Category Archives: Avera Company

FROM I-MAX 2000 TO MAX OPTIMIZER

Image: Logo from Solarcon in the old days

SOLARCON ANTENNA RESEARCH
Long long time ago in the city of Holland Ohio in USA the Solarcon factory proudly introduced a new antenna the “I-MAX 2000“. This was the big brother of the Solarcon A99. In those days still known as Antron A-99 (Aka Atron A-99).

Photo: original carton for I-max 2000

I-MAX 2000
The CB and 10 Meter HAM people loved the new antenna and many were sold. One company did not like the name, this was the IMAX group of cinema’s.
Their lawyer wrote a letter to Solarcon and the wise people from Solarcon decided it was better to change the name to MAX 2000.

Photo: The new packing for MAX 2000

MAX 2000
Max 2000 is a wide band antenna. During the years the number of 10 meter users went down and it was more CB users that purchased this high end antenna. Many also added the the (I)MAX-GPK , a nice groundplane kit.

ANTENNA LENGTH OF (I)MAX 2000
The packing of MAX 2000 was designed based on the maximum dimensions of UPS cartons for easy and cheaper shipping. When UPS changed her ‘rules’, the carton was made a little shorter, but the antenna was still having the same length. Funny is that many people keep saying that the new model was shorter and that was the reason for a bad SWR. Sorry guys, the length never changed.

Photo: The packing of Max-Optimizer

MAX OPTIMIZER
The original IMAX-2000 was designed for 26 – 33.5 MHz. But now, because more CB operators were buying Max-2000 it was needed to make a MAX-2000 only for 27 MHz. That means a bit longer antenna length. The result is the brand new MAX OPTIMIZER.

Photo: Original specs from (I)MAX 2000

MAX-OPTIMIZER

So recently the MAX OPTIMIZER was introduced. Same box as MAX 2000, just a sticker on the top or bottom. The models MAX 2000 and MAX OPTIMIZER are nearly identical.
BUT the MAX OPTIMIZER has one more section, and that makes it a bit longer, approx 30 cm.

Photo: Specifications of the MaxOptimizer



OPTIMIZER SECTION

Photo: The Optimizer section

If you are using an (I)MAX 2000 and want to modify it to a MAX OPTIMIZER you can purchase this extra section and install between the sections of your existing antenna.
The name of the product is OP-EXT , “optional extension”. The price will be around 50 – 60 euro.
Ask your local dealer for the OP-EXT and have better SWR on the regular CB band.

Photo: OP-EXT can be installed between the sections of MAX 2000
Photo: one end has 3/8×24 Female Thread
Photo: one end has 3/8×24 Male Thread

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Photo: Most recent Solarcon logo

DELTA M2 DESK MICROPHONE

M2 Chrome Product and Packing Photo

Photo: Delta M2 Microphone – CHROME version

After many years in CB business it is a pleasure to be happily surprised seeing a new accessory for the CB market. Unpacking the Delta M2 base mike really gave me that warm feeling again.

GOLD AND CHROME
There are 2 version for M2 available:  Delta M2 CHROME  and Delta M2 GOLD.
Both types are exactly the same, just a different color. And ofcourse the gold version is more expensive than the chrome version.

M2Gold Product and Packing Photo

Photo: Delta M2 Microphone – GOLD version

These 2 brand new models come from USA. They come with the standard USA 4-Pin CB connector and the common Cobra/Uniden/President wiring. For the 6-Pin President radio’s we have an adaptor or an adaptor cable to convert a 4-Pin microphone to a 6-Pin radio without any soldering. Check the list of the accessories that are mentioned in the product description of these 2 microphones on our website.

Like most base microphones the amplifier in the M2 microphone needs a 9 Volt battery. That is not included in the packing to prevent damage from a leaking battery.

But that are just some technical details. Looking at this product made me happy. It looks a bit old fashioned, but it also looks robust and elegant at the same time. It is simple and technical, it is a combination of many other products that i saw in 40+ years in this business.  It is a microphone you like to have in front of you, a pleasure for the eye, you have a horse to do the ‘heavy job’. Although there are not many CB users that think talking is a difficult job.

FEATURES
The M2 is an amplified dynamic desk microphone. On top of the housing you find the controls for Tone, Modulation, the Push To Talk button with lock function, a LED for TX and a VU_meter showing the power of the modulation. On the microphone stand is a switch to turn the microphone on or off. The head of the microphe can be turned backwards or forewards depending on the preference of the user.

A quick test learned that the Delta M2 delivers a very strong and good audio signal. And to be honest, we did not expect something different from this master piece. It is not a cheap product but it feels like a privelige to use this microphone and use it.

M2Gold Side View Photo

M2 Chrome Side View Photo

 

JANNIE HEIJMANS – WE WILL MISS HER

Jannie Heijmans

Photo: Jannie Heijmans

Writing a blog is one. But making a blog look good and consistent is a different job. For several years I was blessed with the help of Jannie Heijmans. I wrote an article and she took care of putting it nicely in the WordPress blog system. That worked great as I messed up the layout constantly.

Friday morning we got the very sad message she suddenly passed away. She will be missed by her family and friends and certainly by me.

So if the coming blogs looks less appealing, it is me to blame.

THANK YOU Jannie for being a great friend !

TRAVELLING MAKES YOU RICHER

Travelling for private or for business, it always costs you money. But if you look around on this planet , when on the road,  you will be at least one experience richer when you are back home again.

End of October Avera-Distributing participated in the A+A Show in Dusseldorf. This is a show about safety at work. Here we showed the new Gearkeeper line of Tool Tethering products.

plaatjeDuring A+A tradeshow a video crew came it to make a promo video

During the show we made a video about the new GearKeeper solutions for tool tethering. We hope to be able to show this video very soon.

SAFETY AT WORK
The A+A show is about safety at work. It was my first time to do this show and I was surprised by the large number of manufacturers of fall protection, flash lights, (safety)shoes, boots and an unbelievable number of producers of gloves.

TOP GLOVE
Our ‘neighbour’ across the aisle was the company Top Glove from Malaysia. They are the largest manufacturer of gloves and produce 44.000.000.000 pairs of gloves this year.

In their booth they had a plasma screen and all day long the promo video of the company was shown. The video ended with the corporate song.
During 4 days of A+A show I must have heard this song over 300 times.

In The Netherlands we are too much individuals to appreciate a corporate song. But maybe I am too much on the road to be still an original Dutch guy. I loved the song and the idea behind it.

Click HERE to see the youtube video of the corporate song.

CORPORATE VIDEO
For those who are interested in the complete corporate video of the Top Glove company, click HERE.

AVERA-DISTRIBUTING CORPORATE SONG
Travelling is enriching and inspiring, so I hope that very soon we will have an Avera-Distributing corporate song. If you are a composer or writer feel free to send your ideas for such a song.

Keep singing when you are ‘on the road again’.

FULL HD DASHCAM / CAR CAMCORDER

In the recent blog about the Hong Kong Electronics Fair I already mentioned the introduction of two new dashcams/car camcorders by Midland.

There are two versions available:
Street Guardian
Street Guardian GPS

For full details you can read the ‘factory introduction’ as supplied by Midland. Both models are available now from stock.

 

1

The ‘Street Guardian’ series includes the brand new Car Camcorders with Full HD resolution developed to be a further ‘eye’ on the road while driving.
Street Guardian automatically records whatever happens while you are driving, very useful indeed in case of accidents. It is like having a witness always seating next to your seat.

Thanks to the viewing angle of 140°, Street Guardian records everything that happens in front of you; the image stabilizer ensures excellent movies.
Street Guardian has many features, amongst which we highlight:

‘Black Box’ feature: you can automatically save and store the videos in case of accident.
‘Motion detection’ feature: The camera starts recording when something is moving in front of it: don’t worry if you are temporarily away from your car, Street Guardian will still be there for you.

It can be easily installed on the windshield of your car thanks to the suction cup supplied in the box and thanks to its compact size it does not affect your driving and the view. It weights only 80 gr!

2
Thanks to the 2 inches display, you can see everything live, watch the recorded videos and easily surf through the settings.
Street Guardian GPS does also have a GPS receiver which indicates the exact position where you are and will be with you for the rest of your journey.

Street Guardian has an inbuilt USB socket which will allow you to download your videos on your laptop, or simply to recharge the battery.
Works with micro SD Card (optional) up to 32Gb.

COMPLYING TO CE NORMS (STREET GUARDIAN)
COMPLYING TO CE/99/05 NORMS (STREET GUARDIAN GPS)

COLOR: Black
Packaging contains:
• Street Guardian
• Suction Cup
• Power cord
• USB cable
• Car charger
• User manual
• CD Software to watch the movies (Street Guardian)
• CD Software to watch the movies with GPS coordinates (Street Guardian GPS)

Main features
• Resolution: Full HD 1920x1080p 30fps/ HD ready 1280x720p 60fps
• Audio & Video recording
• Wide angle lens 140°
• Image stabilizer
• 2 inches display
• Inbuilt microphone and speaker
• 6 elements glass lens
• Black Box feature
• Motion Detection feature
• HDMI socket
• Li‐Ion integrated 460mAh battery pack
• works with micro SD Card (optional) up to 32Gb
• Sensor: 12Mp
• AVI format
• Sensor: Aptina CMOS
• Dimensions: 53x59x32mm
• Weight: 80gr

HONG KONG ELECTRONICS FAIR

The first show I visited in Hong Kong was the China Sourcing Show. Read my former blog about this show. The second show I visited last month was the Hong Kong Electronics Fair. This trade show is much larger than the first one. It will take you 2 days just to walk along all the booths.

1Entrance of Hong Kong Electronics Fair


SIMULAR SHOW

The show is larger but also quite similar to the first show. Again we saw lots of headphones, selfie sticks/mono pods, action cameras, power banks, key boards and tablets.
But this show also has many more suppliers of coax, inverters, portable radios and even some CB manufacturers.

PORTABLE RADIOS

I wrote already about the many brands that copy other brands and here we saw it again. But this time there were many more manufacturers from portable radios like PMR446, 2m/70cm VHF/UHF and HAM. The result was a lot of the same. After visiting 10 booths with portable radios I did not bother to much anymore about checking all the others. Some brands we know in Europe and some we had never heard of and are not available in the western world.

2Wouxun HAM radio with power supply

3Wouxun Portable radios

4OEM manufacturer for portable radios

CB RADIO

Uniden is the only large manufacturer that brings CB radios on the market using their own name. They were not present with a booth, but we saw some traders offering this brand.

5Uniden PMR446

The factories that were displaying CB radios at the show are not known by CB users by name. But the brands they produce for third parties are well known in Europe. In the European market we never see a brand like Yosun, but in Asia live much more people than in Europe. There is a big market for radios in that area too. But Yosun is also producing for Albrecht and Lafayette.

6Unknown factory making well-known brands

ACCESSORIES

Personally I was a little disappointed about the number of companies showing accessories. A lot of portable radios, coax, connectors, inverters but CB accessories were hard tofind.

One booth showed antennas that were copies of President, Sirio and USA type of antennas.

7Antenna models from President, Sirio and others.

MIDLAND

It was a nice surprise to see that Midland had a booth at the Hong Kong Electronics Fair. Also in USA at CES they are always present to show the latest items they sell.

8Midland present at Hong Kong Electronics fair

Midland has a large range of action cameras. In Hong Kong two brand new CAR CAMCORDERS were showed. One regular model and one with GPS included. Great small cameras for in your car to record all that is happening in front of you. A 5 cm display shows what is recorded. Soon these two cameras will be available from Avera!
Watch for the Street Guardian and Street Guard GPS!

9Midland Street Guardian, Car Camcorder

CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW LAS VEGAS

Visiting these two shows was quite interesting. Mostly because it was my first visit to the Far East. Trade shows all over the world are quite similar. You also often meet the same people, but what else to expect in our consumer communication branch. It is a small world!

In January it is time again to visit the CES in Las Vegas. And you know: “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas !”

But… I promise you all, I will write about the Consumer Electronics Show so you know what was happening there.

VISITING TWO ELECTRONIC SHOWS IN HONG KONG

Avera is importing many famous USA brands like GearKeeper, Magnum, Motocom, K40, Willson, Astatic, Solarcon, RoadPro etc. To meet these companies or brands I travel to the USA a couple of times a year.

To prevent travelling too much it is often easier to visit a trade show. That enables you to meet several companies on one location.

There are three major trade shows in the world for consumer electronics. In USA is the CES, Consumer Electronics Show. In Europe it is the IFA in Berlin. And in Asia it is the Hong Kong Electronics Show.

For more than 20 years I visit the CES in Las Vegas to meet business relations from USA and around the globe.. Although Avera is also doing business with several companies in Asia for over 35 years this was my first time to visit two electronic trade show in Asia.

CHINA SOURCING FAIR AT AIRPORT EXPO

1
The first show that I visited was at the Expo Center near the Hong Kong airport, Just to walk along all the booths takes more than a full day. Surprisingly within 30 minutes we ran in to two relations from USA who frequently visit this show.

Let it be clear, there is no real trade show for consumer communications anymore. Our business is just a very small part of the general consumer electronic business. What we saw from many factories were items like mono pods/selfie sticks, power banks/USB chargers, headphones, keyboards, tablets. All kind of items that are popular by a large public, bought by many and made by many.

2headphones were available from many sources.

PORTABLE RADIOS

In the field of consumer communication there were many companies offering PMR446 or 2M/70CM portable transceivers.

In the past companies like Kenwood complained about a brand like HYT that was copying there products. Now a days HYT is grown to a ‘regular’ company and there are companies that copy HYT and their digital line called HYTERA.

You will find brands with nearly same names or nearly same logo’s that sell nearly same products.

3We know HYT but never heard before of HQT.

4 We know HYTERA but never heard before of KYDERA.


CB/27MHz

I hoped to see the few manufacturers of CB transceivers that are still around but I only found two. The only thing they showed that is not totally new on the market, but not regularly sold in Europe is a CB with a bluetooth dongle.
This enables you to communicate with a bluetooth device in stead of the regular CB mic.

5CB transceiver with Blue Tooth dongle.

6The dongle has a two pin connection,
on the front is the jack to plug in the dongle.

Another company manufacturing CB and 10 meter radios we saw was Anytone. There products are not very popular in Western Europe or USA. The quality is mostly not to be compared with Uniden/President or Midland.

7 Anytone showing some product.

So far the show at Asia Expo, next time I will write about the Hong Kong Electronics show that started October 13.

CONTACT

Office/delivery address:
AVERA B.V.
Hazeldonk 6259
4836 LG BREDA
The Netherlands

Phone/Fax/E-Mail:
Phone: +31 (0)76 596 3820
Fax: +31 (0)76 596 3833
E-mail: info@avera.eu

Office/Showroom Opening hours:
Monday to Friday from 09.00 – 17.00H (GMT 08.00 – 16.00H)

Outside opening hours only by appointment

24/7 on internet:
Website: www.avera.eu
Facebook: www.facebook.com/averabv
YouTube: www.youtube.com/averabv
Blog: www.avera-distributing.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Piet J Evers Photo LinksPiet Evers (1955) is the owner and managing director of Avera Distributing.

His ‘radio career’ started in 1971 when he purchased his first two-way radio from a friend. From 1972 to 1998 he was a freelance writer for many different CB magazines in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the USA.

He was also an active supporter and (board)member of many clubs and organizations that were involved in trying to legalise a CB/27MHz band in The Netherlands as well as Europe.

His company  ‘Avera’ (1979) was the European translator and publisher of the books of American author Lou Franklin. Furthermore, until 1988 the company was the publisher of the Dutch CB magazine ‘CB Radio’.

Avera is a distributor of consumer communication equipment.
Our products include:
– Transceivers for CB/27MHz, Marine Radio, PMR446 and HAM
– Receivers and Scanners
– Accessories for transceivers and receivers/scanners
– Telecom products
– DVBT products
– Action cameras
– Motor/ski communications
– Travel centre products
– Batteries
– Gear Keepers

In this blog Piet writes about Avera’s products, the market developments, trade shows and all else that could be of interest to resellers and end-users of these products.

GETTING STARTED

Avera Distributing is based in The Netherlands.
We sell consumer communication equipment.
This blog we will use to communicate with people from our industry and end-users.

Most items will be written by the founder and managing-director of Avera, Mr Piet J. Evers.

Welcome to this blog and feel free to post your comments and reactions.