Bloody Mrk3

[Country Joe 1,411]

With the Mark1 being as popular, all they needed to do, was upgrade it a bit, bring it out in Orange instead of the Grey,

there was no need for fancy magnets, all you do is take the collar off, unscrew the cap a little, which cancels the connection.

[comanche 2,801]

Ha. How many times have I seen us older chaps who prefer the grey box slagged off for not moving with the times and not appreciating and embracing new technology?.

 

Even Deben realised that they were selling a piece of absolute sh*t in the MK2. Did they then have the prototype MK3 tested by the same idiot who claimed the MK2 was fit for purpose ?.

 

As they say,"Those who do not learn by their mistakes are condemned to repeat them ".

 

These multi-switched ,delicate,and inacurate lumps of overpriced dung,er sorry modern electrical equipment , with their flickering LEDs and stupid noises surely have generated far more confused telephone calls and complaints to Deben in the few years they have been on the market than the grey box Ferret Finder(Does what it says on the Box!) did throughout its entire production run.

 

Still Deben seem to be in denial. Redesigning the collar and adding a magnetic switch hardly addresses the fundamental weaknesses of the reciever.

By improving durability,ditching the dancing L.E.Ds,adding a simple dial depth gauge to the volume knob and retaining the option of the long distance SEARCH mode it surely must be possible to make the MK3 into something just as sturdy,long-lived and easy to use as the older model.

Maybe that is it . The old Mk1s were just too long lived and too reliable . I certainly don't recall ferreters calling for ,"A better locator". So just why did Deben decided that the time was right to foist the Mk2 on an ususpecting and trusting target market ?

 

 

 

Its not just the Mk3s that are kicking Deben's reputation in the shins . I recently bought an expensive but handy looking torch bearing the Deben name . It too turned out to be an overpriced bit of kit with a rather optimistic claimed performance and unreliable switch.. It went back .

Edited September 29, 2011 by comanche

[farmerkev09 104]

i honestly dont rate the mk3 its like a bloody game boy all them different beep i had mine for a season and went back to the mk1

[stealthy1 3,964]

I think the main problem is that production of debens equipment is in China, and are made to a certain price, just like their lamps, Cluson used to be a good make to buy before they moved production to China, and I've heard horror stories about the dimmer switches on their lamps burning out, maybe the boys who work for BEA could put something together thats reliable, at £180 for a locator and two collars there seems to be a market.

[Country Joe 1,411]

You would think someone from Debens would look on Ebay and see the high prices the old Mark1 is making.

And then ask the question why?

You don't need high pitched whining, or flashing lights, maybe they should have concentrated on getting the depth right.

With the amount of Mark1s still in use, I also think its disgraceful, that that Deben the firm who made them, refuses to fix them, forcing us to buy their latest model.

I am not against modern technology, but if spending that amount of cash you want a piece of quality kit.

I wonder how much the Mark3 will make on Ebay, when the Mark 4 hits the production line.

[stealthy1 3,964]

You would think someone from Debens would look on Ebay and see the high prices the old Mark1 is making.

And then ask the question why?

You don't need high pitched whining, or flashing lights, maybe they should have concentrated on getting the depth right.

With the amount of Mark1s still in use, I also think its disgraceful, that that Deben the firm who made them, refuses to fix them, forcing us to buy their latest model.

I am not against modern technology, but if spending that amount of cash you want a piece of quality kit.

I wonder how much the Mark3 will make on Ebay, when the Mark 4 hits the production line.

 

 

I dont know if I can justify the price of the MK4m even if they make one, think I'll go without an indicator if mine breaks down, the price of a MK3m is restrictive enough for most folk, even if they have money to burn.

[FlashFerret 1]

Have you read the instructions? You need to have the collar at 90 degrees to get the correct depth reading. So lay it flat on the floor and measure vertically up not along. If you measure along the ground or walk away the distance reading will be less than it should be, which is what you are describing. This is the mistake I made.

Edited September 30, 2011 by FlashFerret

[8shot 191]

instead of sending it of to deben for 35 quid.(robbing shites) take the locator apart. and undo the 4 screws that hold the ferrile rod in.. pust the ferrile rod back together and hold in place with a dab of super glue.....

then do the screws back up...... mine worked fine after this method

[comanche 2,801]

Have you read the instructions? You need to have the collar at 90 degrees to get the correct depth reading. So lay it flat on the floor and measure vertically up not along. If you measure along the ground or walk away the distance reading will be less than it should be, which is what you are describing. This is the mistake I made.

Quite right. The collar is at its most accurate with the inside of the collar facing the sky. In other words just the position it would be in when hanging under the ferrets neck .

The trouble is that ferrets tend to scrabble about when on a lay-up. They wrestle ,twist and turn for position. This sends the L.E.D.s loopy .Its as if they were intended for use on something less active than a keen working ferret.

 

Maybe there is some truth in the rumour that these things were originally designed to be fitted to drain rods as an aid to finding blockages .

Trouble is would anyone really know where the sh*t ended and the Mk3 began ?

[muddy210 34]

is this now fixed ideation or still with deben

[Ideation 8,216]

Alright, sorry about the delay in info, i have been away in ze Germany.

 

So, i sent off two all the bits to Deben as they said they would look at it. They got it next day and turned it around the same day, and according to them there is nothing wrong with any of it, they suspect a duff set (entire box) of batteries (collars) which were causing incorrect readings on the handsets. They did not charge me anything for the prognosis.

 

I tested one collar with different batts and it seemed to work fine and give an accurate reading. However when i went to show my old man how it was working a couple of hours later it appeared to still give in correct distance readings on the hand set, but a lot better than it was.

 

Who knows? At least they didn't charge me to do nowt, and (touch wood) it does seem that they appear to be in slightly better working order as long as you ignore the numbers on the handset and just listen to the beeps.

 

Crap piece of equipment for the money!

[muddy210 34]

gutted it still is not working brilliantly get it back to them and tell them you have paid good money for this kit and it should work as advertised there seems to be so much going on with these collars i think deben need to be doing more than just looking at stuff.