EDM FM transmitter sale - two models available

[taybrynn]

This may be particulary interesting for newbies, like myself.

It might also be interesting to those not satisfied with their existing transmitter for whatever reason.

For those really new, a LOR show normally transmits the music to the viewers (typically in their cars) and they hear the music on their car stereos. The music is sync'd with the lights, using the LOR controllers and LOR software. You typically take the soundcard line out or a headphone out ... and hook it up to a FM transmitter and broadcast as low power on an unused (or very distant) FM frequency of your choice. Very often, you also build (or buy) a sign that tells the viewers what station to tune their radio to to listen to the lights.

If you are looking for a good transmitter for you LOR show next year, I have set up a bulk buy discount with EDM to get 10% off on their already competitively priced transmitters. A $8.50 shipping fee applies for any order and paypal is required (I think) ... but you can get into one of these for as little as a hundred bucks ... which is amazing for something that isn't junk. They sell hk units which also work on ebay for $50 + $60 shipping ... and they are known to work pretty well -- but for less, you can get something smaller, with the right amount of transmitt power (more safe to operate within FCC part15 rules), variable power options ... and with a excellent support and warranty. And most likely,you won't need any special (usually illegal) antenna either, because the included 1 meter 'test antenna' works great.

Yeah, I'm a little excited about these -- and for good reason -- they are the real deal and are priced lower than the EDM kits in most cases. And each transmitter kit comes with a metal case, regulated power supply, test antenna and has digital tuning and multiple power options ... 1 mW or 10 mW (LED) or 1-10mW or 2-100 mW (LCD). The LCD features are very similar to those found on the Ramsey FB30b ... but the price is about half (how they do it, I don't know).

In my testing thus far, I've found that the factory default 10mW setting on the LCD was plenty good and might actually need to be reduced for FCC compliance. I could either turn down the power or reposition my antenna to more of a ground place orientation. I'm using the included 1 meta whip antenna inside my home office and its plenty good, even at 10mW. And the sound is really good. Compared to my previous Panaxis ACC100 -- is the night and day better in several ways.

I recently found out about these from LP (low power) units from radio guys on LP radio boards ... and many of them used to use Ramsey transmitter before they discovered these gems. From there, I researched the heck out of these units and found nothing but good transmitters. And their support? Reminds me of LOR -- i.e. unmatched (excellent) ! And the warranty? 2 years ... I don't know who else offers that. Many of the radio guys I talked to said they had been using the LED in 24x7 service for 2+ years without issue. That says something about reliability. Apparently, their engineers use to design for military applications, so the designs are very robust. One thing that some people complain about with the Ramsey transmitters is the high componant failure rate, which leads to less satisfaction over time.

These are not as well known as their Ramsey counterparts, but I can assure you they are at least as good, if not better. Yes, these are probably not direct competition for a Ramsey FM100b, but certainly are great compared to a FM25b or FM30b. The quality and reliable of these units is great. I bought the LCD myself and find that it is everything (others) said it would be.

Unlike the Ramsey kits, even a soldering novice could assemble one in 20 minutes or less. I did mine, and have not touched a soldering iron in 20 years.

My thread on building the EDM LCD (shows how simple it is) --

http://planetchristmas.mywowbb.com/forum6/22473.html

The sale link over at PC --

http://planetchristmas.mywowbb.com/forum57/22413.html

To qualify, you need to be a PC member (most here already are) and just send me (taybrynn) a PM asking for the sale link.

The only catch is that once 10 units have been ordered, then the manufacturer ships them all out ... so a couple week delay is to be expected ... to achieve a 10 unit bulk ordering discount. Strange, I know.

This is not a scam -- just a good deal I wanted to tell others about. I hope it is ok to mention it over here in the LOR boards.





Look at my profile (here and on PC) and other posts, I'm not a salesman or anything -- I'm just excited about this find and wanted others to know. So rarely does a product get me excited enough to bother telling others. I've done some reviews on amazon, but usually only if a product is really special. I was convinced not long ago that I would need to buy either a FM30b or FM100b to have a good quality transmitter for my LOR show. With the discovery and subsequent purchase of my EDM LCD transmitter ... I just saved $100 in my LOR budget ... and still got a killer transmitter. Yeah, I bought a dud Panaxis ACC100 first and that was not worth the $100 I paid ... in fact, I would not have paid even $50 for that unit knowing what I know now. The only company that has products this cool is LOR. And the attitude and quality of support (at EDM) reminds me of LOR -- which I told them, is the biggest compliment I could ever give them!

I did negotiate this discount deal with EDM, after terrypowerz suggested we ask for a discount ... and as a newbie, yeah, I was shocked that I pulled it off. But EDM seemed to want our business, so this sale is a way of seeing if we would give them a chance.

I've seen be active in their yahoo group and their support (and response times) are phenominal. I've even seen questions asked at 9pm ... and then get an answer in under an hour?

Regards,

Scott / taybrynn

p.s. I ask they you try and limit your posts on the thread to direct discussion of this sale and/or the products featured in the sale. That just makes it a lot more relevant to those reading this later on.

[taybrynn]

Jeff, yes these are really good values. Especially for anyone just getting started with LOR. I know you also love your new HK transmitter. People need to know that there are alternatives to Ramsey ... and that doesn't mean Ramsey is bad, or owners of Ramsey units should change if they are happy.

This just in from EDM support, regarding static considerations:

NO damage will be done to the RF stage of our kits by touching the antenna with the normal static body charge often present in dry conditions. We never had this problem or anyone complaining about this before. We had a few problems in the past were people used the unit on full power with a faulty shorted external antenna or with even no antenna connected for long periods. This can be classified as negligence or abuse of the unit and failures should be expected to occur.

[taybrynn]

Update: We are over half way there with the first group of confirmed transmitter orders.

This means that anyone ordering now will only have to wait ~ half as long, since we are only 4-5 orders shy of the 10 required to satisfy our bulk ordering discount.

After the first 10+ orders is satified, then the deal resets itself ... so this would be a good time, if your thinking about getting in on this discount.

We just had our first report back from another PC member yesterday who ordered a EDM transmitter recently ... and it was a short, positive report.

http://planetchristmas.mywowbb.com/forum6/22086-4.html
(near the bottom of the page)

The link (below) is a write up I did on how easy this kits are to build / assemble. By comparison, a competitor assembly thread was 3-4 pages long. This is a single post, if that tells you anything about the difficultly, or lack thereof.

Let's build an EDM LCD transmitter:
http://planetchristmas.mywowbb.com/forum6/22473.html

Here is a picture of my cat, showing the compact size of the EDM LCD.

[taybrynn]

So what version are you using? So did the FCC shut them down for importing assembled units or something?

I thought I would post a picture here of the EDM power control switch (red) and variable power control. (light blue).

On the LED model, you have only a switch, to select either 1mW or 10mW operation.

On the LCD model (shown below), you have a switch to select either 1-10mW or 2-100mW operation. The light blue dial adjusts the power and the red switch determines the power mode to use. I believe the switch in the position shown (in the picture below) is for low power 1-10 operation.

[taybrynn]

FYI

We are getting pretty close to satisfying the first 10 batch on the LCD.

If your thinking about getting in on this discount, this would be a good time to get in.:cool:

[Dennis Cherry]

taybrynn wrote:

FYI

We are getting pretty close to satisfying the first 10 batch on the LCD.

If your thinking about getting in on this discount, this would be a good time to get in.:cool:

How many more LCD units do you need?

[JimCanfield]

We only need 1 more!

taybrynn wrote:

Ok, we officially need just 1 more LCD to get to ten.

If that happens today, I am told they would ship all orders out by the middle of next week.

[taybrynn]

We reached out first 10 late Friday.

The first batch of orders should ship out Tuesday or Wednesday this week.

The deal remains for those interested in getting in on the next batch of 10.

Thanks for your patience to those who ordered.

Scott

[taybrynn]

FYI.

Send me a PM if your interested in purchasing an EDM transmitter at the PC group buy rates.

Folks from round 1 should be getting their transmitters within the next week.

The total wait for round 1 was 2 weeks and 1 day. This batch could be longer, since this week was dead ... to be expected, following the gloomy news on the economy and bear sterns buyout.

We have 2 or 3 interested in round 2 thus far and about 10 or 11 the inquired in round 1 but held off buying.

This is a good deal folks. Check the above graphic for the sale prices. You'll save a lot over a Ramsey, get equal or better quality and support and put it together in only 15 minutes.

Scott

[taybrynn]

Jeff,

Folks from the first group buy have been getting their EDM transmitters over the last 2-3 days. So far the response seems to be all positive from those who have posted followups.

The first buy took 2 week and 1 day to fill ... but the second round is going much slower so far. Only one confirmed order of 10 thus far.

I would suspect with folks getting theirs and testing them, writing about them etc ... that there could be some renewed interest for folks like yourself, who might also have something good, but may be looking for a backup or upgrade unit ...

If your only looking for a backup transmitter, the LED might also fit the bill at $112 shipped. Its a little older than the LCD model, but quite competent from what I have heard about it.

Scott

[JimCanfield]

I got my LCD transmitter today and looks very easy to assemble, I just need help in soldering it. So when my frined gets time I willlet you allknow how it goes.

[taybrynn]

Thanks Jim.

I probably should have had someone solder mine for me as well!

I am probably the worst person to solder in Colorado ... my hands shook the entire time ... but it still turned out fine somehow.

The EDM had only 3 points to solder (on the LCD) and 2 on the LED. That was my main reason for trying it ... because I could do it, having little to no soldering ability at all.

[portcity]

impressed with mine. testing produced good results. easy to solder, even though ive never soldered. easy to setup. ive never used a device like this to compare to, but i like it. im thinking about ordering another on this second batch for a spare. just my .02 for what its worth

[taybrynn]

Thanks for the update. I, like you, had basically no experience soldering ... and accomplished the EDM kit assembly in 15 minutes.

The sale is currently in batch#2. The first batch took 2 weeks a 1 day to fill. Then the shipping is typically 10-12 days after that. Perhaps longer if your in Canada.

That means any verified member can PM me for the sale link and get this great deal on a great transmitter ...

EDM transmitters carry a full 2 year warranty and excellent support. They also have an EDM group on yahoo which is very helpful. The failure rate on these units is extremely low and they are not affected easily by static, as other transmitters may be.

http://lightorama.mywowbb.com/pm.php?send_to=taybrynn

Order go through in batches of 10, so after 10 confirmed orders are placed ... all 10 ship together. That part does require some patience, but most group buys are this way. PC, LOR or DIYC members qualify for this deal.

[taybrynn]

Half way to 10 on batch#2 ... if interested, order in the next week. PM me for details.

[taybrynn]

Update on the batch#2 status:



Just 5 more orders needed on the LCD to reach 10 ...

[hobbes]

Taybrynn,

I will be ordering an LCD unit but I first need to find a new job. Hard to spend money when nothing is coming in. I will send you a PM when I am ready. Hopefully it will be soon.

tom.

[taybrynn]

Thanks -- thats very understandable ... good luck in your job hunt .

You seem VERY talented based on what I've seen on your website and read about on this board. I'm personally enjoying your power-usage spreadsheet but have been lazy in getting the power mapping completed so I can use it properly.

Have I already sent you a PM with the EDM ordering information yet? If not, PM me and I'll send you that information so you have it when the time is right.

Here is the latest update on batch#2 of the group/bulk transmitter buy --- were at 6 of 10 orders (on the LCD) ... and one more is likely in the next day.



Regards,

Scott / taybrynn

[taybrynn]

Only 2 more LCD orders needed -- if you have been thinking about getting in on a great transmitter deal ... this is the perfect time.

[taybrynn]

Folks, only 1 more order needed to make 10 !!!

The next 24 hours would be the best time to order, if you want in on
the current batch ... pm me if your interested.