You can open a case, but with proprietary components, designs and code little repair can be done. Chuck it in the bin and buy another. I come from a different era, where designs were documented and repairs could be done by oneself or independent repair men. Products had a value that spanned more than a few years.
So yes, I am one of those in the ham community that thinks schematics and code should be "handed to me" (paraphrased from what you wrote below) when I request it. I know this goes against the interests of companies putting out products and nowadays it seems companies have more might than consumers, so the companies win, the consumer loses.
But I agree with you that comments on this BB will not help with repairs or support in any way.
73 de Hans
BX2ABT
On 05/15/2019 10:24 PM, Peter Goodhall (2M0SQL) wrote:
Think you jumped to conclusions Hans I didn't say I agreed with anything I pointed out the fact, no access to repair has been stopped you can open the case? I know ICOM/Kenwood don't provide the source code, most electronics companies don't that's just how it is.
Peter.
On Wed, 15 May 2019 at 14:48, Hans BX2ABT via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
The trend is to keep everything under lid and a secret and not share source code or schematics. You might agree with this, but when I spend money to buy something I own it and I want the right to repair and that means documentation. It used to be like that, because I can easily repair my old ham rigs from ICOM and Kenwood because they provide this kind of information. And yes, if there is no documentation then I will steer clear of buying that product or other products from that company. Thanks for the heads-up: will never buy a FCD+, that's for sure.
Hans
BX2ABT
On 05/15/2019 09:27 PM, Peter Goodhall (2M0SQL) via AMSAT-BB wrote:
I'd guess that the first place to get support would be to email Hanlincrest Ltd (Howard) who makes and supports the Funcube Dongle email being g6lvb@amsat.org, I don't think rewriting a comment on his website is how anyone should expect to get support.
Most commercial products don't provide schematic or access to firmware code but for some reason, some of the ham radio community seems to think they should be handed it.
73,
Peter, 2M0SQL
On Wed, 15 May 2019 at 01:37, Zach Metzinger via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
On 05/14/19 05:04, Nick Pugh via AMSAT-BB wrote:
My FCD Pro+ is broken how do I get it fixed? Where can I get a schematic?
Hello Nick,
Howard Long, G6LVB, hasn't made a post on the funcubedongle.com website in ~4 years. He does not respond to comments on that website regarding the USB bugs in the FCDP+, so I don't think he'll be very responsive to broken hardware/schematic requests, either.
Appealing directly to AMSAT-UK may have some effect.
I believe that the secrecy surrounding this dongle stems from the NDA-ed silicon tuner and a desire to keep it from being cloned.
It is unfortunate that such a wonderful gadget is both closed source and closed hardware.
--- Zach N0ZGO _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb