[Yaesu] Yaesu repair and Fed Ex

Tue May 11 13:14:35 EDT 2010

I have only had two problems in shipping over the years. In both instances 
it appears that a forklift leg was rammed into the gear.
The first happened back in the 1980's when I shipped a Ten Tec Triton IV and 
Power supply to a ham in Texas. I took the package to UPS and paid to have 
them put the transciever in one box and the power supply in another. The 
ham in Texas called me to say they arrived damaged. Both boxes had holes in 
them. The transceiver had a bent in side and the power supply had a bent in 
rear right at the heat sink. As I recall the ham took my insurance info and 
UPS got paid in full. He kept the transceiver and shipped the power supply 
back to me. The power supply was bent in but fully working. Ten Tec 
charged me a small fee and it looked like new.
The second problem when I shipped a tuner to a ham near Memphis last fall. 
I had it packed at the UPS store to UPS specs (double boxed etc). When it 
arrived there was a hole thru both boxes and the tuner meter had been 
knocked out. I have his pictures and it appeared the meter got hit in the 
middle of the face and the front was shattered. UPS paid me for the 
shipping, paid MFJ to repair the tuner, and shipping both ways to and from 
Memphis.
For years I kept my business address at a Mail Boxes Etc (now UPS Store) to 
save on shipping (a commercial address) and have someone notice any 
problems. They would take pictures and assist with UPS and before they were 
UPS store with Fed Ex and other shippers. I got one package from Canada 
containing Geloso gear that looked terrible. It had been shipped by Canada 
Post but everything was Ok.
I agree with the idea of fixing the gear yourself. For years Yaesu would 
not ship an individual parts so I had the parts shipped to a local dealer. 
But after going through some illiness I have limited eyesight and would be 
more dangerous so I am forced to seek outside help. Yaesu no longer 
supports most gear more than 5 years old that is not current production. 
The two local Yaesu ham repair shops now have agreements with either Icom or 
Kenwood so don't want or have time to fix Yaesu. I have found an 
independent service shop so will be finding out how good he is. At least 
this way I can use my car and drive the gear to and from the repair shop.
I have a Ten Tec tuner to restring the main inductor indicater and just hope 
my eyes will allow me to do so. The wife says she will help. I also have 
another local who has been helping me on two of my amps.
73 Dave K4JRB 