VK1OD wrote:Some discussion here about an achilles heel of the KG-UV-920P, and Wouxun support experience...
Reports like this can be irresponsible if there is a suggestion that the model is flawed based on a sample size of 1,
AND that all units will ultimately suffer the same fate.
Please note the emphasised
AND, before anyone bites back!
KG-UV920P - a repair / support story on VK1OD.net wrote:so Wouxun's charges to send the FET from the factory are simply a scam!
Why did a $0.50 diode cost $15 from Icom Australia + postage?
This reminds of the ignorant who query why it costs ~ $4 per litre for a car rental company to fill up the tank.
It takes a paid employee to go to the servo, and fill it up, and return.
It could take 30 minutes to put a measly, but noticeable, amount of fuel in.
Do that several times a day, and there could be a need for an additional employee.
Apply that concept elsewhere in delivering a service.
In December 1997 I purchased a YAESU FT-8100R dual band mobile (I don't dare call it a "rig"
).
It was $899, and the separation kit (purchased 1 week later) added $99.50.
Let's call it $1,000 neat.
Using an
inflation calculator, this equates to $1420 in 2012 money.
How about we call that $1400 even.
Can anyone imagine spending $1400 on a 2/70 FM mobile box today?
I doubt it.
Excluding the flagship end of the range, I believe most products from the "big three" are considerably cheaper in real terms compared to a decade ago.
I wonder where they're assembled?
(Rhetorical question)
So here I am, with a new toy.
It's from the "big three", cost a small bomb, so it must good.
Within 16 months it
failed.
Aside from moving cities and the shack (test equipment etc) being in storage at the time, it was still within warranty.
So, back to DSE it went.
- FT-8100 achilles heel?
What failed?
It was a PCB via.
This via carried a supply rail from one side of the board to another and, obviously, was inadequate and destined to burn out.
A design flaw like this could have been avoided, by using a real piece of TCW as the via (expensive: requires human labour), or a larger hole so the via plating had a greater surface area.
This YAESU radio was manufactured in
Japan, not China.
As a sample size of 1 is still flawed, it would be equally irresponsible of me to suggest that Japanese made YAESU mobiles of that era were equally problematic.
If we start hearing reports that dozens of these Wouxuns are failing, then the suggestion of a "a flawed design" certainly becomes valid.
You can buy a cheap item and risk a failure, or you can buy a expensive item and risk failure.
A wise old man once said;
wise old man wrote:The best is expensive, but the most expensive is not always the best.
Owen's article absolutely reinforces
why we should all support the few remaining bricks and mortar stores.
Had that radio been purchased from a legitimate domestic retailer, and was within warranty (in Owen's example it was), then the burden of repair falls back to the retailer.
I wonder if Owens' friend still considers his initial saving worthwhile. I wouldn't.
If Owen's time was billable, any perceived savings would have evaporated.
(BTW, a quick search reveals the FET can be purchased for
less than $7 delivered.)
If this, or any other model is indeed flawed, then you can bet the retailers will, sooner or later, cease to carry it due to being commercially unviable.
The other lesson is: avoid being an early adopter.
The short lived "R" predecessor model is a testament to this.
Any suggestion that these newer Chinese branded products are more prone to failure is, frankly, unreasonable.
I've also had Japanese manufactured Icom and Kenwood transceivers fail.
Posted in the interests of restoring some balance in a flawed world.
). Be aware that directly imported units are set to general coverage TX and software to lock them to the Ham bands is NOT available in the public domain.
