I know this is coming a little later in the month than usual, but things have been exceedingly busy for the past few weeks. I hope each of you has a wonderful holiday season — whether you are celebrating Christmas or some other holiday! And of course with the approaching New Year, I wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011.
Check the web site starting 12/26 for some specials to end the year. I can’t tell you what the specials will be, because I haven’t decided yet! But, if Santa doesn’t bring you what you want for Christmas, you can always order it yourself.
I will be making an adjustment to the pricing of the MasterKeyer MK-1 in January. My costs have gone up over the past year, as I had to move most of the soldering off of my own workbench and let the board assembler do it. You’ll probably see a $20 increase in the price, so if you have been thinking about buying — now is the time. I’ll have a very limited number to ship between now and mid January when the next batch of boards arrives, but you can get your order in at any time and get the current price.
I have most of the design for the new USB Universal Rig Interface done, but am up against a dilemma. I can make it a solder-it-yourself kit with all through-hole parts, and keep the cost low and the “fun factor” high for kit builders. Or, I have a layout for an all-SMT version that I believe I can fit into a little USB “dongle” about the size of a fat thumb drive. It would be all pre-assembled and ready to go. It would also be substantially more costly than the kit, possible twice as much. If you have a strong opinion one way or the other, I’d like to hear from you. I am hoping to have that kit (or non-kit) ready during the first quarter of 2011.
All the best wishes from us to you and your families and loved ones, and best wishes for the new year!
73,
Dale – N0XAS
For what it’s worth I would prefer the kit version.
Jon’ (G4KPI)
You know, I got a lot of responses to that, and all but two were solidly in favor of the kit version. So, a kit it shall be! I just found a nice solution for a cabinet to house the board, and have a prototype PCB on the way. We should see a kit some time this month or early next, depending on how long it takes me to get things working the way I want.