Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: MOTM

a) I am still having delays and issues with my metal supplier about the '650. I
am hoping to put this to bed by Friday and get 75 front panels ordered. I am
still amazed that in this day and age, I can't find a reliable sheet metal
vendor that can read a drawing. Maybe if I was Dell or WalMart I could get
better results (shrug). 18-layer pc boards with 0.005 mil lines shipped in 24
hours? No problem! Buy 5,000 SMT resistors for $12 bucks? ZZzzzz..... Order a
flat piece of metal with 20 holes drilled in it....errr....we'll have to get
back to you on that one.

Honestly, there is a 50-50 chance I will be shipping MOTM-650s this year. I
can't express how frustrating it has been this month dealing with these people.
And this is the ∗6th∗ company I've tried since MOTM started. For the Frac-Rack
panels, I'm NOT using them unless it's a very last resort. In fact, I may by the
wholesale minimum (100 pounds) and have them shipped to me in standard panel
sizes (about 1033 of 3 x 5.5 panels) undrill/unpainted (cost is <$1 each).

b) I am getting ∗very low∗ on most CEM ICs and I will be raising ∗some∗ prices
next week. I still have 3340s/3320s but all the others are gone or will most
likely be gone shortly.

c) Paul H. is still traveling and kit shipping will resume on the 22nd. We are
running low on some kits, I have ordered more pc boards (takes 2 weeks to
arrive).

d) There is a strong possibility (more testing needed) that kits that use
tempcos will have a new 'style' of tempco beginning in late Feb. It is smaller
but has the same specs (again, I have to test this) and I would be buying a
lifetime supply :) The leads are smaller diameter, so the soldering is a little
"clunky" on the current pc boards (next year I can change the drill holes for
the smaller leads). This is not final, just a FYI. The current supplier is also
a pain to deal with (missed the 3 last ship dates by 2-4 weeks). I can't ship
stuff if my suppliers can't.

That's all for now, back to work!

Paul S.