Issues with the BPPC2 and GND Plane

[Chucky]

Many maybe know that I bought 2 PCBs from Phase5 for BPPCs.

I got them this easter. but never really done anything with them.
after Amiga32 I decided to finally move the components from my busted BPPC to a new PCB.

Did that..

but had an issue.. it seem that the boards COMPLETLY lacks the GND plane.

This is why the P5 boards are not in the market yet.
However. Phase5 refuses to do anything about this. as.. apparently I did broke the pcb..

So I made a video about this: [ Show youtube player ]
(YES camera is shitty and it is after FB livefeed )

so.. this is what you can expect..

ADMINS: if this break any rules.. I am sorry and please remove this.
but this is imortant before anyone does any prepayment.

[prowler]

Rest easy, Chucky. There is no reason to remove your post, since it is based on your personal experience and not open to question.

[Locutus]

...How did he even...just what......

[dalek]

He should be thanking you - he probably didn't even know he was missing the ground plane. If he knew, he would have already fixed the issue and sent you replacement boards.

I would never send that Fake 5 guy money.

[Clamshell]

It’s a shame what happens to guys of the community. Not the best for my first postings... it is a copy of the Facbook group, I hope it is allowed:

An open letter..

We, the Administrators and Moderators of the Commodore Amiga Facebook Group are tasked with the job of keeping things clean in terms of ethics, freedom of speech and respect towards all its 17,000+ members. We acknowledge this to be a tough job at times, but we have all vowed to do so… and to the best of our ability.

Recent events concerning an agreement between Phase5 (Salvador Fernandez Gomez), one of our group administrators (John Hertell) and another respected member of this community (Christer Sigfrids), have not gone unnoticed. This was however an agreement, made outside the Facebook realm and thus did not affect us nor any of the Commodore Amiga Facebook Members up to that point.

This weekend, we observed the facts presented to us in this community and in the form of a video, to which we can only conclude that the board is unable to work due to a clear design flaw.

We also took notice of the conversation which John shared with all members to be read. John tried to resolve the matter with Phase5 amicably by asking for a replacement board, as clearly, these ones were defective by design… or to kindly refund the purchase price.

The response he however received from Salvador Fernandez Gomez was of the level we all have seen in the past and thus downright disgusting! This puts the memories of the original Phase5 to shame and this should not be the modus operandi of a sincere businessman, wanting to bring a new product to market, in which he needs to support of the community. His actions inevitably lead to John's decision to go public as he felt he and possibly others were becoming victim of a scam.

Fact of the matter is that Phase5 should be thankful for the free troubleshooting they received from John Hertell, prior going to mass-production with a faulty design.

But… there is something that does concern us, and that is the fact that our community has become the battleground where members, moderators and admins are being threatened with lawsuits and other means or reprisals, fuelled by denial and hate where understanding and thankfulness should be in place for those highlighting the issues at hand.

By taking it to our premises… it became our responsibility and therefore we are obliged to step in and take action;

We have been receiving complaints by respected members of the community, which would normally result in an immediate ban, but we feel reason should prevail and thus we ask Salvador Fernandez Gomez to refund the purchase price for the two faulty boards and issue a formal apology for the inappropriate behaviour regarding this matter to those who were forced to go public due to ignorance and arrogance on your behalf.

We find 5 business days more than feasible for this matter to be resolved. Should this be refused either entirely or partially, we see no other means than issuing a permanent ban from this and other affiliated Commodore Amiga Facebook Groups.

Yours truly,

The Administrators and Moderators of the Commodore Amiga Facebook Group. — hier: Death Star Canteen.

[prowler]

Thankyou very much for posting that here, Clamshell!

[E-Penguin]

I feel sorry for the Phase 5 guy. I think he's just out of his depth rather than deliberately evil

[DDNI]

He is out of his depth AND truly obnoxious.
He abuses, insults and threatens anyone who questions his methods or intentions.
He even threatens to set lawyers on people who were genuinely trying to be supportive.

Salvador Fernandez Gomez has and remains a stain on our little group of Amiga geekdom. 😩

[ptyerman]

I can't believe anyone fell for this scam and sent him money in the first place! Should have known better.

[Chucky]

It was a risc I and my friend was taking.. just HOPING that a damn pcbwould not be hard to fix..
apparenlty..

[ptyerman]

Yeah, sometimes a risk is worth taking. This time apparently not! Hope you get it resolved, although with that dude's attitude it will be a slog!
Him and his ilk need hanging from a lamp post and leaving there as a example!

[Locutus]

I just laughed my arse off:

https://www.facebook.com/COMREP/

[Clamshell]

So, Mr. Gómez dont even send an invoice for the PCBs, sounds like tax fraud...

After all, I hope that nobody send him any money in advance. Please be careful with phase5, because there is no reaction from them but blocking Chucky on their Facebook site...

[jbenam]

Originally Posted by Chucky

It was a risc I and my friend was taking.. just HOPING that a damn pcbwould not be hard to fix..
apparenlty..

Well, it was a risk that saved my BPPC, so I tip my hat off to you, sir! Thanks again

Still waiting for a new PPC to come from China (kinda scared to do BGA soldering, I have to admit) but last time I used it was working (even if without a PPC)

Anyway, I'm truly shocked to hear about your discovery, I just can't fathom how he managed to get everything else right and miss such an obvious thing! I hope you'll be able to get your money back somehow...

[Chucky]

Money back. that will never happen and I was risking that. now the important thing is that no people does prepayments and when P5 will go down, they will not get a dime

[Chucky]

I did a compilation on my web:

http://wordpress.hertell.nu/?p=562

This info needs to be shown so noone does prepayments as the risc if fraud is too big.

IF he does deliver: pay when buying it. not befoore

[grelbfarlk]

I was waiting for someone to buy something from him and give a trip report. I guess it was a cheaper experiment than an assembled board at least.

[nobody]

All that "new phase 5" crap is going to end to an epic fail and lots of crying.

[BSzili]

If his threats are not empty and he actually tries to litigate Chucky or anybody else, we should crowdfund their defense. Chucky was actually trying to help by assembling BPPC cards using the new PCBs he paid for, and this is what he gets? This is just sad.

[Mick]

Hi Chucky, I read your story earlier I'm very sorry to hear about your experience.

There have been doubts posted on this forum before but censoring unwanted comments/questions with legal threats seems to be a core part of his business plan, I think that his response towards resolving your transaction with him speaks volumes about his business ethics. Considering that he charged 150 Euros for each BPPC PCB he could easily send you another two working PCB's and he will still have made a huge profit. Why won't he? Customer satisfaction is obviously not as important to him as shutting down bad publicity.