Issue #35: An Editorial on Copycat Ham Radio Products

That is sickening. My Dad was an Electrical Engineer and he worked for GE for 45 years. He was Thomas Edison's official biographer for the General Electric company. He'd be turning over in his grave as they say, if he knew how things fell apart after he retired. Although I'm no biz expert, I'd attribute their decline to the fact that they chose to market a whole lot of Chinese made junk consumer electronic products (can openers, coffee makers, alarm clocks, etc) that developed a reputation of falling apart within a few months of purchase. Dave, W7DGJ

 

Sadly, it is not just GE. Many, too many, so-called "American" companies are foreign owned.

The one vehicle line made in the US - from all US made parts is a ...Tesla. Next comes Toyota, at nearly 100% US made.

Dodge vans, for another example, are made in Turkey, and Dodge now is owned by a Dutch. company.

(Stellantis (Netherlands) is the corporation formed from the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot S.A. merger. The FCA brands sold in the U.S. are now under Stellantis: Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, and Ram. Overseas brands also include Citroen, DS Automobiles, Opel, Peugeot, and Vauxhall.)

It can be kind of funny to see who 'owns' a supposed US brand.
AT&T is actually Southern Bell (SBC), as an example.

 

Yes, you can avoid going online but it makes the setup process much more difficult.
Apple is in the game but they don't sell your personal viewing habits, they aggregate everything and sell that. So maybe they are the least evil of the bunch.

GE appliances was sold to Haier, the largest Chinese appliance manufacturer, in 2016. Haier has expanded their large factory in Camden, SC where most of the GE appliances for the US market are built. Its too expensive to ship large appliances across the water. So there are at least some american jobs involved but the profits head to communist China.

Whirlpool has a large manufacturing presence in China, but has factories here for the US market. Whirlpool still makes Kenmore branded appliances. I had our 8 year old Kenmore dishwasher fail and in repairing it found it was really well designed and built. I replaced a $5 relay and was back in business. There is very little labor content in these products so it doesn't really matter where you build them.

Back in the copycat front - I don't mind all the branding and private label efforts. They are not copying as the manufacturer is the same.

P.S. Our RAM Promaster van is a Fiat Ducato chassis built in Mexico powered by a US made Chrysler Pentastar V6 engine and 6 speed transmission. It was designed by an American ex-pat living in Milan. The camper van conversion was done in Elkhart IN using components made in the US, Germany, Italy, China, Sweden, France, Australia, and the Czech republic. Ham gear was made in Japan.

 

Here's some history on the display and controller used across the solid-state amp world. This was put up by KM3KM customer service on Facebook today. It's interesting to note that Alex and Kenny worked very much as a team in 2018. While personally I feel that Kenny Martinez (KM3KM) got the short end of the stick (his designs are still on Alex's store, generating revenue for someone else) it sure says something about the nature of the Mercury brand to see how cordial and collaborative they come across when they tell the story. Please note, however, that my issue wasn't about a display/controller, but about design/look/feel of a product that has been just announced and which copies the Mercury front and back:

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From KM3KM:

In 2018, KM3KM and RZ1ZR began working on an Amplifier controller design at the request on KM3KM. KM3KM conceptually designed and developed the Hardware and electronics, RZ1ZR provide the Software programming to support the commands the hardware would need to operate. The operation of the circuits, all the testing sequences, experiments and board manufacturing was carried out by KM3KM while RZ1ZR wrote the codes in the software according to the design needs of KM3KM for the first Mercury amplifier.

The work was successful, with a great exchange of ideas between KM3KM and RZ1ZR and an exceptional controller was achieved. Protections with great response times, high precision indicators, algorithms to control different brands of transceivers, RF decoders and much more. Together, they worked hard to make the graphic design, colors and appearance that everyone knows today and which is used by other manufacturers in the US and all over the world.

The Mercury amplifier which is intellectual property and fully owned by KM3KM Electronics was launched in 2019 with a look and feel that was unique in the market at the time.

That initial controller, still sold in the RZ1ZR web store, was a conception and design by KM3KM as are the drawings posted for other boards that were also sold in the KM3KM web stores for some time. At the end of 2021 RZ1ZR also wanted to venture into the manufacture of his own amplifiers. At that time RZ1ZR asked KM3KM to design all the circuits and boards for his amplifier (Gelius) and KM3KM had no problem helping Alex with that design.

That said, both colleagues dedicated hundreds of hours of hard intellect and genius to achieve a great design.

Currently RZ1ZR is in charge of its own circuit and board designs while KM3KM Electronics has its own programmer based in house in order to maintain intellectual property control, which provided a more attractive and fresher interface for the LUX and ATS and future products.

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Dave

 

As an aside, for anyone who might need further proof that Apache Labs took the "low road" of copying the Mercury LUX, check out the photos I just added to the article -- they are of the back panels. Wouldn't you say it is a very odd "coincidence" that all the outputs taps and so on are identical? Dave

 

They do not look exactly the same to me.

Look at the back of many semi modern amplifier; they are going to have some similarities as you need RF in and Out etc.

If a person has several antennas it might be nice for the amp to have multiple outputs.

 

if you are going to clam copycats ham radio products then all of them have copy it from flex radio power genius xl . Try to do a better job at research before you make a post like. Good Day Linda

 

P.S Rumor has it that you're sending out emails so am I going to get one too what is wrong you're not getting enough ATTENTION or do you need your diaper change. GOOD DAY LINDA

 

W7DGJ’s article was an *opinion* piece, and he stated so in a preface. Yours might differ…so what? Calling him out for not having “facts” or doing “research”? Look at the products visually…they do look alike, and he calls them copycats. What’s wrong with that? At least his articles provide food for thought.

And that Flex Genius post above…wait until Flex, Elecraft, SPE, and Acom and their overpriced $6K+ amps get smoked by the current crop of $4K legal limit ones. Just my opinion.

73, Bob K7JQ

 

As Bob so aptly pointed out above, this is an opinion piece. Just so happens I agree with it, some may not. But we are allowed to have our opinions and in any event, it gives us cause to think upon the topic. I have seen many great comments here. It gives me the opportunity to think upon what others say and learn what I may not have considered otherwise. Such as one ham mentioned about smart tellys and how our data is sold, something I really was not fully aware of. Makes you think about all "smart" appliances. Who really needs a smart washing machine or refrigerator? So, I learned what I already knew in that some manufacturers copy designs, and what I was not fully aware of in that they also copy data collection techniques.

73 Tony AA7FR

 

This topic is a little too close for my comfort, given the world situation with cloaking--and who is using it.

But the point is that copycat designs abound in ham radio. The interested student can look up the history of tuners; 3-500Z amplifiers; SB-100 'look and feel' of KWM2; handy talkies copying one another;; 'inverted umbrella' antenna (hex beams a la N1HXA); others almost ad nauseum.

In RZ1ZR's case this column's comments have clearly brought to light the true innovator, or at least one of them. Dave is trying to acknowlege that.

It is not known if all these similar designs are 'authorized' by RZ1ZR. Perhaps he can comment. My speculation is 'nyet'.

Locking into a single design is bad news for innovation. There are plenty of talented folks who also want a shot at your choice of radios and accessories; antennas; software; and so on. We tend to have a screening culture that stifles that,IMO even though the design may be better, cheaper, more reliable.

I think the splenetic shots on Dave are mis-placed. Facts and acknowledgement are always welcome and Dave has been consistent with that in all his columns, including this one.

73
Chip W1YW

 

Hi Dick,

I agree with you that this Amp is gorgeous. It has its own, unique style. Just beautiful. I'd be proud to have one in my shack, Dave

 

Hey Dick -- a couple of guys had comments that KM3KM responded to on the FB forum for their products. I copied it and sent it to them as they wanted to know more about the history of the development of that amp. Felt like I was going the extra mile, which people generally appreciate. Dave

 

Every column develops its own unique crowd of posters in the forum, always a valuable learning experience for the author. I had a column for the #1 STEM journal in the world, SCIENCE, for more than 20 years (the AAAS). I wish that I had the instant feedback mechanism there that gives readers a shot at adding to the topic (or nailing the author!). I just put a PS up on the bottom of the article, and it relates to this:

PS - What I've learned via our forum discussion . . . First off, this is clearly a "feisty" subject and loyal users on either side of the divide have comments, many conflicting. I hadn't expected that much consternation. And I also expected a larger share of users who appreciate innovation in Style. I don't mean style over performance, but Style as one element of why we sit down in our shack in the evening and just enjoy the view. Those dials, knobs, lights and LEDs . . . I could sit there and have fun just listening to the radio and looking at the light show. Every product has the right to its own individual "coolness factor," and that comes from innovating in style. I've learned, however, that this is not by any means a universal opinion, thanks to forum commentary. Keep it up, please!

 

Thanks Lee. I'd say that there's a bit too much similarity. Actually, as Martinez of KM3KM developed many of the boards used in Alex's amp, there'd be a reason for this similarity if Alex's "Gellius" amplifier components were used to build the Anan. That's just my speculation, however. I have no stake in what's "inside" this product, my comments are primarily about style and copycats. Thanks for being here, Dave W7DGJ