+++++++++++++++++++ Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 10:47:14 -0800 (PST) From: Brad Mitchell To: Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion Subject: [120911] Straight TiCK Talk I've been seeing a lot of discussion about TiCKs here, so couldn't keep my mouth shut. A couple things: 1. The TiCK keyers were invented by yours truely, and N2JGU. 1A. They were the first 8 pin production keyer, and everyone else copied the idea, some say for the better some not, that's a personal decision. 1B. The TiCK code was ported partially from the Atomic keyer chip, and because the instruction set was very similar, it went smooth.. well fairly smooth..:-). 2. A couple of years ago, after the TiCK-4 came out, I bailed out. I was handling the e-mails every night, as well as designing boards debugging code etc. and it was fun, but the family suffered. 3. It was a lot of fun writing code for the keyers, but as someone on the list mentioned it's not rocket science. 4. Getting it so it's 99.99999% error free and having the guts to do it as a business **is** Rocket Science. 5. Subtle differences between keyers is the key. you may not notice them right up front, but things like stanby current, making sure that the tone is the same for every chip, no soft failures etc. I spent days working out the stanby current to make sure that it was right. Then Bob Hammond of Padalette, showed me in once circumstance I had an issue. Well we fixed that. That's why The Padallette ? Spelling? with the TiCk 4 in it is still running off the same battery that Bob shipped it to me with in 1999. 6. If you don't believe 5, then compare the Atomic keyer (actually still pretty good), with the TiCKs. 7. I'm proud of the TiCK line as Gary dragged me into a business that I would not have attempted had it not been for him. 8. I won't do it again. 73 Brad N8YG (Formerly WB8YGG) +++++++++++++++++++ Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2002 13:56:35 -0800 From: "Doug Hendricks" To: Cc: "Brad Mitchell" Subject: [120924] Re: Straight TiCK Talk I want to add something here. Brad and Gary donated all of the chips for the keyers in the NorCal 20 kits that are being sent to the third world countries. (we have sent out 300 and still have 200 to go and it is by necessity a very slow delicate process, but it is going onward). Plus, they sold us at cost the rest of the chips for the rigs that were bought. Those of you who have complained and criticized should stop for a minute and think. You are taking shots at two guys and a company that has been at the forefront of support for QRP, and they did it with their wallets, guys. I cannot think of a qrp event in the last 5 years that I attended that did not give away a TiCK keyer kit. NOT ONE!! Plus, it cost them several hundred dollars to support the NorCal 20 project. Please don't bad mouth Gary or Brad to the list or to me, because I know them and I know better. I don't know why Gary has been slow to respond, but I will bet you that there is a very, very good reason. Gary Diana and Brad Mitchell are two honest, generous to a fault, honorable men. I am proud to have them as my friends, and I applaud what they have done for ham radio and qrp. 72, Doug, KI6DS +++++++++++++++++++ Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 00:25:29 -0500 From: "Gary M. Diana, Sr." To: qrp-l at lehigh.edu, sales at embres.com Subject: [120953] TiCK Talk: customer update Ladies and Gentlemen - First of all, thanks for all your support, orders, etc of TiCK chips and kits from Embedded Research over the years. It's appreciated. Tonite, I caught up on all prior emails regarding TiCK orders, availability, etc. If you have not gotten a response from me, please try one more time. All orders received as of 2/24 have been processed as well. Please note that since 9/11, I have noticed that there are occassional delays of 2-3 days for orders to be received. I have especially noticed this with the teflon wire kits (which in a way does not surprise me). I endeavor to process orders the same week they are received. Sometimes this gets averted by parts delays; in those cases I sit on your payment, not cashing any checks until the parts arrive and the order is sent. I don't want anyone to feel cheated or that I am amassing a fortune, waiting to make my escape to Buffalo! Well I couldn't hide there anyway because there are a few QRPers who know me there! Finally, I am still in this "business", because for the most part it is fun and interesting. It has offered me the chance to meet many of you, and given me the excuse to visit dayton, atlanticon, and pacificon. But like my accountant tells me, "Don't quit your day job"!. 73, Gary N2JGU Embedded Research +++++++++++++++++ Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 09:02:10 GMT From: "Adrian Weiss" To: qrp-l at Lehigh.EDU Subject: [120956] Re: Straight TiCK Talk Hi all: Doug spelled out the situation perfectly. For one, I now have a TiCK keyer in a rig -- no, I did not order it, nor did I have to wait for it to be delivered. It was donated to the IA QRPC to promote the club's activities, and I happened to have been awarded a SuperTiCK chip for my "show-n-tell" entry at a IA QRPC gathering. So, knowing much of what Doug spelled out, I felt kind of guilty for going up to the EmbRes WEB site and getting a schematic as well as getting help from others on this list. Why guilty? Well, my belief is that WE, the homebrewing community of QRP'rs, are being served by idealistically motivated individuals who decide to make kits available to us tomake life a lot easier. Back in the "old days" before the "kit guys" started putting parts into baggies so that WE ALL could build stuff without the fuss of ordering a zillion parts from as many sources -- that is exactly what it took. Armed with a schematic and parts list, we had to search the catalogues to find the parts. Complaining that EmbRes is late on deliveries? Try the "old way" a couple of times and see how long it takes to actually melt solder! Doug is probably the world-record baggie stuffer. Like the kit guys, he invested his time to make it easier to get QRP'rs into homebrewing. It is one thing to say "Hey, it's a lot more fun working QRP with stuff you built yourself," and it is quite another to say the same and add "here's all the stuff you need to build it with." So, why wouldn't I feel a bit guilty about my TiCK? EmbRes put all the time into designing, programming, debugging etc., and actually, they didn't get a red cent out of me -- actually, not even a "thank you." We just take them for granted -- sad to say. But imagine what your own QRP life would be like if all the kit guys got fed up and said: "I've had enough of this negative crap, I'm out of here. Let'em fined their own parts." That's exactly how the criticism must register with them. Not many of the kit guys who run their "kit" business live off of it. They have real jobs, 40 hours a week or more. Then they invest the rest of their time in US. Sometimes their real job, family etc. causes a slight inconvenience to us because our orders or e-mails have to be put on hold. But, in my experience, they always send it, always answer it. So, let's just be grateful -- when they get the time to take care of our needs is just fine. 72, ADe W0RSP ++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2002 08:00:06 -0500 From: "Doyle, Ronald D" To: qrp-l at Lehigh.EDU Subject: [120962] Straight TiCK Talk Brad Mitchell, one of the TiCK designers and Dough Hendricks have commented on this topic and I thought I would also through in my comments. I won one of the first Atomic Keyer kits made and it's still working great. I've also added the TiCK keyers to several radios. And I have an early K1EL keyer which has different features. I've also seen info on other keyers that followed the TiCK chips. I agree with Dough that Bill and Gary have done an outstanding job running a business for the Ham Community. I am also in software development and have worked on code that was 'done' and there is a lot of difference in writing code that works and code that works for everyone in anything it's used in under all conditions which is what we expect when we buy these chips. Bill and Gary have been the spring board for all those 'competing' keyer chips. Like radios everyone has their own ideas for features and proceed to build something different. Shortly there will be other keyer chips that build on those we see today with different features. As the chips get faster and have more memory we can do more. Bill and Gary, I want to say thanks for such a fun product and your great support of ham radio. It's been fun talking with you guys and getting to know a little bit about you at the Dayton Hamvetion the past several years. 72 de Ron, N8VAR ++++++++++++++++