topspin

Looks like the FCC put the beat down on Hobby King. They have issued a citation that requires a response from Anthony Hand stating that Hobby King is taking steps to resolve the issues stated in the citation which is dated November of last year. So far there has been no response, at least one has not been released by the FCC. I wondered how long it was going to take for this to catch up with them. Interesting reading. Also, interesting is that the HK warehouse was once located in Lakewood, Washington, it is now located in Oregon very close to RC Groups offices. I have long suspected some financial connection between those companies but the revenue stream seems to be getting shallower these days. Link to FCC document below.

https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/at...-16-1290A1.pdf

init4fun

OOps , and now we look for the quick dissolution of Hobby King , and the emergence 5 minutes later of a new hobby supplier named Hobby Emperor

Kinda like what happened before , wasn't it "Hobby City" or some such ?

2walla

My Feedback: (10)

Hobby King moved to Oregon because the State of Washington was getting on them for doing retail operations while having a business license as a warehouse/storage operation and not collecting sales tax.. All of the money goes straight to china and the businesses here are just empty shells of warehouses... Hobby King USA is probably in full compliance with the FCC directive to stop selling the transmitters.. they dont sell them.. they just handle boxes from china.... wonder which company complained to the FCC? Jeti? JR? Horizon?

topspin

Anthony is pretty skilled at dodging trouble. Hobby King went buy three or four different names over the years that changed every time they defecated on a bunch of people on Ebay they would throw him off the site and they came back as some new company.

As for selling the transmitters, it's not enough to just stop selling them, Hobby King LLC has to file a written response to the FCC's citation stating specifically how they plan to take care of all the ones that have already been sold. So they have a lot of explaining to do and the excuse, "oh gosh we're Chinese and didn't know we needed type acceptance", just won't cut it.

topspin

Found this to be really interesting. Note Mr. Hands statement about closing down in paragraph 4. That is not a true statement, the FCC are lawyers and they don't like false statements no matter how innocent they may seem.

https://www.suasnews.com/2016/11/hobbyking-vs-fcc/

Also, it shows Hobby King USA's office to be in Lakewood Washington. I think they may have moved to Oregon avoid problems with Washington State taxes and to be closer to the RCG headquarters.

aspeed

All the FCC really wants is a damned sticker, and some money. I bet the transmitters are better than everyone elses. Likely Horizon or JR Spectum trying to dominate as was mentioned. I wonder how much it costs to test the transmitters for the sticker.

topspin

They could be solid gold for all I care but all of the other manufactures were honest enough to get type acceptance IAW US Law. Hobby King has a habit of ignoring the rules.

Zeeb

My Feedback: (41)

Since it looks like you're a Canadian, I'll cut you some slack. That said; it's pretty obvious that you have never dealt with a Federal Agency in the USA or you would not make comments like the one above.....

TFF

What testing does is lock the design. HK can change circuit boards and components as improvements or supplies change. To be legal, each change would require a new test. Transmitters would cost about $15,000-20,000 a test and things like receivers, probably servos, and speed controllers would be about a $1000 for interference testing. They just cant be fast on their feet if slowed down.

init4fun

I would like to see an actual fee schedule from the FCC in reference to the type acceptance of electronic equipment before I go and accept "would be about" conjecture as to the cost of properly selling electronics in the U.S. marketplace . Futaba , Spektrum , and every other electronic manufacturer supplying our hobby DO comply with all FCC regulations and that cost of compliance is built into the price of the equipment . Now just because HobbyKing won't play by the rules everyone else plays by yes they have been able to undercut the prices of some of the other retailers , but they are not doing it honestly , they are doing it by ignoring the laws all the others follow . So they aren't profiting by doing something better than all the others , they are profiting by breaking the laws all others follow , and because you get cheap goods your OK with the fact that laws were broken to secure your "bargain" ?

Propworn

My Feedback: (3)

Stopped buying Hobby Klunk crap years ago. Found out they always came up a bit short on quality and/or longevity. When I see Hobby Klunk stuff it reminds me of when they tried to introduce the Lada to north america.

Dennis

topspin

Lets not forget the Yugo either, another shining moment in automotive history.

Seriously, I have not seen Hobby king come out with new designs any faster than any other manufacturer. All I have seen them do is copy Futaba, JR, and Spektrum. They have come out with a couple of transmitters but they were never considered to be good by any serious RC hobbyist. I have not seen the LOI that was sent to Anthony Hand nor have I seen a response from him. He might have opted for a teleconference. It is interesting though that the warehouse moved from Washington to Oregon shortly after the FCC issued the Letter Of Inquiry. Always keep them guessing eh Tony? So at least they won't be ripping off the legitimate manufacturers anymore, or at least they won't be selling the knockoffs here in the US, their biggest market by far.