Don't Automatically Assume It's Cheap Chinese Electronics

[marcspaz]

Amazon Prime Home Delivery FTW!

If you buy inexpensive electronics from Amazon and it doesn't work correctly, don't automatically assume it's cheap Chinese electronics... you may want to check your video footage.

 

This 'was' a sensitive piece of electronics... RF Frequency Counter. The second one I bought in a week, because the first one didn't work correctly on delivery either. hmmm... I wonder why.  At least Amazon gave me a refund.

 

 

[hfd376]

And a u-turn on the fine trimmed lawn....

[PACNWComms]

I added another camera where it could be easily seen by delivery people. That gets me better service, less thrown items at the porch area, and lots of hand waves and smiles at the camera. Sometimes I talk back and say "thank you" so they do not know if I am there or not, but re-enforces the "someone is watching" process.

At least amazon did give you the refund, and having this evidence is great. I had an issue in the past with "signature required" items, sometimes high end radio gear or test equipment being left without even a knock on the door. Luckily, none of it "walked" away, but it was frustrating.

Which kind of frequency counter was it? Looking for a fluorescent display multi-meter and frequency counter (two separate devices) myself, to go easy on the eyes. Fluke 45 may be on the shopping list multi-meter wise, but still looking into a bench top frequency counter. Have an old HP that is falling apart now. 

[Lscott]

6 minutes ago, PACNWComms said:

 I had an issue in the past with "signature required" items, sometimes high end radio gear or test equipment being left without even a knock on the door. Luckily, none of it "walked" away, but it was frustrating.

 

That's why I have anything of value that won't fit in the home mailbox delivered to my work address. Our receiving department has to sign or anything other than USPS. The later gets delivered to the front reception area and left by my mail slot if it doesn't fit in it. You get antsy when buying stuff for a few hundred bucks and wonder how long it's been sitting in plain view for the porch pirates to see it.  Then there is the weather. Rains all day so when you get home that box is now a lump of brown mush with you stuff inside somewhere.

[KAF6045]

49 minutes ago, Lscott said:

That's why I have anything of value that won't fit in the home mailbox delivered to my work address. Our receiving department has to sign or anything other than USPS.

Lenient business...

I once got a small reprimand from management when the post office delivered a package at my place of employment -- since all packages were supposed to have a filed order number or such at the receiving department.

Worse -- the package wasn't even addressed to my place of employment! The actual address was my home! The only reference to the employer was under my name

<my name>
Software Engineer, Lockheed Missiles and Space Systems
<home address with a different zip-code even>

The postal system saw "Lockheed" and just routed it to the Lockheed zip-code (I think we had a zip-code to ourselves) box, rather than routing to the actual zip-code post office 6 miles to the south.

The package? "free sample" of a new Intel processor chip, as I recall, or maybe just chip manuals -- had to provide employer name to qualify for the "free".

 

[marcspaz]

8 hours ago, hfd376 said:

And a u-turn on the fine trimmed lawn....

 

That was actually one of the things we complained about when we called.  I was worried it would seem kind of petty. 

 

4 hours ago, PACNWComms said:

I added another camera where it could be easily seen by delivery people. That gets me better service, less thrown items at the porch area, and lots of hand waves and smiles at the camera. Sometimes I talk back and say "thank you" so they do not know if I am there or not, but re-enforces the "someone is watching" process.

At least amazon did give you the refund, and having this evidence is great. I had an issue in the past with "signature required" items, sometimes high end radio gear or test equipment being left without even a knock on the door. Luckily, none of it "walked" away, but it was frustrating.

Which kind of frequency counter was it? Looking for a fluorescent display multi-meter and frequency counter (two separate devices) myself, to go easy on the eyes. Fluke 45 may be on the shopping list multi-meter wise, but still looking into a bench top frequency counter. Have an old HP that is falling apart now. 

 

There are 8 cameras that are very visibly on the outside of the house.  One of them I had in plain view at the front door for 2 years.  There are also 2 signs saying there is video recording/monitoring taking place... the bladed edge of one of them can be seen in the video.  Sadly, this kid just doesn't care.

 

I ordered an inexpensive frequency counter to use while offroading, oddly enough.  It's a Surecom SF401 Plus.  I have a commercial grade Sony Tektronix SA and an MFJ frequency counter that works surprisingly well, too.  They aren't practical to use when offroad and don't exactly fit the need.

 

A few times a year, I take fairly decent sized groups of new offroaders out into the mountains for their first or second trip ever, and some training on how to do recoveries and navigate the trails.  There is a regular problem with the with the new people that we go offroad with.  They buy bubble pack radios and never know what frequency they are on or what tone they are using.  Like the Surecom SWR meter, the Surecom SF401 Plus is able to be calibrated by the end-user which means its capable of being "close enough" for the task... but along with the frequency, it decodes CTCSS/CDCSS encoding.  So we can eassily get everyone's radios working correctly when out on the trails.

 

4 hours ago, Lscott said:

That's why I have anything of value that won't fit in the home mailbox delivered to my work address. Our receiving department has to sign or anything other than USPS. The later gets delivered to the front reception area and left by my mail slot if it doesn't fit in it. You get antsy when buying stuff for a few hundred bucks and wonder how long it's been sitting in plain view for the porch pirates to see it.  Then there is the weather. Rains all day so when you get home that box is now a lump of brown mush with you stuff inside somewhere.

 

I was thinking about a PO Box... but I have been working from home since 2016.  So delivery at work still ends up on my stoop.  LOL

[wayoverthere]

1 hour ago, marcspaz said:

 

but along with the frequency, it decodes CTCSS/CDCSS encoding.  So we can eassily get everyone's radios working correctly when out on the trails.

I was thinking about a PO Box... but I have been working from home since 2016.  So delivery at work still ends up on my stoop.  LOL

Good thinking for easy setup!

I f you go po box, it may vary a little pricewise between locations. Also, some now offer "street addressing" which means they'll accept most packages from ups, fed ex, etc, and you can ship things there from vendors that wouldn't normally ship to a PO box. At least at the PO I use, street addressing is a no additional cost opt-in.

https://postalpro.usps.com/mailing/competitivepoboxes

[Gearhead]

I've lost count of the things fed ex and the postal service have lost or destroyed.  And they don't seem to care...your problem not theirs.

[Lscott]

16 minutes ago, Gearhead said:

I've lost count of the things fed ex and the postal service have lost or destroyed.  And they don't seem to care...your problem not theirs.

That's why I pay a bit extra for insurance for anything I ship out. I had some NX-300 radios a seller let me keep after getting a full refund on the price and shipping. It wasn't worth the hassle according to the seller to ship them from Detroit back to the Vancouver Canada area. The power output was WAY low so the power amp stage was shot. The seller didn't realize that and sold them as fully functional. Being the Intrinsically Safe models I couldn't just send them anywhere, had to go to a place in New York certified by Kenwood to work on them. I shipped them to the repair depot and insured each one for at least $200. If the USPS f'd up and lost or damaged them I would still make a few bucks off their screw up.

[Gearhead]

Lscott,

Several years back I purchased a antique tube type radio...paid extra to have it insured.  When the carrier delivered the package the box looked like it had been run over by a bus.  She apologized and told me to call her boss, which I did.  That woman claimed it wasn't their fault but they would honor the insurance IF I released the radio to them so they could scrap it.  After a heated discussion she said "Not my problem" and hung up.  I just love government employees and their incompetence. 

[WRUU925]

I know the UPS driver by name he's a young man with a real good attitude whenever he sees me on the street he yells out hello Mr Wulf when he delivers a package he puts it on a shelf then knocks on my door.