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km987654
Joined: 25 Jul 2007
Posts: 2874
Location: Australia
TV/Projector: Barco BG809s
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 10:42 am Post subject: |
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In 28 years of business (and working for others) its struck me that there is a give and take balance. You can't always charge for everything you do and sometimes giving something away makes you more money than if you tried to charge for every damn minute. Ultimatley though Curt is right you have to protect your income sources and that something that makes you different from the pack.
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phishin_ca
Joined: 17 Mar 2009
Posts: 64
Location: Salisbury, MD
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:11 pm Post subject: |
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| akajester wrote: | For sure. If I was a programmer I'd charge for software. If you put the time into developing something to sell, it's your product and you make the rules.
I guess I see Computer repair differently. Anyone can do it if you just put the time into doing the research, learning it, etc. All the info is out there somewhere on the net. Most people aren't willing to put the time into it. I'm not worried about "computer secrets" because it'll all change in a week anyways.  I have people that call me and say "can you fix my computer? I think I have a virus." The first thing I do is give them a list of programs they can install and scan their computer to try and fix it themselves. Some do it and thank me, others bring the computer over and pay me to do it. I guess I could be secretive, but I think that turns people off and I would get alot less business.
Have a great day! |
I guess I work in a slightly more extreme area of computer repair. I do data recovery, and almost everything I know is based on loads of research. I see giving someone information on how to do it themselves as a sure fire way to make the problem worse. Is it something they could do? Sure. Am I losing business? Not likely. When somebody calls and asks if they should (never do these btw) put their drive in a freezer, run spinright, or swap a PCB, I see somebody who has already decided that what I do is black magic and will never pay for it. When they come in for the service they have already destroyed their drive by hammering away at it with a piece of software and it now costs more to repair. Now my job is 5 times as difficult. I respect the decision to not post service manuals, mods, etc because I know the pain of a botched job. Curt if you ever need a recovery done, I barter 
Shawn
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Mark_A_W
Joined: 15 Mar 2006
Posts: 3068
Location: Sunny Melbourne Australia
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Curt Palme wrote: | | akajester wrote: | | I'd love to see the modifications, can you list them here for us DIY'ers? Thanks. |
Not a chance. Greg as well as Mike and I make our living installing/doing mods/repairing CRT projectors. That's why he's selling the mod. Asking him to list the mods he does is like asking a mechanic for step by step instructions on how to repair your own car, or asking KFC for the 11 herbs and spices so you can make your own.
Sorry, that probably comes across as rude... |
That's rubbish Curt.
I know EXACTLY what the mechanic does to my car. I pay him to do it because: 1. I don't have all the tools/hoist/etc. 2. I can't be arsed, life is too short, I'd rather play with the projector. 3. Risk I'll screw up.
As far as mods go, they have historically been very expensive, with sketchy details of what has been done, including potting (I'm not specifically referring to Greg by any means, I'm generalising).
For me, I want as many details as practical - I want to know what's changed and why, what parts were used, etc. I want to understand the mod at a medium-high level at least. "It's better" or "it's fixed" - look at the shots, is not enough.
Subtle details of the implementation, those that actually make it work properly (say..avoiding oscillation), the risk associated with doing them, tools required etc, are reasons why people pay for things, rather than DIY.
My brother is in IT, and also does some PC/network repairing on the side. He always tells them how to fix it themselves. 90% of the time they come back for help - he gains their trust, and they lack the time or confidence to DIY, particularly if it is a critical system.
But we are a bunch of DIYs..we are a higher risk
I still have uncomfortable moments when a some good friends of mine quote exorbitant amounts to work on projectors - because it's their livelyhood (compared to my fee rate at work I guess it's still cheap)..
...when I sometimes do it for fun or beers, or because they helped me. (But not so much anymore, no time.....and some of the guys should have learnt to do it themselves by now).
It's hard when a hobby becomes a business, even when it's not your business. That's why there is a clash of cultures here sometimes - I'm in it for fun and to help out, others are here to make a living....an uneasy alliance.
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phishin_ca
Joined: 17 Mar 2009
Posts: 64
Location: Salisbury, MD
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Mark_A_W wrote: | | I know EXACTLY what the mechanic does to my car. I pay him to do it because: 1. I don't have all the tools/hoist/etc.. |
The majority of people that drive cars do not fit into this category. There is a lot of technique and background knowledge that has to be applied to something like rebuilding an engine. Even if the person can do it, without knowing the reason why can make diagnostics diffcult when things don't work out as planned.
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Curt Palme
CRT Tech
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 24396
Location: Langley, BC
TV/Projector: All of them!
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| Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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| Mark_A_W wrote: |
But we are a bunch of DIYs..we are a higher risk .
It's hard when a hobby becomes a business, even when it's not your business. That's why there is a clash of cultures here sometimes - I'm in it for fun and to help out, others are here to make a living....an uneasy alliance. |
Ah, but as I did post above, THERE'S the difference. You're right, there's a difference of people such as yourself (and say someone like Nashou) who are DIYing at an extreme level, vs Greg and myself that are doing this as more or less our sole source of income.
Frankly, I do envy Nashou at times. He seems to have the time to R&D to the extreme level (Marquee bellows come to mind), and other than covering costs, he freely gives out the info that he's researched. Frankly, if I had the time to do something else, say modify something like MP3 players, I don't think I'd give the mods out as freely as Nashou does, but OTOH, I do countless hours of free tech support as has been discussed before.
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kal
Forum Administrator
Joined: 06 Mar 2006
Posts: 18114
Location: Ottawa, Canada
TV/Projector: JVC DLA-NZ7
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| Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:52 am Post subject: Re: New Banding Fix for Barco Projectors |
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| AnalogRocks wrote: | | geisemann wrote: | Wow its been so long on this website my account was deactivated.
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No Kal got tired of you spamming your wares all across the forums and booted your account.
Please. Pay attention!
If you are astarting a thread ( like this one ) you DO NOT need to make another one in each of the forums here. Play nice  |
Correct. Not only does Greg not play by the rules, he doesn't pay attention. He only comes on this forum once every 6 months to advertise his latest version of products (some are up to version 59565 from what I understand now). He typically reponds to half a dozen posts with the same advertising type post. That wouldn't be so bad but he just advertises and leaves, never answering questions that people ask. Very poor netiquette.
We created a special thread for him where he could post all of his special products and mods but he didn't follow the rules and spammed all over the forum here every time he developped something he considered new.
He was asked to stop numerous times due to numerous complaints but since he never reads anything anyone writes I was forced to delete his account. He was told his account was deleted but again, he doesn't read anything so he didn't realize this. He thinks his account was deactivated as he wrotes above. Now he's back 6 months later and just continues what he's doing. Next time it's a complete IP ban. I'm sure then he'll email Curt and I asking why he can't get on to view the forum. 
So again: Greg, your accounts been deleted once again. But not like you'll know as you never come back to read what people write in the spam threads you start.
Kal
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Last edited by kal on Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:13 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Ridebreck
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 943
Location: Colorado Springs, CO
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| Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 4:27 am Post subject: |
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Yeah, that part of him has always struck me as odd. He's told me over the phone and via email that he doesn't really make any money doing the mods - that they're more of a hobby thing for him, yet he spams here and AVS like mad trying to pimp them. Go figure...
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"Hooray Beer!!"
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loribates
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Posts: 185
Location: KS
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| Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:14 am Post subject: |
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There's just a place you have to draw the line at giving out information, particularly if you are in it to make a living. I CAN repair pcs and network the old fashioned way when you had to know how to assign IP addresses and subnets or set up a DHCP server before every cheapo router had them built in and MS took over networking. It's that knowledge that makes me able to fix networks that aren't working when all the wizards fail. I don't enjoy it anymore. It's drugery because I have a 40 per week job and I never intended to make a living doing it. People just found out I could....... Most people generally take advantage of the fact that I have a hard time telling people no when they are asking for help.
That said, I'm more than happy to tell them how to fix or avoid simple stupid crap they do and things that are a waste of my time to have to go out and fix. If it's a real hardware, software or networking issue, I'm more than happy to help and at that point it's above their heads anyway. Either way I'm happy to tell them what I did and how in hopes they don't call me again for a while. Even so, pc's are different. Who's going to repair a MoBo or any other component? Even if we would, who would pay for us to go soldering new parts, chips or resistors or capacitors on motherboards (well I did on my laptop because of the crappy power connector, but oh well) or network cards, etc. That stuff is going to get replaced. Curt (and others) knowledge and trade is different from repairing PCs. You can't just go down to Office Max or Best Buy and get a replacement part for a CRT projector.
I don't mind giving help away as long as it's not abused, but a little advice and some helpful instructions is something far different from giving away the sort of knowledge Curt and others have rattling around in their heads.
I truly think all of you guys with the abundance of knowledge you have, give far and away more than what alot of others would and I for one appreciate it.
In the end, it's Curt's forum and Curt's rules and I don't think he has ever been unfair about the information he's willing and/or not willing to share. Gotta respect him and the others for that.
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Lori Bates
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akajester
Joined: 09 Jul 2008
Posts: 934
Location: Wisconsin
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| Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 1:55 pm Post subject: |
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When I posted my original message I figured that Greg would post more info about his modifications. As a barco owner I was interested but after seeing how he operates I wouldn't give him a dime of my money... ever.
I never intended this to become a question of Curts practices. So, I apologize if it was received that way.
On a different note, we had a barco go down here at work and I needed to call Curt. He was very professional and responsive. I'm more than happy to throw any business his way. Thanks!
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Curt Palme
CRT Tech
Joined: 08 Mar 2006
Posts: 24396
Location: Langley, BC
TV/Projector: All of them!
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| Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:01 pm Post subject: |
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Oh hey, I didn't take it that way..
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stefuel
Joined: 07 Mar 2006
Posts: 3353
Location: Green Harbor MA USA
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| Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:41 pm Post subject: |
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Oh look. Another name in black. Now that we have two, can we just call them"The Men in Black"? The only problem is we'd have to call them both G. Of course we could call them G1 and G2. That might be fitting. Or perhaps just #1 and #2.
Hmmmm, who would be #1 and who would be #2 
_________________
Chip
A Barco is only a AmPro with training wheels
Card carrying member of the AVS chain gang.
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