Great posting Steve! But as you satated in your first paragragh on not receiving funding from FEMA then why do you sign your emails indicating the oposite?
Capt. Steve Helton <----Wanna Be..... Communications Division Emergency Support Services Federal Emergency Management Agency Cincinnati CERT Task Force [EMAIL PROTECTED] Regards, Barry > -----Original Message----- > From: Steve Helton [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 11:12 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] Kenwood Repeater > > Let me respond to your statements one at a time. > > First, we are chartered by FEMA. We do not however > receive any Federal or > State funding. Most of our funds come from private > sources. There are only > about five teams similar to ours nationwide and we > were the first of our > kind in Ohio. > > Second, The repeater was received from a Kenwood > Factory Authorized Dealer > who then refused to support us after the repeater > failed within the first > hour after the initial installation. That is when we > went directly to > Kenwood. They have admitted in writing that their > dealer failed to perform > but then Kenwood refused to force the dealer to do > so. I even have e-mails > from the dealer promising to refund our money and > assuring us they would > send a call tag for the unit. None of the promises > were ever fulfilled and > Kenwood never forced the dealer to fulfill them even > though Kenwood was > provided with copies of the e-mail's we received > from the dealer. We tried > to work with Kenwood but it got us no where except > for them to continue to > tell us to return it each time so they could fix it. > The repeated problem > was with the PA deck on the unit. They replaced > various pieces within the > unit and it failed soon after we got the unit back > each time. I must point > out that since last fall when we finally installed a > Motorola repeater at > the tower site we have been up and running without > problem with the > hardline, antenna and other equipment that we > originally installed at the > site when we first took the Kenwood unit to the site > for installation. I > have an extensive background as do several other > members of our team in G.E. > and Motorola commercial radio equipment having > worked in that field for a > number of years. We have our own in house > professionals. In addition our > team is attached to the City of Cincinnati Fire > Department and we work > closely with the cities radio tech department as > well. We have "experts" > running out of our ears. The last thing we needed to > do was go outside and > hire someone to tell us what we already knew, the > Kenwood repeater kept > blowing through no fault or ours or the equipment > that is was attached to. > > Third, We operate a number of repeaters in the > Greater Cincinnati metro area > including amateur, commercial and public safety on > various bands. We have a > combination of G.E. and Motorola equipment with some > sites having been in > service for over 10 years with little or no > intervention on our part except > for site visits about every six months to check > equipment and make log > entries at the site. In fact we just retired a G.E. > repeater that I helped > design a custom controller for almost 15 years ago. > That repeater has worked > flawlessly over the years and was just replaced with > new Motorola equipment. > The Kenwood repeater was purchased after we were > granted access to a tower > site that would extend our coverage into outlying > areas in several counties > north of Cincinnati. Because of the high profile > location of the tower we > did not want to transfer any of our existing > equipment to it but rather > thought it would be better to buy all new equipment. > New repeater, new > antenna, new polyphaser equipment, new emergency > power systems and new > Andrews hardline and fittings. This is what brought > about the purchase of > the Kenwood repeater. > > Forth, I have duties that entail my traveling > regularly to military > facilities around the country so I had to deal with > this issue when I was in > town and had time and I was not the original person > that began dealing with > the issues but rather picked it up later in the > struggle. Kenwood kept > refusing to admit that the unit was a lemon. > > Fifth, after I became involved we even connected the > repeater up just after > one of the last trips to the Kenwood repair center > on our test bench into a > dummy load and without engaging the transmitter but > by just turning on the > power to the unit it blew white smoke out the rear > of the unit and died. > This was the point at which I contacted our attorney > general. > > Sixth, We have reviewed our procedures and we no > longer buy Kenwood repeater > equipment. > > I can assure you that this is the complete story and > I can also assure you > it is fully documented. > > This is not "complaining" but rather a WARNING of > what might happen if you > deal with Kenwood. > > Bottom line, the Kenwood equipment failed to perform > then the Factory > Authorized Dealer Failed to perform and then Kenwood > Failed to perform even > though they were given every opportunity to do so. > > You may be loyal to Kenwood but you cannot defend an > indefensible position > > "Buyer be ware!" (this is the last I will say on the > subject) > > > Capt. Steve Helton > Communications Division > Emergency Support Services > Federal Emergency Management Agency > Cincinnati CERT Task Force > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -----Original Message----- > From: Nate Duehr [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 22:40 > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [Repeater-Builder] Kenwood Repeater > > Steve Helton wrote: > > > We were dealing directly with Kenwood (Cheryl Daly > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>]). I wrote > > numerous e-mails over many months. Let me be clear > that it was only > > after we contacted the Attorney General's office > and threatened > > Kenwood with legal action that they finally agreed > to replace the > > "Lemon" with a new one. This was only after the > unit had been to both > > the East coast AND West coast Kenwood repair > facilities numerous times > > without success. We are still out between $200 and > $300 from this > > event that Kenwood has refused to reimburse us for > (for shipping cost > > back to Kenwood repeatedly). We were told we would > be reimbursed (I > > have multiple e-mails to that effect) but it has > never happened. > > > > We sold the unit and got most (not all) of the > money that we > > originally paid for it back. > > > > My point is that if an agency like ours cannot > rely on Kenwood then > > the average Joe does not stand a chance. They > failed in their > > corporate responsibility. The other part of this > problem is that a > > high profile tower owner gave us the top spot on > their 350+' tower for > > this system and we kept having to go back to the > tower over and over > > and over and over and over again. It caused us > issues with the tower > > owner that we are just now overcoming. > > > > I might be willing to rethink my position on > Kenwood if they would > > ever return all of the money we lost during the > time we had their > > product. Maybe some of you dealers could tell us > where to go within > > Kenwood to get our money back. > > > > > > > > > > *Capt. Steve Helton* > > > > *Communications Division* > > > > *Emergency Support Services* > > > > *Federal Emergency Management Agency* > > > > *Cincinnati CERT Task Force* > > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>* > > > > Now before you go get all huffy and upset ('cause > there seems to be a > pattern here), please remember that you started this > complaint on a public > list with your FEMA title slapped on your name, and > now you have me, the guy > PAYING for your radios interested in your story -- > are you just completely > mismanaging the funds you took from me in taxes? > I'm not trying to be mean > here, but seriously... It just sounds like you might > have just mismanaged > the whole situation. > > I'm just an "average Joe" but I'd never let Kenwood > or anyone else stomp all > over me like it appears you guys did. > > -> You should have talked with the Attorney General > much sooner than > "numerous" e-mails and "numerous" trips to both > repair facilities. > -> You should have purchased through a reputable > dealer who would be > able to cover your outage from stock. > -> If you're an Emergency Services group, where's > your BACKUP repeater?! > -> And if you had even a hint of a possibility of a > strained > relationship with your tower owner, by the time you > made the third trip to > the tower you should have had another repeater of > whatever model to put up > there to keep your tower folks happy. > -> Why didn't you escalate beyond Cheryl if she was > non-responsive? > -> Why did you push so hard for a replacement if > they weren't > responding? Why not demand a refund? Reaching into > someone's wallet pocket > always gets their attention better than whining that > they won't fix > something. > -> Did you demand written reports on the repairs as > to exactly what was > wrong so you could see if something in your > environment could be causing the > failures? > -> If you're truly purchasing for FEMA, were you in > contact with other > local Federal agencies to ask them what types of > repeaters they recommended > and could help with trades in true emergencies? > Many Federal agencies talk > to the ones that have 2-way system test labs for > advice before purchasing, > and some agencies are required to purchase from a > list of products that have > been tested and certified. > -> Did you pay a professional to install the > repeater so they could > provide a report of conditions at the site to > Kenwood? Did that > professional test the feedline, the antenna and the > rest of the system > beyond the repeater to make sure it met all > specifications? > > Color me skeptical of this whole story -- there's > something else going on > here you're not telling us about. > > Complaining to the "public" through a mailing list > is probably not the > brightest of ideas at this point. Not with your > title attached, anyway. > > Back up ten steps, talk to the AG and sue the crap > out of Kenwood if you > really think you have a case, Captain. Otherwise, > you may want to review > your procedures for procurement of new equipment. > > Purchase Orders don't get paid until a particular > set of circumstances are > met in my industry (telecommunications)... why don't > your purchase orders > have similar words? > > Or just ignore me, I honestly don't really care. > But, $200-$300 bucks lost > to learn how to improve your process (in the > business world anyway, who > knows what you government guys do) is considered a > very CHEAP education. > You can learn from it or just blame Kenwood > forever... but I think > complaining about it to taxpayers might expose your > every decision you made > to that same public's... scrutiny! Don't you? > > -- > Nate Duehr, [EMAIL PROTECTED] - WY0X > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Y! Messenger - Communicate in real time. 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