Tony Smith 7

Posted by Charlie Cox on 18/01/2013 16:05:22: Posted by Tony Smith 7 on 18/01/2013 11:47:50: The fact is that it is a trivial task to choose a carrier with UK wide coverage, as proven by all the successful and cost-effective mail order companies that do exactly that. I am afraid you are very wrong! I offered further back in the thread and I'll offer again. PM me and I will explain exactly why KLMS' policy is what it is. Charlie C Maybe I am wrong that it's trivial. If it's not trivial then at least it must be sufficiently easy that virtually every other supplier manages. As to why Kings Lynn doesn't, that doesn't really matter except as a precedent suggesting that delivery to these areas is in some way difficult or costly, which it isn't. For all I know King Lynn might have a non-compete agreement with another supplier serving those areas. I assume there's some confidential reason that you don't want to make public, so I'll take you up on your offer just out of interest. Tony S

As mentioned, the advert "pop-ups" manage to bypass Firefox's pop-up blocker, so clearly they aren't presented as normal pop-ups. Presumably they would also bypass a Firefox setting to control how they're displayed. I don't think I'll switch to Chrome though, not for one web site. If I felt strongly I could configure Firefox to open it in an IE tab on my Windows machine. Or block the adverts so I'm not tempted to click them! There's no real benefit to doing that now I know how to stop the irritating animations - unlike most web sites this one doesn't re-use the space for content if the adverts are removed, the forum display still stays the same width.

Cheers. You're thinking Windows and IE though. Firefox doesn't pay any attention to those settings, and my Safari is on a Mac! Interestingly I see that I have pop-ups blocked on Firefox, so whatever those adverts are doing it's not a normal pop-up, nor a proper new window (which would get redirected to a tab)

Firefox, but it behaves the same with Safari.

Hi, As in the subject really, if one of your adverts catches my eye and I want to have a look, there seems to be no option to open it in a normal browser window or tab. It only wants to open in a form of pop-up which doesn't have any menus or navigation keys etc. Any way to open them normally? Tony S

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 18/01/2013 10:43:32: I reiterate, I do feel sympathy with your plight - what I don't understand is your anger about it! ... My point is, if I was in your shoes, personally I wouldn't be angry, I'd just shrug my shoulders, say "its their loss" and move on. BEB Anger is putting it a bit strong. Nothing can be done about the business decision of one supplier, and in fact my post originally was to find out how widespread that practice is. What does wind me up is people defending the practice without acknowledging the facts. The fact is that it is a trivial task to choose a carrier with UK wide coverage, as proven by all the successful and cost-effective mail order companies that do exactly that.

PS slight side issue, but many of the times I've had an apparent inability to deliver have been with Ebay, which turned out to be a flaw in Ebay's classification that included everything North of Stonehaven as "Highland and Islands". So that wasn't a carrier issue, just an idiocy on Ebay that meant that even sellers using Royal Mail couldn't accept Aberdeen or Aberdeenshire orders. I think that's been sorted out, or maybe traders have got wise and no longer set an exclusion for Highlands. In a couple of cases sellers altered their listing to allow me to order. So it is well worth asking.

Posted by Charlie Cox on 17/01/2013 20:30:44: Posted by Tony Smith 7 on 17/01/2013 15:17:31: Anyway, nobody's chipped in to report other dealers having similar policies, so I guess I just forget Kings Lynn and take my choice from everyone else. Especially if they can't even be bothered to respond to the question. I think you a being a little bit scurroulous and unfair here. BEB has already hit the nail on the head with a clear and informative post, based on a business decision. Unfair? (1) They haven't replied. (2) throughout this thread, although lots of people seem to claims that Kings Lynn's policy is understandable or even inevitable, there's been no mention of other traders acting the same. Just for a laugh I fired up a google shopping search on the product I'm after and checked out the top 10 dealers listed. Only Kings Lynn have this problem. This was the main reason for my post, not to grumble about Kings Lynn so much as to find out whether this issue was widespread. Regarding BEB's explanation I'm afraid it's flawed in a number of ways. The commercial argument doesn't stand up because no other similar trader appears to have to take the same stance. No problem getting my Fun Cub for example which is much bulkier (shame 4Max don't do helis). Judging by their carriage prices, Kings Lynn don't seem to be getting a better deal than the norm. Equally we've had no problems with deliveries in other industries, some of similar size and value like DVD player or telephone answering machine, all the way up to a marine Diesel on a pallet, a load of drainage pipes and two mooring buoys. Some came via the Post Office, but most by carrier. So the argument that it's all the fault of deregulation doesn't hold water either. I suppose it allowed the existence of an odd-ball carrier who won't delivery to most of Scotland, even though they have a main hub there. But it hasn't prevented virtually every other carrier providing sensible coverage. As I mentioned early, I have a policy of never paying extra for delivery unless I can help it, and so far the need has never arisen. Sometimes I've had to contact the supplier to confirm they can deliver on their normal terms, and it is very very rare to find that they can't. Fingers crossed but on those rare occasions it's been easy enough to find an alternative. It looks to be the same in this case .... but let's wait and see whether my new chopper actually makes it here! Tony S

Posted by Frank Skilbeck on 17/01/2013 16:49:49: BTW what heli are you planning on getting, I somehow left my LMS last year with a 300x and later a 130x.................. Blade Nano CPX - I've been having a lot of fun with a cheap 4 channel fixed pitch indoor chopper, time for something more challenging. The bigger ones looks great, but I'd worry about breaking them. The "Nano" looks ideal as a first collective pitch model. Tony S

Posted by Richard Wood on 17/01/2013 15:46:37: Have you tried Marionville Models in Edinburgh Tony? They list Blade helicopters on their website. Cheers, I'll check them out. Notice that they use APC as well though .....

Anyway, nobody's chipped in to report other dealers having similar policies, so I guess I just forget Kings Lynn and take my choice from everyone else. Especially if they can't even be bothered to respond to the question. Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 17/01/2013 20:32:43

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 17/01/2013 14:50:27: At the end of the day - that's a commercial decision for them to make. Is the advantage of the increased custom from the 95%, by being able to offer a competative delivery cost , worth the outright loss of 5% of customers. Right or wrong from a moral perspective, they obviously feel it is. I don't think it's as reasoned as that. If it were then the lower cost operations, like Giant Cod for example, would follow that policy. In fact it's completely random, so I think it's a "don't care" decision on their part, not "how much can we save by excluding most of Scotland".

Cheers, I'll check them out.

Posted by Antiquated on 17/01/2013 13:46:02: As Gordon just said, they don't supply to the Isle Of Wight either, so it isn't just Scotland. However, it only seems to be some Aberdeen postcodes. I assume that as they say they use APC Couriers, the restrictions come from them (although I couldn't find any listed on the APC site). Edited By Antiquated on 17/01/2013 13:47:42 Their only caveat seems to be that the before 12:00 services aren't available in some areas, and some other areas it becomes a two day service. Nothing two drastic about that, although I don't know what those boundaries are meant to represent.

Posted by Eck on 17/01/2013 13:35:51: Why give a company which treats residents of Scotland's third city like second-class citizens a second chance? I asked, given the ambiguity of them saying "Highland" but then listing AB postcodes. I'll see if they reply, but from comments here I guess they're not interested. Interesting to see the post from "Antiquated" which seems to contradict their assertion that the limit is set by the carrier, but it's hard to beleive why else they'd refuse. I've no special axe to grind with Kings Lynn except that they are widely recommended and none of the model specialists that I've dealt with before stock the Blade products. As a matter of principle I won't pay extra for delivery, there's no need as there is no such extra cost to the supplier. A few Ebay sellers have specifed exclusions, in some cases when I've asked them they've been able to deliver at standard charges. Tony S

Hi, I was just about to order from Kings Lynn, but when I went through the registration process they say that they won't supply to customers in Aberdeen (among other places). I've asked then to confirm, because the blurb says they won't supply to the Highlands, but then they list AB postcodes. (For the benefit of those down South, Aberdeen is not in the Highlands either geographically or administratively). In fact refusing to supply to the Highlands is pretty naff as well but doesn't concern me personally. No reply from Kings Lynn, so I guess I'm looking for a reputable mail orde place that supplies Blade helicopters, and supplies UK wide without that sort of nonsense. Any suggestions for known good places? None of the suppliers I've used before handle Blade, so I can't go by my own experience. I'd rather deal with an actual model outfit who'll have spares etc, than with a faceless Amazon or Ebay seller. Tony S

Posted by Scott Cuppello - HobbyKing on 17/01/2013 10:29:19: It clearly states in the OP that there is a warranty period of 30 days.....I didn't infer that warranty is one day, I simply meant, do yourself a favour when you order lipo's (from anybody) check them immediately. I was going by the wording on the web page "1) You can only make a claim for 'Under voltage' the same day the parcel arrives and prior to the lipoly pack being charged or cycled. 'Under Voltage' means that 1 or more of the cells in you pack has a voltage lower than 3v per cell. After the battery has been cycled or used, no claim for 'under voltage' can be made."

Posted by Scott Cuppello - HobbyKing on 16/01/2013 10:06:10: As for warranty, Lipo's MUST be checked on arrival, a charge and discharge cycle is also a good idea (then top them up with Storage Charge facillity until you are ready to use them) 30 days is a reasonable amount of time to make checks. My reading of that warranty in the link above, is that a claim for dead cells would only be honoured if made on the day of receipt. That would be a bit mean if that's really the case.

I reckon the decline dates long before Hobby King or even the Internet, but with the uptake of mail order. For example when I built my first slope glider in 1995 there were two model shops in town, but neither had anything that suited me nor were they able to provide particularly appropriate guidance. I bought a Middle Phase (scarcely an obscure choice!) by mail order after advice from an experienced friend.

Posted by Daithi O Buitigh on 03/01/2013 16:43:11: I was always taught to turn the transmitter on first - THEN the receiver, etc (so I never noticed that happening) That's normal practice of course. The scenario here was that the user switched on the transmitter, then the receiver, than later turned the transmitter off leaving the receiver powered up. I wasn't clear why he'd done this, but I've done that plenty of times to check fail-safe's for example. Then when the transmitter was turned back on again, there was this uncommanded power up.

Ian, I've become aware of an issue with some of the HK - supplied "Turnigy/Flysky" modules. The issue is that if you switch the transmitter off and then back on again while the model is powered up and linked - when you switch the transmitter on the throttle runs briefly at partial power while the transmitter initialises. You might want to (carefully) check with yours if you are indeed using the originally supplied module. It may be a false alarm, mine definitely doesn't suffer from the fault, and maybe you're ditching the Flysky module in favour of Frsky like most people do in any case. According to the 9xforums guys, the issue is with later releases of the Turnigy/Flysky module, and reputely it sends servo centre instructions when it's powered up but not yet receiving valid ppm from the transmitter. Unfortunately I don't know how to identify the version change. Just thought I'd pass on the warning, and once again this relates to the module, not to the 9X transmitter or to any particular firmware version or train. Tony S

Posted by GrahamC on 31/12/2012 17:45:43: Impressive little beasty isn't it? I want one.

Posted by Tim Mackey on 30/12/2012 18:10:31: Exactly, and this has happened to me with a turnigy lipo tx pack.... as described in full in the thread Steve linked to earlier in this posting. Edited By Tim Mackey on 30/12/2012 18:13:29 I read that thread a little while ago, but unless I misunderstand there was a bad cell in that pack, so that was going to goose things even in the absence of the protection circuitry. If one cell is dead then the transmitter can't survive on the 3.7V remaining. Actually the same thing applies if the protection cut in due to an inbalance - if one cell's down to 2.5V then the pack is likely to be below working voltage anyway - I have my alarm set for 6.5V. The real risk with the protection circuitry is that it might malfunction and cut out when the voltage isn't out of range. It's a small risk but as there's no real benefit from the protection then I agree that it's better without. Tony S (much happier with this pack now I can do a proper balance charge)

Posted by Chris Bott - Moderator on 30/12/2012 10:24:39: The point Peter is that many (most?) LiPo chargers won't allow a balance charge without both balance and power cables attached. Tony wants to do this using just the balance connector. Correct, but I'm going off the idea now because I have both 2S and 3S batteries, so if I need to connect the correct harness each time then there's even more to plug in than normal. I had this idea (cloud cuckoo land) that I could leave it connected with a 2S and a 3S connector permanently available, with just one connection to make each time. I might make something just for 2S for the transmitter, so I can charge without taking the pack out, and I don't have to have a great XT60 connector cluttering up the battery compartment. I need to make some charging adapters anyway.