Any dealings with tester.co.uk ? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / testgear

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 02, 2013, 10:30:29 am
content: Hihttp://www.tester.co.ukI was wondering if anyone has had any dealings with this UK company at all?If so then have you had any problems with them I wonder?

author: Ziltoid
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2013, 10:37:25 am
content: They Sponsormjlortonso i think they are genuine. But i havent bought anything from them!

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2013, 02:18:40 pm
content: Quote from: mojo-chan on July 02, 2013, 02:12:04 pmYeah. On one hand, good for him for being able to make money doing something like that. On the other hand, "Tester.co.uk. Apply directly to the forehead. Tester.co.uk."

author: jpb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2013, 02:25:11 pm
content: Quote from: mojo-chan on July 02, 2013, 02:12:04 pmI'm not the OP but I'd guess it is because they seem to be the only company in the UK selling Siglent stuff such as the SDG5000 series amongst other things - at least when I google SDG5082 they are the only company that is uk based that appears.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 02, 2013, 02:47:26 pm
content: Yes the only UK company with Siglent equipment.They don't appear to keen on answering emails, which has been a bit disconcerting as we put an order in for the Siglent SDS1072CML 70Mhz Oscilloscope last week.Spoke to them on the phone today only to find out they don't have the scope in stock (the site doesn't mention this when you order), so they are offering to immediately post to us the next model up (the 100MHz version) at no extra charge, which is very good of them!Will let you know how it goes in the next day or two.

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2013, 03:04:20 pm
content: I bought an Amprobe temperature logger from them a couple of months ago - no problems.

author: rstoer
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2013, 03:23:12 pm
content: Quote from: mojo-chan on July 02, 2013, 02:12:04 pmSponsors are part of what allow people like Dave, mjlorton, and others attempting to make a living from this to post their videos. I don't mind his putting that three-second ad at the beginning of his videos and if I lived in Europe I'd give them a try.

author: WKaibigan
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 02, 2013, 03:49:08 pm
content: Bought a Siglent scope from them recently with no problems. Even used discount code from Martin Lorton's videos. Only thing I didn't like was that they didn't notify me of dispatch of order. Got that from courier but otherwise fast straightforward purchase.

author: orbiter
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 02, 2013, 04:01:26 pm
content: They ARE an ok company, however I've found them to be rather expensive when looking for new gear.

author: mjlorton
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 12:30:11 pm
content: Hi Folks,I thought I would chime in as this thread was brought to my attention.Advertising and sponsorship...for better or worse, is necessary for me to run a video blog full time and make a living from it.I also get very frustrated if I'm dealing with a retailer that is not providing a good service or communicating with me.Barry, the MD of Tester.co.uk, been very responsive in terms of taking on new product lines that I have brought to his attention that might bring good value to electronics enthusiasts. Siglent is one of them.If anyone has an issue with Tester.co.uk and they are not responding to communications please let me know and I'll pursue with Barry. My email address: martin@mjlorton.comCheers,Martin.

author: steve30
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 01:29:08 pm
content: Quote from: mojo-chan on July 02, 2013, 02:12:04 pmI tend not to like such sponsorships, as they can create changes in the quality of content, but (in my opinion), this hasn't happened with Martin, which is a good thing.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 03:19:27 pm
content: I think it's a fine line, and it's one that's really hard for someone to get right. Dave has come pretty close, but I can understand why some would go a bit farther over that line than he has.My favorite is "chips and dips" (I think that's the name of it) where this guy speaking Russian, overlaid by some guy speaking a very posh English, pretty much goes through a spiel that regurgitates marketing speak. Utterly useless.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 05:03:09 pm
content: Quote from: mojo-chan on July 02, 2013, 02:12:04 pmIt has never bothered me, I just say it along with the video."Testah doat coe doat u k"

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 05:05:25 pm
content: Quote from: Stonent on July 03, 2013, 05:03:09 pmYeah. I don't know what it is about YouTube intros and saying them to yourself, but I do as well. I also greet Dave with a "Hoi!" every time.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 05:40:44 pm
content: Quote from: c4757p on July 03, 2013, 05:05:25 pmI do the Hoi! also and find myself reading "HP" and my mind says it as "Haych Pee".There's another youtube channel I watch from time to time on car repair Richpin06a and you can tell the guy is obviously from the Boston area. So after watching several of his videos in a row hearing him say "kah" instead of "car" I responded out loud "Kah!" and seriously he paused and said "You like the way I say kah ?" I about fell off my bed.I told my sister in law who's also from that area and she thought it was great. I posted on his channel about it and he thought it was great too.I'll see if I can work on my mjlorton accent some more." 'Allo youchoobahs "

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 05:45:42 pm
content: Quote from: Stonent on July 03, 2013, 05:40:44 pmI always hear "Hello, you tubas!"

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 05:46:46 pm
content: I find myself practicing "Don't tun it aahn, take it apaaaaht."

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 05:51:08 pm
content: I've picked up "bloody", "baaahstads", "diiiik'eads" and "half a bee's dick".I swear to god I almost say them, and with an Aussie accent to boot! I can't say "haitch", it makes me feel like I'm about to cough up a furball.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 06:02:54 pm
content: Dave Jones - The Crocodile Clip Hunter

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 06:03:50 pm
content: I have been thinking about doing a spoof for a while."Crikey! Look at this little fella! What a lovely capacitor! Oh, don't worry little fella, I won't hurt you. *spark* OW!"

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 06:15:05 pm
content: He's dead Dusklow, dead..... stingray got him reight in the heart, one shot and it was game over.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 06:16:08 pm
content: I know. It's the crocodile hunter equivalent of getting zapped by an ungrounded oscilloscope case.

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 06:18:23 pm
content: Oh just drop it.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 06:19:18 pm
content: Aww, you're no fun.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 06:40:37 pm
content: Well, the scope arrived today (ordered last friday - 5 days ago).They have indeed given us the next model up - the 100MHz version rather than the 70Mhz. They didn't have the SDS1072CML 70Mhz in stock so instead sent us the SDS1102CML 100Mhz at no extra charge.A big thank you to David Atkins at Speed (www.tester.co.uk) !Have never dealt with them before but no complaints at all, very pleased.

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 06:42:09 pm
content: Quote from: Pippy on July 03, 2013, 06:40:37 pm

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 06:50:06 pm
content: Quote from: Pippy on July 03, 2013, 06:44:37 pmOutstanding!

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 06:52:01 pm
content: Dusklow, ROFLMAO on that one. At least here we don't have no steenking consumer side TT systems, they are at high voltage points in the distribution system ( along with Peterson coils) where they rightly belong. LV and MV are all grounded systems, with both overcurrent and leakage current monitoring being common.Then again some of the Izinyoka have been making illegal connections to the MV side of substations. Could be fun as the typical wire used is single strand 0.5mm stolen phone cable, or steel MIG wire or the odd bit of fence wire. MV here is typically either 11kV or 33kV, depending on the age of the suburb and the demand load of the area supplied by the feeders.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 07:22:48 pm
content: Well, on the bright side, coil some of that up and you have a toaster.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 07:30:37 pm
content: The street lighting there in the skwatta camp aka informal settlement aka jondolo is mostly comprised of glowing wire.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 09:48:04 pm
content: Quote from: c4757p on July 03, 2013, 05:51:08 pmThere's one I have not heard from Dave I don't think, but I'm sure they must use it in Oz, just like in NZ and Britain:

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 03, 2013, 09:51:12 pm
content: You're right, I don't think I've heard him say "bugger" by itself rather than inside "bugger off".

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 03:24:18 am
content: Quote from: mojo-chan on July 02, 2013, 02:12:04 pmWhy did it put you off?The guy's gotta earn a living. AFAIK, he is doing that channel full time now.

author: HKJ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 11:01:43 am
content: QuoteIn my opinion it looked more like a guy trying to learn how to use a laser distance meter. Without knowing what he is reviewing it is difficult to do a serious review.This learning is part of his channel.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 11:34:00 am
content: Quote from: mojo-chan on July 04, 2013, 10:47:26 amThat just my nature, I've been doing that for decades. I like to whinge and nit pick, I can't help itI make it very clear in my review terms and conditions that I almost certainlywillfind something I won't like about their product and will point it out. To the point in fact that I essentially go into a review with the attitude of deliberately looking for something wrong with the product.A lot of people don't like the way I review stuff, but hey, I do what I do.I can't speak for Martin of course, as every reviewer is different and goes into it with a different mindset.QuoteWell that's a distinct possibility. Some people question why my reviews of Agilent gear are always generally very positive. Well, it's simply because they make the best stuff. It's like buying a Rolls Royce and expecting to find shoddy design or workmanship, it rarely happens.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 11:37:38 am
content: Quote from: HKJ on July 04, 2013, 11:01:43 amI haven't seen the video in question, but yes, that's the impression I get with Martins channel, a "you learn as I learn" kind of approach. I for one like it, and quite a few of my videos have a similar side to them if it's about something with which I don't have much experience.

author: george graves
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 01:05:13 pm
content: I like his videos - but they tend to drag on a bit beyond my liking. I find myself skipping through them. (Dave, you're videos are so jam packed, I often end up re-winding several times! And don't mind that at all)

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 09:48:49 pm
content: The one thing that comes to mind regarding these digital scopes is the price. They seem very highly priced compared to say a desktop PC mother board. A PC mother board tends to be far more complex as well, and the build quality of mother boards/laptops seems to be far higher than the plasticy feeling digital scopes.I can only assume two reasons for the scope prices, it's because they are produced in lower quantities, or they charge the prices they do simply because they can. I expect it's a mix of the two though.

author: c4757p
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 09:53:50 pm
content: It's because they are produced in lower quantities.Everythingin them is lower-quantity, from the unit oscilloscope down to the amplifier components in the front-end. It's not the least bit because they can.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 09:55:10 pm
content: That's also why you'll find things like scopes and DMMs reusing designs and components across product lines, and goes right to why that Agilent multimeter uses WinCE.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 10:03:31 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on July 04, 2013, 11:34:00 amNo, Dave, you don't want to do that. You'll certainly make them mad and they'll never want to work with you again...

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 10:22:22 pm
content: That was one of the most epic corporate responses ever.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 04, 2013, 11:24:49 pm
content: Quote from: duskglow on July 04, 2013, 10:22:22 pmAlso epic is the fact they used the real engineers. That girl in the video is the real engineer they use in other videos.She did a PICkit 3 video which basically highlighted all the Dave features that were re-enabled in PICkit 3 like on the go programming. Of course she didn't mention they were re-enabled, just that they were features.

author: tester_co_uk
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 11, 2013, 09:45:43 am
content: Hi All,I just wanted to introduce myself.I'm the MD of PASS Ltd that runs tester.co.uk and calibrate.co.uk. A few people made me aware of the thread. I always think it's better to say something in a forum to prove that we are not a faceless company and we do exist :-)We are based in the UK and have been around since 2001 and across the company we have around 40 staff so we're no RS Components.I would also like to say that we always try to get things right. We're not perfect, sometimes we do sometimes we don't but if we learn from it that's what matters.Pippy - i'm glad you got the scope ok and glad to see that we had the sense to give you the next model up. As you know these come from the far east so they are not always in stock and generally take 6 weeks+ to get them in. Regarding the emails i did check and i have seen the emails so maybe some replies went into your spam or junk. We do get this sometimes so if you've not had a reply it's always best to call just incase.If anyone has an issues with anything you can email me directly through the forum.Regarding sponsorship (takes a deep breath)Everyone needs to make money i'm afraid including us and it's becoming more and more difficult to do that in the age of the internet. Advertising on channels and websites is good for us as it get's us infront of people who buy what we are selling.It's also great in other ways too. We get to know what people want to buy through recommendations. We introduced the Siglent range because of a recommendation.Product ReviewsWhen someone carries out a review for us the customer gets an expert giving an expert opinion on a product rather than a salespersons opinion. If the reviews were from someone at our place you are never going to believe them.I always welcome anyone that wants to review a product and i will put it on the site be it good or bad as long as i think it's an unbiased, well executed review. We are here to sell products but there's no point in someone being unhappy with it so i would rather the customer knows before they buy it. It means that we get less returns because someone is unhappy with the product.Most people can live with a few small issues on a product as long as they know about them. There are very few products that are perfect !If something gets a bad review then that is for the manufacturer to deal with and they cant do that if everyone is telling them their products are fantastic.Dave and Martin review products as they find them. As we sponsor Martins channel one of the stipulations from both sides was that the product reviews be impartial which i believe they are as if you look around you will find some pretty poor reviews on some of the products we have sent him:-)So yes sponsorship is a way of the world and as long as it's good for the customer and both parties then thats great.As i say if we dont get it right just let me know !Thanks Dave for letting me post.CheersBarry

author: tester_co_uk
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 12, 2013, 11:27:46 am
content: No Problem.Each person has their own style and to be honest being in front of a camera isn't the easiest thing in the world to do so i take my hat off to the guys that can and want to do it !

author: Gnyff
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 09, 2016, 10:26:19 pm
content: I just "concluded" my final (firstandlast) dealing with tester.co.uk / Pass Ltd. That was a horrific experience - and I'm surprised they are still in business if my experience is in any way representative!I do not want others to be cheated - so I'll post my experience here even though it's an old thread:I bought an Applent AT4808 from PASS Ltd based on the information on their website (which was more or less copied from the manufacturers). It stated sampling "Speed: Fast: 100ms/channel". So I spent quite some time making useless measurements, testing, and corresponding with Applent. It turns out that the 100ms/channel does not turn out as 10hz sampling as it should - but more like 0.2hz (or 5000ms/channel). When logging, the AT4808 does write 1 value/ch*s - but seemingly it only updates the measurements every 5 seconds!!! Anyways, definitely not to specs - and totally unusable in my application. Applent seemed totally ignorant, so I took it up with PASS Ltd. support. Although I'm always a bit disappointed when people have no experience with what they are selling, it did not come as a surprise. At least they took it up with Applent, who promised to solve the problem with a new firmware. That never happened. So although it took me two months to finally realise this, I asked for a full refund: The equipment was sold with falsely advertised specs. But PASS Ltd turned this down categorically. In my world that is "fraud" (although, admittedly I'm uncertain if this would be the correct term in the legal system). Anyways, PASS Ltd.'s "solution" was to change the specs on their website (actually, they are /still/ not correct) and claim that the equipment is OK. I'm not sure if they actually believe this (I sincerely hope not)... But in any case I think is really lousy business ethics. Basically I was cheated - and not being in UK, I'm not sure I'll have the energy to take legal action. :-(I can't imagine why they would think it's good business in the long run to cheat customers. And I'm really puzzled that they intend to continue keep selling this specific Chinese "equipment" after this ordeal! (They have of course also not published my submitted review - which is a pitty for other potential victims/customers)But in any case: Don't be naive like me: PASS Ltd. does /not/ have knowledge of the equipment they sell and will NOT support you when they sell you non-working stuff.So if you are smart: Take your business elsewhere!!!!

author: RGB255_0_0
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 09, 2016, 11:25:41 pm
content: Why would a shop front need to have specialist knowledge of everything they sell? Paying engineers specialised in different areas would cost a fortune. It's not their task to do your research for you: they provided what they were given as specifications.Distance seller act doesn't run for 2 months so it's not on them to refund, but that would have been an option had you returned it earlier.IMO your beef is with the manufacturer.