etxtomp@eos.ericsson.se (Tommy Petersson) (12/07/90)
I read about the HAM-E on the net and faxed my interest to Black Belt. They
sent me a nice-looking colour flyer, and since it was available and should
be working on a PAL machine, I ordered one.
The flyer told me:
What You Get:
The HAM-E itself...a three foot cable...a "wall-wart" type power supply...
a disk containing the paint and rendering software...a short manual
When I got the unit, there was not a power supply, but a note:
"When the HAM-E device is exported to many foreign countries, the power
supply that we have available here in the United States is not appropriate
for use. This is due to either the line voltage being different, or the
power line frequency being different.
In order to use HAM-E overseas, the user must provide their own power supply."
Further down:
"If either DC power is applied to the unit in reversed polarity or an AC power
supply is attached at all, the unit will be DESTROYED immediately and this is
not covered under warranty."
Great! For no extra charge they remove the promised power supply, since the
only available in US can't handle 220V 50Hz! You will have the oppurtunity to
decide for yourself exactly which PS you want (flexibility), and you also
have the added extra possibility of a "create-your-own-smoke-cloud".
I have two "wall-wart type" power supplies at home, but one is 15V only
(HAM-E needs 8-12V, otherwise it will likely start an atomic reaction) and
the other PS can't give as much as 1.25 amperes.
There ARE certainly power supplies that can handle 100-220V, 50-60Hz, which
is enough for most of the Amiga community, even in a seemingly outback
country as the US! If they at least had informed people in the flyer, or
given something off the price (which is anyway not so good for me, since
accessories are expensive here).
They let people send the goods back (for a refund, I hope), but I would
have to pay their and my shipping - $100...
I thought I at least should look what was included on the diskettes, and
look at a test picture to see how it looked without the HAM-E. I clicked
on a Icon, and got "You need Arp.library v39+"...
Seems like they are selling a kit, more than a product...
I will get in contact with them and keep You posted (as if You were
interested:-). Maybe Black Belt will read it here - they use to brag
about their product here (which may be a good product if I get all of it).
The free source codes for the programs were impossible to get on a disk
("Get a modem!"). I wonder how much that trans-atlantic down-load will
cost, especially since they seem to come out with new software revisions
twice a day...
Tommy Peterssonschweige@aldebaran.cs.nps.navy.mil (jeffrey schweiger) (12/07/90)
In article <1990Dec6.173548.11452@ericsson.se> etxtomp@eos.ericsson.se writes: [discussion about using Black Belt's HAM-E outside of the US deleted] >I will get in contact with them and keep You posted (as if You were >interested:-). Maybe Black Belt will read it here - they use to brag >about their product here (which may be a good product if I get all of it). >Tommy Petersson Are you sure of Black Belt's net access? I've seen other people post information regarding their products, but I haven't seen a posting from them on Usenet during the year and a half I've been reading comp.sys.amiga. Their online network support is primarily on CompuServe, with occasional presence on BIX. Jeff Schweiger -- ******************************************************************************* Jeff Schweiger Standard Disclaimer CompuServe: 74236,1645 Internet (Milnet): schweige@taurus.cs.nps.navy.mil *******************************************************************************
jnmoyne@lbl.gov (Jean-Noel MOYNE) (12/07/90)
In article <1990Dec6.173548.11452@ericsson.se> etxtomp@eos.ericsson.se (Tommy Petersson) writes: > I read about the HAM-E on the net and faxed my interest to Black Belt. They > sent me a nice-looking colour flyer, and since it was available and should > be working on a PAL machine, I ordered one. Do you mean that a Black-Belt you bought in the States works just fine in PAL, or do they actually have 2 different versions of the product ? I believe they are two different versions of the Black-Belt, and in this case they don't have a very responsible attitude. If you sell a PAL unit, then you know that the power supply will have to be 220V-50Hz. PAL is linked to the 50Hz ! So they should really provide you with a power suply. I'm sure the company they buy their suplys from are able to produce a 220v-50Hz model. As for the postings, I believe nobody from the company has a direct access to the news, but somebody is doing the link and relay between them and c.s.a. JNM -- These are my own ideas (not LBL's) " Just make it!", BO in 'BO knows Unix'
etxtomp@eos.ericsson.se (Tommy Petersson) (12/07/90)
In article <8438@dog.ee.lbl.gov> jnmoyne@lbl.gov (Jean-Noel MOYNE) writes: -In article <1990Dec6.173548.11452@ericsson.se> etxtomp@eos.ericsson.se -(Tommy Petersson) writes: -> I read about the HAM-E on the net and faxed my interest to Black Belt. -They -> sent me a nice-looking colour flyer, and since it was available and -should -> be working on a PAL machine, I ordered one. - - Do you mean that a Black-Belt you bought in the States works just -fine in PAL, or do they actually have 2 different versions of the product ? - I can't say for sure how well it works in PAL, since it doesn't work at all :-) :-( but according to Black Belt it is only one hardware version. This makes it less obvious that a power supply should be included, but that is no excuse for not telling in advance that it will not be included (and not making any price reduction). I have already paid for the Americans' postage (UPS ground is included in their $300, the same as I pay excluding air transport which is $55). I don't want to pay for their power supplies as well! - I believe they are two different versions of the Black-Belt, and -in this case they don't have a very responsible attitude. If you sell a -PAL unit, then you know that the power supply will have to be 220V-50Hz. -PAL is linked to the 50Hz ! So they should really provide you with a -power suply. I'm sure the company they buy their suplys from are able to -produce a 220v-50Hz model. A 220V-50Hz PS (or a more expensive 110-220V/50-60Hz PS) should not be impossible to find... It just costs an amount of money. Money I already think I've paid, so I want them to find it for me. - - As for the postings, I believe nobody from the company has a -direct access to the news, but somebody is doing the link and relay -between them and c.s.a. - Yes that is what I meant. A few months ago people started to compare DCTV and HAM-E (in favor of DCTV), and someone told them and also forwarded their view and some reasonable facts. I think there then has been at least two more postings with 'we' and 'our product' (one recently) that also has started to speak bad about the DCTV. My reasoning was that this may take place again. I will send a fax when I have time and when I find my notes on which digits AFAX stands for. (We only have digits in our numbers here, but US companies keep on giving their numbers using letters, even in these special note 'Sorry - no PS' that only goes to overseas customers). - JNM - --- -These are my own ideas (not LBL's) -" Just make it!", BO in 'BO knows Unix' Tommy Petersson
kdarling@hobbes.ncsu.edu (Kevin Darling) (12/09/90)
[ Forwarded from Ben Williams @BlackBelt <76004.1771@compuserve.com> ]: TO Tommy Peterson: The power supply issue is a rough one. Europe offers different voltages, different plugs to go in the wall, and a lower line frequency, which, for a wall wart, requires a larger, heavier unit. Rather than increase the price to the European customers, we elected not to try to handle the power supply issue here. The cost to you would be severe, in additional shipping costs and the extra cost to us of the more sophisticated power supply. The software policy has been changed; we've been convinced that it's going to have to be that way, even though the software is PD and can be found in many places besides our BBS... the fact is that many people don't have modems (believe it or not :^) So, you can get the software upgrades, for a $10 handling charge and whatever the shipping is to Europe for it. The ARP library was a bad mistake on our part. We were using SuperView... it crashes when it reads odd-length hunks, though, so we tried to find a good viewer to replace it with. We picked up "Mostra" from the net, and, since ARP was in the machine it was tested in, never realized that it required ARP. As a result, several hundred units went out with that idiot mistake (and idiot program) on them. Black Belt does not support the use of ARP in any way, shape or form, and we apologize for the mistake. Mostra is just a file viewer, though, so the images can still be shown by just about anything you can find. To the fellow who thought there are two versions of the HAM-E, PAL and NTSC. No, not so. There is one version, works with both systems. We remove the power supply, insert the notice, and ship the units. Email replies should go to Ben Williams at <76004.1771@compuserve.com>