Minaska Bandit

minaskasteve · June 17, 2007, 07:45:38 PM

I will make a post this evening with all of the details. A quick note - we have completely redesigned our circuit board on the unit itself. It is now one board instead of 2 and almost all surface mount components. We began design about 12 months ago.

Check back for a full list of all the changes and yes we have an upgrade program for all models!

Thank you,

Steve Borland
Minaska Outdoors

THO Game Calls · June 17, 2007, 08:00:06 PM

It's OK Mr C - I have read on HM how they have taken care of folks like Leonard and Smithers and a few others. There was specific mention of remote problems and that they had a fix for it. Like I said, I have not used mine enough to find out if it will have those same problems or not, but I would sure hate to get set up on a stand and find out that it did.

I went through this about 4 years ago with a Western Rivers caller. It broke after I owned it for 6 whole days. When I called them they said, "oh yeah, we know about that problem" which made me wonder why they didn;t fix it before they sold it.

Like I said, I will be dumping it here soon for something else so not a real big deal to me. I was just jerking your chain.

Possum Al

PMS has a track record of banning advertisors and others who they think bad mouth them on other boards, and a track record of threathening people if they write stuff on other boards that is against PMS. You can take that to the bank because I have the E mails to prove it. PMS has been a FoxPro board for years. Both the mods who work PMS's E caller forum also work the FoxPro forums.

You tell me that is not a conflict of interest.

Like I said, it is business blackmail. Minaska has to pretty much sit on it's hands while FoxPro can say anything it wants. There is so much BS on PMS because of the finaicail interest of the moderatoes and staff that a new caller will never get good info unless he goes somewhere else.

AL
THO Game Calls
www.thogamecalls.com

possumal · June 17, 2007, 09:26:08 PM

Minaska Steve: Thanks for your post clearing up the fact that an upgrade is coming. No rumor, just fact. I look forward to seeing the details.

THO: Unless Foxpro owns Predator Masters, I don't see the conflict in interest where they are concerned. If you don't like the moderators and the people who post over there, you just don't go over there. I don't know much about the politics over there, but something bad must have been going on to push Jim Champion into getting out of there and opening this forum. I doubt that Foxpro themselves had anything to do with that. As I said earlier, there is nothing to keep Minaska from making a post somewhere else, and Minaska Steve just proved that.

I prefer this forum to PM myself.

minaskasteve · June 18, 2007, 02:25:49 AM

We have been silent about our new design over the last 12 months and we are only a couple of weeks away from starting to ship units out (beginning of July). This is why you did not see us reacting to anything that was supposed to clear the air. We had been shipping units out with our heat sink installed long before that post.

We are extremely excited about our new design as well as all of the things we have been working on in addition to our calls. We have added new members to our Field-Staff that will be announced very soon, completed filming on our first video and began working on several shows that will air in 2008. We have been working extremely hard on our sound library and will continue to do so.

What's New:

We have changed the way our receiver and audio board is laid out we no longer have 2 separate boards inside the unit instead we have one single board with everything on it including all audio and charging jacks. This eliminated all of the wires except for power and speaker which translates into better sound quality. As for the remote there will be volume presets that will work much like our banking system so you will know how loud the call is when it is placed a long ways away from your position.

All of our units continue to utilize compact flash memory which is upgradeable by you the user out in the field and memory that can be purchased almost anywhere. I believe that we are the only manufacturer to offer this ability without the user having to order the unit upgraded at the factory or sending it back to the factory.
The M1 will now operate on a custom 10 AA NiMH L- shaped welded pack that can be changed out in the field if needed within seconds and it will also accept the same 8 AA holder we use now. There is no longer any speaker noise when you turn the unit on or when the unit is paused as our new amplifier uses a mute line.( Dual-channel power amplifier part # TDA8946J). http://www.datasheetcatalog.com/datasheets_pdf/T/D/A/8/TDA8946J_N1.shtml
We have removed the volume knob on the unit – you simply turn on the power switch and you are ready to go.

Remote reliability at the distance of 400 yards on the ground is still what we rate our products at however if you get the unit up off of the ground any distance this will add to the range you will receive. At 2' off of the ground we have achieved over 2 times the distance we rate them at. We have also changed to and addressing system that will allow up to nine units to operate without affecting each other so if you are calling with a buddy you can set your remote to only operate your call this can be done by depressing a button on the receiver board while holding a button in on the remote.

Our products will speak for themselves. We do not feel the need to spend time telling you why our unit is better than anything that has ever been created and ever will be created.

Upgrades:

All models can be upgraded to our new design for $100. The remote, memory card and charger will be compatible with the new unit. We will need to install the new circuit board, reprogram the remote for the volume presets and change the plug on the charger.

Please post all questions you might have for us and we will do our best to answer all of them.

Thank you and I hope this will help with anything that is floating out there.

THO Game Calls · June 18, 2007, 08:39:56 AM

It's all good.

HaMeR · June 18, 2007, 11:56:28 AM

Great post & Thanks for the heads up!!

possumal · June 18, 2007, 12:03:15 PM

Minaska Steve: Thanks for your detailed post. The rumor mill should be shut down now. Sounds like you have made some good improvements in your unit. Good luck with the venture.

minaskasteve · June 18, 2007, 01:41:16 PM

I wanted to post a couple of pictures of our test models.. The ones we have been beating to death out in the field testing in every scenario possible. The case used for the M1 test unit was pulled from the pre-drilled inventory in the current configuration.

Neither test unit has the slider switches installed for power or speaker selection - we simply used our existing push button for testing.

Both sliders will be in the groove directly above the green LED.

Inside the Big Country Bandit

Remember the push button you see in the picture will not be there on the finished product.

ohiobob · June 18, 2007, 06:57:45 PM

Thank you for the post Mr Borland,,It has answered a few of my Questions

Thank you
Bob

vvarmitr · June 18, 2007, 06:59:48 PM

Thanks for the heads up Steve.

If I ever decide to get an e-caller this is the route I've decided to go.

KySongDog · August 23, 2007, 08:54:47 PM

Quote from: minaskasteve on June 18, 2007, 02:25:49 AM
Upgrades:

All models can be upgraded to our new design for $100. Due to the fact that all of the holes will be different you will receive a completely new unit (case, speaker etc.). The remote, memory card and charger will be compatible with the new unit. Your old unit will be tested and available as a discounted used unit with a 1 year warranty.

Please post all questions you might have for us and we will do our best to answer all of them.

Thank you and I hope this will help with anything that is floating out there.

Have the upgrades been started yet? I can't find mention of it on the Minaska web site.

HaMeR · August 24, 2007, 01:17:25 PM

I wanna hunt with you over that Bandit VV!!!!!!!!!

minaskasteve · August 25, 2007, 10:02:25 PM

QuoteHave the upgrades been started yet?

We have started the upgrades and they will start shipping out on Monday Aug 27th.

One thing we forgot to mention to a few of the guys that already sent their units in is that we need the call, remote and battery charger. The plug for the charger has changed and we will need to reprogram the remote for the volume presets.
The volume presets work much the same way you change sounds. You press the Bank button then either the volume up or down button it does not matter then 1-9 for your presets. You will also have full manual control just like you do now.

Gary in CA · August 31, 2007, 10:03:29 PM

I've had one of the BCB prototypes for about 2 months now. It didn't have all the bells and whistles of the total upgrade, but it had the new amplifier and came nicely camo'd. I flogged it pretty good, played it for quite a few folks, and hunted it both here and in Nevada. I think everyone will be pleased with theirs.

KySongDog · September 01, 2007, 05:34:23 AM

I just sent a Bandit M1 in for the upgrade. The guy on the phone said it would take a couple of weeks. The upgrade features sound pretty nice. Looking forward to trying it out for real.

Semp

possumal · September 03, 2007, 07:44:20 AM

Quote from: Gary in CA on August 31, 2007, 10:03:29 PM
I've had one of the BCB prototypes for about 2 months now. It didn't have all the bells and whistles of the total upgrade, but it had the new amplifier and came nicely camo'd. I flogged it pretty good, played it for quite a few folks, and hunted it both here and in Nevada. I think everyone will be pleased with theirs.

Hey Gary: You better watch that flogging stuff! That can get you in trouble with all the funny stuff going on these days on Capitol Hill. :roflmao: :roflmao: