[Boatanchors] Re Fate Of RS Talking VOM

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

The happiness I experienced when Radio Shack corporate managed to find the
replacement IC#1 board with cpu for my RS Talking Multi-Meter, originally made
by Micronta, turned to despair yesterday afternoon. 	
	
The replacement board was made by some company other than Micronta and was never
built to the correct physical dimensions. A fact I am sure RS knows, but over
ten years the people that knew may no longer know, care or even be with RS. 	
	
The bottom line is, the board won't fit the unit and repairs are not possible.
The Talking Multi-Meter is no more - 	
	
The one sold by Omega for $400 is a bad joke. There is absolutely no reason with
the speech technology necessary to make a digital display meter, or device,
speak costing a few dollars, that any meter should cost more than a hundred
dollars. Additionally, the one by Omega does not test diodes or even have a
continuity test, as the RS product did. Frankly, it is an inferior product
costing four times what the RS unit originally sold for.  			
	
I suspect, but do not know for a fact, that even if I were fortunate enough to
find another RS Talking Multi-Meter and purchased it, that the age of the cpu
might cause a failure as happened with mine.	
	
It sure would be great if one of you creative wizards would adapt an existing
digital VOM for speech output, without having it tied to a computer. It is not
convenient to drag a computer around when one wishes to test something. Frankly,
a blind Ham has no affordable option, we will simply go without. The Omega is
out of our price range, and even if it is not, it is grossly overpriced for what
it is.   	
	
We also no longer have a SWR/PWR meter with speech or CW output. The RF
Applications P-2000CW that sold for $250 is out of production now for a year. No
alternative there either.	
	
it is surprising, at least to me, that with the cost of the technology so cheap
to make these things nowadays, that nobody bothers. But perhaps it is the low
cost and small profit that is preventing the products from being made and sold.
Who knows.	
	
Duane W8DBF