Any update on these items?

Good question! I'm also very interested in ordering the tuner.....

Anybody? Rob?

V1.1 - will take a while. The problem here is that there's so much new stuff, testing is going to take ages, and it hasn't even got as far as the alpha team yet. Anyone who saw a demo at Amersfoort, RO2000 or IASCA will have seen a prerelease version, so you can at least be assured that we're getting there.

Tuner - a small shipment (about 75 units) of components arrived today (thanks to S3 sourcing them on the grey market for us). Those will go into production ASAP and ship to the people that have been waiting longest (upgrading Mk.1 owners). Hopefully we'll get some larger quantities before too much longer.

Handle - These are being delivered in batches at the moment. I need to discuss the terms of the replacement deal with Hugo before posting final details - we're concerned that user fitting of this part may prove too complicated.

AR Display - 1000 screens have been moulded and AR coated - but are stuck in a production queue awaiting ITO coating (the conductive EMC coat that goes on the rear face). The problem here is that the company in question have suffered equipment breakdowns, but our job is their top priority and we hope to get some screens next week.

Knob - I received 6 production prototypes yesterday, and they seem to work fine. Before running a thousand units I'd like to continue testing. To help with this I would like to send new knobs to two volunteers from our clientbase. If you want to help out, please email me, provided you meet the following criteria:

- Your current knob worked OK at first, but has since started to slip (no dirty jokes please!)
- You are confident to remove and reattach the front panel
- You don't mind having an ugly white knob for a while (the final knobs will, of course, be grey)
- Your player will get some testing in the conditions which caused the problem (probably in-car, hot climate)

I will choose two people from the volunteers at random, and courier over knobs immediately.

Rob
[email protected]

Hey!

Maybe the new knobs can be glow in the dark? PLEASE!!! Since your replacing them anyway.
Tom

Reg #2845: Mark 1 #00173, Mark 2 #119

Good call !!! Its bloody hard finding them buttons in the dark.

Hmmm... wouldn't that look rather cheap? Like those glowing stickers for little children..?
Best would be to have that know lightened by a diode. That would be professional. But this has been discussed here some months ago.

I wonder what's the difference in the new knob. I had the "slipping" problem with the origin knob. But I solved it like rob told here - with a small dot of glue on the rotation switch. It never slipped again.

Another thing - Rob - when do you think a beta-version of the 1.1 will be available? Annoying, I know... Pardon me!


TeeMcBee
Got my Mk2! # 080000143

Well, according to this post, an early version was submitted to the alpha team, but I'm sure this was a very rough version.

By the way, I asked this a while ago but I will re-write it here:

Just curious, I've always wondered what determines the number of a release. I mean, with all that will go into v1.1, why isn't it called v2? This always puzzled me with AIM, which always has versions like 4.2.2110

DiGNAN

Well, according to this post, an early version was submitted to the alpha team, but I'm sure this was a very rough version.

What we got was a very early preview of emplode, not the full player software. And that version of Emplode didn't really have the new features in yet. In fact, although the Search pane was present in that build, I was unable to make a search work at all when I tried it.

So, in essence, the alpha team hasn't even seen 1.1 yet. And according to recent activity on the Alpha team mailing list, I'd say that, as a group, we're getting a bit antsy.

Actually, I think the S3 buy is probably a factor in it all?

___________
Tony Fabris

Oops, didn't see that. I figured it was crippled software at best anyway. And hey, you think you're antsy? you guys get to see it before we do!!

DiGNAN

How can someone join the alpha-team?

TeeMcBee
Got my Mk2! # 080000143

I think they have a select small group of people that empeg has invited. I would like to be on it too!

Sean

Empeg 12 gig green 080000078

How can someone join the alpha-team?

The alpha team was assembled by invitation only.

___________
Tony Fabris

Greetings!

(laughing) Indeed. Getting on the alpha list is by invitation only. Can you imagine any alpha being opened up to "technically adept" or "power" or "leading edge" users??? By definition, that would pretty much cover every single person on this board and most of the empeg owners out there!!! That kind of alpha might just as well be a general release! It is better this way...

Paul G.
SN# 090000587 (40GB Green)

Well, I can tell you that there would be no benifit in allowing me on the alpha team! (none but for myself, that is)

Hey, I know where my place is...

DiGNAN

The team isn't so much about technical ability as patience testing through problems and multiple releases. Nonetheless the team is the right size - a larger team would be less manageable for very little gain. The team caught ALMOST all the 1.01 bugs :-)

Rob

The team caught ALMOST all the 1.01 bugs

You mean almost all of the KNOWN 1.01 bugs. Remember, by definition, the number of known bugs is finite, therefore, by definition, the number of unknown bugs is infinite.

___________
Tony Fabris

Rob probably meant ALMOST all the bugs intentionally put in to keep you on your toes.

Alex Lear

Your logic is flawed, Tony...

You're assuming that the total number of bugs (known + unknown) is infinite. However, there's an upper limit on the number of bugs possible in a line of code. Even if the bugs interact exponentially, this is still some way short of infinite.

Therefore, the total number of possible bugs is still finite, though large.

Otherwise, yes, the alpha team caught most of the known bugs.

On the other hand, if the number of bugs is infinite, then, relatively speaking, you didn't find any bugs .


Roger - not necessarily speaking for empeg

"Define bugs..."
Roger,
You are assuming that a bug is only caused by the code itself, but you should also take external influences in consideration.
consider the following :

while (1) {
	read (<complex datatype from network packet> )
	subroutine(data)
}

something different : what if the code is run on another architecture?
As we do not know the way future hardware-architectures are going to be implemented, the code could give new bugs. This way it is definitely infinite.
(the example above probably is finite)

There's also the point of bugs being solved and creating new bugs.

Something to think about : when you believe the universe is infinite large, you can never find the smallest particle, as it will also be infinitely small

Frank van Gestel

Any dates for the new knobs ?

After using my MKII for around 3 month at home (and using the AMP to change the volume) I finally put it into my car on saturday.
Well, on monday my volume-knob started slipping :-(
I had only used it for about 10 times (or maybe less).

anti


--------------------
MKII 08000073 12GB BLUE

You can quickly fix that with a simple dot of any glue (pattex, Loctite, whatever you want). Just pull of the knob, place a tiny dot of glue on the switch's shaft, let it dry and then put the knob back to it's place. You'll never have the slipping problem again and the dot of glue could be removed easily with a screwdriver or a knife.

TeeMcBee
Got my Mk2! # 080000143

I have temporarily fixed the knob-slipping problem on my unit by placing a small piece of paper along the shaft and bent over the top of the shaft then pushing the knob on, so far so good. I used a small piece of paper off the top of a post-it note with the sticky side on the shaft.

Rod

I've had good luck arc welding the knob onto the shaft.

-Zeke

;-)

just say you weren't paying much attention...

Any late November updates?

AR panels are shipping now, handles are sat on my desk while I try to decide exactly how to supply them, and knobs went into volume manufacture today.

Rob

. . . plus I recieved the 2nd car adapter the other day. Does this mean Rob is out of a job now that everything is back in supply

- --
Rod, UK Mk2 64gig Red S/No.341

Managing back orders is one job I'll gladly leave behind

Rob