enthusiastic sarcasm. Doesn't anyone understand sarcasm these days? Jeez.

Everyone calm down...just set the board to email you when there are new posts and set your email to foward to your cell phone. Easy.


[wipes off screen]

Hmm... you're just begging for people to make pointless posts, just to make your cell phone ring. Like this one. What time is it there? Do you turn your phone off, or will this wake you up out of bed? And if you turn your phone off, isn't that defeating the purpose?

Obnoxiously yours,

Oh, and what if pca starts yet a new thread (in Announcements, say)? Those won't make it to your phone.



*ring*ring*

I'm in with marria01 and sn00p -- first batch limit of 1 each, please!

Yes, I think that it would be the right thing to limit 1 tuner per person at first. Also I'm just wondering how big this thread is going to be, it seems like every time PCA types the word "tuner" you get this HUGE thread

I think at this point that any thread started by Patrick would generate a frenzy!

In reply to:

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Wasn't the 'commercial-free' marketing spin originally used for cable TV?

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I think I remember that. By the time my family got cable, they were already putting commercials in.

The worst part is sometimes the commercials are better than the program playing.

radio is also good to listen to traffic and weather reports, something im currently missing when im dodging tornadoes in the midwest. I love my empeg, but the turner is very important for those news broadcast. The world could be ending and i wouldnt know it... well then again, maybe not having a radio is a good thing.

im dodging tornadoes in the midwest

Oh, sweet - I would be running after them, but I realize I'm probably not in the majority on this one. I dream of the day I can chase supercell storms around.

I dream of the day I can chase supercell storms around.

After spending 9 years in Tornado Alley while growing up, if I never see another tornado again, I wouldn't mind at all.

I guess its different if you have to constantly worry about the threat... in the midatlantic here we are relatively lucky tornado wise. I say relatively - because of the f4 that whacked La PLata off the map, and various other small twisters causing trouble here and there. But nothing like the alley...

I hope you, and anyone here that lives in tornado alley, have a noaa weather radio - it can be a lifesaver. Which brings me back to the tuner... Patrick, does the tuner chip you use incorporate the ability to tune in the wx bands for weather?

In reply to:

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Patrick, does the tuner chip you use incorporate the ability to tune in the wx bands for weather?

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Oooh.. good qurestion.. can the tuner chip be "upgraded"? Yanno, allow tuning to wx channels and other bands?

(I'm guessing that even if it did, the software would have to be changed.. somehow.. To allow the user to tune into one of these frequencies..)

Me.

Oh yes, maybe we can go one step further.
If the bandwidth allows it, we can use it for 145 MHz (hamradio), too. But this should be a much bigger change than for the wx-band. But isn't wx in AM instead of FM?
I suggest to start with radio and see what we can do with it in the second step.

rolf

The tuners will only tune to FM, AM, and some of them will tune to weather frequencies. Its a tuner on a chip, I don't think its flashable for upgrades.

Hmmm...
This poll seems to be turning into a chat room.
I don't want to hear how XM is better than god...
I want to hear why Howard Stern doesn't like black midget's!..

pca: If you come across this reply while taking order's, please contact me with cost, and availability...

[email protected]
- DirtyDozen

hehe. yep, and most people arent even reading patrick's post at the top of the thread.

yeah, we should be #empeg_tuner on dalnet or something...

We've read it, we are just having fun.

Ok, some people haven't read it

No, I think most people are reading pca's post. It's just that the ones that don't are reeeeeeeeally obvious.

So was the original "sign up" posting that you made now null and void? I thought this would get us in the queue for first production units? My guess is that 50 (now closer to 40 with the betas going out) will be gone faster than you can say empeg tuner and those of us left without will have another REALLY long wait

AS for the liability, I have lawyer friends that could write you a nice release (FOr US law which I assume would be the real worry) that I'm sure any true empeg owner who has waited over a year for a tuner opportunity would sign.

As for the credit card stuff Paypal is fine with most I would bet, those who don't could just wait until you find an acceptable credit deal

I doubt there would be that much of a wait for the second batch, patrick will have gotten the wheels in motion so I assume he'll just be waiting on parts and then he can just churn them out after that. I too am sh**ting myself about getting a tuner...

When was there a "sign up" posting? From what I remember it were a few posts to see how many people would be interested and to judge how much money people would be willing to pay.

- Trevor

Indeed, from pca's post starting the "Tuners II, The tuner strikes back!" thread:

Please DON'T email me placing an order, or say you want one here and expect me to remember it! I simply don't have the facilities or the time to winnow out orders from statements of interest and the like, and things will get lost in the shuffle. Place orders via the website when it goes live, which will be announced here.

This is still going i have been away for five months and pca is still dedicated to the cause Good Man

In reply to:

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i have been away for five months

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Ahh, welcome back old boy! Did you make it back to blighty in time for christmas?

Nope got back on the 27th then got dumped by girlfriend and thrown out the house nice welcome home

Sorry to hear that, hope the problem is recoverable. At least we're all pleased to see you!

Damn! That bites!
Glad to hear you are well though.

Condolences on the breakup. Hope all goes well for you.

[censored] it her choice if she wants to lose me and my empegs that is her choice she has a whole load more than me to lose we were going to buying a house together but now she gets to stay in a wee house and i get to buy a place with a huge garage. I want to follow this nut and build my own jet engine

I want to follow this nut and build my own jet engine

Hmm... maybe she's trying to avoid the future emotional distress of finding you splattered against some cliff after you've gone and attached that jet engine to your car...

Oh... wait... different nut.

May I ask for a status?

Rolf :-)

Sure... we're all patiently waiting for pca to put together a website for taking orders.

Hope that helps.

Just getting on the thread so I can receive updates via e-mail, then via cell phone, and then pager. If that fails, I'll have it contact me through a fax in my super james bond-tricked out car with satellite receivers...then if that contact doesn't get through I'll just come back here and read the post... :-)

Don't laugh. I installed a port replicator in my car so I could plug my laptop into my empeg, gps (Delorme Earthmate), and a trackball mouse with one usb cable. After all that wiring I actually caught myself self thinking, "Hey... I've got a printer port...". Of course the printer would work usb but then I'd waste a port The point of all of this being that I could actually get a fax in my car.

Only after you plugged your cell phone into it, right?

Infrared...no plugging required

Think anyone can start developing the direct auditory interface that can replace our lousy speakers in the car by interfacing direclty with our internal ear drum and the digital out via the new infrared gained from the port replicator with USB and printer-out functions ... then can they also start the scanning module development that downloads all CDs while driving past a Sam Goody or Best Buy from the freeway going 75MPH? Of course, all this after they finish the XM Radio module...

??? ... way out in left field, with a fuking bowling ball

o0oo0o i know then you could add a laser projector to project the visuals directly onto the back of your eye!
Total empeg immersion!

....... and it still wouldn't be enough, boo hoo hoo... arrghhhhh