Loneoceans GXB172 Driver Group Buy

There is nothing wrong in profiting from open source designs. Quite the opposite IMHO, when I open source something I want others to take maximum benefit from it. If it’s financial - that’s great.
Even if profit is not what drives you, bending yourself to balance at the edge of loss it is simply counterproductive. Price it fairly without forgetting about yourself and people should be happy.

Exactly.
Even though the same 100 units would be marginally cheaper for me to do locally (2600 at my shop), I’d still have to charge about 45 to 50 a unit because of the time and labor/testing involved, even if only to have a personal incentive to keep going.

Yes, good point. I think we need to feel out what people are prepared to pay.
As it is, some feel $30 is too much, so would like to keep it at $40 or less.
That is on even par with other drivers I see listed on mountain electronics and sandwich shoppe.

MTNElectronics I’m familiar with, Sandwich? Not at all hehe
Looking over what the GXB can do again, 7.24V@6.5A in 6V mode, 14.7V@2.5A in 12V mode.
That right there is what you get for the price of admission. The MTN Electroic booster can only do 6V and 4.2A at best, barely anything to an XHP70.2
While the end result seems marginal, the amount of parts and engineering involved to get that output AND keep the efficiency above 90% is much more significant. Also, these are premium drivers, likely the best of their class and probably will be for a very long time :wink:

Too bad ya aren’t in the States, we could have probably talked turkey about getting these built locally so ya don’t have to deal with China, Taxes, Import Duties and who know WTF else. Plus, I would be able to have a personal hand in keeping a close eye on the production process.

BTW, RMM was able to sell his BST2 drivers which are quite similar for $25. And make a profit. So maybe he chose cheaper components or maybe he has a cheaper manufacturer.

Quite possibly the former, since I can do it cheaper locally for NZoom than China, but he’s in NZ and I’m in the States. The biggest cost of these drivers, aside from the 4 Layer board itself (can be anywhere from 3 to 5 bucks each), is not the Boost IC or even the Inductor, it is the 1210 Capacitors for the 202 version. Those run an easy 1.1 dollars each and this thing has 4 or more, while the driver IC is 3 and the inductor is another 3.
I’m no engineer, so I could not begin to fathom where to begin to find a substitute for the inductor, but I do have some idea of what could be possible for those caps.

Dropshipping maybe an option. If possible, just have the Chinese factory ship it to people in the list before shipping the rest for yourself to sell at a full price.

That might save a trip of freight and duties resulting in a lower preorder price.

I don’t think it would hurt to get quotes elsewhere but think the cost will be similar.
Some companies don’t charge for small smt components I see.

May pay to do some research on them, they may stick it to ya elsewhere.
Anyhow, my quote is for the 20mm 6V version. Definitely good for those that want to have a pocket missile for those that wanna use a 70.2 with a single cell.

20mm would be great I agree.
Will see what more interest I get.

Richard has just restock 17mm boost drivers

http://www.international.mtnelectronics.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=67_118&product_id=958

But still no real powerfull 4A 12V drivers...

Really looking forward to this GB

4A 12V?
XHP35 triple?
Mmmmmmm. :slight_smile:

That’s what GXB172 capable of...

According to loneceans, his driver is capable of 14.7V and 2.5A at most in 12V mode

I will take 2 x 17mm drivers and 2 FET tailcaps please.

Ok, just thought I would update the thread.
I still have not heard back from the manufacturer as they said they would be away until after the new year holiday, but the coronavirus has gotten in the way, so will give it another week to contact them.
I will ask if they are happy to split orders to each buyer, they may be happy to do this, will wait and see. It should be pointed out that if we do this, they will have no firmware installed and each buyer would need to do this which is more expense.

I will like to cap the price at $40 per driver, but will be able to reduce costs for each buyer if they order more than one driver.
I wont be able to make the order until all units are filled in. I’m hoping we can get most of the 100 units paid for so I don’t have to bear the cost for drivers I can’t move on easily.

Thx for the update!

I'm considering to add extra piece to my order since FT02 2020 failed so miserably

Refreshing the thread.
We are 2 weeks later, any update possible?

They emailed me today to say they are back in action but have a massive backlog due to coronavirus.
Lead time is estimated to be between 60-75 days.

Either way, I wont be able to place an order until I get all 100 units filled in.
Do you think there is enough of us here to order around 100 boards?

I haven’t count IN’s but i’d go with 3pcs. Most of the folks said 2pcs each.

If you could make a list would help a lot counting.