tuner news

Hi.

Well, I now have enough tuner orders that I can order a new batch of PCBs and tuner modules. However, there is a slight problem.

The supply of the modules is very slim at the moment. I can't in fact get any of the 3x0197 modules at all for at least a couple of months, but I can obtain a hundred or so of a pin-compatible version, the 3x0131. The major difference is that it doesn't have the weather-band facilities, which are replaced with LW and SW AM modes for european usage.

These are the only tuner modules I seem to be able to get anywhere in the world, so I'm going to have to go for them and pretty quick too. It's a few thousand dollars worth of parts, but I can't afford to let the oppurtunity slip past. To get more after this, I need to place a minimum order of 200 modules (it was 500 but I bitched about this to the point they dropped it down), and at the moment I don't have enough orders to make that worthwhile.

The new modules, in conjunction with the ones I have in stock, will cover (just) all the currently outstanding orders with a few left over. Since the weatherband units are no real use outside north america, what I favour doing is shipping WX ones to the US and canada, and EU ones elsewhere. Does anyone have a problem with this?

pca

The new modules, in conjunction with the ones I have in stock, will cover (just) all the currently outstanding orders with a few left over. Since the weatherband units are no real use outside north america, what I favour doing is shipping WX ones to the US and canada, and EU ones elsewhere. Does anyone have a problem with this?

Works for me.. I would prefer one with a weatherband (living in the US), but I'd much rather just get a tuner rather than nothing..
If you need prepayment, let us know.. Many, if not all, would be glad to pay ahead of time.. (Okay. At least *I* would be..)

Me.

Well I was waiting for the flood of tunerless people to slow down since I managed to snag myself an original tuner but I want another one.

If you want the people to sign up so you know how many to order then I will do so now. Wouldn't mind paying by credit card over paypal though if that is possible.

If anything I would prefer the SW and LW module over the weatherband given that I live in Australia normally (not now though)

I was waiting for all the "tunerless" to order as well. I guess now is a good time to put in my order?

The tuner(s) that I would buy would go in SAABs, and they come with weather band on the original head unit. WB is not critical, but it was there to begin with....

Even though I'm in the US, I'm just interested in the AM/FM tuner alone, so if that frees one up for someone who would like the WB capability, so be it. My only need for the tuner is to listen to the occasional sporting event that I may be interested in.

Rick C.
Order#93

I got my tuner kit today, and it looks great. I cant wait to start assembling it. It was shipped on the 10th and arrived the 13th, pretty impressive for cambridge-to-california.

The wetherband feature is a moot point until something supports it. I just hope something comes along and supports it soon. Once I get mine assembled perhaps I'll be tempted to start on the project.

Matthew

That certainly works for me. As I live across the pond in the US I would prefer a WX capable unit. "Thanks" to those of you that had tuners and waited, that is really very cool.

If I understand you correctly - the first batch (WX) were a grab-whats-available, and this second batch will be too. It seems to me that the situation has been (a) place a large order, or (b) grab what's available, and that situation isn't likely to change anytime soon.

That appears to offer 3 options;
1) Always use the 'grab' mode, and try to assign them appropriately, as you have suggested.
2) Be more patient with the grab mode to try and get the modules you want in the batch size you want.
3) Get 200 people to pre-order. (And, obviously, have confidence that they will all actually pay)

None of those options is optimal - Rocks and hard places spring to mind.

I wonder though...as I understand it, you'd 'only' need about another 90 or so orders to hit the 200 minimum quantity (assuming you didn't take the 100 already on offer). But that's a whole load of cash to outlay on a promise.

I think that you have to do what you feel comfortable with financially. I (and many others I am sure) appreciate the hard work and risk that you have put into this kit. Given the choice between a tuner or no tuner, I'll take the tuner.

Ultimately, if someone has a real problem with this, then their only real option is to wait in the hope that at some point WX modules do become available again in a palatable quantity.

Just got mine today too matthew... that checklist is nuts! So well put together. Thanks again Patrick!!! I can't wait to start soldering!

printing manual now...

which are replaced with LW and SW AM modes for european usage

What does the european mean in there? Does that mean that there are no LW and SW transmitters elsewhere in the world or that only Europeans use LW and SW bands?

I'm a little confused.

Georg

I'd agree with Shonky, here
I have a tuner so have been holding back to let the tunerless masses become enlightened before ordering mine.

I'd take a SW/LW/MW tuner over Weatherband anyday.

And I'd order *at least* 1 more tuner module.

So between me and Shonky you're 1% of the way to the next batch sized order of tuner modules.

I haven't placed an order currently, but plan to shorthy (too many expenses lately, but a tax refund should help that).

As far as what tuner type I would like, AM/FM is my only need. Anything beyond that is a bonus.

AM/FM works for me!

LW and AM tuner works for me.
But what about the software player's compatibility ?

.....in God we trust.

[league of gentlemen] We'll have no weatherband here!! [/league of gentlemen]

Cheers, Sim

Your order number is 73 (waiting patiently )
Order placed at Mon 3 Feb 2003 8:27 am

Yes, definately - do it, go get patrick! I have to have a tuner....

Adrian

..yeah, I've emailed you patrick (And I wrote a message here), I'm about to go to australia, I won't be back until the middle of april - and wont be able to organise payment from the other side of the world, can I send you a cheque now (I'm in the UK!), I don't want to miss out on my tuner! (#82 in the queue!)

Please respond!

Adrian

LW and SW AM sounds good to me being in the UK

My order number is less than 50 so would i have to wait some time for my tuner if it had the eu module.

C.

In reply to:

---

But what about the software player's compatibility ?

---

Well, at the moment the extra bands on the tuners are not really relevant, since there isn't any software support for either WX or LW/SW. I just wanted to mention it.

pca

I've been delaying ordering until tunerless people have theirs, but I'm in for 1 or 2 tuners. Don't need WB just AM/FM and Sony stalk control. (As long as it has a Motorola connection or adaptor)

We'll probably put weatherband support into the next trunk release (i.e. post 2.0).

How about putting a check box on your order page asking the user if they want WB with a default of "No"?

That way the WB people may have a chance (me being one who wants one)

Also I believe aviation frequencies are close to the WB frequencies. Perhaps they would pick up air traffic too?

I've been waiting until tunerless people order too. I will be ordering two when the time comes, I don't need weatherband.

LW and AM tuner works for me.
But what about the software player's compatibility ?

Not an issue. And if it ever was, we (Patrick & I) could do some message mangling in Hijack to fix it.

Cheers

I plan on buying one too. Just waiting for everyone else to get theirs because I am not in a hurry. I don't know what weatherband is but it sounds cool.

I would be happy with either unit as I mainly want FM.

I am living in the USA at the moment, but could well return to Blighty in the future, so either will be fine.

And NO, that doesn't mean I need two

I was lucky enough to order tuners for both my MarkII empegs when they became available (acutally didn't order an empeg until they were available). In my area (southern california) most radio stations are owned by one of nine companies, which offer about four formats. The best stations are actually on AM here. I did have a european spec radio at one time with the sw/lw and there is some interesting stuff to listen to here on those bands. I would buy two tuner kits to gain these bands, provided the player software supported it.

Thanks for listening!

Larry

In my area (southern california) most radio stations are owned by one of nine companies, which offer about four formats.

In my area, central North Carolina, there probably aren't but about nine radio stations total. This list, while probably accurate, lists stations I can't even begin to pick up on any radio. Probably half of them. But it doesn't make any difference, because they all suck.

[league of gentlemen] We'll have no weatherband here!! [/league of gentlemen]

Is that.. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?

Sorry. Offtopic.

Me.

We'll probably put weatherband support into the next trunk release (i.e. post 2.0).

Is weatherband something that can be detected with a software query to the tuner module? Seeing as how some of the factory units also might have had weatherband...

Does weatherband work in the UK? If not, I'd happily swap at a later date for a tuner with lw/sw capability. These would benefit me more here.

In case you are collecting evidence of further demand for tuner kits -

Although currently tunerless, I was happily waiting until the rush had died down a bit and credit card payment was available, plus I was wanting more than one kit anyway. You can therefore count on another order for 2 kits as soon as that is allowed and once credit card payment is up and running.

Being in the UK I would prefer the ones with SW / MW / LW capability just in case the additional bands become supported by future software versions.

You can therefore count on another order for 2 kits as soon as that is allowed and once credit card payment is up and running

You can pay him by PayPal - no charges for sending to another UK user either.

Gareth

Greetings!

Actually, was the billing / payment information ever sent out for the second wave of tuners (26-50)?

....I'm number 30 and haven't seen it yet...

Bitt,
Gotta agree with you there.. except for some of the college stations in Raleigh or Chapel Hill...

Sean in NC

I am kinda late coming in on this post, but I am in the usa and I just want a tuner... wb or not... wb would be nice but doesn't really mater. My order # is 105 so I will take it either way

I'm from Germany/Europe and I would be glad to get the SW-Module instead of the weatherband. So if it would be possible in the future to get this work (software) I would be more interested in SW/MW/LW than in weatherband. So I would be more interested in the "european" version, so it's absolutely no problem for me.

And if LW/MW/SW will never be implemented but weatherband, I would leave the weatherband-tuner for one who will need it more than me.

regards,
Rolf

Living in the same area, I have to agree with you there. I only just ordered mine (#148) when I heard about the weather band feature. Personally I'd rather have WB than AM/FM in this area.. Having just MP3's is great for me, but my friends don't really have the same taste in music all the time, so I'm jumping on this opportunity.

well I was planning on getting one as soon as I get
a) Free time
b) Free money

but if you need pre-orders so you can get the batch, then I'm sure I can scrounge up something.

Yeah ... unfortunately I have had a bad experience with Paypal in the past and won't go near them with mine or anybody else's bargepole again.

I could easily send a cheque really, although the goods would be insured if I bought them on my credit card - which is useful if they get lost or damaged in the post, etc.

Really it's more just a matter of waiting until I can order two kits because I'll be sending them to someone else for assembly and it just seems simpler to send them both at the same time.

Thanks anyway.

First let me say that I would prefer weather band, but would take either.
My question is, if your supplier only has ~100 modules of the 131 type in stock, will the remaining ~100 modules they need to supply you be of that type also, or are they allowing a split model type order of 131's and 197's ? I would think they are locking you to one model for the minimum order, which could put 197 types (weather band) out, chronologically speaking, for quite some time.
Is it time to allow multible tuners per person ?
Thank you Patrick for all your effort !

Probably. We can read the setup EEPROM inside the tuner, and I would guess that it's just zero'ed out for bands it doesn't support.

Not tried this, so it's only a guess though!

Hugo

I'll be moving back to Europe by the end of the year, so I won't need the weatherband either.

Björn

Unfortunately, the 100 3x0131 modules I have ordered don't count towards the 200 minimum order for the next batch. The things seem to be built to order, and there is no real reason not to get 3x0197 modules as the normal part. In fact, they are rather cheaper then the 0131 part, the only reason I'm getting the other modules at the same price is that I whinged a lot

Anyway, the end result is that I will soon have enough modules to fulfill all the orders I have as of today, but after that I need (a) enough orders to make acquiring 200 modules worthwhile, and (b) patient customers due to the 12 weeks I'm being quoted for delivery of the modules.

Point (b) may change for the better when the money is actually handed over, this is fairly common in the industry, but I wouldn't count on it.

pca

I can wait 12 weeks if needed order No 150 i think

So we should put our orders in now to help reach the 200 for the next batch? Can we now order 2 tuners as this would help rech our goal more quickly.

We'll probably put weatherband support into the next trunk release (i.e. post 2.0).

(Hey, I'm still employed!....and what is money anyway?)

Patrick, I'll find a place *somewhere* in my dash for a WX tuner...that is, if you'll have me!

Personally, I'll take either (I'm in NA). I've had WB receivers in two of my cars and never found it useful. The times I've tried to use it I was out in the boonies along the coast and could barely pick up the station. All I want is FM for one radio station - KPIG in Freedom, CA! I'd say 10% of the music in my Empeg are from artists KPIG introduced me to over the years.

I've only ordered one tuner, per the web-pages instructions. I will be ordering a second tuner to mate with my other Empeg player, once we're told it's OK for folks to order a 2nd unit. Lack of a tuner is what is keeping me from installing my 2nd Empeg in my other car.

Thanks for putting the Tuner kits out
K^2 - #120 on the tuner list.

which are replaced with LW and SW AM modes for european usage

What does the european mean in there? Does that mean that there are no LW and SW transmitters elsewhere in the world or that only Europeans use LW and SW bands?

Is there anyone out there that can answer this question? And just to make sure, here, SW stands for Short Wave, correct? I kind of like the thought of having a SW radio so I can get a non-American media view of the world.

The SW and LW bands are used by a lot of countries around the world, but not US America. However, these bands can and do propagate worldwide and some stations can be heard in the US. I had an old Volvo with a Becker in it with these bands and I listened to them a lot. Now I have a Yaesu FT-100 in the car and still listen to the SW stuff.

There was a SW station in Utah which surprised me. I don't know if it was legal or not, but it was there for years.

Okay, i FINALLY finished the tuner last night. That Coax situation is hairy man... there has to be a better way. I futzed with that part alone forever.... and it showed today when i plugged the tuner into the car. Green light... *phew*... it works! Empeg recognized it... that's good at least.

Reception is horrible though. When i push in on the coax cable from outside the box, the signal dissappears completely. I've checked and rechecked for shorts between the shield and the inner wire. There has to be a better place to ground the shield to. I'm gonna take the box apart tonight and see if i can find a better way. Anyone else found a better solution for the coax hookup to the board? Any suggestions?

I'm just happy it works at all at this point. I've never built a kit, much less one that "big". Now i just gotta get better reception. As a side note... it seems like the few stations i could get full meter on (on the empeg display) still sounded fuzzy and not really clear. What would cause this?

As a side note... it seems like the few stations i could get full meter on (on the empeg display) still sounded fuzzy and not really clear. What would cause this?

Last guy that reported this discovered it was pinout errors on the tuner connector, if I recall correctly.

I'd have a good read of GeoffT's thread, he had good go at getting his tuner going, plenty of things to check.

http://empeg.comms.net/php/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=empeg_general&Number=141468&page=2&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&fpart=

But first,

chip orientation
signal/AGC wires
ariel grounding

In reply to:

---

Last guy that reported this discovered it was pinout errors on the tuner connector, if I recall correctly.

---

I think he had a chip in the wrong way round.

I grounded mine to the side of the tuner module. This was much more satisfactory, although it requires a decent soldering iron as the module will act as a pretty decent heatsink. Very important to melt some solder onto the module first.

Paul

i think i'm gonna take it apart, unsolder the Coax, cut it, restrip it, and solder it back better. I had one hell of a time getting that shield wire soldered, as you said, the case of the tuner is one hell of a heat sink. I'm pretty sure that's where my problem lies.

Did you guys zip tie the cable to the post as suggested? I think i'm just going to forego that for some hot glue on the exterior hole for the coax... should hold it securely without all the interior tension.

[quote]As a side note... it seems like the few stations i could get full meter on (on the empeg display) still sounded fuzzy and not really clear. What would cause this?[/quote]

I have the same behaviour. Even though I get full meter on the empeg display, the sound is sometimes very poor. Also the switching between alternative frequencies of one station is done less frequent than with the original tuner module. I think this is because the empeg thinks the reception is better than it really is.
The rds data reception is always interrupted even with full meter on the display (RDS sign on display disappear). I think it was better with the original tuner, but I'm not 100% sure.

The sound quality of station with good signal is great.

But never mind, the new empeg software version is coming soon, and the rds part has changed a lot in there. Let's see....

In the first unit I assembled, I soldered the outer coax sheath to one of the folded tabs of the tuner module, where it passes through a large hole on the PCB. BUT THEN, I added another wire (cut off lead from a resistor) from the originally coax ground point, up and around the coax sheath. This stabilizes things considerably.

Excellent reception with just a screwdriver for an antenna.

-ml

from the originally coax ground point

eh? I don't follow. You soldered a lead from where to where? Sounds like a good tip, i wanna make sure i get it right.

Also... where did you route the sheild cable to get it to the tab hole of the tuner module? Did you go around the outside through the top of the board or through the bottom...?

I routed the coax to the top of the board, I think.

If I remember, I'll post a photo of it when I get back next week.

Cheers

I would look at how you have done the shield to contact olive in the antenna connector, and then check that your aerial is properly earthed. If it's active, don't forget the power to the antenna.

I have just finished the first one, and it was a delight to build. Worked first time and produced excellent reception. Good kit.

Ah, cool. Thanks. I'd be more interested in that than Weatherband. I might not think that if I move away from Sunny LA, though.

know how many other empegs are in southern california? Maybe more specifically San Bernardino County?

Patrick,

Do you know yet when people will be able to order 2 tuner kits ?

Also, are you still planning to offer credit card payment facilities ?

Thanks.

quick question...
i was tuner kit number 13, i paid for it via paypal on february 5th. I have not gotten it yet, and I am anxious. How long does it take to get to the US, Washington DC specifically? I was told approx. 1-3wks at most by genixia. Am I the only one in 1-25 who hasn't gotten theirs? I emailed <[email protected]> twice with my work email address and school address but no response. Patrick? Anyone? Help. Thanks

Hmmm... it would have to be the number 13...

don't tell me that you suffer from triskaidekaphobia

Or this link that works: triskaidekaphobia

On that note, what was the latest word on higher number orders? A buddy of mine is in the 90s and he has been asking me if pca has said anything about when the next batch will be ready (he doesn't read the board much), but I haven't really been following the discussions.

-Mike

It works!!!

I finally got time to take the tuner back apart and resolder the coax using Marks suggestion.

Route the shield around the outside of the tuner and down through the peg hole (as the instructions Patrick had suggest) THEN also put a lead through the RFGROUND hole and wrap it around the shield, then solder into place. I've attached a picture of this setup before i soldered the RFGROUND wire. It works a treat as i'm now getting full reception and sound quality.

Thanks again Patrick.. EXCELLENT kit! It even seems to tune and lock onto RDS way faster than the original tuner. Sweeeet! I can finally listen to NPR again!

Loren,

Congrats on the tuner, I just have to sort my car out so I can put it in.

Looks good, Loren.

What "RDS" do you pick up in the Bay area?

Or are you somewhere else?

I pick up KFOG... which sends a text line of "educational" for some odd reason despite it being a terrible "mix" station. And there's another station which i can't recall at the moment.

While i'm thinking about it though... anyone know what all the symbols on the tuner display are?? I got a couple today i hadn't seen before.

I'm guessing you're talking about the TP AF TA symbols in the top right? It's not in the FAQ yet, but is listed in the release notes for b11 (not 13)

Implemented tuner mode indicators:

"TP" means the currently tuned station carries travel announcements
"TA" normal means that player will switch to radio from normal/aux if a travel announcement is made on either the currently tuned station (see "TP" indicator) or via another station.
"TA" dimmed means TA mode is on but the currently tuned station doesn't carry travel announcement or transmits information about those that do.
"TA" missing means TA mode is off.
"AF" normal means that the player has other frequencies available for the currently tuned station.
"AF" dimmed if AF mode on but alternate freqs not available.
"AF" missing means AF mode is off.

Is that what you wanted to know?

Yeap! Thanks for the list. It's been so long since i read the release notes i didn't even think of looking there.

There's one other symbol i couldn't figure out... looked sorta like a speaker with a cross through it... to the right side under the signal strength meter.

Anyone else think we should have a much "cooler" display for the tuner info? Hadn't thought of exactly what it should look like but it just seems overly simple (yet confusing) for a screen that is pretty much a blank slate. Toby!? Where are ya?! =]

haha, i thought you could have visuals on with the tuner? i may be wrong i just always had that implanting into my head.

Speaker with a cross through it means you have "paused" the tuner - using play/pause like on MP3. In reality you have muted it though since of course you can't pause live radio...

haha, i thought you could have visuals on with the tuner?

You can. I was just picturing a more designed interface than a signal strength meter with fat bars, since Toby did so much other cool stuff with the interface =]

Speaker with a cross through it means you have "paused" the tuner

that's weird... since it was still playing when that symbol came on. hmmm... known bug?

I wouldn't surprise me. Since the user base for the tuner is smaller I'm sure there's more scope for the odd stray bug. That said, I'm still very pleased with the performance of the tuner hardware and software.

The tuner interface looks pretty good to me. That said, if you don't have proper RDS then you're missing rather a lot of information.

Rob

Good point. Let's just say that without any real textual data on the screen, it's a little sparse and random looking. Basically, it's a screen, half-blank, with the other half taken up by unlabelled bars.

Maybe he could hack together a screen that looks better for those of us who have no real RDS. At the same time, I'd hardly want him to spend any time on it that he might better use elsewhere.

Hi.

I was away for several days last week, and as soon as I got back I came down with the Hugo-61 variant of the the common cold. This is a particularly virulent strain, which took out most of the empeg office a week or so earlier, and I've been in bed since friday with green goo coming out of various places amid much coughing and sneezing.

The end result is that I haven't used a computer for days, never mind doing any work. It's getting better, so hopefully by the end of the week or so I should be able to ship some more kits.

The good news is that I was dragged out of bed this morning by an insistent doorbell which heralded the arrival of the european version of the tuner modules, so I've got a hundred of the things in the living room ready to go out.

pca

Sorry to hear that you're feeling ill Patrick. Feel better soon!

Would you please let us know where you are in the list of orders? I'm not in a rush or anything, but I am going away next week and wouldn't be able to pay for tuner while I'm on a cruise. I'd be willing to send the money early if my number's coming up in the queue.

Adam

Something I've been meaning to ask for months (yes, really - it can't be very important!):

What's the tiny flashing dot between the RDS and stereo indicators mean?

Hi,

Hi am also in the next batch, I am number 32 and will be going on holiday next week. Obviously I don't want to lose my place. I am in the UK and wouldn't mind a European version.

Thanks,
Oli.

FYI, just received the payment request today at 9:09am (EST)


"Your tuner kit order is now ready. Please confirm that the details below are correct. 

Tuner order number 30, placed on Sun 2 Feb 2003 7:52 pm, from:..."

Count me in for a tuner module please - how do I go about gettiing on the order list.

Thanks,

Craig.

Greetings!

how do I go about gettiing on the order list

Um, click on the link in the header that says "Tuner Kit"...

I saw on your site that you plan to have CC payment option soon so I have not ordered yet (1). Do you still plan to have a CC payment option? I am in the US. Thanks.

The payment options I was given last week consisted of... paypal. Paypal accepts credit cards.

Now go order a tuner kit!

Duh,

Didn't notice it - sorry. Also apologies for the multiple post but the site was taking >50 seconds to process a post. I'm using a DSL connection so I didn't expect it to be that slow.