Has Anyone Recently Purchased an Antenna from Tom Shiller N6BT?

[K6SBA]

Tom Shiller was the former owner of Force 12 Antennas.  After selling Force 12, Tom started manufacturing antennas which he calls the Bravo series.  His website is www.n6bt.com.  He has ad inserts on several ham radio websites including QTH.com. He lists two e-mail addresses through which to contact him for antenna purchases.  No phone number or address is listed.  Over the past month, I have sent several e-mails to Tom (at both addresses) to place an order for an antenna.  I have received no responses.

Has anybody contacted Tom recently?  Were you successful in placing an order for an antenna?

Tnx es 73 de K6SBA
David in Santa Barbara, CA

[K0OD]

From N6BT's site: "PLEASE NOTE - have had lots of e-mail problems and if you have sent an e-mail to n6bt.com and have not received a reply, kindly resend it to: canscan7@yahoo.com"

Email problems: A common affliction of ham sellers... and almost no one else, this side of 1990.

[KB9ICO]

Nice catch!

[K6SBA]

K0OD:

Thanks for pointing out that note on N6BT's website.  I may have missed it.  However I have also sent Tom at least two requests to the alternate e-mail address he lists.

73 de K6SBA

[K6SBA]

UPDATE:  Six e-mails and NO responses.

I have sent six e-mails to both of N6BT.com's listed e-mail addresses.  There has been no response.  If Tom is actually in business, this is a pretty poor showing. Maybe he is sick or distracted by some other emergency and/or situation.  His ads still show up as banners on several commercial ham websites, and he has an ad in the latest issue of CQ, although the ad could have been layed out several months ago.

His website lists a PO box but no phone number.  Why expect a response from an inquiry sent to a PO box, if nothing is returned via e-mail?
If, on the other hand, there is no emergency or problem, this doesn't speak well for someone in business.  Oh well, I guess I will buy a competitor's product who does have a phone number, an online order system and responds to e-mails.

73 de K6SBA
David in Santa Barbara, CA

[K3AL]

He is scheduled to give a seminar at Yuma Hamfest on Feb 17 - 18

Feb. 17

3:40pm-4:40pm Straight Talk on Antennas

Tom Schiller (N6BT) "Just put up a new antenna and having trouble working anyone." Sound familiar? It could be the problem is Unknown Antenna Disorder (UAD). Learn about debugging antenna issues and expand your practical knowledge on antennas. This presentation is based on 20 years of designing and manufacturing more than 24,000 antennas. N6BT is the founder of Force 12 and nb6t.com, co-founder of the record-setting Team Vertical, plus the author of the antenna book Array of Light.

[K3AL]

FYI - I spoke with Tom today at a seminar he gave at the Yuma Hamfest this afternoon. 

If he is not responding, it is certainly not intentional.  Tom did confirm that he has been not getting all of his emails and has not been able to get this issue resolved. 

 
Duane
K3AL

[HS0ZJU]

I guess someone should suggest he open another email acct.  They are still free right?

[K3AL]

Good point....  I have to agree with you.

The seminar was OK, there is a lot of knowledge and experience there.  I didn't get the feeling that this email issue was a priority when I was chatting with Tom.  I guess everyone has their own agenda.  Not the way I would operate nor is it the impression I would want to have out there. 

I felt that I should at least bring it to his attention, which I did.

Duane
K3AL

[K6SBA]

Tom sent me an e-mail last Wednesday apoligizing for the e-mail problems.  I sent him another e-mail request a price quote for an antenna.  After all this, it will be very interesting to see if he responds.

Duane, K3AL,  I appreciate you mentioning this to Tom when you saw him.  A review of the Bravo 7 in the recent issue of QST could generate a lot of interest and e-mail inquiries.  I hope his business "infrastructure" is up to the task.

73 de K6SBA
David

[WB6MMV]

Hi David:  I also attended the Yuma hamfest and Tom's lecture.  I did ask him directly at his booth what the delivery time would be if I ordered a 7K this week.  He said it should be around 7 days.  Hopefully he can meet the interest being generated.  One of the fastest ways to kill business is to generate interest and then fail to follow through.

Ken WB6MMV

[K7LA]

I purchased a Q52 from Tom in early 2011 and took delivery at Visalia International DX Convention.  I expect Tom will be in attendance this April, and you can probably catch him in person there.  BTW - I love the antenna.  7 3.

[K6SBA]

Ten days after my last e-mail thanking Tom for getting back to me and requesting order information, I have received no response.

Ironically, I am travelling through Tom's hometown later this week, and a pick up could have been easily arranged if a business address and a telephone number were made available.

I am letting go of my obsession to purchase any antenna from what appears to be a "hobby business." I wish him well and I hope N6BT gets some support in his business operations.

73 de K6SBA
David in Santa Barbara, CA

[AA9OC]

I purchased a Q51 from him and paid in full upon ordering on 8/25/2011.  I was quoted a ship date of "1 week, 2 at the most"  After 19 days passed without any updates it took persistent calling and emailing to establish contact again.  After leaving a few voice mails I did get an email response...asking me to send him the details of my order again.  It was obvious that the antenna hadn't been built yet.

BTW: That notice about having email problems has been up since April 2011...seriously?

On 9/22/2011 I received a UPS tracking number, the wrong one.

To share my impressions of the antenna, after it finally showed up, it is a unique design that provides 5 HF bands in an antenna that can fit on my light aluminum mast.  Some criticisms I have are that (1) the 20 meter high/low controller was wired backwards. (2) the loading coils on 20 m were not adjusted and the manual suggests sending an email to N6BT.com for instructions on tuning. (3) The mounting hardware consists of zinc U-bolts with stainless nuts.

N6BT offers some unique products but I'll let the individual decide whether it is worth the baggage.

[N4NYY]

Not getting emails is about the worst excuse. There are a ton of free email accounts available, and you can easily put a new email address or note on the website. When people usually have problems with email, it is at the worst a 1 or 2 day ordeal.