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Stellar mystery box deal — Parallax Forums

Stellar mystery box deal

VonSzarvasVonSzarvas Posts: 3,487
in General Discussion

It's official.. Ken has gone bonkers for the Parallax 35 year mystery box.

I really can't believe the value in that box. Madness!

https://www.parallax.com/product/mystery-box/?mc_cid=92079f6a8b&mc_eid=f6e7d9b047

Comments

  • doggiedocdoggiedoc Posts: 2,245

    Mine has already shipped. :)

  • JRoarkJRoark Posts: 1,215
    edited 2022-09-07 17:55

    That young man has a wonderful madness in his soul! Unleash the Mystery Box Krakens! 🤣 (ordered!)

  • SaucySolitonSaucySoliton Posts: 524

    Woo! My first Mystery Box!

    There's a hint in the description:

    You’ll need to provide [...] an HDMI cable,

  • JRoarkJRoark Posts: 1,215

    @SaucySoliton said:
    There's a hint in the description:

    You’ll need to provide [...] an HDMI cable,

    How did I miss that? Now I REALLY cant wait for mine to arrive!!

  • DiverBobDiverBob Posts: 1,114

    26 left now!

  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    edited 2022-09-11 06:24

    Some cool stuff in there, way beyond price of box! Now, what to do with it. Keychain will make nice X-ray phantom. As to applying the angular possibilities of the rest of the box well, I'm sure someone will have a say on the topic...

    Bummer, opened bag for electronic part and big cap fell out. Suspect high mass inclusion may have applied lateral force to capacitor while in transit via USPS. Oh well, fix Monday.

  • JonnyMacJonnyMac Posts: 9,159

    Bummer, opened bag for electronic part and big cap fell out. Suspect high mass inclusion may have applied lateral force to capacitor while in transit via USPS.

    This happened to my friend, Josh, too.

  • JRoarkJRoark Posts: 1,215

    My box just arrived and holy FREAKIN' smokes!!!! I just totalled-up the Parallax list price of everything in this box and stopped counting at $150!!! And best of all, there is this boardy-thingie that I'd been wanting to try as well as all of the support bits necessary to have Big Fun (tm). And the keychain and sticker set is cool too.

    Tonight I shall ride boldly into the wee hours with pizza, beer, and Ken's Mystery Box! WHOO HOO!!!

  • VonSzarvasVonSzarvas Posts: 3,487

    @JonnyMac said:

    Bummer, opened bag for electronic part and big cap fell out. Suspect high mass inclusion may have applied lateral force to capacitor while in transit via USPS.

    This happened to my friend, Josh, too.

    Hey Jon- if your friend could email support@parallax.com with his order number, that will be taken care of for him pronto.

  • VonSzarvasVonSzarvas Posts: 3,487

    @JRoark said:
    My box just arrived and holy FREAKIN' smokes!!!! I just totalled-up the Parallax list price of everything in this box and stopped counting at $150!!! And best of all, there is this boardy-thingie that I'd been wanting to try as well as all of the support bits necessary to have Big Fun (tm). And the keychain and sticker set is cool too.

    Tonight I shall ride boldly into the wee hours with pizza, beer, and Ken's Mystery Box! WHOO HOO!!!

    I know, right!! Best deal ever.

    I'm gutted I didn't get a pair of the boxes when I had the chance- could have built the robot Stephen Moraco demo'd, but now all I've got is a hop-along :)

  • JRoarkJRoark Posts: 1,215

    @VonSzarvas said:
    I know, right!! Best deal ever.

    I'm gutted I didn't get a pair of the boxes when I had the chance- could have built the robot Stephen Moraco demo'd, but now all I've got is a hop-along :)

    Psst! The Parallax webstore shows there are 24 Mystery Boxes remaining. :)

  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983

    @JonnyMac said:

    Bummer, opened bag for electronic part and big cap fell out. Suspect high mass inclusion may have applied lateral force to capacitor while in transit via USPS.

    This happened to my friend, Josh, too.

    Well, had to pronounce the thing, cap had one leg detached from the cap itself, no way to fix that. Will have to see about getting a replacement capacitor for the board. Maybe order another kit, but hope they pack the contents a bit better such that the high mass device does not have the ability to move freely about the cabin while in transit with the USPS.

  • VonSzarvasVonSzarvas Posts: 3,487
    edited 2022-09-13 07:37

    @"frank freedman" said:

    @JonnyMac said:

    Bummer, opened bag for electronic part and big cap fell out. Suspect high mass inclusion may have applied lateral force to capacitor while in transit via USPS.

    This happened to my friend, Josh, too.

    Well, had to pronounce the thing, cap had one leg detached from the cap itself, no way to fix that. Will have to see about getting a replacement capacitor for the board. Maybe order another kit, but hope they pack the contents a bit better such that the high mass device does not have the ability to move freely about the cabin while in transit with the USPS.

    Hi Frank,

    If you are ordering another kit, I can get a couple spare caps included for you. Or just request a replacement board. Please let us know at support@parallax.com

    Edit: BTW.. The packing team have been made aware of the feux pas. Really sorry this happened.

  • VonSzarvasVonSzarvas Posts: 3,487

    @JRoark said:

    @VonSzarvas said:
    I know, right!! Best deal ever.

    I'm gutted I didn't get a pair of the boxes when I had the chance- could have built the robot Stephen Moraco demo'd, but now all I've got is a hop-along :)

    Psst! The Parallax webstore shows there are 24 Mystery Boxes remaining. :)

    Yeah I know, but I'm abroad... missed the shipping slot. You never know... it might come around again if they still remain next month :)

  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983

    @VonSzarvas said:

    @"frank freedman" said:

    @JonnyMac said:

    Bummer, opened bag for electronic part and big cap fell out. Suspect high mass inclusion may have applied lateral force to capacitor while in transit via USPS.

    This happened to my friend, Josh, too.

    Well, had to pronounce the thing, cap had one leg detached from the cap itself, no way to fix that. Will have to see about getting a replacement capacitor for the board. Maybe order another kit, but hope they pack the contents a bit better such that the high mass device does not have the ability to move freely about the cabin while in transit with the USPS.

    Hi Frank,

    If you are ordering another kit, I can get a couple spare caps included for you. Or just request a replacement board. Please let us know at support@parallax.com

    Edit: BTW.. The packing team have been made aware of the feux pas. Really sorry this happened.

    Original order was 304575, Just placed the new one as 304690. Mystery box usually mentions no warranty, but caps are OK, would only need a replacement board if it turns out to tight to get the cap soldered down side closest to center line has space, but may need to use the air pen to get to the pad further out. Don't mind trying a fix first, just one of those $#$ happens sort of things.

  • VonSzarvasVonSzarvas Posts: 3,487

    @"frank freedman" said:
    Original order was 304575, Just placed the new one as 304690. Mystery box usually mentions no warranty, but caps are OK, would only need a replacement board if it turns out to tight to get the cap soldered down side closest to center line has space, but may need to use the air pen to get to the pad further out. Don't mind trying a fix first, just one of those $#$ happens sort of things.

    Couple caps added to 304690!

    Splodge of flux and ~370C soldering iron usually the fastest/safest way to replace those big beasts, as the legs are accessible and the board has quite a large copper mass.

  • SaucySolitonSaucySoliton Posts: 524

    This is all a test to see if people read the newsletters and quick bytes. Last week's would be a good one to check.

    It does work with the P2 eval board as well. Looks like I bought a P2 edge breadboard that I didn't "need." Although not strictly necessary, you will need to provide your own HDMI monitor.

    These do need to be packed better. My mystery box had a little hole punched through the side from the metal item. All items ok and I got it working.

  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983

    @VonSzarvas said:

    @"frank freedman" said:
    Original order was 304575, Just placed the new one as 304690. Mystery box usually mentions no warranty, but caps are OK, would only need a replacement board if it turns out to tight to get the cap soldered down side closest to center line has space, but may need to use the air pen to get to the pad further out. Don't mind trying a fix first, just one of those $#$ happens sort of things.

    Couple caps added to 304690!

    Splodge of flux and ~370C soldering iron usually the fastest/safest way to replace those big beasts, as the legs are accessible and the board has quite a large copper mass.

    Mystery box #2 arrived today, replacement caps for mystery box 1 included in box as promised. I will try fix board 1 tomorrow. Mystery box #2 had no damaged contents, but it seems that shipping did not get the memo. The high mass cubic should be packed in the box such that it would be immobile during shipping and handling. They padded the USPS box pretty well, but padding the internals of the mystery box so they don't move around would not cost that much more and would have prevented at least two customers getting in DOA parts. Gripes aside, thank you for the fast turn on getting the caps out.

  • VonSzarvasVonSzarvas Posts: 3,487

    Thank you for the update and feedback Frank. I totally agree on the packing, and will share your comments to make sure the right action has been taken. If you happened to take a photo, could you send that to support@parallax.com ?

    Earlier in life I was despatch manager at a sound desk manufacturer- so shipping is kinda in my blood, and these episodes do make it boil somewhat!

    For sure, someone at Parallax is "on the case", so hopefully this has already been put right. I really appreciate your time to let us know the details though, so we can all be part of making sure!

  • frank freedmanfrank freedman Posts: 1,983
    edited 2022-09-17 04:20

    Here's what it looked like when I opened the first and second order. There needs to always be something inside any box containing heavier materials that could shift during handling. That I'm not sure they get after receiving the second kit. Presumably they were already made up and they will continue to take their chances.

    Fixed original board. Hope to test this weekend.

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