Batboard

r0f,

Can't you file a fraud claim and get your money back or just reverse the Paypal funds (if you used Paypal)?

I hate it when people scam people like that.

Thanks for the heads up!

damb good to see people like rof looking out for all of us . nothing feels worse then getting scammed and not be able to do any thing about it keep up the good work bud


JHOOK

You must be VERY careful when buying used ASTRO radios, and/or "critical" ASTRO parts, from ANY source! A very common practice is that ASTRO radios are sold as implied digital, when they are really ANALOG. Some sellers will even say "IMBE capable," sometimes meaning that the underlying radio is capable of supporting IMBE, but they don't tell you about the fact that the radio will require a FLASHport uplift to be "IMBE operational." Kind of like Bill parcing words (e.g., "Depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is.). One sees very few ASTRO radios for sale that are in 10 of 10 condition, with factory firmware, including IMBE and DES-OFB. They always seem to be missing IMBE, and/or DES-OFB. When they do have IMBE, it seems like so often they are hack jobs. I guess this is one HUGE advantage of a big Hamfest. You can buy an ASTRO radio, and test to see if it really does do IMBE, DES-OFB, etc.

Also, few folks realize that the Motorola IMBE FLASHport kit (which is non discountable from Motorola, unless it was written into an associated Motorola customer specific contract), runs roughly $800 to $900, depending on the exact radio type. For a Quantar repeater, an IMBE FLASHport uplift runs about $3,300. For a DIU, it entails over $700 to convert from VSELP to IMBE. In all cases, these prices are for parts only, and do NOT include Elgin Repair Center labor charges for the load. Good luck if you pop a $3,300 Quantar FLASHport and the load goes sour for some reason. There is no return on FLASHport. Don't believe the myth that it is impossible to pop the FLASHport if the load goes bad! This is why many folks opt to pay the extra labor charges so Motorola will guarantee the uplift. These labor and shipping costs (not to mention the time involved) only add to the cost of an IMBE FLASHport uplift, thus making the used analog ASTRO radio even less valuable.

Sure, you can jam-in hacked firmware, but who wants that?! Then you wonder why the radio buzzes, sparks, etc. when you plug-in the speaker mike, for instance. Then you post here on the Batboard seeking help to solve some sort of bizarre problem set, and the advice comes back, "Don't use the speaker mike!" Or, "Stand on a toilet and hold the PTT for 2.5 seconds, and then speak very loudly. Some of the buzzing might go away, but you will still probably experience a little residual hum." Great. What a savings!

Larry

Looks like enough people compalined to Ebay. All of those Astro's have been pulled.

Thank for the warning Shaun.

You mean I'm the only one that logs in and does a search on r0F to read ALL his posts?!?

r0f wrote:
Thank goodness some of you out there read my warning and changed your minds before bidding.

S