Does anyone have the secret code to get Harris to return a phone call or e-mail? I have one of their brand new consoles and need a few more things to complete the installation. Phone calls and e-mail communications are not returned. The Harris people danced around me at NAB...were my best friends. Now, nothing. I know the place is undergoing yet another management change, but this is nuts.
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Harris
- Thread starter shure
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I don't think Harris is going to be in the broadcasting biz for very much longer. They sold the third party supplier to SCMS, they have stopped supporting older transmitters and recently I had put out an invitation to bid on a new transmitter for a project...Harris came in the highest of them all. Nautel beat them by about $40k. Used to be, Harris would do what they had to in order to get the bid.
Unlike PR&E, who had excellent support and whom Harris ate and then eventually killed, their audio console group have been pretty much stripped with few if any folks or resources left for support. A couple years ago I got into a tangle with Harris for known defective parts in their consoles. They admitted the power supplies were defective, came up with a replacement, but refused to replace them in consoles out of warrantee.
It's a shame too. In an effort to please Wall Street, Harris has purchased some great smaller broadcast equipment companies to grow the parent, but in the end at the expense of some (now formerly) great products whom Harris has mis-managed into obscurity:
Pacific Recorders and Engineering
Louth
Leitch
Intraplex
OSI Traffic Systems
Inscriber
Just to name a few..
It's a shame too. In an effort to please Wall Street, Harris has purchased some great smaller broadcast equipment companies to grow the parent, but in the end at the expense of some (now formerly) great products whom Harris has mis-managed into obscurity:
Pacific Recorders and Engineering
Louth
Leitch
Intraplex
OSI Traffic Systems
Inscriber
Just to name a few..
Shure, give Garrett Wood a call. He ought to be listed on the Harris web site. If you aren't in his territory, he should be able to point you towards someone who can get some answers for you. He's always been helpful in finding information for me.
My regional guy in the Northeast is Brian Szewcyzk (Soo'-Zik). He's always helped me out getting answers from the Mothership.
[email protected]
[email protected]
It's been about a year ago since I called but here's some info I have: Joey Klas at 760-936-4029. Rich Matux at 760-936-4014. Joe Paraz at 760-936-4006. Hopefully they haven't got rid of these guys in Cali. Honestly, that's one of the biggest reasons I hate Big H. I seem to always run into some support problem with them in the long run. Either they don't have that part anymore, they SEND the wrong part, they charge a huge fee for getting a part and charge big-time for restocking when they tell you it's the bad part and it isn't, their tech support at times is nearly useless, or (rimshot sound please!) they tell you that your equipment is 'obsolete' and now 'not supported'. I truely hope they've raised their prices on bids these days. If they have it'll be a Godsend for those of us that have to get the loweset bidder. Helllloooo Nautel!!
I'm right with you on Nautel. A few months ago I had a module failure on our V5 on a Friday night around 8:30p (central time). I called the service and the tech got back to me within 5 minutes. And I should add that we are a standalone mom and pop with one of the last V5's so they aren't gunning for more business from us too soon. They're also very polite and helpful on the phone. Harris on the other hand charged us $2k for a blower for our former FM5K1 and a week later tried to charge us for the wrong control card (with shipping and re-stocking fee). I believe they did end up waiving the charge but that took a lot of arguing on the part of the station owner. What they really accomplished was to sell us a Nautel transmitter. Oh, and the Nautel M50 exciter sounds head and shoulders above the Digit. It's a sweet combo with an Omnia 6 but I digress.
Interesting.... His exit may be very telling of their performance as a broadcast company these days. If ya treat a customer like dirt over and over again and poo poo on your good sales people and remaining support peeps it'll eventually catch up with ya. Hey Big H! How's all those tv transmitter sales post transition!? Treating the radio customers like second class citizens wasn't such a great idea eh?
If you have one station and aren't busy so you can sit by the phone all day, buy Harris.
I have spent enough time at transmitter sites in lower Egypt to know Harris is not for anyone anymore. Had a bad transformer in a still supported transmitter. The station put a solid state backup on from another town. It was half the drive to Quincy from Indiana.
Harris refuses to return calls same days in off air emergencies.
No support on any product. Too much income from the military.
I have spent enough time at transmitter sites in lower Egypt to know Harris is not for anyone anymore. Had a bad transformer in a still supported transmitter. The station put a solid state backup on from another town. It was half the drive to Quincy from Indiana.
Harris refuses to return calls same days in off air emergencies.
No support on any product. Too much income from the military.
Tried to buy 3 VS1's from Nautel earlier this year. Advertised on their website at the time.
"Sorry, but these are not in production yet".
Wanted BE's but ended up with Harris XZ w/Micromax exciters (not BE's fault, out of our control).
RE:ZX. Wtf is the deal with the DB-25 for a remote connection!?!?
What else sould we be looking out for in the ZX/Micromax?
"Sorry, but these are not in production yet".
Wanted BE's but ended up with Harris XZ w/Micromax exciters (not BE's fault, out of our control).
RE:ZX. Wtf is the deal with the DB-25 for a remote connection!?!?
What else sould we be looking out for in the ZX/Micromax?
Poor dear Harris.. I worked for the "orphaned" printing press division, split off in the early 80's for about 15 years,
and I'm embarrassed that the RF division has become so .....lackluster.
At one time, I'd hoped my my RF education and field service experience AND that being with a division of Harris might be enough to
get me into Harris/Gates one day. That never happened, and I wonder if that's good or not. For myself and for Harris.
Printing's not exactly the hottest new industry to be involved in either, that's where I am.
It's paid the bills reliably, but it's not radio.
Or is that two ways of saying the same thing?
and I'm embarrassed that the RF division has become so .....lackluster.
At one time, I'd hoped my my RF education and field service experience AND that being with a division of Harris might be enough to
get me into Harris/Gates one day. That never happened, and I wonder if that's good or not. For myself and for Harris.
Printing's not exactly the hottest new industry to be involved in either, that's where I am.
It's paid the bills reliably, but it's not radio.
Or is that two ways of saying the same thing?
boiseengineer said:
The V-1 is a good rig, too.
TVJunkie12 said:
Wish I had of known about your blower. Harris tried to do the same to me. I used a leaf blower and clothes dryer ductwork to keep the transmitter on the air while I took the blower apart, lubricated the bearings and stuck it back in the transmitter. Six years later it's still going strong.
I have said it before and I'll say it again, five years from now, Harris will not be in the transmitter business.
Bengalsfan said:
If you said it three years ago, you'd be closer to being correct.
I remember having a problem with a Harris rig and a fellow engineer telling me they only really prioritize if you're off the air.
Well, I called them with a problem and they of course asked "Are you off the air?" I answered "yes" and I was quite truthful in my response. They never bothered to ask if the station was a daytimer or not! I was lucky as they were able to steer me in the right direction with an old MW-1, but mind you, this was many moons ago.
I would dread having to support a transmitter that the big H calls obsolete now.
Well, I called them with a problem and they of course asked "Are you off the air?" I answered "yes" and I was quite truthful in my response. They never bothered to ask if the station was a daytimer or not! I was lucky as they were able to steer me in the right direction with an old MW-1, but mind you, this was many moons ago.
I would dread having to support a transmitter that the big H calls obsolete now.
Harris is not the company it used to be by any means. But I am still managing to get a response out of them for service and parts. The number I call is 217-221-7560. The message I get when I call states that it's the console and Sage support line. If you select Sage and ask for transmitter support they do that as well here.
Harris is probably feeling the pinch from a lousy economy just like everyone else. And with not many people buying new transmitters and other gear they probably have to scale down until it gets better.
Harris is probably feeling the pinch from a lousy economy just like everyone else. And with not many people buying new transmitters and other gear they probably have to scale down until it gets better.
Yeah... The problem is they have had substandard support for over ten years or more and now they've made it even worse. The last time I had to deal with them I called up to ask a simple question and they told me that our transmitter HT5 was obsolete that was bought in 1995. All I wanted was someone to tell me where a adjustment was (I should have had the book at the transmitter but didn't) and all I got was STATIC out of them about no support. They've shafted us for a 400 dollar restock fee on a part they suggested as the cause of a failure in the past with us too. A couple years ago a friend's ZCD35 that was less than two years old and got a book reader until the owner called up and threatened to send them their transmitter back and a bill if they didn't help. With others like Nautel and BE that are glad to actually HELP out there, why buy substandard support from Big H unless you're FORCED to? I sincerly hope they have raised their prices lately as rumored. That will ensure I won't have any more reason to call their lack-o-support dept.
Why bother calling Harris tech support, or anyones tech support in this day and age! A friend just bought a new Nautel 50KW AM transmitter that, he claims, will run diagnostic routines, send a message to Nautel if something craps out and Nautel will ship out the part. Welcome to the 21st Century!
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