Oh no.. I think this might mean the initial "in stock" indication was faulty. Seeed's website is notorious for this. I checked to be sure I could add a unit to my shopping cart, but I guess that doesn't really mean anything. Also, I did not get any telemetry from the factory indicating units were in final test. So that makes this whole thing suspect. I should have waited overnight before assuming it was valid..
So there might be 8 Kiwi kits in stock at Seeed at the moment (as of June 1/2). Yesterday the stock count showed 10 again. I assumed this was another false count. But this morning it was 9, as though one had been ordered. So I ordered one. The order went through, to the point of getting an order confirmation and my PayPal being charged. The stock count went to 8.
Will it actually ship or will the order be cancelled because there isn't actually any stock? Who knows. But you might give it a try. I was charged US $10.66 for the slow-boat shipping option (20-30 days quoted, probably more these days).
Mine also shipped. Well, it's a mystery to me then where these Kiwis came from unless it's simply the build of 50 I was sort of expecting. Even though I received no telemetry from the factory final test.
I'll keep checking every day and update kiwisdr.com if Mouser or Amazon gets restocked. For those in NA note that you can get the aluminum enclosure from Arrow or Verical currently. Use the Octopart link to find their listings.
Mine arrived late this morning, speedy DHL delivery for sure. I just put it online after completing lawn mowing chores. I had to re-remember a few things regarding setting it up Cloning worked great to move the DX Labels and such over.
Not a great inaugural night for it, with all the storms. Presently on a 43/48 meter dipole, not sure if I will keep it on this antenna or move it to the 58 ft T2FD: http://sdr.hfunderpants.com:8074/
Thanks. BTW, I can access your 8074 Kiwi fine using your link above. But right now there are two entries in rx.kiwisdr.com for 8073. To make the second one list as 8074 change the "external port" field on the admin page network tab from 8073 to 8074 ("internal port" stays 8073). Then restart.
The other thing you could do is only list 8073 publicly, then use the "next URL" field on the connect tab to spill-over connections to 8074 when 8073 is full. I'm sure you already know about this but I mention it for the benefit of other readers.
I got mine from Bonito yesterday. Set it already up and running yesterday evening. Today gonna change to a better qth and antenna. http://psokotkahome.sytes.net:8073/
A build of 50 has completed, distributed between ML&S (UK), Seeed Amazon, Seeed website, Seeed Taobao (internal sales to China) and some elsewhere. There is an issue with Mouser we're trying to clear up. Mouser thinks they have a restock order pending. But Seeed doesn't see it. So some miscommunication there.
Seeed's planning team has approved the build of another 100 units. So more on the way.
I did Component Engineering work for a good number of years. Keeping track of and evaluating an ever-shrinking supply of suitable alternate parts to keep legacy designs alive , paid my bills for a while. That job has not gotten any easier with RoHS and shrinking component lifetimes.
And it's way easier to buy 1,000,000 parts than 1,000.
I am glad to hear there are more coming. I ordered one from Amazon (US) on June 7th and got an email on the 10th that the order was cancelled because it was actually out of stock. Looks like a fun radio to complement the ELAD.
The batch of 100 was "started" 4 weeks ago. But this includes the time needed to source the more expensive and sometimes difficult to acquire parts. I was going to wait a few more weeks before inquiring on the progress. Mouser is showing an expected delivery date (to them) of Aug 12 for what that's worth.
I'm sorry supply to NA has been so disrupted. These are challenging times. RS (UK) claims to have 5 in stock at a very good price with $10 DHL shipping to the US. Even with shipping the total is below the $299 MSRP. I've only ever ordered components from RS in the UK before (delivered to NZ) so I don't have direct experience ordering Kiwis from them. Might be worth a shot:
Thanks John, I emailed them as I had a few concerns about purchasing from abroad. It looks like it is the seeed kit they are shipping. I will wait for their reply and probably order one from them.
RS is a large distributor like an Arrow/Verical in the US. They will be directly reselling packaged units from Seeed. But you are right to be concerned about the process in case a warranty return is required. It could be a hassle.
I ordered second Kiwi from ML&S Tuesday (UK), it shipped today. Will be here by tomorrow according to tracking. Looking forward to adding another 8rx channels to the mix totaling 22. I can then eliminate the 3 channels that were not able to be merged by WD from the SDR RSP2. Finally i can loose the 25% dups I generate everyday. And just ordered 2 enclosures from Mouser. Needed to clean things up... was looking a little hokey.
After arrival and testing please let us know how your experience was as an international ML&S customer. I'd like to know if I can recommend them and RS (UK) to NA buyers until the new Seeed Kiwi build is available in NA.
This will be the second one I have purchased from them. Shipping has been immediate (overnight next day air was standard). Price has been reasonable as it included overnight shipping (315). First unit is working flawlessly with WD and BBAI. I may break into the 800 unique tonight.
Update: ML&S UK supply. I received my second Kiwi yesterday as expected from ML&S, no issues. set it up late yesterday and it is now up and running. 1st kiwi with BBAI running in 14ch mode, 2ND Kiwi running in 8 ch mode, both now merged with WD.
Ordered a Kiwi from ML&S (UK) for shipping to North America on Friday night (US time), cost was a reasonable US $296, including shipping. Will update this post on service from ML&S.
I ordered a kiwiSDR from RS https://americas.rsdelivers.com/product/seeed-studio/110060490/seeed-studio-110060490-bbg-gps-antenna-kiwisdr/1743298 I ordered on the 6th, it shipped from the UK on the 9th. It arrived at my door on the 14th. (Reno, NV USA area) The price was $291 shipped via DHL and everything was in good order when I opened it. Last night I set it up, tonight I registered it on rx.kiwisdr.com, it is working great. Thanks to John for the suggestion of RS.
Comments
Will it actually ship or will the order be cancelled because there isn't actually any stock? Who knows. But you might give it a try. I was charged US $10.66 for the slow-boat shipping option (20-30 days quoted, probably more these days).
I'll keep checking every day and update kiwisdr.com if Mouser or Amazon gets restocked. For those in NA note that you can get the aluminum enclosure from Arrow or Verical currently. Use the Octopart link to find their listings.
https://www.seeedstudio.com/KiwiSDR-Kit-p-2725.html
Not a great inaugural night for it, with all the storms. Presently on a 43/48 meter dipole, not sure if I will keep it on this antenna or move it to the 58 ft T2FD: http://sdr.hfunderpants.com:8074/
The other KiwiSDR is on a 120 ft T2FD: http://sdr.hfunderpants.com:8073/
The other thing you could do is only list 8073 publicly, then use the "next URL" field on the connect tab to spill-over connections to 8074 when 8073 is full. I'm sure you already know about this but I mention it for the benefit of other readers.
https://www.amazon.com/Seeedstudio-KiwiSDR-Software-Defined-BeagleBone/dp/B06XPQP45D/ref=sr_1_7?keywords=kiwisdr&qid=1583514395&s=electronics&sr=1-7
A build of 50 has completed, distributed between ML&S (UK), Seeed Amazon, Seeed website, Seeed Taobao (internal sales to China) and some elsewhere. There is an issue with Mouser we're trying to clear up. Mouser thinks they have a restock order pending. But Seeed doesn't see it. So some miscommunication there.
Seeed's planning team has approved the build of another 100 units. So more on the way.
And it's way easier to buy 1,000,000 parts than 1,000.
Thanks, Dan KM6CQ
I'm sorry supply to NA has been so disrupted. These are challenging times. RS (UK) claims to have 5 in stock at a very good price with $10 DHL shipping to the US. Even with shipping the total is below the $299 MSRP. I've only ever ordered components from RS in the UK before (delivered to NZ) so I don't have direct experience ordering Kiwis from them. Might be worth a shot:
https://americas.rsdelivers.com/product/seeed-studio/110060490/seeed-studio-110060490-bbg-gps-antenna-kiwisdr/1743298
Could do with ordering another one but don't want to tempt fate.
Attachments:
https://forum.kiwisdr.com/uploads/Uploader/31/229c5483af86845694e7762cb5c3f5.bmp
Enclosure from Mouser.
I ordered on the 6th, it shipped from the UK on the 9th. It arrived at my door on the 14th. (Reno, NV USA area) The price was $291 shipped via DHL and everything was in good order when I opened it. Last night I set it up, tonight I registered it on rx.kiwisdr.com, it is working great. Thanks to John for the suggestion of RS.
http://km6cq.hopto.org:8073/