Granted I ordered it Friday afternoon, but once it was picked up it sat in the UPS place over the weekend, and then took TWO DAYS to get to Loveland, where it sat for another 24 hours before they put it on a truck to bring up here.
I'm not mad at the seller, or the driver, but UPS, as a whole, seems to have gotten pretty sucky lately. I was sent shipping notices, including the dreaded "Delayed" notice, but as much as I hate driving to Denver, the next time I need something from HRO, I'm tempted to just drive down there and pick it up.
And after receiving damaged goods packed and shipped by a UPS "store", I never use them. FedEx has always been my first choice, and will remain so, but sometimes you don't have that option when you buy something on-line.
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Being nearly computer illiterate, I find trying to use the online tracking difficult not to mention trying to let them know the delivery address is incorrect. The local franchise that handles UPS are great - no complains. The local FedEx office is staffed by arrogant assholes. The company for whom I am an agent uses FedEx. For my personal needs I find the old USPS works as well.
ReplyDeleteI send small things via USPS Priority Mail. Medium to large stuff goes FedEx. Your local FedEx office sounds like it's run by the same people that ran the AutoZone in Long Beach.
DeleteI order lots of things online. I have found that both FedEx and UPS are both equally capable of screwing the pooch.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but the few times FedEx messed up they made good on it for me as a shipper, and as a recipient. Trying to get UPS to pay a claim can get perilously close to "Lawyer Time".
DeleteA month ago, I ordered a couple of single-18650 "power banks" for emergency USB charging of phones or tablets. The company was in Jupiter, Florida and the USPS promised delivery in 3 days (would have been Saturday) The next day, the post office shifted that to Monday: 5 days. Chances are very few people know where that is, but it's less than 100 miles south of me. I could ride my bike there one day and ride back the next. I could walk there and back in 5 days. But the need wasn't urgent so no big deal.
ReplyDeleteOn Monday, no batteries. I look up the tracking number and the batteries were tracked as going to Pittsburgh, PA. Pittsburgh? WTF? The box went to Palm Beach, then Orlando, and instead of coming the ~70 miles to me, it went to Pittsburgh. I honestly started watching the tracking system to see if they would go to Anchorage next.
I had the batteries by Thursday of that week, instead of Monday (which was already delayed). Their only adventure was to see Pittsburgh, then come back to Orlando, then to us. Not a big deal; it's not like I had nothing to charge the phone with without them, it was just bizarre.
I bet that happens all the time, and nobody knew about it until the tracking numbers were developed.
I've sent a couple of small items that just flat disappeared once they went into the USPS system.
Deleteha! consider yerself lucky. my rifle stock sat four days waiting pick up, came halfway across the country in two, then sat in greensboro for 5 days before being delivered yesterday, sticking 3 feet out of my mailbox. thanked my stars it wasn't purloined. usps, nuff said.
ReplyDeleteAnd they LOSE MONEY every, single year they operate.
DeleteUPS has in my area is a pain. We have 5 acres and a closed gate at the front. UPS often does not show up on the day they say they will so we can't leave the gate open every day expecting them to show up. Even with the gate open they generally just dump the packages by the front gate if they are too large for our clearly marked package delivery box. Often, even if the box will fit the delivery box, they just dump it on the ground. FedEx is better. They will come back to our house and leave the package if the gate is open. There was an exception this past Saturday. My IC-9700 was supposed to have arrived Friday the 25th. It didn't but they sent an email saying it would be here Monday the 28th. My mother-in-law found the box on the delivery box since it wouldn't fit in it on Saturday. Well, at least nobody stole it. Not many "porch pirates" out here in rural Texas as we don't deal nicely with them.
ReplyDeleteOOoooohhhh....a 9700!!! That's about the only current Icom radio I'd consider because....SATELLITES!
DeleteGlad you received it without incident. Who'd you buy it from?
I got it from DX Engineering in June 2020. I thought I might get out of paying state tax (clearing throat) rather than buying from HRO that has a store in Plano, Texas. Also they still had the $200 rebate on it so I paid $1499.00 for it. This trip in shipping was to get a minor problem with the screen fixed before the warranty ran out.
DeleteI have just about got my initial satellite set up ready. I just haven't erected the crossed Moxons for 2 m and 70 cm since I finally got the matching correct. I bought preamp kits for the bands from Mini-Kits in Australia. I will go without them and see what happens. When I get the preamps built, I will add them into the system. The kits are a mix of through hole and surface mount components.
I'm still trying to figure out a way to kick my hindquarters up to my shoulders for selling my Yaesu FT-847. All I ever used it for was satellites, and it worked flawlessly.
DeleteYou definitely NEED preamps if you're running omni antennas for satellites. I tried several different omnis (EggBeater, Turnstyle, QFHA) and the only one that worked "As Advertised" were the Lindenblad antennas I built. All the other omnis have too much gain overhead, and not enough on the horizon, where the path length is longest and you need some gain.
You should also run the best feedline you can get your hands on. I used Davis RF "Bury-Flex" which was the first of the low-loss "RG-8 Size" cables. Now I use the DX Engineering "400 MAX" cable. The line loss on UHF will kill you, even if you use a preamp. Next door Ham neighbor got all excited when he found out I was an "AMSAT Guy", as he was trying to get started with satellites. He has two QFHA antennas, NO preamps, and 75' of Times Microwave LMR-240 UltraFlex cable between his rig and antennas. He wondered why he couldn't hear ANYTHING.
I've been there, done that, and wasted a ton of money. There are things that work, and things that don't work, regardless of what some magazine article, website, or sales person will tell you.
Let me know how your station progresses, and don't be surprised if you find yourself on the elusive "Station Upgrade Merry-Go-Round"!
I've got 50' of an RG-8 class cable from "The Wireman" that is just a bit better than LMR-400. It has a solid center conductor. With 50' of DXE 400MAX, I can hear satellites on my Ringo Ranger.
DeleteYes, I would really like an Az-El rotator with crossed Yagi antennas on it but I don't think the XYL would appreciate the price. They are hard to find used.
You have good feedline, and that's great.
DeleteGee.....I have two used but not abused Yaesu Az/El rotors sitting in the garage. My third one is in my 8' semi-portable tower. I dug the garage ones out because I have numerous control boxes, and need to test all of them before I sell them (hint-hint)........
it has been useful to maintain a box at the UPS Store for receiving high value items, and things like metal bars.
ReplyDeleteYep. When I lived in SoCal I had a private PO Box I used for all my shipping and receiving.
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