One of the drawbacks

 to running Milspec gear is getting repairs done.

It can be a bitch because most people in the various repair field don't seem to understand things. They get confused with things because most military field gear is built differently. It's built to be used in the field out in the weather.

Much of it also uses propriatary accessories like plugs, batteries and so on.

I have had an Itronix GoBook destroyed and a Clansman radio battery improperly rebuilt over the past couple of years because the repair people just didn't understand that much Milspec gear is very different than the normal Joe Homeowner/Suzie Housewife type stuff.

The idiot that told me he could fix my GoBook ended up handing me a box full of small parts and asking me why all the screws had watertight gaskets on them.

I had carefully explained that the laptop was Milspec and that he could expect to find gaskets on all of the outer screws before I turned it over to him. I was livid. The cocky little know-it-all hadn't even listened.

That really let me angry because I had carefully explained that this was not Joe Businessman's typical take to the office laptop and he said he understood.

Needless to say he went unpaid after an epic lecture on the stupidity of taking on a job on something he knew nothing about.

I did manage to salvage the hard drive, though.

Another thing I had a problem with was getting a military radio battery rebuilt. 

I carefully explained all of the details to the head rebuilder and specifically told him I wanted the ni-cads replaced. I also said that besides polarity being important, I wanted to make damned good and sure the thing could be recharged with the military charger. That way I didn't have to remove the battery from the rig to recharge it. I could recharge it in place and still run the rig while it was charging.

Then things went straight to hell. He delegated it to an idiot that had no clue.

While the battery got back to me rebuilt the dumb assed kid said he didn't know what the four little wires were for so he cut them off. I blew a fuse.

"How am I going to charge it?" I asked.

"Oh, well we can sell you a charger," he said brightly.

"And where do I get the energy to run siad charger?" I asked. My voice was getting to sound like Jack Nicholson getting ready to lash out.

"You plug it into the wall," he said, like he was explaining something to a small child.

I kept my temper. "And just where do I find this wonderful wall outlet when I am on top of a hill out in the middle of nowhere?"

He looked confused. I grabbed a pencil and paper and drew a quick sketch of a small island with a palm tree on it. "And now, Junior Rocket Scientist, where is the outlet on the island? This is the kind of place I want to be able to operate out of. I use the military charger for that kind of place."

He looked like he had been slapped hard. Completely stunned. "Well, I thought..."

"You didn't think because if you did think you would have asked," I interrupted. I turned to the boss.

"You should have explained this to him a lot clearer. You knew I wanted it to be operable with the military charger. We discussed that."

I did pay for the battery rebuild itself but I also left with one of the NiCad chargers for free. Still, I can't use the OEM charger on the battery which leaves me with three batteries I can use the OEM charger on and one I can't.

Still, I guess I can recharge the battery with a seperate hand generator but that can take hours. 

After those two experiences I am going to have scout around a little more to get things done. I'll have to start taking stuff to either specialists or people that have actually done the particular operation for themselves.

Truth is, the other day when I got a modification done to a PRC 320 I made damned good and sure the person had done the modification to his own rig and knew what he was doing.

I just wish people would think before they say they can do something.

Still, ultimately I suppose it is up to me to dig a little more and make damned good and sure the repairman actually DOES know what he is doing.




To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY