Nonick22 Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 At the last minute last year I purchased an FM Transmitter from hobbytron.com. I paid extra for overnight service. I received the transmitter the next day in a very beat-up box. I setup and used the transmitter and found some issues with it. I contacted Lynda at Hobbytron (she is there Fm Transmitter expert). She felt I may have had a bad transmitter. They said I could send it to them and they would fix it and return it to me. This would not work since I needed it for my display that started that weekend. Se we agreed that I could buy a second transmitter and have it shipped 2day and then return the original one for a refund of the purchase price minus the shipping. I agreed and bought the second one. Just before Christmas I send the first one back. I’m sure they got it over the holiday break. Last week I contacted Lynda and she told me they got the transmitter back and I would get my refund back by the end of the week last week or Monday of this week. Now it’s the end of the day on Thursday and still no refund. I called the company and was sent to a voice mail box that was full or just put on hold for ever. I cannot get a response for them at all about the status of my refund. When I send a message via email I get an autoresponse that said they will look at my message in the next few days. This is unacceptable and I recommend that people find a different place to get your transmitters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LightORamaDan Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Nonick22 wrote: At the last minute last year I purchased an FM Transmitter from hobbytron.com. I paid extra for overnight service. I received the transmitter the next day in a very beat-up box. I setup and used the transmitter and found some issues with it. I contacted Lynda at Hobbytron (she is there Fm Transmitter expert). She felt I may have had a bad transmitter. They said I could send it to them and they would fix it and return it to me. This would not work since I needed it for my display that started that weekend. Se we agreed that I could buy a second transmitter and have it shipped 2day and then return the original one for a refund of the purchase price minus the shipping. I agreed and bought the second one. Just before Christmas I send the first one back. I’m sure they got it over the holiday break. Last week I contacted Lynda and she told me they got the transmitter back and I would get my refund back by the end of the week last week or Monday of this week. Now it’s the end of the day on Thursday and still no refund. I called the company and was sent to a voice mail box that was full or just put on hold for ever. I cannot get a response for them at all about the status of my refund. When I send a message via email I get an autoresponse that said they will look at my message in the next few days. This is unacceptable and I recommend that people find a different place to get your transmitters.Please keep us upto date. I have recommened hobbytron 100s of times so I would like to see how this turns out. I hope that your check or credit is in the mail!Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonick22 Posted January 17, 2008 Author Share Posted January 17, 2008 Dan, I will keep you and the rest of the community up to date. The transmitter I got was the R-FM25B-WT by Ramsy. The problem I had was with one song I had during some chimes the sound would get very distorted. I tried several sources of the same song (the computer, CD player and mp2 player) and always got the same result. When played thru any other speakers it played fine and a different transmitter I had (not a powerful enough one) it worked fine. The second one I got gave me the same trouble. I sent the song to Lynda and she played it on the transmitter I returned and said she did not have an issue. Has anyone had an issue where a specific song will not play properly on a certain transmitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 It is possible that the levels during the chimes on that song are too high, and that the FM transmitter is clipping.. If using a headphone or line out on your computer, as a quick check you can turn down the volume on the PC, and see if that portion sounds better. If that turns out to be the case, you could open that file in your favorite audio editing package and adjust the levels down. Then the volume on the rest of your songs would not be impacted, and this one song would avoid clipping. It is quite possible that something like a Belkin Tunecast with an intended 10 foot range might easily allow for higher FM modulation than would be reasonable to allow when transmitting a couple hundred feet. - KevinEdit:One more thought is that I don't think the FM25 has the low pass input filter that the FM100 and FM30B have. If the chimes have a lot of high frequency energy that was not filtered out at some point, it could interact with the 19KHz stereo carrier and have some really odd results, no matter what the levels were. This could be tested by running through an audio package with equalizer or low pass filter capability and remove all the content over about 15KHz.. Probably excessive to chop it off that low, but it should be good for testing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonick22 Posted January 17, 2008 Author Share Posted January 17, 2008 -klb- wrote: It is possible that the levels during the chimes on that song are too high, and that the FM transmitter is clipping.. If using a headphone or line out on your computer, as a quick check you can turn down the volume on the PC, and see if that portion sounds better. If that turns out to be the case, you could open that file in your favorite audio editing package and adjust the levels down. Then the volume on the rest of your songs would not be impacted, and this one song would avoid clipping. It is quite possible that something like a Belkin Tunecast with an intended 10 foot range might easily allow for higher FM modulation than would be reasonable to allow when transmitting a couple hundred feet. - KevinThanks for you reply. I did check the levels. even with very low volume I still had the same issue. I was thinking that maybe the very high notes in the song were above some level that the transmitter could handle but lynda from hobbytron said no. I did try an iriver transmitter. the sound was perfect but the distance would not let me hear it outside the front yard. And it was only the one spot in the one song. everything else was good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan.a Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I ordered the ux222 last year. lasted about one song. than had a meltdown. got no where calling hobbytron, claimed it worked in thier company. they claimed I used the wrong power supply. daaa they gave me the power cord. went back to the belkin for the rest of the season.http://lightorama.mywowbb.com/forum80/14560.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Looking at Marty Slack's web site, he posts a comparison of the different model transmitters. I believe the line for advanced audio filtering is the filter to cut out frequencies that would interfere with the 19KHz stereo pilot frequency. (down near the bottom) It appears that the FM25 does not include this filter.http://www.christmasutah.com/FMtransmitters.htmlUnfortunately I can't predict what this interaction would sound like... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Blessing Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 OK, Just thought I would add my thoughts (again)Last year when it came time to figure out how to transmit on FM I also ended up at Hobby Tron for my purchase. I Live chatted with someone who then gave me Lynda's number and extension. I talked with her twice before purchaseing the UX-450,... less than $100.00... Plug it in... pick your channel... that was it. Worked great for me and I was greatful for her assistance.I am thinking there must be more to this misunderstanding, and that Hobby Tron will (or is ) take care of you. Give it a couple more days.Please post how this ends, I would like to know. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NkySpike65 Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 Read my comment, it's the 7th one down, and the 22nd also...http://lightorama.mywowbb.com/forum80/14560.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-klb- Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 I missed that 22nd post the first time around.. Beeping twice, and a lock light, but no display is usually a contrast adjustment that is not correct. Remove the back bezel, slide the top of the case off, and on the back of the front display/button board is a trimmer resistor. Power the unit up with the board still in the base of the case, and adjust this trimmer until the display is readable. Sorry the info is not in time to help you. - Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NkySpike65 Posted January 17, 2008 Share Posted January 17, 2008 That' ok... I got a hold of Marty Slack and he was able to get one for me in plenty of time..."THANK YOU MARTY!!!" I just say that enough, Marty is a great guy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonick22 Posted January 18, 2008 Author Share Posted January 18, 2008 Well after trying all day to get a hold of someone at Hobbytron I decided to post the first message here. Not sure if it was a coincidence or not but an hour after posting the message here I got a response via email that they would refund the money in the next 2 to 3 days. I will let you all know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NkySpike65 Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Good luck, my friend... I did get my money back also, it just took some time...Did they tell you, " That's our best selling product, We never had one return before.."After the second unit was sent back, I told Lynda I just want my money back... She ask me just try one more unit because they don't like giving money back... It's not our policy to give money back, but will exchange it...I told her if the third one I get is bad I expect my money back with no problem, she said OK... Like I said before, It was bad...As soon As I got my money I got a hold of Marty, to order one from him...When I got the Ramsey FM30 from Marty, I was a little nervous when I power everything up... Not really knowing what this unit was capable of, because having three bad units before...With everything on I went out to my car. I was totally blow away how great it all sounded and how far I was able to drive and still hear everything so prefect and clear...Just remember the Ramsey transmitters are really great, It's who ever builds them determines how great they will preform..Nonick22 I would tell you as soon as you get your money back get a hold of Marty, but from some of the post I have read around here say that Marty doesn't make or sale the kits any more... But he will refer to someone he trust that will make the kit you need...Like I said, " Good Luck "... David S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iresq Posted January 18, 2008 Share Posted January 18, 2008 Marty recommended John Friese. He is receiving good feedback on PC. I won't post his email but it can be found http://planetchristmas.mywowbb.com/forum6/20639.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Hamilton Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 Not problems here with Hobbytron and I've bought a dozen things from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NkySpike65 Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 I'm just saying " do not buy a kit that was built by them"...The product they sell, I can't say anything about...Now as far as the quality of the kits they build and turn around and sale to you and me, "They Sucks"... I know I had three of them...You can find many other people here as well as others from PC forum that will back up what I am saying...Like I have said before, " Ramsey transmitters are really great, It's who ever builds them determines how great they will preform "...From all the post that I have read ( going all the way back to 2005 ) HobbyTron is the only company that people have mention buy name, that they have problems with the Ramsey prebuilt (built by HobbyTron ) transmitters right out of the box...I'm just letting people know what to expect from them, because of mine and others who have dealt with them...If I did my research before I ordered form them... You would not be reading this, because I would have known to go else where for quality in workmanship...The first time I powered my Ramsey FM30 that I got from Marty it work " Perfectly", because the quality was there when he built it...People can buy a prebuilt Ramsey kit from anybody they want to... But before you buy it you better research and see what others my have to say about that company, so you know what you are getting yourself into... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nonick22 Posted January 26, 2008 Author Share Posted January 26, 2008 Well I did get my money back and have settled all the issues I had open with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NkySpike65 Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 That's really good to hear... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NkySpike65 Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 Jeff, I respect what you're saying... Sorry, if I came off sounding like "Ramsey" is god like...Was tired and venting from bad experience from dealing with them ( H T ) ...Could you give me the link you were talking about for the transmitter...Thanks..David S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffF Posted January 27, 2008 Share Posted January 27, 2008 Jeff Millard wrote: In another Thread about this subject I posted a link to the vendor I used to purchase a pre-made FM transmitter. It has performed flawlessly and was about 1/4 the cost.JeffI ended up going with one of those "other" transmitters and I'm about as happy as I could be. Sorry for your Ramsey trouble Jeff, but thanks for posting the eBay link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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