Antenna Adapters

When dealing with antenna adapters, only one thing is guaranteed, the person(s) that you are assisting will have absolutely no idea what they need.

Today we had a gentleman come into the store with a transceiver and an antenna.  Of course, the connections on the transceiver and the antenna were not compatible and an adapter of some type would be needed.  Since I was busy at the time with another customer, the boss helped this man look for the adapter.  My first hint that there was trouble came when I realized that they were standing in the adapter section for an extended amount of time.  The boss then interrupted me to ask what kind of ends were on the transceiver and antenna.  Second sign of a problem, the boss nor the person seeking adapters knew what ends they needed.  The boss leaves and returns with an adapter that to an F connector, not the mini-UHF the person had.  Epic fail, considering that he owns an electronics store.

After much ado, the pair finally decide that the adapter in question was not present.  It appeared that they had been purchased earlier in the week.  Since this adapter is rarely sold, we only keep 2 in stock.  A plan is hatched to cut the mini-UHF end off and replace it with the correct end.  This brought up a new set of problems.  The end that needed to be put on the cable was for RG-8, a rather thick cable.  The antenna cable was RG-58, rather thin.  There was a long period of pondering with no clear solution.  I casually walked over and read the back of the package.  The directions stated that there were adapter for using this end with RG-58.  Problem solved!  Or is it.  This guy can’t figure out how this is going to work.

After a 15 minute processing period, the guy finally decides that this is going to work for him.  I actually got a little frustrated and opened all the packages and basically put the whole thing together for him.  He just needed to solder the thing at this point.  I was very excited to see this guy leave.

P.S.  Does anyone know where I could send the boss to learn about the products in the electronics section on the store?

Unrealistic Expectations

There is a phenomenon in the retail electronics industry that I like to call “Unrealistic Expectations”.  I call it this for a variety of reasons.  First, we have the customer that wants a high-end component, but does not want to pay high-end prices.  An example, would be the customer who wants a complete media server, yet thinks this can be purchased for $50.  We next come upon the customer who is buying a device and thinks that the near cost sale price should include free delivery, free setup and unlimited free on-site support.  This customer is unaware of how the retail electronic industry works.  Margins are extremely skinny and money is made by add-ons.  So when you buy a $1000 TV, the cost is probably close to $950 or more.  At these margins you are lucky if the store offers to load the thing in you vehicle.  If you want someone to bend over for you, there are places you can go to purchase such things.  The third and final customer is the worst of all.  Basically nothing is good enough for them.  They want warranties on $2 items.  There is a reason that it cost $2.  Most likely the thing was made in China, shipped over on a huge, salt atmosphere container ship and trucked and shipped to the location.  Now, after you get done calculating the actual expense of getting the item to you hands, the $2 item probably has $0.02 worth of parts at cost.  You are not getting a warranty.  They also want you to guaranty that the item they are looking to purchase will fill every need they have.  Now we know this is not going to happen, because the average telephone or router does not come with psychiatric help.  Although, you could use these products to access such help.

Shopping @ Electronics Stores

I would like to recommend that when you shop at an electronics store you NOT use terminology for the sake of using terminology. This is especially true when you are not familiar with the terminology you are using. For example you walk into an electronics store and ask for a “power inverter”. When you do this you will be directed to the power inverter section and shown a device that will convert 12VDC to 110VAC. You will not, however, be directed to the area that sells replacement ends for your laptop cord that you bent all to hell. Funny how that works. This will be especially frustrating for the clerk / salesperson when you continue to ask for the power inverter, insisting that you are right. Sometimes you are going to have to concede and admit that you are wrong.

What do I suggest? I suggest that when you are in doubt, bring in the offending item and show it to the person you are seeking help from. If this is not feasible, then you generic terms to describe that item / problem. Such as, “I broke the thing at the end of my laptop cord that plugs into the laptop.” There simple and concise, I now know what you need. A new power supply, because if I know that if you don’t already know what you need, you will screw it up and kill your laptop and possibly yourself.