Wireless GF Bite Alarms

[terry t shirt]

Minor point you may want to add on a clip to attactch reciever to bedchair bank stick etc rather than a 3/8 bsf thread

[Guerilla]

Slightly off topic but when trying to visit the gfbitealarms website, Google tells me that the webpage 'may harm my computer'.

[Newt]

This topic has been hidden since the infection a few days ago. The site is now fine but you may still see Google and Firefox warnings indicating it is not. They are sometimes slow to remove their warning flags.

[Steve Burke]

Phil, you probably missed my previous post with the web site probems so I'm repeating it here.

 

Will the receivers exactly match the alarms? In other words one bleep on the alarm = one on the receiver?

 

Will the receivers have different colour lights as at present?

 

Will there be a facility to vary the brightness?

 

Will there be a visible on/off indication as Wyeknot asked about?

 

Cheers

[GF Bite Alarms]

Hi all

 

Sorry for delay in getting back to you, been sorting the website out.

 

In answer to your questions:-

 

1) I am aiming for the receiver to replicate the head unit exactly, but the receiver wont match the tone of the head unit it will just be volume adjustable. The reason for this is that to have exact tone replication involves a far higher grade of processor and then you are getting into the realms of Delkim/Fox costs, people would choose those brands over mine at the same price.

 

2) Yes the receiver will have four different lights compatible with upto four head units

 

3) No facility to adjust brightness, again added a surprising amount of cost for the limited additional functionality.

 

4) When you switch on the LED will latch for 20 secs, there is also a battery warning which will cause either the LED to Flash on start up or buzzer to sound ( still to be confirmed)

 

I think the biggest thing for me and especially reading some of the comments on the thread is that I have to make the units as good as possible, high quality, as much functionality as possible, BUT at a price. this is proving very difficult to do. I know the GF brand is known for its quality at a good price, and I am desperate to carry this on, but as soon as you add in wireless technology it becomes that bit more expensive(unless made in China)

 

It is quite costly to develop this system and I am wondering if the market is there for it, it may be that people would prefer a well known 'name' product like Sundridge, TF Gear etc which are in the price range I will probably be at, or are happy with the chinese products. If that is the case I will probably lose my shirt on this investment but I have to give it a go.

 

As always the support on this forum is greatly appreciated, and anymore comments/ suggestions are welcome.

[Steve Burke]

Shame about the brightness control, but otherwise it seems spot on especially point 1.

 

I'll definitely be buying a set of 4.

 

I'm not overly worried about the exact price as long as it's less than the street price of the big name brands, and would willingly pay more for improved reliability compared with the cheap Chinese units.

 

Do others feel the same?

[JV44]

Shame about the brightness control, but otherwise it seems spot on especially point 1.

 

I'll definitely be buying a set of 4.

 

I'm not overly worried about the exact price as long as it's less than the street price of the big name brands, and would willingly pay more for improved reliability compared with the cheap Chinese units.

 

Do others feel the same?

Steve you seem to rate them and that`s good enough for me ,Bought a couple of the cheap chinese sets and one is no longer here [temper tantrum on my part due to it not working in the wet ] and the other is hit or miss in the rain .

Will buy a set when they are available Steve.

[Steve Burke]

Yep, I rate them very highly indeed. They're very well designed and very reliable. I can't for the life of me see why anyone buys anything else with a similar specification. Except of course that they don't know about them. Which is why I keep banging on about them here.

[Anderoo]

Were the old Fox Micron M (the basic ones) made in China? I bought a pair of these about 8 or so years ago and they have been exceptionally reliable, and I've only changed the batteries once too! I've had a pair of the basic GF alarms for about 2 years and these have been equally reliable so far.

 

To be honest though I don't need wireless alarms of any brand, so I won't be looking to buy these new models.

[Steve Burke]

I don't know where the Fox alarms were made. However I know that for the same spec they were much more expensive than the GF ones. For instance my GFs alarms have an almost identical spec to the Fox MX.

 

These too were good alarms and I borrowed a set from Jerry at Wingham and did a head to head and reported on the outcome on the Forum.

 

Even if they'd been the same price though I'd have preferred the GFS as the sensitivity was better on high, I seem to recall there was less skid across the roller with tench rods, plus it took easily obtainable 9 volt batteries. On the other hand the Fox on/off switch never got knocked on accidentally.

 

I too didn't think I'd ever need a remote on my alarms. However I found that I had to put my bivvy fairly close to the alarms to hear them, especially in windy conditions. Having the remotes means I can fish a bit further away and so find shelter. In certain swims that makes a big difference. Andrew, think about the Point at Wingham in the wind as when you fished there on that Fish-In! There's other swims where the same applies too.

 

When I get the new GF wireless remotes my GFs set complete with wired sounder box and 10m Fox leads will be up for sale. I suspect quite a few would find them useful, especially Wingham members.

Edited December 3, 2010 by Steve Burke