Re: N9020A - Right to Repair
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One of the key tenets of "right to repair" is that those proprietary alignment / calibration tools must be made available at a reasonable cost... The catch is there's usually no stipulation about "reasonable cost", so they can make it available for $1M and call it a day.
But the good thing is if it's "available" it will end up "out there" eventually
On Mon, Apr 22, 2024 at 6:17?PM Peter Gottlieb via <hpnpilot= [email protected]> wrote: Right to Repair can easily be gotten around by the manufacturers.
I have a R&S transceiver which came from a surplus lot.? It had a problem with
one module and I swapped in another module from a different unit.? While it
worked, the alignment was off and power output across the frequency range is not
within spec.
This can easily be fixed by the use of their proprietary service software, but
that software is not available outside of the company.? Heck, I can't even
adjust the main oscillator to be right on frequency without that software.? Will
they do it for me? Probably not; others have tried and unless you're a
government or large commercial entity they won't talk to you.? And if you
finally got them to?? The price I head quoted was several times what the radio
cost me.? Even with governments they only operate on a contract basis.
Plenty of things are like that, this is but one example. Technically you have
"repaired" your device, but it will never operate to spec ever again.
Peter
On 4/22/2024 7:56 PM, Ed Marciniak via wrote:
> It isn¡¯t too much to ask for that you be able to replace commodity components
> that fail with identical replacements. It¡¯s also not unreasonable to want to
> replace a board with a functional equivalent with the understanding that the
> original manufacturer might choose not to provide tech support (free, paid by
> subscription, or pay per issue).
>
> In the computer industry, the Moss Magnuson Act (US) doesn¡¯t allow a
> manufacturer to void a warranty for using compatible aftermarket parts, like
> commodity DRAM modules or fiber optic modules. They¡¯re not required to support
> or troubleshoot compatibility issues. You could end up having to replace the
> commodity components if you end up at an impasse obtaining support under a
> contract (and then swapping back after problem resolution). A common example
> would be a cisco router with Cisco charging stupid amounts of money for DRAM
> modules or fiber transeivers.
>
> The embedded PC motherboards are specialized enough that it would potentially
> be difficult but not impossible to find a replacement. I don¡¯t know that it¡¯s
> come up yet, but I¡¯m other countries like the UK, where a manufacturer can¡¯t
> tie a license to a piece of hardware¡in principle someone might be able to
> turn the screws and successfully litigate their way into forcing a
> manufacturer to make a license portable, or by extension license a replacement
> board.
>
> If only I had a UK mailing address and corporate entity¡
>
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