Advice Needed Is this a genuine SuperJack ?

[Spiff]

Seasons Greetings to all from Mullion Cove Cornwall : )

I ordered what the Amazon listing pictured as a SuperJack for Christmas.

They sent the wrong size HARL-12+ which is a 12 inch instead of the 18 inch I ordered.

After sending them the pictures they requested, they arranged to send the correct model with their carrier DHL : ( and requested that I posted the wrong one back.

They did not respond to a request for a returns label, or for them to request the carrier to collect the incorrect one.

We found the cost with insurance and tracking was going to be £27.18, so I contacted them and they said OK to the cost.

I then had a think and sent them the following message : -

Hallo before we post the item back I had a thought : ) You sell the smaller Jack that I have to return for £33 plus £9 postage total cost £42. The return postage on it is going to cost you £27.18 the difference is £14.82. I had not intended buying another short stroke one like this, but I could use it for moving the dish vertically to track out of orbit satellites. Instead of sending it back I could pay you £15 and keep it. You will be no worse off and I will be happy as I will not have to drive to the post office and wait for my money back which is always a concern.: ) Please let me know if you except this offer and I can pay the £15 difference to your PayPal account or make a bank transfer. God Bless Allen and Alanna

They agreed and said that they would send me an invoice which so far they have not.

The replacement arrived today 28th, the end of the box was sodden but the jack looks ok.

What has struck me is that though their listing on Amazon shows a picture of a jack with SuperJack on it, the two jacks I have do not.

Their packing note also says Aktuator Superjack HARL 3618+

Before I remind them to invoice me for the £15 difference I owe them, I thought those most Knowledgeable gentlemen on the sat forum will know if this is the genuine article.

God Bless Spiff

 

[Captain Jack]

It's very unlikely to be a genuine article but a "SuperPowerJack" variety. It's not really what was advertised but it's disappointing how any sellers do this.

 

[Spiff]

Hallo Captain Jack seasons greatings, thank you for your reply : )

Their Amazon image the one above quite clearly shows a jack with the SuperJack label on it.

I wanted to be certain that no SuperJacks are sold with the label that is on the two I have received ?

In which case it is deliberate fraud, I shall notify Amazon and rather than returning them will refuse to pay them the £15 difference, which would mean I at least get two jacks for the price of one.

Neither of them were in proper boxes, just a triangle shape thing then in a home made exterior box.

God Bless Spiff

 

[Captain Jack]

I would wait for someone else to chime in but I am 95% sure it's not a genuine jack.

That's not to say it won't work - it will. Just how long and how reliably?

 

[archive10]

It's very unlikely to be a genuine article but a "SuperPowerJack" variety. It's not really what was advertised but it's disappointing how any sellers do this.

@Spiff: I have bought many actuators from HM, and none of them have been real Superjacks.
I also tried other soures who all claim to have "Superjacks" for sale, but they all fall short when inquired about the authenticity.

As far as I can deduce from the 'net, there are no longer any "real" Superjacks being made.
There seem to be very few factories making these things, as the market is nowhere near what it used to be in the Analog 80's (US C-band) and 90's (Europe Ku). As soon as digital broadcasting on strong satellites allowed an operator to stay on a single sat position using a <80cm dish, actuators (and polar mounts) went out fashion.

I dare to speculate that in the far east, there are maybe one or two factories making these things, along with all sorts of other actuators (driveway gates, door openets, window openers, solar panel trackers etc). As with the SG-2100/2600 H2H motors, if you order 1000 or more, you can have any colour and label you like, including "SuperXxxxJack". You can then resell them on the European market to the HM-sats and the likes...

So, my impression is that all the SuperXxxx actuators that are roughly in the same price-range (e.g. <100 GBP) are all more or less the same, and probably made in the same factory in China or Taiwan. If you want something else, you need to go for Thomson Saginaw or other US-manufactured, professional standard actuators.

Also, as Jaeger (SuperJack original brand) does not exist anymore, but is a brand that now seems to be owned by a Taiwanese company, insisting on a "real" superjack-labelled actuator will proably get you the exact same thing, just with a specific decal on it...

But perhaps someone else has more insight into this?

 

[Spiff]

Yes I understand what you are saying : )

Back in the 1960 70s and later when I worked in the TV trade, the HMV, Ultra, Marconiphone, Ferguson etc trade names were bought up by BRC Thorn, as were Philips, Cossor and Stella all in fact Philips.

Even now some of those trade names are still in used by overseas companies.

That if you look at it was just as much a deception as this is now.

Customers would come in the shop where I worked in Eastcote, RC Wallis LTD and say, "I have always had an HMV" and believe they were getting one.

I was not a salesman, I just fixed em : )

This gentleman is showing an advert with one label on and selling a product with another.

The two jacks I have on my precision 1.3 for KU were for free, I striped them down greased and repainted them, they work fine, but there is a small amount of backlash.

These two were to replace them with.

God Bless Spiff

 

[Archive7]

In which case it is deliberate fraud, I shall notify Amazon and rather than returning them will refuse to pay them the £15 difference, which would mean I at least get two jacks for the price of one.

I would advise to pay the £15 if only to insure that you can order from hm-sat any item in the future.

 

[Spiff]

I would not deliberately defraud anybody, neither should I give business to them after this : )

To let people just get away with things is why our world is going the way it is.

Victims are now treated like criminals, the whole system is crazy.

You can now steal £200 worth of goods from a shop and settle it online

The fact that people accept this as OK behaviour is because it happens so often, and it happens so often because we do not stand up for the truth and just let it go.

God Bless Spiff

 

[Channel Hopper]

I can still supply the real thing (NOS Superjack) if needed. They are shorter than most though.

I'll try to find a couple from the back of the shed but from memory they were either cheap manual polarmount, or a small (but very neat) DiSEqC designed actuator.

Everything out there from the far East is now built down to a cost, not up to a standard for the satellite market. From memory the branding of genuine Superjacks used to have the addendum 'HQ' following the HARL prefix.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Ah, here.

Note the date in the second image.

 

[Spiff]

Thank you Channel Hopper, 1999 was before my satellite time.

My interest in satellites started only two or three years ago, when I lost interest in vintage radio and Ham radio.

I had heard so much about the quality of SuperJack and assumed they were still being produced by the original company.

Now thanks to you gentlemen I am wiser on that front, if nothing else : )

I shall see how they go, the salt air and westerly gales will soon sort the men from the boys : )

When I ordered them there had been a choice between a UK seller who also listed them as Superjacks and the gentleman in Germany.

Prices vary so much nowadays, that it did not surprise me that the same thing was cheaper from Germany, even with the extra carriage costs.

When the jacks arrived and were not the real thing, I assumed that was why they were cheaper than the UK company.

Now it sounds extremely unlikely that either of them were genuine.

God Bless Spiff

 

[scopus]

Ah, here.

Note the date in the second image.

Could be interested in that, really for the manual E/W positioner....

 

[Channel Hopper]

Could be interested in that, really for the manual E/W positioner....

I had the complete box on eBay for £28 some years ago and it didn't sell. £23 collected it's all yours.

The motor is of the old style gearbox cog ratios, so very fine adjustment when used on the polarmount.

 

[scopus]

Sounds reasonable. Collection is out of the question, any chance you could post it? Obviously I will pay that.

 

[aceb]

I've been using the actuators from HM-sat for some time and they seem OK apart from one thing, they all seem to use a mag wheel that has fewer magnets and they're set so the arm moves one short then one long movement rather than equidistant around the wheel to give all short steps. It's a real pain when the actuator is fully extended and can make it nigh on impossible to peak a satellite on Ku. Up till now I've managed to cannibalise old siezed Jaegers and swap the wheels over, all for the sake of a couple more magnets.

 

[Channel Hopper]

Sounds reasonable. Collection is out of the question, any chance you could post it? Obviously I will pay that.

PM me with your address and I'll work it out, should be about £7 though.

 

[scopus]

PM me with your address and I'll work it out, should be about £7 though.

OK