Gaussmeter Kit Group-Buy

[RedHouse]

at this moment i have 18 pic.... then, with the one that i shipped are 19....

you are 19 (with 2X Defaced).... you have to decide if it's time to close the group buy....

I also can order them but i would do this only after that Redhouse make the test and give the green light.... then the wait will extend....

bye

I have not received the PIC yet Elepro it's too soon to close the group-buy. We are very close but not yet and the whole idea behind a group-buy is getting as many participants/orders involved as possible to get the parts costs down in greater quantity. The group agreed to put the Last Call on hold untill the verification build can be done and that has not happened yet so please be patient. If we get more orders than you currently have PIC's you can ship the 18 you have, then the remainder after you recieve and program them, this way the whole order will not be delayed.
(a two part shippment)

You could also re-consider the idea I proposed in the beginning where you and I could enter into a licensing agreement and provide the hex file so I could source and burn the PIC's locally and distribute them much faster. (which would make the possibility of future kits much more likely)

When the PIC arrives and I get the verification-build assembled and running, how many in the group-buy would like us to call that good and proceed with Last Call ...or... would the group prefer to wait until I can get the verification-build over to Wolfe or Jason to test it up against a commercial unit.

Personally I'd be fine with calling it good if the verification build powers up and works as described, then getting calibration comparison information later when more convienient.

(for instance, Wolfe or Jason and myself will need to schedule time that mutually works for us and it's summer vacation time so like for myself this weekend is off-the-table because I have other commitments)

Everybody chime-in please....

[-Elepro-]

I have not received the PIC yet Elepro it's too soon to close the group-buy. We are very close but not yet and the whole idea behind a group-buy is getting as many participants/orders involved as possible to get the parts costs down in greater quantity. The group agreed to put the Last Call on hold untill the verification build can be done and that has not happened yet so please be patient. If we get more orders than you currently have PIC's you can ship the 18 you have, then the remainder after you recieve and program them, this way the whole order will not be delayed.
(a two part shippment)

ok it's the same for me.... but i pay only for one shipment...

When the PIC arrives and I get the verification-build assembled and running, how many in the group-buy would like us to call that good and proceed with Last Call ...or... would the group prefer to wait until I can get the verification-build over to Wolfe or Jason to test it up against a commercial unit.

i would prefer that you make comparison with the commercial one so we are all in the clear.....

[mickmutante]

i would prefer that you make comparison with the commercial one so we are all in the clear.....

+1

[automan]

I have not received the PIC yet Elepro it's too soon to close the group-buy. We are very close but not yet and the whole idea behind a group-buy is getting as many participants/orders involved as possible to get the parts costs down in greater quantity. The group agreed to put the Last Call on hold untill the verification build can be done and that has not happened yet so please be patient. If we get more orders than you currently have PIC's you can ship the 18 you have, then the remainder after you recieve and program them, this way the whole order will not be delayed.
(a two part shippment)

You could also re-consider the idea I proposed in the beginning where you and I could enter into a licensing agreement and provide the hex file so I could source and burn the PIC's locally and distribute them much faster. (which would make the possibility of future kits much more likely)

When the PIC arrives and I get the verification-build assembled and running, how many in the group-buy would like us to call that good and proceed with Last Call ...or... would the group prefer to wait until I can get the verification-build over to Wolfe or Jason to test it up against a commercial unit.

Personally I'd be fine with calling it good if the verification build powers up and works as described, then getting calibration comparison information later when more convienient.

(for instance, Wolfe or Jason and myself will need to schedule time that mutually works for us and it's summer vacation time so like for myself this weekend is off-the-table because I have other commitments)

Everybody chime-in please....

I agree with every bit of this.

[David Schwab]

I think it's a good idea to verify it against a commercial unit.

[RedHouse]

ok it's the same for me.... but i pay only for one shipment...

I thought you've offered more than 18 to the group:

19€ 20+ ---- 18€ 25+

If we get more than 19 orders in this group-buy, how much are you going to charge for the additional shipping?

So we're currently at 18 orders (19 PICs) at the 15+ price break of 20-€ ($27.87-USD) this group-buy is prepared to throw you right around 374.00-€ ($530.00-USD). If you have to split-ship because you are out of PIC's it seems like the extra 5-€ ($7 USD) for shipping shouldn't be a show stopper should it?

[mkat]

i would prefer that you make comparison with the commercial one so we are all in the clear.....

Good stuff, this is the way to go.

[defaced]

Verification of the prototype against a commercial unit before the deal goes through sound like a good idea to me.

[RedHouse]

THE PIC HAS ARRIVED!

I'm going to bolt on down to my shop right now and pop it into the PCB....stay tuned...

[StarryNight]

verification first please.

[David Schwab]

THE PIC HAS ARRIVED!

Woo Hoo!

[RedHouse]

VERIFIED....IT WORKS.

I popped the PIC into the socket, stacked the two boards and powered it up.

At very first there was nothing showing on the disply, then I remembered what Elepro had said about tweaking the trimpot if there is no display, so I did and sure enough the display fadded into view.

I grabbed a pickup from a box on my bench which happened to be a SD Alnico-II Pro (APS1) and the meter measured the poles (in Ph mode) as follows:

E=781g
A=769g
D=789g
G=797g
B=765g
E=757g

Here is a picture of the test unit just after switching on, after the meter boots-up it zero's itself then looks like this:



Here is the test unit measuring a Seymour Duncal APS1:



Nice work Elepro, my first impression is very nice, it works right from the start, and as advertised.

[mickmutante]

THE PIC HAS ARRIVED!

I'm going to bolt on down to my shop right now and pop it into the PCB....stay tuned...

Yeah..!!!!!

[-Elepro-]

Ok i'm happy.....

in the last picture it doesn't show well.... but did you have seen in datasheet what's the sensor surface active area? it's important.... you have to put magnet on the right surface of the sensor.... watch my drawing

bye

[Bruce Johnson]

Looks good!

Now that I see the assembled unit, I'll just fit mine into a simple aluminum box and mount the sensor to one end. I'd be using it just like you are there, holding pickups and loose magnets up against it to check for oddballs.

I also have access to a commercial gaussmeter, at the electronics lab down the street that I do occasional work for.

I agree that it would be best for you to do at least one comparison check against a commercial unit, just to see if the numbers are in the right range, before Elepro finishes and ships the batch of chips. Just in case the programming needs to be tweaked a bit.

Once we all get our kits and get them together and running, any of us who can check ours against a commercial unit should post the results back here. That way, we can post some data for all about how this unit reads against known commercial gaussmeters.

Again, no hurry from me, let's do this project right.

If we get to the point of needing a few more orders to make Elepro's price breaks, I'd be willing to spring for an extra one or two kits (which I would assemble and sell).

Or maybe a few of us would like to go in together and "invest" in buying up a larger batch of Elepro's chips as one order. We could then hold them for a while and do a second group buy of the other parts later?