ProService - International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians

Transcription

ProService [webedition]
magazine
The Journal of NESDA and ISCET Vol. XXXV, No. 1 • Feb. 2009
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WINTER BOARD MEETING REPORTS pg. 8
NPSC KEYNOTE SPEAKER ANNOUNCED pg. 4
This Month:
ProService
An official journal of the
National Electronics Service
Dealers Association and The
International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians.
CSC, Benefits And NPSC, Oh My!
NESDA President’s Message,
by Dave Thomas, CSM/MST.................................3
Purpose:
ProService Magazine is
published by the National
Electronics Service Dealers
Assn., 3608 Pershing Ave.,
Ft. Worth, TX 76107. It is
intended for the enlightenment, education and entertainment of members of
NESDA and ISCET.
With the exception of
official announcements, the
statements and opinions
expressed herein are those
of the authors and not
necessarily those of the
associations.
N.E.W.
NVC Direct
Jim Bearden CSP To Keynote
NPSC 2009.......................................................4
Service Centers
Onkyo U.S.A. Corporation
Amtrust
P & F USA, Inc.
Asset Genie
PacParts
DTV Transition Update....................................5
Assurant Solutions
Partsearch Technologies
B&D Enterprises
Philips Lighting Technologies
Internet Marketing 101
by Todd Albright.................................................6
Best Buy Company, Inc.
Pioneer Electronics Svc. Inc.
Winter Board Meeting Reports..................8-15
Summary Of NESDA Board Actions
January 2009...................................................9
TVREPAIRMAN.COM Achieves Major
Milestone By Adding 1,000th Listing...........11
Service Summit Recap............................. 15-16
Industry News...............................................17
A Beginners Guide To RPTV Replacement
Lamp by Dan Buchbinder.................................18
The Passing Parade by Ed Clingman.......... 19-20
Become An Inventor Of Electronics
Technology by Nickolaus E. Leggett CET...... 21-22
OPAMPS Part 2 by Andre Smalling CET....... 23-25
Blue Raven Technology
PlusOne Solutions
Bursma Electronic Distributing Inc.
Prelco Electronics USA, Inc.
CDA Software
Prism Pointe Technologies
CE Interactive, Inc.
Professional Lamps, Inc.
Computer Systems Integrators, Inc. Professional Service Solutions, LLC
DLPLampSource
PSR, Inc.
Eagle Distributors, LLC
PTS Electronics
Electrified Discounters
Qualxserv
Encompass Group Affiliates
Samsung
Funai Corporation
Sanyo Fisher Service Company
Global Electronic Supplies Inc.
ServiceBench
Global Warranty Group
ServiceNet
HCT Korea Co., LTD
Service Software
Herman Electronics
Sharp Electronics, Inc.
HH Gregg
ShopJimmy.com
Hitachi America, LTD/Home Electronics Division
Sony Service Company
Hong Video Technology
The Warranty Group
Signal Holdings
IMR Sector Council
Thomson Inc.
International Light Technologies
Toshiba America
JVC Service & Engineering Co.
Consumer Products, LLC
MCM Electronics
Tri-State Module, Inc.
MI Technologies
TTE Corporation
Micro Product Distributors, Inc.
TVRepairMan.com
Mitsubishi Digital Electronics
Union Electronics
MPC
Warrantech
MTI-Andrews Electronics
ZSL, Inc.
Boardwalks....................................................25
Submit articles to:
[email protected]
Calendar:
Copyright:
Copyright © 2009
by NESDA, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of
this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means without written
permission from NESDA.
Send your calendar items to: [email protected]
OPEA’s 49th Western Regional Convention
Hood River Inn, Hood River, Oregon (Thursday-Sunday)
The Inn is on the banks of the Columbia River in the heart
of the Columbia River Gorge at the northern foot of Mount Hood.
503-284-4279
March 12-15, 2009
ATTENTION READERS:
ProService Magazine is
now an ONLINE publication
that can be found only at
www.nesda.com, except for
the April and August issues.
SEEC (South East Electronics Conference)
Joint conference of Southeast Electronic Service Dealers
Association, Georgia Electronics Service Dealers Association, and
Florida Electronic Servicers Association
Wyndham Jackson Riverwalk Hotel
Jacksonville, FL: April 15-18, 2009
2009 National Professional Service Convention
& Professional Service Trade Show
Hyatt Regency Union Station
St. Louis, MO Convention: August 3-7, 2009
Trade Show: August 5-6, 2009
ProService - February 2009
National Service Alliance
American TV, Corporate
Warrantech Announces The “Best Of The
Best” For 2008................................................7
Executive Director:
Mack Blakely
Director of
Communications:
Sheila Fredrickson
[email protected]
Graphic Designer/
Associate Editor:
James Keesler
[email protected]
ACME Enterprises of Orlando
AFFINA
New NESDA Members.....................................6
Business &
Editorial Offices:
3608 Pershing Ave.,
Ft. Worth, TX 76107
817.921.9061
Fax 817.921.3741
www.nesda.com
www.iscet.org
Corporate Members:
2
To contact YOUR NESDA Board of Directors, use one
of the following:
1. If you are a NESDAnet subscriber, send an e-mail to
the Discuss List ([email protected]) from your
subscribed e-mail address
2. Brief contact information available on page 6 of ProService
Directory & Yearbook
3. Complete contact information at www.nesda.com
under the drop down heading “Servicers” then “Board Of
Directors”
Advertisers:
Encompass Group Affiliates Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover
The Buying Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
NESDA President’s Message
CSC, BENEFITS AND NPSC, OH MY!
“The Buying Group and
the Member Benefits
Committee have worked
together to bring a new
program for our members. The program is a
low cost pre-paid legal
service available to all
members and their employees. The DHL shipping program has been
replaced.”
Dave Thomas, CSM/MST • NESDA President
T
he January NESDA board
meeting was held in Las
Vegas. At the board meeting, it was decided to withdraw
our participation in the Certified
Service Center program (CSC).
We are in the process of creating our own certification for our
NESDA members that will better represent our industry. We
believe that the CSC program is
moving in a different direction,
farther away from our specific
industry needs. Our goal is to
work with our Industry partners
in creating our own program
and better serve our NESDA
members. We want to reduce
the cost of obtaining the certification, hoping that more of our
members will achieve the certification and in the process raise
the bar on the level of service
that NESDA members provide.
These certifications set us apart
from the average service center.
It is important to set yourself
apart from your competition.
The name of the new program
will be Certified Electronic Service Center (CESC). Our goal
is to have this new program
ready to launch at the NPSC in
St. Louis this year.
We have been working hard
to bring more programs to our
members. The Buying Group
and the Member Benefits Committee have worked together
to bring a new program for our
members. The program is a low
cost pre-paid legal service available to all members and their
employees. The DHL shipping
program has been replaced.
The new carrier will be FedEx
and will still include free pickup
of packages at your service cen-
ter. It was reported at the board
meeting that the average person using the various programs
offered by the Buying Group,
saved an average of $3000 per
year. Be sure to go online under
the Members Only section and
see what programs might save
you some money.
Be sure to check out
TVRepairPros.com. This is our
NESDA service referral system
that is free for our members. It
can be accessed on the home
page of the NESDA website and
will refer service to your business, based on a zip code or
a city search. The Technology
Committee has spent a lot of
time improving this program.
You want to be sure your profile
is up to date so you can receive
the most benefit from this referral system.
NPSC will be here before you
know it. This is shaping up to
be one of the best conventions
ever. The NESDA office and
the Membership and Marketing
Committee has been working
hard planning all the events.
Jim Bearden will be our Keynote
speaker. He is really good. I saw
his presentation a few years
ago and believe me when I say
that you do not want to miss his
presentation. The NESDA staff
has added more management
classes to this year’s schedule.
These management classes are
timely. Our industry needs to
hone their skills, in order to operate a profitable service center
in today’s market. Along with
management classes is a vast
amount of technical training,
offered by the various manufacturers. Offering both tech-
nical and management classes
provide the opportunity for two
people to attend classes from
your business. The investment
you make in attending the convention will pay big dividends in
the year ahead. It literally can
make the difference between
operating a profitable business
and struggling to survive. Check
out the NESDA website convention page at http://www.nesda.
com/npsc for a listing of all the
events offered at this year’s
convention. In my opinion, the
convention is the single best
thing that you can do for your
business in the entire year.
The convention will be in St.
Louis and will provide many
members the opportunity to
drive with their families to the
convention. The NESDA website
has a tentative schedule, lodging information, and links to attractions in the St. Louis area.
Make your reservations early so
you can stay at the convention
hotel. Our block of rooms can
sell out quickly.
Our April board meeting
will be held on Saturday, April
18th in Jacksonville, Florida.
This date falls in conjunction
with the South East Electronics Conference (S.E.E.C.). Any
NESDA member interested in
attending the board meeting is
more than welcome.
“Be sure to check out
TVRepairPros.com.
This is our NESDA
service referral system that is free for
our members. It can
be accessed on the
front page of the
NESDA website...”
Respectfully submitted,
Dave Thomas
NESDA President
3
JIM BEARDEN CSP
TO KEYNOTE NPSC 2009
With his upbeat, interactive
delivery laced with plenty of
tasteful humor and relevant
anecdotes — Jim brings his
Leadership, Sales and Personal Development concepts to
life for audience members. His
aggressive,
after-the-event
follow-up process helps clients
and their staff adapt and implement the concepts included in
his Keynote Presentations, Leadership Development Training
Seminars and Sales Training Programs.
Jim Bearden’s many rich life experiences form the basis for
his anecdotes, his humor and his insights:
• Decorated Viet Nam veteran, where he served as a Marine combat unit commander
• Top Sales Producer and Sales Manager
• Corporate Vice President (most recently 2001-2004)
• Founder of his own successful business, Bearden
Resource Group
• Past President of the National Speakers Association Heart
of Texas Chapter
• Author of The Relentless Search for Better Ways
• Producer of a radio program, “The Competitive Edge”
• AND, his most valuable learning experience, being the
father of 3 children
Holder of the prestigious Certified Speaking Professional
Designation from the National Speakers Association, Jim
has been a professional speaker for 20 years. During that
time he has conducted training and delivered presentations
for corporate audiences, trade and professional associations
and government agencies in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Jim Bearden, CSP, is one of America’s most dynamic, captivating speakers and trainers; and with his aggressive followup process, he is also a powerful agent for change.
You can see Jim Bearden in action on his website,
http://www.JimBearden.com.
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http://www.nesda.com/npsc
P
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View
the events,
register and create your own personal schedule. Register by
May 15, 2009 to get best
available rate of $230 for
full week of technical and
management training, networking, sponsored events,
2-day industry Trade Show,
and FUN!
4
DT
TRANSITION UPDATE...
What does the DTV transition delay mean?
On Wednesday, February 4, the U.S. House of
Representatives voted 264-158 to delay the
nation’s transition from analog to digital television broadcasts from February 17 until June
12. The vote followed Senate passage of a
similar bill on January 26. The legislation to
delay the transition now needs the signature
of President Obama to take effect. The president has said he will sign the legislation.
What does the delay mean for TV broadcasts?
The DTV Delay Act generally allows broadcasters to cut off their analog broadcasts before
June 12 if the FCC finds that doing so will not
cause interference and is in the public interest. Yesterday [as of Feb. 6 2009], the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) released
a Public Notice setting out the procedures
stations must follow if they wish to transition
to digital before June 12. Stations wishing to
migrate on February 17 must notify the FCC
by Monday, February 9. After February 18, no
additional stations would be permitted to go
all digital until March 13. In its Public Notice,
the FCC reserves the right to deny migration
requests if it finds that consumers would be
adversely impacted (e.g, too many viewers in
a market were unprepared for the transition).
At this point, it is unclear how many broadcasters will cease their analog broadcasts prior to June 12. As many as 60 percent of the
approximately 1800 stations could transition
before June 12 without causing interference,
and most of the remainder could operate in
a manner that allows them to go all digital.
However, the FCC is urging broadcasters not
to discontinue their analog broadcasts until
June 12. At yesterday’s Commission meeting, Acting Chairman Michael Copps lauded
the national networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC)
and others for “stepping up to the plate” and
agreeing not to terminate their analog broadcasts until June 12.
What prompted the delay?
to government accounting rules. There are
now approximately 3.7 million coupons on
the NTIA waiting list. Lawmakers expressed
concern that Americans who are waiting for
coupons would not be prepared for a February 17 transition.
Will the delay make more coupons available?
The DTV Delay Act does not make more coupons available. But the House and Senate
versions of the economic stimulus package
propose $650M in additional funding for the
NTIA program, most of which will be used to
issue more coupons. The bills also authorizes
$90M - $130M of the new funding to be used
for educational and outreach efforts, and another $2M is proposed for accounting and audit purposes.
What about expired coupons?
What is CEA’s position on the delay?
CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro issued
the following statement: “Our nation is leading the world in the digital migration, and CEA
again pledges full support for a successful
transition to digital television. We will quickly
update our consumer education material as
necessary and we will devote a significant
portion of our Washington Forum event in
April to DTV education.”
“As CEA has repeatedly cautioned, this date
change will inject uncertainty into the market and may result in a shortage of converter
boxes, because manufacturers and retailers
planned box inventory based on a February
17 transition date. CEA urges Congress and
the Administration to take the necessary steps
to ensure converter box availability and to
urge consumers to act immediately to enjoy
the benefits of DTV.”
Consumers may request replacements for expired coupons if and when Congress approves
the economic stimulus package with funding
for the coupon program.
CEA is advocating against any changes to obligations imposed on television manufacturers
to notify their customers about the transition.
Are converter boxes currently available?
How is CEA educating consumers about
the transition?
Yes, many NTIA-approved converter boxes are
currently available for purchase. Consumers
may purchase the boxes with an NTIA-issued
coupon, or without a coupon. Information on
NTIA-approved boxes and retailers can be
found here.
Does the legislation create any new requirements for the CE industry?
The bill requires the FCC and NTIA to complete rulemakings within 30 days to take
whatever steps are needed to implement the
delay. Until the FCC completes its rulemaking,
it is unknown whether any changes will be
made to the education and labeling requirements imposed on manufacturers, retailers,
broadcasters or multichannel video program
distributors.
CEA has several resources online to help prepare consumers for the DTV transition, including www.digitaltips.org and www.dtvtransition.org. Consumers who need assistance
connecting their converter boxes to their televisions can find instructions at www.ceaconnectionsguide.com. Information about antennas is located at www.antennaweb.org.
Editor’s Note: Reprinted with permission of the Consumer Electronics Association.
The coupon program being administered by
the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to subsidize the
purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes
stopped issuing coupons in early January due
5
INTERNET MARKETING 101
I
by Todd Albright - President of TVRepairMan.com
t’s great to be writing to fellow
NESDA members again!
Consumers continue to shift their
buying decisions to the Internet every
day. Recent statistics and economic
news paint a fairly clear picture:
• Consumers conducted 48 BILLION
searches on the Internet last year.
This represented a 30% increase
from the previous year.
• The average US consumer searches
online for something 20 times per
month. AND, 13 times per month
(or 67% of the time) these searches
have to do with something local.
• In the 2nd quarter of 2008, Internet
ad spending INCREASED approximately 12% from the previous year.
Whereas, overall spending across
local radio, TV, magazines, and outdoor DECREASED nearly 5% (Newspapers and Radio fared the worst
with a nearly 15% decline each)
The evidence of these ad dollar shifts
has become apparent in more tangible
ways as well. In November, the company that founded the Yellow Pages was
delisted from the stock exchange. In
January, major radio and TV companies
like Belo and Gannett (which also owns
USA Today) laid off thousands of workers. The issue is simple … fewer local
businesses are advertising with these
media companies because the returns
just aren’t there.
Internet advertising is powerful for
several reasons …
Follow the Consumer: The statistics above don’t lie. More and more
people are using the internet every day
to find what they need.
Timely and Relevant Offers:
The Internet … particularly Google, Yahoo, etc. … allows you to target your advertising to consumers who are looking
for specific information at their highest
propensity to take action. All other advertising is “interruption based,” which
means a consumer is actually focused
on something else when a generally illtimed, often irrelevant ad “interrupts”
him or her.
Everything’s Measurable: The
internet allows you to TRACK everything--in real time. You can track how
many people saw your online ad (im-
pressions), clicked your ad, and then
performed an action once they landed
at your site (filled out a form, called
you, etc).
Flexibility: In addition to tracking
advertising results in real-time, you can
also adjust your ads and landing pages
in real-time. This isn’t the case with the
Yellow Pages or TV spot. Once you’ve
committed your ad, there’s no going
back. With the Internet, you can continually optimize your campaigns your
campaigns according to your results.
We encourage our clients to experiment
with direct advertising of their services
online. A lot of things need to come
together (budget, “keyword” bids,
landing page design, etc.) to make it
productive. To this point, our next installment will focus on the things you
can do specifically around “Search Engine Marketing” (SEM) to drive more
and more Internet consumers to your
business in profitable ways for your
service center.
About the Author: Todd Albright is an Internet veteran
and President of TVRepairMan.com, a NESDA Corporate
Member. For more information on this article and other
Internet (and non-Internet) topics of interest, Todd welcomes your emails to [email protected].
New NESDA Members thru 1/1/09 - 2/28/09
MEMBERS
Mike Reed, Reed Appliance Service, 2 N 5th Ave., Maywood, IL 60153,
(312) 285-0291, (773) 345-0424, [email protected]
Stan Allen, Stan’s TV, 15 Denby Street, Mount Sterling, KY 40353, (859)
498-0204, [email protected]
Robert Bates, Bates TV, 123 Lakeview Ave., Fredonia, NY 14063, (716) 6731404, (716) 673-1404, [email protected]
Daniel Bert, Protronics, 220 Pr 4433, Hallsville, TX 75650, (903) 746-0039,
[email protected]
Walter Cardenas, Orlando LCD Inc., 2746 S Orange Blossom Trail, Orlando, FL
32805, (407) 513-4651, (866) 820-7983, [email protected]
James Cheesman, Cheesman Electronics Inc., 4348 S Hidden Way St., Terre
Haute, IN 47802, (812) 298-8331, [email protected]
Oliver Clayton, Clayton TV Service, 8217 Oak St., New Orleans, LA 70118,
(504) 861-0087, (504) 861-0087, [email protected]
Robert Dugdale, Kirk’s Electronics, 2165 Birmingham Rd, Milton, GA 30004,
(770) 475-1807, [email protected]
Joseph Gross, Joes’ Video Company, 14323 S Lawndale, Midlothian, IL 60445,
(708) 935-7221, 8665287093, [email protected]
Mark Laplante, American Electronic Solutions, 15702 Heide St., Brownstown, MI
48173, (866) 284-3380, [email protected]
6
Larry Leite, Lampswap, Thebigscreenwarehouse.com, 29524 Kohoutek Way,
Union City, CA 94587, (510) 745-9000, [email protected]
Jaz Parminder Singh, Really Cheap TV VCR, 1155 Bridge Street, Yuba City, CA
95991, (530) 673-4123, [email protected]
Karlo Rihoo, DFW TV Repair, 1045 W Rochelle Rd, Irving, TX 75062, (214) 5634511, [email protected]
Michael Scruggs, M&S TV Repair, 2740 Via Corazon Dr., Corona, CA 92882,
(951) 736-2043, [email protected]
Shankara Shivagana, World Equipment Source, 8655 Production Ave., Suite B,
San Diego, CA 92121, (858) 693-1991, [email protected]
Mitchell Stranksy, TV Sick, 7429 NW 57th St., Tamarack, FL 33319, (954) 7229180, [email protected]
Tim Welch, LCD Repair LLC, 2316 Serenity Ln, Heath, TX 75032, (469) 2234459, [email protected]
CORPORATE MEMBERS
Brian J. Hoopsick, PSR, Inc., 128 North Front Street, Philipsburg, PA 16866,
(814) 553-2258, (814) 342-3355, [email protected]
Sally Mulder, Bursma Electronic Distributing, Inc., 2851 Buchanan SW, Grand
Rapids, MI 49548, (616) 831-0080, (616) 831-9400, [email protected]
WARRANTECH ANNOUNCES
THE “BEST OF THE BEST” FOR 2008
Company Recognizes Top Dealers at Consumer Electronics Show Event
B
EDFORD, Texas (Feb. 6, 2009)
— Warrantech Consumer Product Services, a subsidiary of Warrantech Corporation, today announced
that 11 companies are recipients of the
company’s Best of the Best award. The
prestigious awards were presented by
Joel San Antonio, CEO of Warrantech
Corporation and Sean Hicks, the Master
of Ceremonies for the event.
In an academy awards-style ceremony
held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las
Vegas, the winners were recognized for
their outstanding work in service contract sales and repair service. The 2008
“Best of the Best” award recipients – listed with their category are:
• Dealer of the Year
BrandsMart U.S.A.
• Regional Dealer of the Year
Karl’s TV Audio Appliances Furniture
• Online Dealer of the Year
Venue
• Appliance Dealer of the Year
ApplianceSmart Factory Outlet
• Electronics Dealer of the Year
Jetson Appliance & Electronics Experts
• Electronics Servicer of the Year
DTR-Denver
• Buying Group of the Year
MARTA USA
• Repairmaster Distributor of the
Year
Gotham Sales.
• Self Servicing Dealer of the Year
BrandsMart U.S.A.
• Appliance Servicer of the Year
Jetson Appliance & Electronics Experts
• Outstanding Partner of the Year
AmTrust Financial Group
“I am pleased to congratulate the 11
outstanding dealers and service companies that have been recognized this
year,” said San Antonio. “These companies exemplify professionalism, top performance and world-class dedication to
the sale of service contracts while excelling at providing service to their customers. All too often hard work goes unnoticed, and we felt the time had come to
give these dealers the recognition they
so richly deserve.”
The Best of the Best Awards is an
annual event that measures how well
companies implement plans to improve
customer service through extended service contracts and warranties in a variety
of consumer electronic and appliance
product categories.
The 2008 Best of the Best recipients
were selected from a field of over 1,000
companies. Through careful evaluation
by a panel of experts from Warrantech’s
senior management team, each company was chosen based on several criteria
including sales increases, penetration
rate by product category, customer service scores, and cost control.
“While our eye-candy theme made
for a light-hearted, enjoyable party, we
had a serious reason for hosting this
event,” noted Hicks. “These dealers
and servicers deserve recognition for
the creative solutions they have implemented during 2008 in order to successfully deal with an extremely challenging
business climate.”
“Being named Dealer of the Year is an
honor,” noted Lary Sinewitz, executive
vice president of BrandsMart USA. “In
the past, quantifying the effectiveness
of enhancing customer service through
service contracts and extended warranty programs was problematic – especially in the face of stiff competition
and high performance standards. Now,
Warrantech is raising the bar with an
innovative new program that acknowledges the achievements of successful
companies. Everyone at BrandsMart
worked especially hard this past year,
and we appreciate being recognized for
our accomplishments.”
Robert L. Thompson, managing director and general manager of MARTA
Cooperative of America said, “What a
sweet way to end a tough year. Winning
Warrantech’s Best of the Best Award for
Buying Group of the Year helps make us
redouble our efforts to continue creating new ways to serve our customers,
while enhancing our bottom line. Warrantech’s Best of the Best Award is just
the incentive we need going into 2009.”
“The achievements and number of
award winners is impressive,” said San
Antonio. “We recognize and congratulate
all of the Best of the Best Awards recipients for their hard work and dedication
to the industry as we look forward to
expanding this popular program in the
coming year.”
About Warrantech Corporation:
Warrantech Corporation administers and markets service
contracts and after-market warranties on automobiles, automotive components, recreational vehicles, appliances,
consumer electronics, homes, computer and computer
peripherals, jewelry and furniture for retailers, distributors, internet providers and manufacturers. Acquired by
H.I.G. Capital in 2007, the company continues to expand
its domestic and global penetration, and now provides
its services in the United States and Canada. For more
information, visit www.warrantech.com. Warrantech is a
NESDA Corporate Member.
7
2009
WINTER BOARD MEETING REPORTS
NESDA PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Dave Thomas CSM/MST NESDA President
I
t is hard to believe that yet
another year has passed. It
seems like the years go by faster, the older I get. After talking with
members about their business, indications are that profits were good in
2008. The downturn in the economy
has encouraged most customers to
repair their products, rather than replace. I expect that trend to continue
throughout 2009, unless something
happens quickly to restore consumer
confidence.
It appears that the attendance at
the CES show was down this year.
Some exhibitors that I talked to at
the show estimated a thirty percent
decrease from last year. Most television manufacturers had impressive
displays, showing off thinner flat
panel television sets with better pictures than ever before. I did notice a
couple of manufacturers missing this
year, but most of the major manufacturers were there.
NESDA Industry Relations Committee Chairman, Wayne Markman CET/
8
MST, hosted the NESDA Service Summit on Saturday. Most major manufacturers, third party contract providers,
and parts distributors were present.
Industry issues were discussed in an
effort to help improve our productivity
and increase our first time repairs.
The NESDA board and committees
are constantly working on new benefits for our membership. Sony recently announced that NESDA members have access to the Sony website.
Sony has a fantastic website, loaded
with tech tips, schematics, and training manuals. This benefit was made
possible through the efforts of NESDA Region Five Director Leo Cloutier
CSM. THANKS to Leo and Sony.
The Member Benefits Committee
has spent time working with the NESDA office and The Buying Group to
bring forward a prepaid legal service
which is low cost and is another added value to NESDA membership. The
members of that committee continue
to reach out to new members helping them navigate all the benefits of
NESDA. TechMate continues to grow
as tips are being added from NESDAnet after members report back a fix.
The Technology Committee in conjunction with Mack and Sheila from
the NESDA office have the new service
locator ready to launch. The program
will be offered to NESDA members at
no extra charge. Members need to be
sure their service profile is updated
and accurate so you can receive referrals from this new system.
The Membership and Marketing
Committee is working hard in an effort to bring an exciting motivational
speaker to NPSC 2009. They continue to find programs to bring in new
members and offer other promotions
to existing members.
Be sure to thank these volunteers
for all their efforts. These members
spend a great deal of time helping the
NESDA membership.
NESDA VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Ben Fowler CSM/MST NESDA Vice President
S
ince our last convention, I feel
like the world, as we knew
it, was picked up by an enormous set of hands, shaken briskly,
and thrown on the ground with all the
pieces landing in random patterns.
The following are some of the highlights of recent months:
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac placed
into conservatorship
• The collapse of giant investment banks
• Gas prices hit $4 per gallon
• The collapse of Money Market funds
• A 700 Billon-Dollar “Troubled Asset
Relief Program” (TARP) was created
• A global stock market crisis began
• The national unemployment rate rose
to 6.7% in November 2008
• The American auto makers needed
a bailout
• Bernard Madoff was forced to expose
his $50 Billion-Dollar Ponzi scheme
It is blatantly clear that the world
has undergone an incredible transformation. Americans responded to the
gas crisis by “pulling back” and being more judicious about their driving
habits. Since we learned to modify
and control our driving habits, it has
stuck with us long after the $4 per
gallon gas prices have subsided. Now
OPEC is worried, worried because
the worldwide demand for oil has
shrunk. Consumers are responding
similarly to discretionary spending;
we will learn to do without and control
our spending.
With all that being said, I see opportunities for us servicers. As consumers learn to rein in their spending, there will be more demand for
TV repair. With the increases in the
unemployment rate there will be a
larger, more talented pool of prospective employees from which to choose.
Because of the corporate downsizing
and layoffs there will be more outsourcing of goods and services. We
servicers need to be prepared to recognize and seize these opportunities
when they present themselves. To
prepare ourselves, we need to look
very closely at our businesses with
an objective eye; are there things we
could change to make our operations
more efficient and more attractive to
potential clients?
As the chairman of the Technology
Committee, the committee’s first task
was to create an alternate website for
consumer referrals that we named
TVRepairPros.com. This site is being
developed to offer another benefit
for our NESDA members: making our
NESDA membership more valuable.
The reality of our marketplace is that
big national sales/service firms are
going after our customers and the
competition is ferocious. I see opportunities for our membership to compete in the very competitive arena of
Internet marketing. We NESDA members have a tremendous amount of
potential combined resources to offer the consumer. To really win in this
marketplace we need to showcase
our strengths, and present a unified
service solution that will be second to
none for the consumer.
This is a true case where the
“whole is greater than the sum of
the parts.” My hopes are that our
website will present the NESDA
membership to the consumer as the
best service solution.
SUMMARY OF NESDA BOARD ACTIONS – JANUARY 2009
• The financial reports and budgets were presented to the
NESDA board. NESDA ended the year in the black and NESDA’s financial position is very positive. The financial reports
and budget were approved as presented.
• The By-Laws Committee recommends that the NESDA
board change its membership application form to include an
agreement to abide by the NESDA By-Laws as well as the
Code of Ethics.
• The NESDA Board voted to …
1) Delete the following tabled By-Law Amendment, a proposed addition to the By-Laws, Article VII, Section 1: Excluded are members of any local group qualified as an Associate within
the State, or any state or regional group qualified as an Associate
properly registered desiring to cast its respective members’ votes,
without commingling NESDA regions in any assigned bloc vote.
2) Add to Article VII section 1 “Association Organizations
Sec. 2. B Voting:” A local, state or regional group approved as a
NESDA Associate on behalf of members within the State or NESDA
region where the association is headquartered.
3) Send all other recommended changes in the By-Laws
and Internal Development Committee Report back to the
committee for clarification and a request that they be resubmitted prior to the April Board meeting.
• The NESDA Board voted to withdraw from the current Certified Service Center group, not renew NESDA’s
membership in that program, and form its own elite
NESDA certification program. It was agreed that the current direction of the CSC Program no longer fits the model of
electronics service centers and that NESDA would be better
off investing its resources with its own program which would
better represent our industry.
9
NESDA REGION ONE REPORT
Paul Burgio NESDA Region One Director
I
requested input from Region One
members to prepare this report,
and I am happy to say that most
responses were positive.
Jeff in Pennsylvania reports that business is so good he had to hire a road
tech. He said COD is still about the
same, but warranty and contract work
has increased quite a bit.
Tony in New York reports that things
were slow for awhile, but people are realizing that it’s cheaper to repair products rather than replace them.
Frank in New Jersey reports that he has
acquired more N.E.W. contract work in
the past couple of months than all of
last year. He wonders if the reason for
this is the demise of the local “geek repair” squad.
Mike in western New York reports that
he was swamped with warranty work
during the holiday season. He’s been
running calls five days a week and was
booking a week and a half in advance.
He has been in business since 1970 and
said that every time the economy suffers, people get things fixed instead of
buying new.
Steve in Massachusetts reports that,
for him, business has not slacked off at
all. He states that 2008 was an excellent
year, and he’s booked one and one-half
weeks in advance for on-site service.
He has been in business since 1970 and
said that every time the economy suffers, people get things fixed instead of
buying new.
My business in Buffalo has been
steady. I have to agree with Steve,
the service business seems to have increased as the economy has worsened.
People who would have bought new are
getting things repaired. I’m still able to
sell a lot of 20-27” sets to people who
need a second set for a bedroom or for
their children to play games on. Those
people can’t justify spending the money
on a flat screen. In-home service has
been good and, because I am a small
shop, I don’t need many calls to make
a living. I’m able to enjoy a nice, steady
pace.
We, as servicers, are in a good position when the economy suffers because
people will want to stay home more and
watch TV. We are available to keep those
six to eight-year-old big screens running
for a lot less money than it would cost
to replace them.
NESDA REGION TWO REPORT
Jerrell Helms CSM/MST NESDA Region Two Director
T
he last five months have certainly been a roller coaster
with explosion and implosion
of fuel costs and the downturn in the
economy, both of which have affected
our industry.
I have spent the time since the election trying to contact as many Region
Two members as possible and I have
visited a few. My plan is to continue this
and also identify non-member servicers
in the region and begin to contact and
visit those. Some information that came
my way leads me to believe that NESDA
greatly under-represents those in our industry. In order for NESDA to be a powerful influence in the industry we must improve this position. I see it as a chicken/
egg situation, where strong membership
= strong influence = strong membership. There are some good tools in place
and we must use them. Many complain
that NESDA does not do enough to support and promote independent service,
and in a positive way that is true. We can
always do better, but while studying this
10
issue I have concluded that NESDA offers the most value to small independent
servicers; providing benefits that large
entities can develop on their own.
I have been involved in the planning of the first South East Electronics
Conference in Jacksonville, Florida in
April of 2009. This is a joint venture of
GESDA, FESA, and SESDA, all NESDA
affiliate associations. The planning is
going well and our training schedule
is now filled. A new flyer and updated
website is eminent.
I was also invited to and attended the
FESA Christmas party in Jacksonville.
My experience in my business in regards to the economy was an immediate lull in all service categories, then
a considerable increase in COD repair,
followed by a tremendous increase in
warranty after Thanksgiving. In talking
to other members most mirror that experience but some are still suffering slow
business. The sudden and deep fall of
fuel prices has been a great relief after
the deleterious effects of the just as sud-
den and severe rise in costs. One note:
I have seen some third party payers reduce mileage rates even though they did
not increase them when the price was
up. I am anxious to see what the effect
of the poor economy will be on warranty
and ESP rates and procedures in the
coming year.
Members have expressed fear and
reservation about the recent trends in
consolidation of parts distributors and
dispatch/claim administration. I see both
as positive moves but I can understand
the misgivings. All bear watching closely.
The examples of the banking and auto
industries when too many eggs are in
one basket bear witness to why bigger
is not always better.
I still see promise for this industry, perhaps more now than this time
last year and I am continuing to invest
time, effort and money in the consumer
electronic service business. I do believe
this year will be the pivot point that
determines the long-range picture for
our industry.
NESDA REGION THREE REPORT
George Weiss CSM, EHF NESDA Region Three Director
O
urs is a very sick industry. One
has only to look at the posts on
NESDAnet to get a sense of the
anger and frustration of servicers as they
react to events and circumstances beyond
their control. In Region Three and nationally, many service dealers and many citizens have expressed their dissatisfaction
and voted for change. They are extremely offended by the brazen disrespect for
America on the part of those who import,
distribute and sell those (mainly Chinesemade) consumer electronics products, for
which there exist no parts, service data
or training. Likewise, they deeply resent
the indifferent attitudes of our elected
representatives and those government
agencies which have so-miserably failed
their responsibility to protect the welfare
of U.S. consumers. There is widespread
hope that the new administration will take
a vigorous interest in providing renewed
consumer protection.
The Illinois, Ohio and Wisconsin associations continue to produce very successful high-intensity training sessions and
service dealers have responded enthusiastically. Wisconsin and Illinois have each
joined with Ness Electronics Distributing
to sponsor an extremely well-received
HDTV antenna seminar provided by Brad
Eckwielen of DigiTenna.
The date and site for the 2009 Midwest
Regional Service Summer Conference &
Trade show is June 25/26/27/28 (Thurs/
Fri/Sat/Sun), in Peoria IL at the Radisson
Hotel. ESDA-IL President Frank Stillson
has announced that ESDA members will
consider it a privilege to provide complimentary meals and registration to All
NESDA Officers, Directors and Committee
Chairmen who attend.
Frequent contact with members,
NESDA officials, and other industry leaders and executives has helped maintain
my knowledge on the “State of the Industry” and Servicer “HOT-Button Issues.”
Over the years, I have developed a list of
“Key” servicers whose opinions and observations are invaluable.
Recently, I asked Regional “key” servicers
three questions:
1. Is your business better or worse than
it was one year ago?
2. Has the current economic recession
impacted your business?
3. Are you doing anything different as a
result of the recession?
Almost all reported that their business
was somewhat better or about the same
and that, as yet, they didn’t feel any negative impact resulting from the state of the
economy, but were wary and acting more
conservatively than normal. Two service
center owners said they were expanding
their operations by servicing a larger area
and increasing staff.
Service Centers report that PARTS pricing and availability continue to be major
impediments to providing quality service.
Those who wish to fight back are urged
to use the online NESDA program, which
permits them to easily detail parts and
service data availability problems for later, catalogued, reporting to the appropriate authorities.
The increasing practice of manufacturers and TPA’s to not only “Pile-on” additional un-compensated administrative
tasks onto their ASC’s, but to make those
tasks even more burdensome through
unresponsive or delayed communications,
poor technical support, poor service data
with inadequate parts research and poor
parts availability is causing some servicers to devalue manufacturer warranty
and TPA work.
TVREPAIRMAN.COM, INTERNET’S LEADING ONLINE
DIRECTORY OF TV SERVICE CENTERS, ACHIEVES
MAJOR MILESTONE BY ADDING 1,000TH LISTING
T
VRepairMan.com recently added the
1,000th client to its online directory
of local television service centers.
Launched in June of this year, TVRepairMan.
com has quickly become the leading online
destination for consumers searching for TV
repair professionals. TVRepairMan.com provides a rich source of information for consumers with television service needs, plus
a very measurable return on investment for
service centers who list in the TVRepairMan.
com directory.
TVRepairMan.com was launched in partnership Christopher F. Fabian, a 29-year
veteran of the consumer electronics service
industry and a member of the National Electronics Hall of Fame. Mr. Fabian notes that
“people predominantly use the internet to
find the things they need. TVRepairMan.com
a risk-free way for service centers to connect
with consumers who are searching online for
repair professionals.”
Thousands of people visit TVRepairMan.
com every day to find service centers and call
them directly. Service centers list on TVRepairMan.com for free and only pay a fee for
guaranteed jobs. “There’s really no downside
to list—you only pay a fee when you make
money,” adds Fabian.
In addition to providing guaranteed sales
to service centers, TVRepairMan.com also
provides sophisticated reporting tools that allow clients to measure the volume and quality of calls they receive. TVRepairMan.com
also offers a free “secret shopper” program
by providing service centers with audio recordings of the customer phone calls originating through the site. “It’s a fantastic sales
coaching and training tool,” shares Fabian.
TVRepairMan.com is still open to new service centers who want to generate business
through our site. Contact us at directly at
1-877-222-3504.
11
NESDA REGION FOUR REPORT
Rudi Otto CET/CSM/MST NESDA Region Four Director
W
hile at the CES show this year
it was hard to imagine that we
are in a recession. Although attendance was down somewhat the amount
of available products shown is amazing. No
major new technologies were introduced
but refinements to existing ones showed
up in improved picture quality and reduced
power consumption. LG showed a TV that
connects directly to the Internet and allows down loads of Netflix movies. 3D TV
may have a breakout year supported by
Mitsubishi,Panasonic,Samsung and Texas
Instruments. In video it looks like green is
good, fat is bad and thin is in.
Talking to different manufacturers service representatives it became apparent
to me that cost reduction is foremost on
their mind. In my opinion one way to reduce cost is through internet enabled TV’s
allowing remote diagnosis by manufacturers and servicers. This will dramatically increase first call completes and at the same
time gets the servicer out of the gambling
business.
We are seeing an increased failure rate
of new refurbished parts. So far we have
been unable to get compensated for this
additional work since every time it happens the repair becomes a loss.
So far the Dallas area business climate
has not been severely affected by the economic turn down. This is probably due
to Dallas having one of the most diverse
economies in the nation.*
Region 4 member responses.
After my request on NESDANET asking
for input regarding economic conditions
in region four I received the following responses.
One member in East Texas reported his
December 08 business was up 60% over
last year and expects 2009 to be markedly
better.
One member in Houston reported his
business is experiencing growth in warranty, third party and COD business and
made the following observations.
1. A recession generally bodes well for our
industry since folks will be staying home
more and the decision to repair or replace
will weigh more heavily on repair.
2. Those of us that have a high percentage
of warranty work may experience a drop
during the 2nd half of 2009 due to the decrease in new set sales … however
3. The wild card here may be the end of
analog broadcasting … how many consumers are going to toss their old in favor
of a new set … recession or not?
4. 3rd Party referrals may drop late in 2009
and early 2010 due to the decrease in
new set sales, unless #3 above results in
lessening the effect of #2.
One North Texas member reported that
from Oct 1 thru Dec 31 2007 warranty re-
pairs for the 2008 period were down 44%
from the previous year. COD repairs were
up 9% for the same period. Gross income
was almost identical for both periods but
the net income for the 2008 period was
up 9% from the 2007 period due to less
administrative cost from fewer warranty
submissions and the increased profit from
COD over warranty and the fact that warranty only accounts for between 15%-25%
of repairs depending on the time of year.
The 4th quarter is ALWAYS slower that the
other 3 quarters.
Another North Texas member would like
to see a NESDA created parts locator web
page sponsored by parts suppliers. He also
stated that in his opinion the WEB based
platform software is ideal for the service
industry.
California lawmakers are working on
legislation that would prohibit retailers
from selling anything but the most energyefficient plasma and LCD TV sets, beginning in 2011.
The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) said on Monday Jan 5 that due to depleted funds, it
has begun placing new applicants for
TV converter box coupons on a waiting list and coupons will be mailed on a
first-come-first-served basis.
NESDA REGION FIVE REPORT
Leo Cloutier CSM, A+ NESDA Region Five Director
O
ur NESDA/ISCET affiliate The
Alignment Club has held three
successful workshop meetings
since July and we’ll hopefully have seven
more before this year is over.
Plans are also moving forward for our
49th Annual Western States Conference to
be held in Hood River, Oregon March 11-15,
2009. We look forward to our fourth consecutive year of growth. Starting with MST
and CSM training on Wednesday, we will
have three more days of technical training,
12
sumptuous meals, testing and hospitality
extraordinaire by the OPEA group.
I’m also happy to report that NESDA
members now have access to all SONY
service information, technical training
manuals and service bulletins.
In November I attended the Advisory
Board meeting of the California Bureau of
Electronic and Appliance Repair (BEAR).
During this confab I had lunch with the
new Chief of the Bureau during which we
discussed many of the leading issues of our
industry including parts availability, training, licensing and other consumer issues
which impact our industry. On December
16 the Chief attended our Alignment Club
meeting and we further discussed these
issues.
The class action lawsuit against a major
manufacturer of electronics for their failure
to comply with the Song Beverly Act as it
pertains to the availability of parts is slowly
progressing.
NESDA INDUSTRY RELATIONS
COMMITTEE REPORT
T
Wayne Markman CET/MST, NESDA Industry Relations Chair
he NESDA membership has seen
some of the effects of the economic
problems facing the country. Issues
that have been reported to the committee were problems with service contract
providers regarding approved estimates
being rejected or reduced once they were
submitted. Most manufacturers are reviewing policies and staffing in order to reduce
costs. Some changes have already been
made and undoubtedly more will follow.
More administrative tasks have been transferred to servicers and the erosion in new
set pricing continues, while parts prices do
not change.
On the bright side, economic downturns
seem to result in many customers opting
for repair rather than replacement if the
cost of repair is less. Some major retailers
problems have resulted in more service opportunities for the independent servicers.
President Thomas discussed issues with
Chuck Weed from GE Extended Warranty
and we expect to continue the dialog with
him. He invited Mr. Weed to address the
NESDA board this week.
David Velasquez at NEW indicated that
he wants to help resolve any support issues
between NESDA members and NEW.
The Service Summit was well attended
and we discussed various issues affecting
all of the service industry.
We distributed and discussed the recent
manufacturer survey results and whether
we should look into additional survey possibilities.
Special attention was paid to manufacturers sharing their triage techniques
with NESDA members and making them
available on the Members Only section of
NESDA.com.
We discussed some possible effects of
the economic downturn and increased price
erosion of flat panels.
Executive Director Mack Blakely EHF
explained and demonstrated the NESDA
Spare Parts Program and encouraged
manufacturer participation in the program.
Members of the committee met with Kim
Wagner and discussed numerous member
concerns regarding the recent mergers of
Tritronics, Vance Baldwin and the emergency of the Encompass Group.
The committee shared emails from the
membership outlining the issues and helped
Kim prioritize them. The meeting was very
productive and Kim will be addressing solutions that we feel will improve the situation
and result in a stronger than ever distribution channel for our members.
BYLAWS AND INTERNAL
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE REPORT
A
John Eubanks CET, EHF NESDA By-Laws and Internal Development Committee Chairman
t the recent annual membership
meeting the recommended Bylaws
change to Article VII Section 1 pertaining to Associate Organizations was tabled.
The committee does not recommend the consideration for NESDA Associate Status for any
multi-regional organization until this Bylaw
change is incorporated.
The committee recommends that the NESDA Board change its membership application
form to include an agreement to abide by the
NESDA Bylaws as well as the Code of Ethics.
Current: By my signature below, I agree to
abide by the NESDA Code of Ethics (on opposite page).
Suggested: By my signature below, I agree to
abide by the NESDA Bylaws and listed Code
of Ethics.
Recommended NESDA Bylaws change:
Article 1 – Purpose and Authority
Section 3. Definition: The term “service dealers” includes all firms engaged in the servic-
ing of appliances, computers, and electronic
products, equipment, and systems used by
the consuming public and industry.
Add the words “support and” to section
3 to read:
Section 3. Definition: The term “service dealers” includes all firms engaged in the support
and servicing of appliances, computers, and
electronic products, equipment, and systems
used by the consuming public and industry.
Section 4 currently states:
Section 4. Mission and purpose: To develop,
provide, and evaluate services and programs
intended to (1) assist the appliance, computer,
and consumer electronics service industry to
grow and to compete successfully in America’s
competitive environment, and (2) assure that
the consumer shall be better served by qualified and ethical professional product service
dealers. (These services shall include, but not
be limited to:
It is recommended to change this to read:
Section 4. Mission and purpose: To develop,
provide, and evaluate services and programs,
termed member benefits that are intended to
(1) assist the appliance, computer, and consumer electronics service industry to grow and
to compete successfully in America’s competitive environment, and (2) assure that the consumer shall be better served by qualified and
ethical professional product service dealers.
Use of any NESDA member benefit includes
an agreement of no liability for NESDA, its
members, officers and staff. These services
shall include, but not be limited to:
These recommendations are provided to reflect the current scope of membership and
include a non liability clause for use of NESDA
benefits.
13
NESDA DIVERSIFICATION
COMMITTEE REPORT
Fred Paradis CSM/MST, Chair
T
he Diversification Committee
has been working on another
revamp of the MST program, as
the installation landscape is changing
almost daily. In light of the volcanic upheaval in the retail landscape the past
three months, now more than ever a
strong background or at least a general
knowledge of basic systems integration
and installation techniques are a must
for anyone in our business.
One training class was given in
Dallas in October, and I am pleased to
announce we had nine members take
the test with all passing. The training
material was also used as a backdrop
during an Alignment Club meeting in
November. It has become evident that
more hands on is needed for this class,
with actual install practices demonstrated with real product. To this end,
I have begun formulating a plan where
the props for the install would be
shipped in and all in attendance would
see first hand some of the tricks of the
trade that we use during installation.
This does not come without a price,
though. I believe we would need a FULL
DAY to cover all the ins and outs of a
successful install.
We also need to focus more on the
networking portion of the installation
field, and we have offered these classes in the past but we need a stronger
push to get more knowledge into our
members’ hands. I am open to any
other suggestions for member revenue
generating classes.
After the convention, an email was
sent to all members looking for new
participants for this committee. I
received no responses, but will
continue to press forward and look for
more volunteers.
NESDA TECHNOLOGY
COMMITTEE REPORT
W
hile our website named
“TVRepairPros.com” is a
work in progress, so is the
discovery process, the process of
determining what our membership
can offer the consumer. Our committee consists of the following NESDA
members (in no particular order):
Ben Fowler, Doug Miner, John
Rudasill, Jimmy Vosika, Richard
Fisher, Jon Lentz, Dave Thomas, and
NESDA staff.
NESDA “TVRepairPros.com” should
become an “authority site”; we have a
unique opportunity to become the leading information page for TV Repair.
The consumer referral website project
has three major components we need
to address:
1. Visibility on the World Wide Web
2. Convincing customers to do a
search for NESDA members while
they are on the site
14
3. “Making the sale,” that is, persuading the consumer to book an appointment with a NESDA servicer
We rolled out TVRepairPros.com the
first week in October 2008. The phrase
“TV Repair” is the hottest phrase for
our industry and this phrase is extremely competitive. Initially when we
were first indexed by Google, we were
ranked about 400 for a search of “TV
Repair.” Now we are ranked 201 for “TV
Repair.” We will score better for that
phrase with Google as time goes on.
Our Google page ranking has climbed
from “0” to “4” in a very short time,
which proves we are on the right path.
We are showing up in 7th place on
the MSN search engine for the phrase
“TV Repair.”
Our next step is to set up a Google
analytics account for TVRepairPros.
com which Mack will do in the near future. This will create a baseline from
which we can monitor the impact of
any changes we make going forward.
The single most important thing we
can do to improve our status on the
web is to get some backlinks to TVRepairPros.com; but not just any backlinks, because we need links from wellestablished trusted sites, with a Google
rating of 4 or more, in order to improve
our ranking.
I believe we do not want to be just
another referral list, instead we have
the potential to dominate the sector
by formulating some creative service
offerings for the consumer that
will be easily found with various
search engines.
TECHNICIANS OF
TOMORROW COMMITTEE
I
SCET has been challenged to create excitement with educators
about the consumer electronics
industry. They need to renew former
relationships with trade school teachers who have abandoned the consumer
electronics industry. Ed Clingman is in-
creasing his communication with educators in charge of the student chapters
from vocational programs. Our goal is
to increase interest and participation in
our industry.
The committee has hopes that we
may have enough interested students
this year that we could sponsor 4
students to attend the convention,
provided NESDA has the funds
for sponsorship.
SERVICE SUMMIT RECAP
Several manufacturer and PTA representatives participated in the 2009 Service Summit held Saturday,
January 10 at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. To preserve the anonymity of the participants, we have
removed any personally identifiable information in this report.
Introductory Remarks
Wayne Markman introduced the new President of NESDA, Dave Thomas. The attendees introduced themselves and Mack
Blakely reviewed the latest survey responses and answered questions. Since the survey was just about manufacturers,
Mack said they could also do one of TPA’s and distributors. Wayne acknowledged that he knew we had to do more with
less as servicers. He recommended sending an up-to-date contact list on a quarterly basis from each partner so he can
expedite industry relations issues.
1. A
. Mack can send the link for the survey to manufacturers who would prefer to send the survey directly to their ASC
network. The goal is to maximize participation.
B. NESDA would like to consolidate triage information that the manufacturers and TPA’s are currently using to expedite calls. The blink codes, flow charts and data could help servicers make more first time completes. This information is needed for product in and out of warranty as well as for ASC and Non-ASC. “Participant A” said they post this
information on their website for services, but can aggregate it and send it to NESDA. However, he said NESDA should
create the template and time frame for reporting the data. “Participant B” said it might be helpful to provide a link to
the website instead, since that is dynamically updated.
“Participant C” has both a dynamic and link system that is due out in March to address the triage issue for first time
repair. The program even presents the recommended parts based on the systems. This is part of the service package that will be introduced on March 15th. They anticipate several hundred users in a few months.
“Participant D” pointed out that it is the manufacturers desire to drive brand loyalty by providing a great service experience. “Participant E” pointed out that TPA’s often go to the non ASC network for product support and that has a
negative impact on brand loyalty. “Participant F” said he agrees they should be working closely with the manufacturers and servicers. “Participant C” pointed out that mfrs are more inclined to support a board swapping troubleshooting approach, whereas TPA are driven by severity rates. “Participant G” said he also wants to drive the first time
resolution. However, he also thinks there has to be balance. The weak link in the chain is the initial contact with
the customer. The CSR is not technical and often can’t drill down to the level they need to go to get the correct part.
There was an active discussion about the triage process and what role each person plays in the process. The cost of
minimizing the part and restock fee is important. “Participant C” suggested a triage committee. Fred Paradis pointed
15
out that we need data on 1st time complete that interact with triage unit. “Participant C” said data shows better triage
results in about 75 to 90%. “Participant E” pointed out that 1st time complete trumps TAT every time in customer service
surveys. “Participant H” pointed out that distributors are being penalized for doing their job well. In other words, we had
both boards in stock and one is returned new but powered up because they didn’t know which one was needed to repair
the set . Board swapping sounds like the new reality.
C. Angel Program. We need Field Service Reps to be able to recommend candidates for this program. Please provide a
list of FSA’s to contact for free memberships. Randy Whitehead said NSA sponsored 100 new members in 2008. They
plan to give the memberships to those who attend. The FSA’s know the quality servicers whereas the distributors just
blanket the servicers.
D. Comments and requests for manufacturers.
“Participant I” commented that communication from the manufacturer to the servicer often does not flow down to the line
employees who actually perform the functions. They don’t know new policies and new contacts. Fred Paradis said we
could announce changes on the home page and then put the content behind the password.
Wayne Markman asked if the premium programs for service will be continued. Dave DiC said they are going to revisit it
since it hasn’t really improved TAT and customer satisfaction as well as there is no excitement within the service
community.
“Participant J” asked why do we have to incentivize great service? Shouldn’t the fact that you give good service be the
driver for additional work?
“Participant K” said they are using Net Promoter scoring to reward those who represent their customers well.
“Participant L” pointed out that service events are random and that you never know if there were 6 calls or 16 calls on
the next Tuesday. He says the better you treat the servicers the more likely they will treat that manufacturer’s customer
better in scheduling. It is very important to the manufacturer and tpa’s that every customer is treated equally regardless
of whether the product is covered by warranty, COD or TPA. This helps the manufacturer differentiate their product from
their competition.
“Participant M” pointed out that our industry has changed a lot over the years in that it used to take 14 days to repair and
now we are driving toward a first time fix in a matter of days.
Dave Thomas also pointed out that good service is also based on strong relationships. It is the commitment of the tpa
and mfr to the servicer as well. “Participant N” also has an issue with communicating with servicers and we need to find
a way to improve communications. His recommendation was a single “business” email address for everything that goes
to the service centers. He has a problem getting all the servicers to respond to emails and to use the tools they provide.
Randy Whitehead said the subject line should have a directive like “FYI, action required, response needed, etc.”
2. N
ESDA Spare Parts Program. The good part about the database is it also searches by description. Distributors can send a
list of up to 100 surplus parts to sell at a discount. The servicer has to manage their inventory. Click on the part and get
a price. Then click on the link to the servicer’s email address and it carries the part over to the subject line and creates a
template for the message.
3. CSC program was not reported on because there was no written report.
The meeting adjourned at 10:55 am.
16
INDUSTRY NEWS
According to industry news sources, the last couple of months were not good for consumer electronics
manufacturers. Most of the bad news was brought on by the sliding global economy.
• JVC will consolidate U.S. operations in April, reducing its workforce by about 15 percent. Divisions being combined
include JVC Company of America (consumer market TV’s camcorders, audio products, accessories and recording media
products); JVC Mobile Company of America (sales division selling car audio, video and navigation products); JVC Professional Products Company (sales division selling professional cameras, security and display products); and JVC Service
and Engineering Company (service division for all three previously mentioned units)
• Pioneer will cut 10,000 jobs across the globe, get out of the television business altogether, and focus on audio and nonTV home electronics. The job cuts will include 6,000 full-time and 4,000 temporary employees. Pioneer expects a record
loss for the current fiscal year.
• Panasonic, the world’s largest manufacturer of plasma televisions, will close 27 plants and cut about 15,000 jobs worldwide by 2010. About half of the announced job cuts will be in Japan. Panasonic has a global workforce of 300,000. In
March, Panasonic will close 13 Japanese plants and 14 additional overseas plants out of its 230 production sites around
the world.
• Sony will cut 8,000 of its 185,000 positions plus 8,000 temporary jobs not part of that group. Five or six of its 57 factories will close.
• Vizio announced it will discontinue plasma television production and will focus instead on LCD. As a result of this, Samsung, LG and Panasonic will be the only large-scale plasma makers in the U.S.
BURSMA ELECTRONIC DISTRIBUTING, INC. JOINS NESDA
F
ebruary 13, 2009 – Bursma Electronic Distributing, Inc.
is pleased to announce that it has joined NESDA, the
National Electronics Service Dealers Association, as a
new Corporate Member.
Bursma’s recent reorganization has placed a new focus on its
parts and accessory division and renewed its commitment to
service dealers. Bursma is a reliable distributor that is ready to
work with their customers to help keep their businesses running efficiently and profitably.
Bursma is dedicated to making sure the members of NESDA
have easy contacts and open communication with its account managers. “From solving parts supply problems to insuring timely delivery of an emergency part, we understand
that working individually with our customers is the key to our
mutual success,” said Bob Wesseling, Account Manager with
Bursma.
Bursma will also have representation on NESDAnet to lend
helpful advice when needed and learn from the technicians
about their ever-changing business.
Bursma Account Managers are ready to lend their combined
experience of over 50 years in the electronic parts repair industry to insure NESDA members get the best information and
insight into everyday needs and surprise problems. Contact
either Bob or Jason at 800/733-3329 from 8 a.m. to 5 pm EST
for any immediate help. You may also email Bob at [email protected] or Jason at [email protected].
NESDA members who already have an account with Bursma
will keep their current representative, who will continue to provide the same level of quality support.
Bursma has been around since the “good ‘ole days” of parts repair dating back to 1947!
Having experienced the ups and recent downs of the parts business, Bursma understands
the changes needed to make sure servicers prosper for years to come. Bursma knows
servicers deserve honest answers, quality product and outstanding customer service. For
more information, visit our website at www.bursma.com.
17
A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO RPTV
REPLACEMENT LAMP
Dan Buchbinder, President of DLP Lamp Source
B
ackground
During the period of 2001 – 2008
tens of millions of RPTV sets were
sold into the consumer market. Regardless of the technology used (DLP, LCD,
D-ILA) these sets are reliant upon an expendable lamp source. With the market
for 50” and over flat panel displays still
cost prohibitive, especially given the current economic climate, the case for fixing
the old DLP TV becomes more compelling.
Add to the fact that the lamp is only about
$140 and will make the TV operate like
new and it becomes an even easier decision. This becomes a good product to add
to your arsenal as these sets start to come
into their first, and more often we are seeing, second and third lamp lives. And the
best part – stocking less than 10 different
lamps will allow you to cover the entire TV
lamp replacement market.
Differences in TV Lamps
There are three main manufacturers of
high pressure mercury lamps for rear
projection systems. OSRAM and Philips
projection lamp systems utilize AC (Alternating Current) technology. The other
technology is DC (Direct Current) used by
Phoenix.
Officially, there are no standards in the
projection industry that require adherence
to standardized electrical and mechanical
specifications. Seeing a need to standardize names, DLP Lamp Source has developed a naming convention utilizing the
front or rear projection type designation
as well as adherence to reflector size, voltage type and lightform shape (elliptical vs
parabolic). An example of this would be
the commonly utilized RP-E023, RP for
rear projection, E for elliptical and 023 for
reflector size.
Rear projection lamps are generally interchangeable if the designation for wattage,
arc gap, and reflector type is the same.
Even though the designation is the same,
there still could be some minor differences
18
with the reflector such as different locations of cable connections and whether or
not there are locating lugs on the front
rim of the reflector. These are not impactful on the performance of the lamp. It
is very important to note that AC lamps
must be replaced with AC lamps; same
for DC lamps. Also, replacing elliptical
with parabolic based lamps will result in
poor performance. The DLP Lamp Source
maintains an extensive cross reference of
lamp types to housings and is available by
contacting either PacParts (West Coast) or
Bursma Electronics (Midwest/East Coast),
our authorized distributors.
Lamp & Ballast Interchangeability
Lamps and ballasts (lampdrivers) are usually sold as a matched set due to TV and
projector designers often requiring significant technical support from the lamp
system supplier to ensure proper system
integration as well as issues such as cost
and availability. Osram and Philips are the
main providers for the rear projection market, the main exception being Toshiba who
utilizes DC technology (Phoenix). Claims
that one is better over the other are untrue. Often times the deciding factor by
OEMs in choosing suppliers was the availability of product and cost. Lamps used
by Osram and Philips are interchangeable
as long as there is strict adherence to the
lamp specifications. Substituting based
on physical attributes alone is not acceptable.
Lampdrivers (ballasts) are quite complex,
having onboard microcontrollers and software. These lampdrivers not only drive
the lamp, but are highly integrated with
either the DMD electronics or LCD drivers.
Some aspects of the lampdriver software
are user-programmable allowing the OEM
to set up custom programs and operational sequences to provide the required TV
or front projector performance. OSRAM
calls this software UNISHAPE. Philips has
something similar called VIDI. As a re-
sult, always replace the ballast with the
OEM part. The lamp need not be a brand
specific replacement (Osram vs Philips) as
long as the specifications match.
Lamp Life
The typical RPTV lamp is operated in a
100-180W range resulting in roughly a
4-6k hour life span. Our customers are
averaging roughly 2-4 years of life out of
a lamp. This is a wide range dependent
upon a variety of factors. The most common is the on/off cycle of the lamp. The
typical RPTV lamp has a high striking voltage (approx. 25kV) and operates at a high
temperature. It’s important to note here
that a lamp shouldn’t be replaced unless
the TV has been off for at least ½ hour
in order to give the lamp sufficient time
to cool to room temperature. Turning a
lamp based TV (or front projector) off and
on without allowing sufficient time for the
fans to cool the lamp causes the glass to
suffer thermodynamically as the hot glass
gets pummeled with high voltage.
Proper ventilation is worth mentioning as
well. Since the fans draw cool air over the
lamp, keeping the lamp door vents accessible and clean ensures that the lamp is
as cool as possible. Oftentimes, housing
ducts can get plugged with dirt that also
can keep the lamp from getting properly
cooled. Maintenance of the filter (if applicable) as well should be performed -- usually rinsing in a mild soap solution and air
drying is sufficient.
Lastly, voltage regulation is important in
areas that are prone to power outages.
A UPS (uninterrupted power supply) will
provide continuous power to the cooling
fans of the TV in the event of a power outage. Improper cooling of the lamp causes
significant lamp life loss.
About the Author: Dan Buchbinder is President of DLP
Lamp Source, a NESDA Corporate Member. For more information on this article, Please submit any questions/
comments to [email protected].
The Passing Parade
ISCET NEWS & VIEWS
February 2009
Ed Clingman • ISCET Administrator
A
round & About – It seems like it was
just yesterday that we were welcomed
to the new Information Highway.
The information age was upon us – you can
say that again!
We are constantly bombarded by information from many different sources.
Today’s offerings by television enable
choices between entertainment, news and
commentary, education, career choices,
and with cable or dish services the offerings increase exponentially. The World’s
economic ills take a large chunk of news
and commentary especially when you include the politics that are unavoidably detailed. Our Information Highway of today
is very crowded, and the din of graphics
and sound that is beckoning to us from
television sets all over the world is at its
all-time high.
This forces us to look at the results of the
Information Overload. Do we know more
about our world than we did, say 50 years ago?
Sure we do, and more people have seen more
of the world than ever before. Technology has
given us the “virtual” experience. We’re not
actually there, but it seems as though we we’re
there – the next best thing to being there? Perhaps. Other sources of information continue to
beckon for our attention. Include radio along
with television. Millions of Americans faithfully
listen to the same radio stations day after day
during their commutes to and from the workplace. This being said, what is the best course
for us to take?
Our daily habits dictate what time we
have and when it’s available. Consider
taking a slice of your time to pull in your
antenna and do nothing but what you want
to do. It may be a hobby … it may be
sport … it may be nothing more than a few
isolated minutes when you can close your
eyes (and ears) to the world around you,
and think of something that is pleasant.
Don’t analyze, don’t fret – just enjoy the
moment. Sound interesting? Try it – you’ll
like it.
School Daze – It was my privilege last
week to attend the TCCTA (Texas Community College Teacher’s Association) 2009 Annual Convention in Austin, TX, and speak with
those involved in electronics education. One
fact stood out – career and technical education
is taking a large role in preparing both young
and old for the jobs of tomorrow. Much discussion was had concerning how to develop
students to enter electronic technician jobs for
which the details haven’t yet been written. To
a man, this group was “ready to go” – accept
the challenges – make it count. Those of us
that serve to help the academic community in
these tasks are working very hard to develop
the programs that are, and will be necessary to
accomplish furnishing both degreed and nondegreed graduates with the education they will
need to enter the workforce, and prosper for
themselves and their generation.
Today we are learning about education’s
share in the massive dollar infusion to help
us recover from the brink of an economic
disaster. The media is detailing what money is going where. Suffice it to say that
with the money grants also go the responsibility of educators to deliver the most for
the money. Some of the old principles for
teaching and training must be replaced by
newer versions that utilize all that is available now -- new technology for the classroom -- new strategies for student preparation. Use the materials that “work,”
because they “work”.
ISCET’S Upcoming Election of Officers
and Directors – At our convention, NPSC
2009, in St. Louis, Mo. August 3 through 7,
2009 at the Annual Membership Meeting (time
to be announced) we will elect a new slate of
19
“ISCET
has a big
job to do.”
officers, President, Vice-President, Secretary
and Treasurer. The nomination forms are in
the Members Only section of the ISCET website, www.iscet.org. The slate of nominations
by the ISCET Board is also listed as well as
position papers from both present candidates
for President. Check them out – see if they
agree with your vision of ISCET – Get involved.
Additional nominations are welcomed. ISCET
has a big job to do … and needs all the help
it can muster. If you are a voting member of
ISCET (a Journeyman CET in good standing)
then take a look at the slate of nominations.
Then nominate someone you think would be
an asset to ISCET, and take part in building
ISCET beyond anywhere it has been in the
past. If you have questions, or just want to
talk about what ISCET is doing, call me at
800-946-0201 X118.
ESA
increases
interest and
develops
better grades
ISCET Programs
Here is a simple list of programs that we are
currently offering:
• CET – Certified Electronics Technician
– Both Associate and Journeyman level
certifications are available. Journeyman
certifications are offered in various disciplines such as Consumer, Industrial, Radar,
Computer, Communications, Video, Audio,
Medical. Associate level certifications are
offered in Basic Electronics Technology and
Telecommunications.
• ESA – Electronics Systems Associate –
Is the new program that increases interest
and develops better grades than when taking the Associate CET. This program is divided into four (4) parts. Each part is given,
then tested. Once all four parts have been
passed, the student is awarded the Associate CET automatically. Enhanced learning
and teaching graphic material is available
that helps both student and instructor in
presenting the course.
• CET – Millennium – A new way to
achieve the Associate CET. Uses the same
ISCET
Associate
CET Senior
Now
Available
20
body of material covered by the Associate
CET, but requires only a 70% passing to secure certification. This is in line with many
other certifications now being offered in
various disciplines.
• Associate CET Senior – Can be
achieved by holders of the Associate CET
or Millennium by passing the ESA-5 examination in advanced Digital, Microprocessors, Robotics and Telecommunications.
• Registered CET – To keep certifications current with emerging technologies,
and broaden the knowledge of the CET,
ISCET recommends that the certifications
be “registered” every 2 years. This requires earning Continuing Education Units
(CEU). Complete information is available at
http://www.iscet.org/certification/(022608)_
Forms_ISCET_Registration_CET.pdf.
• FCC – All Commercial FCC examinations
are given as required.
• NASTeC – Appliance Servicing Certification in Basic Skills, Laundry, Cooking and
Refrigeration.
• ISCET de Mexico – An International
Chapter of ISCET, serving the electronics
technician certification in Mexico.
• Training & Learning Martial – Sold
through the ISCET Online Store, a wealth
of material focused on self study material
for electronics technicians. Also offering
Virtual Classroom formats that provide
a real classroom atmosphere, regularly
scheduled classes, live instructor(s), graphical material used to drive the class. Also
many reference books in which technicians
have interest. To receive a printed copy
of all materials available with prices, e-mail
[email protected] giving your name and
mailing address.
Don’t forget to look into the candidates
for office … All the information is there in
the Members Only section of the website,
www.iscet.org. If you need the password, call
800-946-0201 X116.
BECOME AN INVENTOR OF ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY
By Nickolaus E. Leggett CET
T
echnicians are Natural Inventors
As an experienced technician you are
well qualified to invent new electronics technology. You already have a strong
knowledge of electronics and related
technology. You have worked with many
electronic systems and you have seen
their advantages and disadvantages.
What problems have you encountered?
For example are the modules hard to install and are the connectors too weak or
fragile? How about inventing new solutions to these problems? At one time, I
found that there were problems with the
data bus hardware on a digital device,
so I proceeded with the idea of eliminating the conventional bus and replacing it
with wireless approaches. This led to a
wireless bus invention.
What would you like to have that is not
currently available? Would you like to
have a robot to clean up around the shop
or a storage system that automatically
sorts small parts? Perhaps you would like
to have an overhead “third-hand” that
would hold the device that you are working on.
Maybe you noticed aspects of your hobbies that suggest improvements that
could be new inventions. For example a
new electronics system that resists crashes of model airplanes has been brought
to the hobby market. In the amateur radio field, experimenters have succeeded
in operating an antenna using a conducting liquid.
Often you can invent new things by
thinking of alternatives to the conventional ways that things are designed or
used. Are there alternative ways of delivering power to an electronic device? Can
any expensive components be replaced
by my inexpensive new parts? What are
the different ways that packages can be
moved around a warehouse? What sim-
ple household items could be used in an ics knowledge. (Note: the Morse Code
improvised electronics circuit?
requirement for an amateur radio license
has been dropped.)
This first step in inventing is asking lots of
questions and playing around with ideas At the same time, examine the online lion how things can be done differently. In brary of patented inventions maintained
effect, you are stepping back and asking by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
the question: why are things designed (USPTO). This online library is free and it
that way and what alternatives may be is located at the URL: www.uspto.gov.
better?
Find the competitors’ ideas by entering
some descriptive words of your idea,
If you want, you can apply the morpho- such as “liquid antennas”, into the search
logical table technique that some of the system at this web site. Compare your
think tank organizations have used. This idea with the descriptions of inventions
simple technique will be presented in an- presented in the online library. Spend
some time browsing around this way to
other article.
become familiar with the online library
and what other inventors have done in
Developing Your Ideas
Keep a record book of your ideas. Write your area of interest. Consider the ecodown everything. Keep notes of new nomic value of your invention in relation
ideas as they pop up. You need to do this to the competitors in the market.
because it is easy for anyone to forget a
new idea that could be valuable. Draw diagrams of what you have in mind. Many
inventors have kept books of notes that
have proven really useful in developing
their ideas into inventions. Use a bound
blank book that will not lose its pages
over time.
Steps to Get Your Patent
Read an introduction to the patent
system such as one of the books from
the Nolo Company at www.nolo.com.
This will help you to deal with patents.
Strongly resist the temptation to file an
application for a patent on your own
without a lawyer. This would be a waste
If you have the opportunity, build a work- of time in most situations. There are too
ing prototype of your electronics device. many legal complications to getting an
This step is not required, but it is a valu- effective patent.
able way to “reality check” your idea. You
can see how well your idea works in the Write a rough draft patent application
real world, and you may develop addi- based on the suggestions in the book
and prepare hand-drawn or computer
tional ideas based on your prototype.
generated drawings of your device. This
You can use available resources to help should include schematic diagrams and
in the construction. For example, con- other useful drawings that explain it.
ventional off-the-shelf devices, such as This rough draft will help things to go
amplifier modules, may be applied to faster and cheaper with patent lawyers
your device freeing your attention for the later on.
novel parts of your system. If you need
to test a wireless communications device,
you can probably use the amateur radio
frequencies to do so. If you don’t have
an amateur radio license, you can easily
pass the test for it using your electron-
Contact a patent lawyer for an initial consultation and discuss your invention and
its patentability. If you are an employee
of a company bring this up with the lawyer and discuss its impact on you and
21
your invention. An employer can have
certain rights to your invention.
Have a formal patent search done for
you by a professional patent searcher.
This step will find if someone else has
already patented an invention that is
similar to yours. If your invention is
novel (not duplicated in an existing
patent), then you can decide to go
ahead with your patent application.
Your patent lawyer will take your draft
application as a starting point and develop a formal patent application including formal patent drawings. The
lawyer will add value in this process.
He will craft the formal claims paragraphs that define what you are legally claiming as your invention. This
is a complex and vital process.
After the patent application is developed and approved by you, it will be
filed with the USPTO. Then you will
have to wait patiently for a patent examiner to respond in writing to your
application. This wait may be about
two years because of the backlog of
pending applications. Nothing is going to move rapidly, so you should go
on to other projects such as inventing
something else.
If the examiner determines that your
invention is new, he will approve of
your application. Alternatively, he may
approve of part of your application. If
he is not sure that your invention is
unique and new, he will request further written inputs from you and your
patent lawyer. If your invention is not
novel, the examiner will deny your
patent application.
Using Your Invention
Once your patent has been granted,
the hard work of marketing your in-
vention begins. Indeed, many inventors market their inventions while
their patent application is still pending. This is a subject that you need to
discuss with your patent lawyer.
It is important to remember that while
some inventors make money from
their inventions, others do not. In addition, there are numerous invention
promotion companies that have a dubious record. Thus, you must be careful in marketing your invention.
Inventing is an enjoyable process but
it requires patience and determination.
About the Author: Nickolaus Leggett CET is an individual inventor holding three U.S. Patents, the latest for
a wireless bus for computers and other digital devices
(U.s. Patent #6,771,935). He is also an Extra Class
amateur radio operator. He holds a Master of Arts in
Political Science from Johns Hopkins University and is a
technical writer.
MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS TECHNICIAN
MEET THE NEWEST MEMBER OF
TODAYS SERVICE CENTER TECHS!
For Today’s In-Home Techs
Deals with Know How & Minimum Theory
JOURNEYMAN LEVEL
Training and Testing Available NOW!
Call 800-946-0201 ext. 118, e-mail [email protected]
22
OPAMPS PART 2
By Andre Smalling CET
I
n the first article of this Op Amp series, we
discussed the differentiating circuit. In this
article, we will look at the integrating circuit, the opposite of the differentiating circuit.
Integrating is accomplished by interchanging
the position of the resistor and capacitor of the
differentiator. This results in the op amp integrator shown in Figure 1.
This circuit, which consists of the mathematical
operations of differentiation and integrator, is
the reverse of the differentiator circuit of the
previous article. In the integral form the output
voltage, as a function of time, is given by the
following equation:
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Fig. 1.1
Since the shunt resistor helps to limit the
circuit’s low-frequency gain. The equation
This represents the area under the curve.
is valid for input frequency greater than
Integrator
fc =
1
2πRsC1
For input frequencies less than fc, the
performance of the circuit approaches that of
an inverting amplifier with a voltage gain of
Vo = Rs
Vi
Ri
Fig. 1
However, a more practical circuit is shown in
Figure 1.1. The resistor Rs across the feedback
capacitor is called a shunt resistor. It is used
to limit the low frequency gain of the circuit.
If the low frequency gain is not limited, the
DC offset voltage would also be integrated over
the integration period. This would eventually
saturate the operation amplifier. Be aware that
the input offset voltage is due to the input bias
current. This voltage is minimized by resistor
R2 which is be equal to the parallel combination of the input and the shunt resistor Rs.
In Figure 3, the Op Amp is made to function as
a constant source. I use a battery as the input
voltage but any other stable reference voltage
can be used to deliver a constant reference
through the input resistor R1 and consequently
through the load. By Ohm’s law, the current
R1 and constantly the load resistor must equal
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I = Vbat
R1
If for any reason the load resistance changes,
the current that flows through the load remains
the same as long as the reference voltage
(battery) and the R1 remain the same.
23
Constant Current Source
Fig. 3
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in NESDA Store
The circuit of Figure 4 is a basic current to voltage converter, which is essentially an inverting
amplifier without an input resistor. The input
current Ii is applied directly to the inverting input of the operational amplifier. Since the input
current also flows through the feedback resistor R the output voltage is simply:
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How to Successfully Market Your
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by Mike Coleman
Mike Coleman is a speaker, writer,
and business consultant. A smallish book that you can put in your
briefcase or purse and read in a
couple of lunch breaks, this easyto-read 95-page softcover is full of
tips and tricks useful to any small
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Vo = IiR
In this circuit, the op-amp’s input bias current
(Ib) is also added to the input current, this result in
Vo = (Ii + Ib)R
In this application you should chose an Op Amp
with very low input bias current relative to the
actual input current.
Fig. 5
For floating loads such as the circuit in Figure
5 and 6, a voltage to current converter is applicable. The circuit of Figure 5 is an inverting
voltage-to-current converter. It is similar to the
inverting amplifier except that the feedback
element (the load) is now the coil of a motor. It could also be a heater with an internal
resistance. In this circuit, the current is then
equal to
IL = Vi
Ri
This value is independent of any changes in the
load resistance of the motor. Figure 6 is a noninverting voltage to current converter. The load
current for this circuit is the same as Figure 5.
Current to Voltage Converter
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Fig. 4
For applications such as driving relays and
motors, a voltage-to-current converter, also
called a transmittance amplifier, is frequently
used. Depending on the application, a voltageto-current converter can drive either floating or
grounded loads.
24
Fig. 6
In cases where the load is grounded on one
side, the circuit in Fig. 7 can be used. In this
case, the load current is given by:
IL = Vi
R3
This is true when R3 = R2
R4
R1
AS A MATTER OF FACT...
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Fig. 7
IAN
IAN
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ICS
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E
ON
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EC
ICS
BOARDWALKS
ISCET
EL
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EC
EL
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E
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CERTIFIED
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CH
ISCET
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Andre Smalling is a teacher, writer and advocate of Electronics Technology, especially in the Fields of RFID and Op Amps. His first article
was on differentiating circuits. In this second installment, he discusses the integrating circuit. To read the article on the differentiating
circuit, access the December 2008 issue of ProService Magazine at
either www.nesda.com or www.iscet.org. Both have access to previous issues of the ProService Magazine. Mr. Smalling is very active in
organizations supporting electronics technicians, and has contributed
generously of his time in developing examinations, study material, and
helps for the electronics technicians of today.
The ISCET Board of Directors met on January 21, 2009. The following were main points of actions and discussion:
• Reports were given by Mack Blakely EHF, Executive Director and Ed Clingman, ISCET Administrator that indicated ISCET’s progress in developing the Society’s position in certification and education. Gains in both revenue and timely programs
were evident.
• The Board repeated their support for the SKILLS USA and ISCET Student Chapter Scholarships, and recommended to the
ISCET Charitable Trust officials that these be continued.
• Discussion was held concerning ISCET Student Chapters. David Bates CET, Chairman of the ISCET Chapters committee along
with Ed Clingman will develop changes to the existing program to energize these chapters.
• David Bates, Chairman of the New Certifications committee reported that it will be necessary to develop new certifications in
the “Green” areas such as Alternate Energy Sources, Stored Power, etc. The Board by comment agreed.
• George Brownyard CET indicated his thoughts on changing the method of voting for officers and directors. President Villademoros appointed Del Whiteman CET/CSM, Director to chair a committee that would look into this and report back to the Board.
• Discussion was held on the By Laws with respect to term of directors. George Brownyard held that there was no term limit on
directors, except that their term was for two years, and that they could be re-elected indefinitely. President Villademoros CET,
after consulting with Del Whiteman, Parliamentarian, and George Brownyard, By Laws Committee chair, held that Mr.
Brownyard’s ruling was correct.
• David Bates, Secretary brought up the issue of ISCET presence at the NPSC annual conventions. He thought it should be
further accentuated by having literature about ISCET in the registration packet, and also placed in the rooms where meetings,
seminars, training, etc. were to take place. ISCET should be represented at each of the “First Timers” meetings by a staff or
Board member to speak briefly about ISCET.
Do you have some ideas about ISCET to share? Contact any of the directors, officers or staff, and let us know what you are
thinking.
Go to http://www.iscet.org/about/index.html for staff listings.
Go to http://www.iscet.org/about/leadership.html for Board listings.
You don’t have to be a Voting Member to lend your thinking to ISCET.
25

ProService - International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians

Transcription

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