thejster

Hi,

Now that makes sense. I used my earthlink account. Next time I will ask to use my brother's server. In the mean time, I think I'll get a triton.

Thanks....jj

lennyk

My Feedback: (12)

You could also use a direct mailing program like the spammers and send it directly from your computer to the att mail server, instead of sending it from your computer to your mail server which then sends it to the att mail server.

Sailor

My Feedback: (1)

You could, but you would need to know the IP or DNS host of their mail server, which may or may not be exposed directly to the internet.

lennyk

My Feedback: (12)

Not too hard to find out, there are lots of websites for non-techies to do this for troubleshooting internet problems.
I got my 2 Alpha's using this method.

Aero330LX

My Feedback: (-1)

LOL! Ya know...I see this about every 6 months and laugh my butt off everytime I see one of these threads on this charger. I mean it's just rediculous. I find it amazing that people actually do buisness with this place. For one thing, I've never seen a bigger fiasco in my life than this e-mail scam that Litco is running, and for another, if this thing is so good, and there is that much call for it why don't they simply increase the number they are building to keep up demand? It don't take a rocket scientist to figure out if you have high demand for a product you need to increase the number of units produced to keep up with it. People can't buy something that don't exist, and like alot of these folks that aren't able to get one because of the e-mail scam...they usually get pissed and go elsewhere which is what they should have done in the first place. Maybe it's time everybody sent a message to this company and boycotted them until they can get it together. Who knows? Maybe they don't wanna be in buisness anymore. Right now, it doens't look they are are in buisness anyway. It just looks like they wanna play games with people. I can't belive there is so much hype about an old technology charger. It only charges NiCd's which are steadily becoming obsolete. The charger uses '70's technology in it. One look inside one and you'd think you were looking inside a 25 year old TV. I've seen this charger up close, and yeah it's a good one, but there's nothing special about it. It's wayyyyy overpriced also. I bet that guy is laughing all the way to the bank! There are chargers much better made, and that have much higher level programming with better SMT technology guts that will do darn near the same thing for 1/2 the price even if you had to buy two to get the outputs. I'm just curious why people go through all the hassle just to get a charger that is good when there are others just as good if not better that in one phone call you can have on the way to your doorstep. No lottery scams, no down payments, no broadband supercomputers with timed e-mail functions needed. Just regular buisness. I've never seen somebody take something so damned simple and make it so friggen anal...it's just rediculous.

dannydaville

My Feedback: (11)

You lost in the lottery, eh?

Aero330LX

My Feedback: (-1)

No, not at all. Actually I don't even use NiCd's...even if I did I wouldn't even consider doing buisness with a place that pulls that kind of BS. I just don't understand why folks are getting involved in that scam when there are better chargers out there that can be had without all the hassle. Like I said, I've seen these things, and even had one in my hand...there's really nothing special about them. The bigest thing I wonder about though is why people are paying so much for something that they won't be able to use in a few years. It would be different if this were cutting edge technology, but it's far from it.

Aero330LX

My Feedback: (-1)

BTW, has anybody ever thought about what the odds of getting one fixed would be if they had it go on the blink? If they are near impossible to purchase, just think of what the odds would be on getting one fixed. Who knows? They probably have an essay contest for that... "Who Can Blow The Most Sunshine About Why People Will Wait Three Years To Buy My Overpriced Charger." The winner would get their charger serviced and the rest would just be SOL I guess...makes about as much sense doesn't it. LOL! Some things never cease to amaze me. At least it's comical. I do have that much to say for it.

sfaust

My Feedback: (11)

I see you fell prey to the NiCds are drying up and won't be around much longer rumor. Even so, the Alpha does NiMh. The current RC market is 90% (guess but probably damn close) NiCd and NiMH, and will be for the foreseeable future. Regardless of the NiCd rumor, I wish I could agree with you, but I can't. Even as much as I hate Litco's business practices, they hit a niche market that no one else has been able to touch. You can not find a comparable product for the same price. I happen to fall into the niche market, so I know first hand the need many pilots face, and ultimately fall prey to. Yea, he may be laughing all the way to the bank, and his practices may look strange from the outside. But, he is happily making money doing what he wants to do, all the while keeping is business small, lean, and simple, with buyers beating down his door. A dream business for sure. From what I remember, I think I was told he either does 16 units a week, or 160 units a quarter. Repairs aren't an issue. He keeps replacement units in stock for immediate replacement, and the one he repaired for me was turned around within two weeks. So service really isn't the issue, its just the order process that's a pain in the @$$.

As much as I hated going through the process of buying one, it was far less hassle than the 'trying to avoid buying one' stage I went through. I spent 3 times the price of an Alpha 4 trying to find a workable solution to my battery charging woes rather than buy the Alpha 4. Thats more hassle and cost than if I just took the 5 minutes to send an e-mail at 9:00 on the morning the list opened, and went to the bank to get a bank check rather than a credit card. Actually, it was much easier than I anticipated. So much so that I started getting on the list and buying units for friends that asked me. In all, I purchased 7 units and kept 3. I sold all the other units for what I paid for them to my friends with the exception of one which I sold at auction since I ran out of fiends in need. They were all giant scale fliers as well, and the place I see the Alphas the most is at giant scale events. Rarely do I see them at local fields.

The Alpha 4 chargers are a perfect fit for the giant scale airplanes with multiple batteries. Most use redundant receiver batteries, and a ignition battery. Others also add a separate smoke system battery. That puts the majority of the giant scale airplanes with 3 or 4 batteries. With two planes, thats 8 batteries for the airplanes and a transmitter. Now, consider the IMAC or IMAA pilot is at an event with two airplanes. He flies them both during the day, and needs to charge them for the next days activities. With a single charger, he will need to run back and forth from his hotel room about 8 times during the night to move the charger from battery to battery to get everything charged. Not a viable solution in anyones opinion. With two chargers, he cuts that down to 4 times during the night, but still not very feasible if he wants to get any sleep at all. With 4 chargers, he could probably get one charged during the evening after packing up and during dinner, and switch to the other so it will charge while he sleeps. Thats at least feasible, but still not ideal.

But, 4 chargers cost quite a bit more than an Alpha 4. The relationship that one Alpha 4 charger can charge one airplane is better than needing 4 chargers just to charge the same airplane. Its far more convenient, as well as nearly half the cost.

With two Alphas, the pilot can just hook up all 8 charge leads to both of his airplanes when he packs the airplanes at the field, and bring the transmitter to the hotel/RV and charge it on a wall wart.In the morning, everything will be ready for a full day of flying. Simple, cheaper, convenient. Took all of say 5 minutes to plug in the leads and start the charging process. Much better than running back and forth all night tending to the charge process.

Here is the challenge that us giant scale pilots are constantly giving ourselves. Find a single charger, or even four separate chargers, that will do the following for less than $275.

Charge NiCd
Charge NiMh
Charge wet/gel cells
Fast charge with peak,then trickle
Slow charge with peak,then trickle
Trickle charge
Automatic charge with peak, then trickle
Fast charge, timed, then trickle
Slow charge, times, then trickle
Give you capacity readouts for discharge cycle
(doesn't need a voltmeter, we can buy separate)

So far, after searching for a few years, and exchanging notes on all new chargers that hit the market, we have turned up empty. We can get bits and pieces, or even cobble together 4 chargers or two dual charges to get close, but still at a much higher price and far less convenience.

I would like nothing more than to knock Litco off their perch, but I can't. I've got a Miniron charger on order that is basically a Alpha clone. However, even at that, its $70 more and you still have to wait for it. It has 5 ports and a 2amp rate, but is a sequential charger, and not simultaneous. It has merit, and I bought one to evaluate it, but I won't sell one of my Alpha's quite yet.

Whether its outdated technology or not, they Alpha can't be beat for giant scale airplanes as far as price, performance, and convenience to the pilot. In a nutshell, "Why the big deal over the charger?" For IMAC and IMAA pilots, its allows us to sleep at night!

lennyk

My Feedback: (12)

I wouldn't say he is using old technology, if you look inside you will see that it is basically some kind of microprocessor which he would have written the programming code in a proprietary manner and burned onto the chips himself, this microprocessor interfaces and controls a few other devices(capacitors, transistors etc)

This is architecture is not any different than the controller in your microwave, tv remote, auto ecu and so on.

Look inside any other commercial charger and you will see similar components except that theirs would be surface mount due to the mass produced nature.
In fact a non smt unit is probably easier to fix and trouble shoot than an smt unit.

microprocessor programming is now easily available to home users who can write code on their personal computer and burn it themselves, this is something that was in the realm of industry users only before. Do a search fo atmel or pic microprocessors and see how much information comes up.

I would say that he was actually ahead of the market for a long time and the market has now almost caught up yet still doesn't have a competing product.

He SHOULD upgrade the tacky keypad and put in a battery of some sort to offer stored memory of settings.

dannydaville

My Feedback: (11)

I agree with Sfaust when he says Litco wants to keep the business small, lean and simple. My father started a business after retirement making gas analyzers of his own design for major corporations throughout the world. These units, used in fire prevention, were made in his basement by hand. He built maybe 3 or 4 units a month at a retail price of about $3,000 per unit Other companies also made similar analyzers but couldn't do it nearly as cheaply or with as high a quality as my father did because they had salaries to pay, benefits, etc. and production line assemblies. He kept the quality high and his cusomers happy. All he ever wanted was to augment his meager pension and refused outside demands that he expand his business so that more and more could benefit from his product. "I'm retired" he would say. "I don't want to go back to the 60 hour work week!" My father never wanted for customers and I don't think Litco will either.

Let's give the Litco company a break here. He has a fine product and I for one don't want to see the quality diminish. The only apparent reason I see people bashing this product is because of frustration at trying to get one, not because of what it can or can't do. I own an Alfa4 that I paid $350 for NIB and it is worth every penny TO ME. I have a second one coming in April 04. I like the product alot, but if I didn't, I sure as heck would get another product that I thought might be better. If you really want one then take your chances on the lottery or pay an inflated price to someone else who has one. Its up to you.

Blixsim

Well, I hit the send button at 09h00 and missed the list again, three years now. One thing I can say tho, when litco ups the software to include Lithium programs then there will be an awfull lot of redundant alpha4's out there with no resale value whatsoever

Blixsim

sideshow

My Feedback: (11)

That's not gonna happen. I believe the gentleman who makes them is past retirement age and makes them in very small quantities...and is happy with the size of his business. There is no reason for him to change it...he has people beating down his door every six months trying to get a charger.

Steve is right, after more than ten years of people complaining about the A4 and it's ordering process, there is still nothing like it. It's not really a field charger, and it won't do lithiums. Many have said that they are coming out with "alpha 4 killers"....no one has yet. It's perfect for airplanes with multiple packs.

Another note. I really think those who have not been able to get one may have some kind of ISP mail problem, as was pointed out earlier. I have gotten on the list everytime I have tried.

edit for spelling

Josey Wales

My Feedback: (61)

I have a question..Would the Alpha be overkill for someone who just flies your basic .60-1.20 size planes?? I understand why those that fly the big ones would need it with all the extra packs that they need. But for your average flyer like me would it be worth spending the $$?? Not trying to cause trouble..just would like an honest answer..

sfaust

My Feedback: (11)

An honest answer would be, 'not really'. With that said, if you had a large stable of airplanes, and needed to charge say 4 airplanes overnight and wanted then all ready in the morning, then quite possibly. Think in terms of how many batteries you typically maintain or charge at a given time. If you are always swapping the charger around and it interferes with dinner, evening activities, or you find yourself staying up later waiting for the charger to finish so you can move it to another plane/battery before going to bed, then it might be worth the cost. If your current charger blends in nicely with your normal routine, then the Alpha won't buy you very much.

You can also look at it this way. When a giant scale airplane goes up, its 4 batteries that need to be maintained, or equal to 4 sport airplanes with a single battery. If a sport pilot flies 4 airplanes in a given day, and wants them all topped off and charged in the morning, they are no different than the giant scale pilot as far as charger needs go. You can use that as sort of a yard stick.

sideshow

My Feedback: (11)

Beyond just charging airborne packs.....it does everything, except lithiums. So if you were gonna fly your single pack airplane tomorrow, you could charge the airplane's pack, your gel cell, Tx pack and your glow igniter.....all at the same time. Set it up, go to bed and take your topped off packs to fly. I think that is one of it's greatest uses.

sfaust

My Feedback: (11)

Damn.... Forgot all about those glow ignitors, gell cells, etc. Talk about disconnected from reality []

KevinSheen

Ya, same day service for me. I called Peter, left a message, he returned my call that afternoon, it turned out that I just needed to 'reset' mine.


Kevin

TopShelf

My Feedback: (4)

Redrum,

I am the flyer you speak of and own an alpha 4. I sold off my other chargers to help pay for it and have not regretted my decision. As already mentioned, I can hook all my stuff up and once in the truck when I go to work in the morning and everthing is in tip top shape by the end of the work day.

Kent

Forgues Research

My Feedback: (7)

sfaust

My Feedback: (11)

Good point, and my mistake for saying clone... My point was more that its in the same class as a multi port charger with programmability, rather than a dumb multi-port charger.

One does indeed have to wait just like the Alpha, you know this because you are the dealer for the Miniron Mobile. The only difference is that you don't have to wait as long. If they are available off the shelf, please tell me where and I'll have one shipped to me overnight via FedEx, as I am still waiting for the Miniron charger I ordered a while ago. You also need to get on a list, but you don't have to deal with the lottery situation at Litco. If someone wants a Miniron Mobile, they can be assured that they can get one, but they will have to wait a month or two. If someone is buying an Alpha 4 from a previous owner, they aren't waiting either. I just purchased an Alpha 4 for $275, and was shipped to me almost immediately.

I've always got my Alpha 4 units either new for $250-$265, and used well under $300. The current retail price for the Alpha 4 is $265 including the power adapter. So at the $310 for the Miniron Mobile, plus the extra $35 or so for the power supply that is included with the Alpha 4, its $345 per unit. $345 less $265 is $80 difference, give or take a penny.

Don't take this as me being negative on the Miniron charger. I can't wait to get the one I ordered to see how it stacks up. I think having an alternative to the Alpha 4 is a good thing, and I hope the Miniron Mobile blows it away. I'm just clearing up the misconception that its cheaper and available without waiting, which is clearly not the case based on the price I paid for it, and the wait time people have seen so far. What we need is a stocking distributor that accepts credit cards and will ship it overnight if need be.

Sailor

My Feedback: (1)

Holy Smoly Batman! No wonder aerografixs hates the Alpha4!!! In his shoes, pushing a rival product, I would do the same thing! He is trying to put a bad spin on the Alpha4 to create a larger market for his product. Basic Marketing 101.

Forgues Research

My Feedback: (7)

Back up the truck a minute, I never said I hated the Litco Alpha. As a matter of fact, I rather like it. But what I did say, is that the Miniron offers more for my needs, "fully automatic, 5 ports, 2 amps versus 1.

We are just getting started with these, and so there is a bit of waiting initially. But no lottery.

I am importing small amounts per shipments at this time so as not to have a lot of money tied up on the shelf..
I got over 200 E-mails requesting to give a down payment, which I refused, now that they are coming in, the money is not there any more. Go figure.

sfaust

My Feedback: (11)

I agree with Roger. He doesn't hate the Alpha, just prefers the Miniron. In fact, I bought his used Alpha recently, under $300, and no waiting. I do wish he would be more forthcoming about his 'business' relationship, rather than trying to walk that fine line, but thats his choice. I hope the Miniron is everything I think it might be. If it is, I'll be ordering another one, and putting up 3 Alpha 4's for sale. It does look promising. If I really like it, I'll order a couple dozen for resale and stock them. Time will tell.

I think the money dried up because it costs more, needs separate $35 adapter, and there is still a wait. If someone had the units on the shelf and would take credit cards for the order, I think much of that money would come back. Americans are fickle. When they want something, the want it now, and will go elsewhere if asked to wait. Just the way it is. Damn Americans

Forgues Research

My Feedback: (7)

Steve, I wish I was more forthcoming about the business end of it, but RCU has warned me severely not to mention business, I'm surprised they didn't remove me allready on this one.