EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
General => General Technical Chat => Topic started by: EEVblog on July 02, 2011, 10:28:03 pm
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I'm lead to believe that with these Roadtests you are allowed to keep to bit of gear...
http://www.element14.com/community/roadTests/1029/?CMP=OAD-SOM-Twitter-[Roadtest]
Dave.
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Temporarily Unavailable
We're sorry. This site is not available at this time.
(July 3)
Guess the site is buckling under the strain of having its first ever interesting content :)
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Link worked for me if already logged into element 14 website.
3 kits available 70 applicants atm
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Guess the site is buckling under the strain of having its first ever interesting content :)
*snort*
Dave.
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I do not trust anything that comes as opinion or reviews from "element14" .
But that's a personal thing. :)
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Application submitted and I am on the candidates. Would be great to test drive this scope first hand and compare with a Tek DPO3k over here.
Ha, the irony...Alistair W. was the name of a sales rep from Tek that did a demo for an MSO4k at Intel in 2007ish. Same guy?!...
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Ha, the irony...Alistair W. was the name of a sales rep from Tek that did a demo for an MSO4k at Intel in 2007ish. Same guy?!...
Unique name, so probably. Coincidentally, he's leaving (or has already left) Element 14.
Dave.
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Alistair is in this forum...
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Coincidentally, he's leaving (or has already left) Element 14.
I applauder everyone who leaves or is leaving that parody called Element 14. Element 14, where they take hobbyists for a ride. And I am not just talking about the road tests.
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I applauder everyone who leaves or is leaving that parody called Element 14. Element 14, where they take hobbyists for a ride. And I am not just talking about the road tests.
How do they take people for a ride?
You get to keep the road test items, and in this case three Agilent 3000X's is nothing short of bloody amazing.
But the Element 14 site is of course, a big FAIL. But pour money into it they do, a LOT of money...
Dave.
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Coincidentally, he's leaving (or has already left) Element 14.
I applauder everyone who leaves or is leaving that parody called Element 14. Element 14, where they take hobbyists for a ride. And I am not just talking about the road tests.
OK, I'll bite.
- In exchange for a couple of hours writing I have received already $1k worth of test gear via roadtests. And to be in the running for that Agilent MSOX3024A isn't half bad either; most likely a 1 in 150 chance for a $5.5k MSO.
- They will deliver, for free, via overnight courier, to my home in a tiny town in the Hunter Valley, orders valued at $10 or more. Altronics can't manage that even when I pay them extra for AAE 'jet express' overnight courier.
How are e-14 taking hobbyists for a ride?
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How are e-14 taking hobbyists for a ride?
First they try to attract them via the element14 website, then they refuse to sell to them in at least Austria, Sweden, Germany and India.
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How are e-14 taking hobbyists for a ride?
First they try to attract them via the element14 website, then they refuse to sell to them in at least Austria, Sweden, Germany and India.
Wow - that really, really sucks. Point taken.
[I wish you had just said that instead of keeping us in suspense :o]
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That doesn't make sense, because E14 will sell to anyone here in Oz, and as John said, free courier on web orders. Can't be beat.
RS components do the same thing.
Buy hey, Farnell/Element14/Newark is real hotch-potch company anyway, so probably not surprising they do stupid things in different countries.
Dave.
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That doesn't make sense,
You can add Denmark, Finland, Norway and Portugal to the list of countries where Farnell doesn't make sense, i.e. doesn't sell to hobbyists. Sometimes they just say no, sometimes they refer hobbyists to some retailer. Run the red text on https://dk.farnell.com/jsp/profile/register.jsp through google translate and you get:
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Note: Farnell trades only with companies with a valid VAT number, and all purchases are paid via invoice.
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For https://fi.farnell.com/jsp/profile/register.jsp you get
If you are an individual, you can search for products without having to register and order must be made through dealers. ...
And https://no.farnell.com/jsp/profile/register.jsp ...
Note: Farnell's only businesses with valid registration number, and all purchases are paid via invoice.
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Portugal https://pt.farnell.com/jsp/profile/register.jsp Please be advised that a result of restructuring of business, from the 4th of May 2009 to Farnell stopped selling directly to its private clients in Portugal.
In Belgium and the Netherlands they seem to have special conditions (https://be.farnell.com/jsp/profile/register.jsp and https://nl.farnell.com/jsp/profile/register.jsp again the red text).
RS components do the same thing.
Do you mean not selling to hobbyists? Indeed, they also do that :( Making their DesignSpark PCB community things as dodgy as Farnell'S Element 14.
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(July 3)
Guess the site is buckling under the strain of having its first ever interesting content :)
Thanks Rufus..I have tried for two years :D
I've never demo'd sold Tek stuff. Be interesting if someone with the same unusual name was in the same business!
Dave..you know too much ;)
I think RoadTest has been great fun. We've had some outstanding reviews over the last two years, quite a few from guys on this forum..actually most from guys from here! We must have given out a few hundred ks worth of gear without looking for anything but a few words and pics in return.
But all good things come to an end..and I'll probably be spending a bit more time chillin here now 8)
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If we are able to conduct the road test and we are allowed to keep the product..are we allowed to resell?
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If we are able to conduct the road test and we are allowed to keep the product..are we allowed to resell?
After you write the review then it is your's to keep, sell, destroy..or jump in a canyon with (disclaimer that Fluke DMM was not part of rt)
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Temporarily Unavailable
We're sorry. This site is not available at this time.
(July 3)
Guess the site is buckling under the strain of having its first ever interesting content :)
Thanks Rufus..I have tried for two years :D
I've never demo'd sold Tek stuff. Be interesting if someone with the same unusual name was in the same business!
Dave..you know too much ;)
I think RoadTest has been great fun. We've had some outstanding reviews over the last two years, quite a few from guys on this forum..actually most from guys from here! We must have given out a few hundred ks worth of gear without looking for anything but a few words and pics in return.
The only thing that annoys me with roadtests - some people literally write nothing at all. For example, the Agilent U1272A... I spent a while on it, and updated the review over time. Then you have people who spent about five minutes, such as
http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1003 (http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1003)
If I'm not lucky enough to receive one of the Agilent MSOX3024As I sure hope whoever does get one puts some effort into their review.
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http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1003. (http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1003.)
An unexpected error has occurred
Even so, it does not matter the time spent about writing the review it self.
What it does matter, are that those reviews to be rich of information, for the professionals and experts.
And this demands from the side of the reviewer, to had actually work in the field,
so to have some experience, of what called as useful, and what as a toy.
We are talking about an industrial tool, and not a flashlight.
The U1272A has a manual of 150 pages.
If you do not read it, you can not understand of what this device is capable of !!
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http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1003. (http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1003.)
An unexpected error has occurred
Even so, it does not matter the time spent about writing the review it self.
What it does matter, are that those reviews to be rich of information, for the professionals and experts.
Yes, my point exactly.
Try the link again, a full stop was at the end by accident.
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tronixstuff, you might not want to give away all of your secrets, but how much did you write in your accepted road test applications' "why do you want to review this" section? I've enrolled for the Agilent MSO (hey, why not! :) and written what I hope is a convincing argument for why I'd be able to provide a useful review.
The "I measured the temperature of my armpit" review was truly diabolical. I'd be interested to see what they put in the application. Maybe element14 were having a slow day.
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tronixstuff, you might not want to give away all of your secrets, but how much did you write in your accepted road test applications' "why do you want to review this" section? I've enrolled for the Agilent MSO (hey, why not! :) and written what I hope is a convincing argument for why I'd be able to provide a useful review.
Ask me after the 18th of July. :o
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The only thing that annoys me with roadtests - some people literally write nothing at all. For example, the Agilent U1272A... I spent a while on it, and updated the review over time. Then you have people who spent about five minutes, such as
http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1003 (http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1003)
If I'm not lucky enough to receive one of the Agilent MSOX3024As I sure hope whoever does get one puts some effort into their review.
Yeah, that's the problem, most people just don't care and don't want to give back. I think they should go to an established reviewers, especially with really high end stuff like this.
I mean, and Agilent 3000X, wow, I thought I was lucky to get one, I know other reviewers that didn't get to keep theirs. And here are three up for grabs.
I think it's a crime if you don't get one John! yours are the best road test reviews by far that I've seen.
Dave.
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tronixstuff, you might not want to give away all of your secrets, but how much did you write in your accepted road test applications' "why do you want to review this" section? I've enrolled for the Agilent MSO (hey, why not! :) and written what I hope is a convincing argument for why I'd be able to provide a useful review.
Ask me after the 18th of July. :o
I'd apply myself, but that might look a tad greedy on my part ;) But this full time video blogger could sure do with the resell cash ;D
I'd likely be the only one that can provide the review up front! ;D
Dave.
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The only thing that annoys me with roadtests - some people literally write nothing at all. For example, the Agilent U1272A... I spent a while on it, and updated the review over time. Then you have people who spent about five minutes, such as
http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1003 (http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1003)
If I'm not lucky enough to receive one of the Agilent MSOX3024As I sure hope whoever does get one puts some effort into their review.
Yeah, that's the problem, most people just don't care and don't want to give back. I think they should go to an established reviewers, especially with really high end stuff like this.
I mean, and Agilent 3000X, wow, I thought I was lucky to get one, I know other reviewers that didn't get to keep theirs. And here are three up for grabs.
I think it's a crime if you don't get one John! yours are the best road test reviews by far that I've seen.
Dave.
Dave, it's a conclusion I've come to as well. I was thinking about 75% good reviewers and 25% random to keep things fresh. Any who don't write a review, or a bad one, removed from the trusted list and any who write a good one added to it. I won't be doing the Agilent draw. BTW the "what would you use it for" space doesn't count for the majority of roadtests. Reviewers are generally drawn using a RNG. I should add that you should fill that box in, we give the suppliers data like number of entrants, reasons and geographical areas which allows them to keep supporting rt and giving away more products
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Reviewers are generally drawn using a RNG.
That's ok for the low end stuff, but I'd hate to think that's the case for the Agilent scopes. They deserve to go to the top quality reviewers only.
Dave.
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Reviewers are generally drawn using a RNG.
That's ok for the low end stuff, but I'd hate to think that's the case for the Agilent scopes. They deserve to go to the top quality reviewers only.
Dave.
I wouldn't disagree with that. TBH we never expected to be handed that much value of equipment to give away in a roadtest
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I wouldn't disagree with that. TBH we never expected to be handed that much value of equipment to give away in a roadtest
Did Agilent give you these for this purpose?, or are they coming out Element 14's pocket?
Dave.
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Agilent gave us them for roadtest
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The only thing that annoys me with roadtests - some people literally write nothing at all. For example, the Agilent U1272A... I spent a while on it, and updated the review over time. Then you have people who spent about five minutes, such as
http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1003 (http://www.element14.com/community/roadTestReviews/1003)
If I'm not lucky enough to receive one of the Agilent MSOX3024As I sure hope whoever does get one puts some effort into their review.
Yeah, that's the problem, most people just don't care and don't want to give back. I think they should go to an established reviewers, especially with really high end stuff like this.
I mean, and Agilent 3000X, wow, I thought I was lucky to get one, I know other reviewers that didn't get to keep theirs. And here are three up for grabs.
I think it's a crime if you don't get one John! yours are the best road test reviews by far that I've seen.
Dave.
Thanks for that, I really appreciate it. Will just have to wait and see what happens come July 18th - hopefully my numbers come up ::)
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I'd apply myself, but that might look a tad greedy on my part ;)
They are not intended to be stacked Dave ;)
I was thinking about 75% good reviewers and 25% random to keep things fresh. Any who don't write a review, or a bad one, removed from the trusted list and any who write a good one added to it. I won't be doing the Agilent draw. BTW the "what would you use it for" space doesn't count for the majority of roadtests. Reviewers are generally drawn using a RNG. I should add that you should fill that box in, we give the suppliers data like number of entrants, reasons and geographical areas which allows them to keep supporting rt and giving away more products
There was provision for an email and telephone number as well on the application form. You could contact the shortlisted candidates and gauge up that 25% for such roadtests.
I've never demo'd sold Tek stuff. Be interesting if someone with the same unusual name was in the same business!
I think I have his card somewhere...
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I'd apply myself, but that might look a tad greedy on my part ;)
They are not intended to be stacked Dave ;)
I can can make'em stack, I'm sure!
Dave.
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I'd apply myself, but that might look a tad greedy on my part ;)
They are not intended to be stacked Dave ;)
I can can make'em stack, I'm sure!
Dave.
Hmmm...I dont know...you are a bit short of space in your lab...would not want to force a bench cleanup upon you. ;D
How about positioning one next to another and using a delayed trigger for the second one (built in delay or external signal)? If the first scope trigger is set at the far left of the screen and the second trigger is delayed by the total time period of the first scope, then you should be able to get a very wide view of the signal across two screens spanning two time bases. With the already rather wide (for its class) built-in screen, that would be impressive.
I will need two scopes for my review e14,Agilent. Thank you.
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BTW the "what would you use it for" space doesn't count for the majority of roadtests. Reviewers are generally drawn using a RNG. I should add that you should fill that box in, we give the suppliers data like number of entrants, reasons and geographical areas which allows them to keep supporting rt and giving away more products
Oh... whoops ;) The reason I gave for entering the Agilent roadtest draw was something along the lines of "who wouldn't want to try one of these out?" -- at least it's honest, I guess... Although I did provide something more useful for when applying for the previous Microchip RF roadtest so I won't feel too bad about it!
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tronixstuff got it ... LOL ;D
Hey tronixstuff we should play a lotto ticket together, and share the profits. ;)
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tronixstuff got it ... LOL ;D
Hey tronixstuff we should play a lotto ticket together, and share the profits. ;)
In the end three MSOs were handed out. Hopefully mine arrives in the next week or so. Have already been doing some research on the use and some demo applications for it, however I'm 110% busy for the next few weeks - plus travel. Grr.
Lotto? You pay for a licence to dream until the draw :)
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I am running behind you at full speed ;D LOL
Just ordered the educational CD from Agilent.
Speaking about research and demo applications, I will watch out to not damage my few free braincells. ;)
Relax , take your time, do your best :)
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Congratulations to those selected!
I think selected is a better word to 'winners' as looking at the profiles they were the safe choice. I am glad established reviewers were selected for this review so that the profile of RoadTests is not adversely affected and more reviews will come.
The value the company gets from 5k worth of equipment is tremendous. Think about it, how much would a review based traditional marketing tools ask for a 20 page review...? Also, the review would probably be detached from the truth which can be provided only by the end user.
I am very interested in the three reviews. I would especially find very useful a section on the suitability/pros/cons of these units for an educational establishment like a technical college or university, as well as stuff I wont find in th user's manual.
Lotto? You pay for a licence to dream until the draw
It is worth dreaming if the pot is full. Like the winners of the Scottish jackpot of £161m found out.
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I don't mind the element 14 website that much, but originally when it came online I was hoping/thought it was going to be more of an information service aimed at design help. Ie code snippets, discussion of regs, tutorials on the current programmable logic/uC's. All the sorts of things engineers have trouble getting. But when I look at it its a real online hacker community of DIYers playing with gadgets and 'cool' circuits (not that its a bad thing I guess), but its not for me.
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Congratulations to those selected!
I think selected is a better word to 'winners' as looking at the profiles they were the safe choice. I am glad established reviewers were selected for this review so that the profile of RoadTests is not adversely affected and more reviews will come.
It was absolutely the right thing to occur, but, I don't think they should have opened it up to everyone and their mothers if they never had (and should not have) a ghosts chance of getting selected! Kind of like when an employer posts a job opening only superficially when they already know who is going to get it. They could have called it "Super RoadTest" or something that shows the benefits of reviewing.
It'll be quite telling comparing how many people signed up for those Agilent scope RoadTests as opposed to the newly posted one for TI's FRAM demo board. :P
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Maybe there are different laws governing how to sell to individuals vs comanies in different countries?
Farnell sell to anyone here in the UK but I've been told they no longer offer free delivery, at least not for individuals anyway.
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It's nothing to do with law- just company policy, although the latter may be influenced by differences in consumer protection laws between countries, as well as policies of their competitors.
In practice it's usually more about avoiding small orders and timewasters, as in practice anyone can invent a company name.
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although the latter may be influenced by differences in consumer protection laws between countries,
Consumer protection laws have been harmonized in the EU. And not just yesterday, the directive is from 1997. Still Farnell does not sell to individuals in some EU countries, but does so in others. Consumer protection laws are a common excuse, but really not the reason. They just think they don't need the money.
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But when I look at it its a real online hacker community of DIYers playing with gadgets and 'cool' circuits (not that its a bad thing I guess), but its not for me.
Community? After two years and a vast amount of promotion it gets about 30 posts a day. Half of those are on Eagle support, half of what remains seem somehow to be from people paid to post and half of what's left is from complete idiots like a guy asking an Agilent rep where to buy a Triac, or a guy asking for a 150v 100A switcher design which after quizzing he revealed needed to run from a 15A 110v socket. As a 'community' it is a huge fail.
It could be useful as an informal contact path to supplier representatives but it is so painful seeing them politely answering questions from idiots. Apart from that and Eagle support the chances of finding something interesting or getting a useful answer to a question there are so slim it isn't worth looking or asking.
IMO the social networking web2.0rhea drivel format of the site puts most people off before they even start.
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But when I look at it its a real online hacker community of DIYers playing with gadgets and 'cool' circuits (not that its a bad thing I guess), but its not for me.
Community? After two years and a vast amount of promotion it gets about 30 posts a day. Half of those are on Eagle support, half of what remains seem somehow to be from people paid to post and half of what's left is from complete idiots like a guy asking an Agilent rep where to buy a Triac, or a guy asking for a 150v 100A switcher design which after quizzing he revealed needed to run from a 15A 110v socket. As a 'community' it is a huge fail.
It could be useful as an informal contact path to supplier representatives but it is so painful seeing them politely answering questions from idiots. Apart from that and Eagle support the chances of finding something interesting or getting a useful answer to a question there are so slim it isn't worth looking or asking.
IMO the social networking web2.0rhea drivel format of the site puts most people off before they even start.
Well.. perhaps the word community was a bit vulgar.. but I think the mistake they made was to try to cater to the Maker crowd. It seems to me there are already plenty of sites doing that. For parts at least their own MCM electronics division is for those guys. It should of been an engineering info service I think as I stated - as no-one has done that well. Getting introductory app's information from some of their component suppliers can sometimes be like pulling teeth, so there's an opportunity there. But instead they concentrated on Ben Heck stuffing an X-box into a laptop and now Jeri is there making transistors. I'm sure that stuff has an audience, but I don't think its the professional community. It would have been nice if they had gotten some of their engineers - I believe they have some - and had them provide reference designs, the tut's and code for entry into the dev products they sell. But thats just my 2c and I'm sure the Maker guys want to stick a fork in me.
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Well.. perhaps the word community was a bit vulgar.. but I think the mistake they made was to try to cater to the Maker crowd. It seems to me there are already plenty of sites doing that.
That's the thing: communities around every subject seem to grow organically, and cannot be made to appear by some marketing VP's edict. The internet is full of failed .coms that really believed "if you build it, they will come" but didn't realize "if you build it late, they won't come." If something is "hot" and "up and coming" the landgrab is already crowding you out.
While I'm not a professional electronics guy, I like professional groups because there's a lot of practical info to absorb. I haven't needed information on anything that had me wind up on Element14. And that doesn't particularly bother me, live and let live after all. But I will feel bad for those that really like it when the parent company decides to stop throwing the good money after the bad and discontinues it.
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But when I look at it its a real online hacker community of DIYers playing with gadgets and 'cool' circuits (not that its a bad thing I guess), but its not for me.
Community? After two years and a vast amount of promotion it gets about 30 posts a day. Half of those are on Eagle support, half of what remains seem somehow to be from people paid to post and half of what's left is from complete idiots like a guy asking an Agilent rep where to buy a Triac, or a guy asking for a 150v 100A switcher design which after quizzing he revealed needed to run from a 15A 110v socket. As a 'community' it is a huge fail.
Hmm, 30 posts a day for the amount of money, time and effort put in seems like a very poor ROI. But that was fairly predictable from the start, the usability of the site is just terrible and from what I see has not really improved much. So much so it's a bit of a running joke on TheAmpHour!
The EEVblog forum gets an average of over 87 posts per day :P
Dave.
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Dave,
hope they let you give away a few Agilent 3000x soon. :)