Re: Why are restaurant RF gizmos so complicated?

Joerg wrote:

> Two chips, three (!) crystals, one resonator, one 455kHz IF filter, lots
> of SMT transistors, caps, resistors and what not, plus two NiMH or
> similar cells.
>
> Why on earth are these so complicated? I mean, all they have to do is
> receive a coded RF signal over a couple hundred feet of distance, then
> decode it so only the one whose table is ready rings. Can't be more
> daunting than a garage door opener design, can it?

My theory on these kind of products is that the markup is so high that the manufacturer doesn't really care how much they cost to make. My guess is that they just threw something together quickly in order to be early into the market.

These things are often a captive market in that they are tied to the restaurant's billing system so competition isn't a big issue. I know of a company where the profit on a particular product wasn't very impressive, but the profit on the cables needed to connect it was about $95 on a cable that sold for $100. Much like theaters - they don't make much on the movie but they make a killing on the concessions.
--
Tim Hubberstey, P.Eng. . . . . . Hardware/Software Consulting Engineer
Marmot Engineering . . . . . . . VHDL, ASICs, FPGAs, embedded systems
Vancouver, BC, Canada . . . . . . . . . . . http://www.marmot-eng.com
.

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