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uController.com EOL — Parallax Forums

uController.com EOL

RsadeikaRsadeika Posts: 3,837
edited 2013-02-05 15:38 in General Discussion
This was a note that was attached to my PayPal email.

"Note from merchant
Sorry, I am sold out of the SD Adapters. uController.com is actually closing, I'm sorry I didn't update the website to reflect this earlier."


Ray

Comments

  • MicrocontrolledMicrocontrolled Posts: 2,461
    edited 2011-08-10 10:53
    Oh no! uController.com was one of the first and best 3rd party Propeller prototyping material suppliers. It is disappointing to see it go, though I've kind of seen it coming (parts_man73 hasn't been on the forum in ages).
  • RobotWorkshopRobotWorkshop Posts: 2,307
    edited 2011-08-10 11:29
    Maybe Brian will bring what he has left to the UPENE show. He has come to them in the past.....

    Robert
  • Oldbitcollector (Jeff)Oldbitcollector (Jeff) Posts: 8,091
    edited 2011-08-10 13:50
    This is sad news..

    As stated uController was one of the first third party Propeller vendors...

    I hope he brings stock to the show to sell as well as consider open sourcing the designs.

    OBC
  • localrogerlocalroger Posts: 3,451
    edited 2011-08-10 16:49
    This is disappointing but with the influx of new products into the Propeller world not too surprising. A SpinStudio kit was one of my (boss's) first purchases when I started investigating the Propeller. It was a great introduction to the world of the possible for people who don't want to futz around with breadboard wires, but it was also bulky and hard to convert to a permanent installation. I hope Brian's next endeavor works out well.
  • parts-man73parts-man73 Posts: 830
    edited 2011-08-12 21:12
    Yes, it's been a long, fun trip... my first PCB sold was in June of 2007 !

    I want to thank all of my past customers! You've all been great! I was supprised at how many of my circuit boards went out, and all of the places that they have gone to. I can think of at least 10 different countries that I have shipped to, including, but not limited to. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Malta, Spain, Great Brittan, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal and others. I was honored to send my creations to people all over the world. And I believe I've sent out orders to almost all 50 states.

    I also want to thank a few individuals.
    • Ken Gracey - You were a great help from the start. I sent you prototype of the first SpinStudio, and you encouraged me to go forward with it, and gave me the idea of making them kits. I originally planned to assemble them all. It never would have worked as a preassembled product.You also had your kids selling uController products at UPEW, I was able to have a presence, even though I couldn't make it.
    • Jeff Ledger - A.K.A. oldbitcollector - all the hard work organizing these Expos, and early on, promoting my products in your "Propeller Cookbook" Also through many private emails I bounced product ideas off you, and had you test many of my designs.

    Unfortunately I won't be able to attend UPENE this year. I have so much on my plate right now, which is one reason I am giving up uController. I was just promoted to a new position at work, somewhat of a lateral transfer, the pay is the same, but I'm doing something different now. But...and most importantly, I'm able to work remotely from my home office. So that I can be home with my children. The hours I've been putting into this new position have really been taking a toll on me, as it is summertime, and I want to be outside with the kids during the days, I've been up getting the work done, sometimes until 2-3 am, needless to say, I haven't had any time to devote to uController.com.

    I do want to release my PCB designs for the common good. I really don't want to leave former customers in a lurch, having some of my boards, but not being able to get another that they've "been meaning to pick up". I will release the gerber files, so that others can have their own made from BatchPCB, or any other board house they want. I can also release a parts list for each module as well. The only question is...where to post these files and the supporting documentation?
    I've been thinking about it, and I don't want to keep paying a fee every 6 months for webhosting and domain name registration. In fact, I think uController.com is a valuable domain name, and I'm lucky that I got it. I might try to sell it on EBay, as I know that it is possible to do so.

    Any ideas where to park this information so that it will be available for years to come?

    As I started off this post....It's been a long fun trip, it was great to meet alot of you at the Expos I's attended the last few years, and conversed with by email. I've learned alot! and I'll still drop by from time to time, as I still plan to persue microcontrollers, but now it'll just be as a hobby. I'll be a consumer, not a producer.

    Sincerely,
    Brian
  • kuronekokuroneko Posts: 3,623
    edited 2011-08-12 21:26
    @Brian: Sad news indeed. Good luck with whatever comes next for you!
  • GadgetmanGadgetman Posts: 2,436
    edited 2011-08-13 04:11
    You're paying every 6months?

    Gosh!
    I use one.com and pay about 300NOK/year ($50 - 60) per year, for not just domain name but also hosting(3GB, unlimited traffic, PHP, MySQL and lots of stuff)
    So, consider switching to a cheaper hosting and uploading your schematics there. Then you can keep the site in case you later decide that you have the time again... (Saves the domain from ending up as a redicrector site to russian gay pr0n or something... )
  • VonSzarvasVonSzarvas Posts: 3,451
    edited 2011-08-13 12:30
    parts-man73 wrote: »
    Any ideas where to park this information so that it will be available for years to come?

    If it's not-for-profit, I can provide you some free space on one of our web servers. You can choose Linux/Apache or Windows .NET hosting depending on your site source code. Or just send me your current site in a zip file and I will do everything for you!

    If you later decide to return-to-profit we offer a basic $50/year hosting plan, or of course you can move off no strings!

    You will need to keep the subscription going for the domain name of course.. what's that, about $10 / year? I think even we register .com's here for $15/year, so in the US you must? get a better rate..

    Anyhow, I would agree with Gadgetman, you might want to at least consider keeping the domain name for another year even if you don't continue hosting the site, just for the dust to settle. It IS a great name, and you might kick yourself later for giving it away for a few crumbs in the heat of the moment.

    If your domain name is currently locked into your website host deal, then you surely can move to another "simple" domain name host company, or renegotiate something with the current provider to get a good deal for dns only service, then just get them to point the www bit of the dns settings to my(any other) web server. Done in 3 clicks!

    Perhaps pm me if you are interested or have any questions generally - no stress, no time constraints (as I will be here for another 40 years hopefully)!... If it means keeping some Propeller resources online which might otherwise dodo, then happy to help!
  • Bill HenningBill Henning Posts: 6,445
    edited 2011-08-17 11:56
    Brian,

    I am sad to see uController.com shut down, however I am very glad you will be able to spend more time with your family.

    Please take up Maxwin on his offer of hosting uController.com for you. Do keep your domain name, as he suggests.

    If you like, I can also provide you space to mirror your documentation and gerbers by providing a page on Mikrocontroller.com for uController files.

    I wish you the best, and hope you will still hang around the forum.

    Best Regards,

    Bill
  • WBA ConsultingWBA Consulting Posts: 2,934
    edited 2011-08-17 22:02
    Brian, did you get my PM?
  • bududebudude Posts: 1
    edited 2012-01-28 16:24
    Did a another site take up hosting duties for the uController.com stuff yet? I dragged out my SpinStudio board and Enet module to play with and was dismayed that the site was down.

    Thanks!
  • parts-man73parts-man73 Posts: 830
    edited 2012-01-28 18:38
    if you, or anyone, needs any of the documention, or even gerber files to have your own boards made, just PM me and I can email them to you.
  • TinkersALotTinkersALot Posts: 535
    edited 2013-02-05 06:37
    Is there anyone that has the pinout's for the A-D connections on the spin studio?
  • jmgjmg Posts: 15,173
    edited 2013-02-05 14:09
    Maxwin wrote: »
    Anyhow, I would agree with Gadgetman, you might want to at least consider keeping the domain name for another year even if you don't continue hosting the site, just for the dust to settle. It IS a great name, and you might kick yourself later for giving it away for a few crumbs in the heat of the moment.

    It is a good name, if somewhat rather niche, (not everyone is going to type in uController in a search...)

    What about offering it to Parallax ? - it could become a projects repository, with just enough 'distance' from the corporate web site.

    Or, some other 3rd party supplier may make you an offer ?
  • TinkersALotTinkersALot Posts: 535
    edited 2013-02-05 15:38
    Special shout out to Bill Henning who managed to find the manual to the Spin Studio board for me!

    Bravo and Salutations to you, kind sir.
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