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[Bob Leonard]

Back in the very early 80's, before many Behringer users had been born, I had designed an RS-232 interface for small computers. The interface was simplistic, based on a 555 chip, and the software was written using basic. There was no internet as we know of today, this site didn't exist, and the majority of my product was sold at ham fests and via word of mouth. The product worked as intended, shipped with or without a case, and worked on anything that had an RS-232 port capable of running basic. The software was shipped on cassette tape. The manual was written by my wife.

Fast forward about a year and I was approached by a company known for their very low cost HAM radio accessories, and often suspect design processes. I sent them one of my products to evaluate as requested, they rejected the product, and in less than 6 months had their own interface that came in an aluminum case.

Their interface was an almost direct copy of mine, but made with very cheap inferior components. The program was not re-written or improved, and only text and comments were changed within the program to reflect their name. This company was not a US company and boarders the USA. I had little recourse because I had not patented the product. However, this was the beginning of my extreme distaste for people and companies who are willing to "appropriate" the work or intellectual property of others. Re-designing a product type to make it better, additional features, etc. is all part of the game, but direct replication with minor cosmetic changes in appearance is not. Behringer did not exist at that time, but even to this day their name brings thoughts of the theft of my own product to mind. And I would imagine many other older members of this board who share a similar experience feel exactly the same way I do.

[Bob Leonard]

And it will be robots

[William Schnake]

And it will be robots

...but robots built on human exo-skeletons.

Bill

[Tim McCulloch]

...but robots built on human exo-skeletons.

Bill

I was thinking "robotic insects".

[Bob Leonard]

Like in the movie with Kirsty Alley and Gene Simmons.

[Chris Hindle]

Like in the movie with Kirsty Alley and Gene Simmons.

Gene should REALLY stick to music..........
Did like those Clamp-Ons/Kling-Ons, whatever you called them...
Chris.

[Aisle 6]

It will be robots not insects...

JR

Robots build by Behringer. 😂

[drew gandy]

Their interface was an almost direct copy of mine, but made with very cheap inferior components. The program was not re-written or improved, and only text and comments were changed within the program to reflect their name.

Wow, I can certainly understand the bitter taste in your mouth.  Thank you for sharing this. 

I've got a couple questions:

A) Have you ever evaluated how much money you lost because of their treachery? 

B) Did you evaluate how much more profit they were able to make because of the cheaper parts? 

C) Did your market entirely dry up? 

[Bob Leonard]

Drew,
There is a huge market for this type device, which has changed drastically over the many years since I first designed my rudimentary code reader. The current day code readers are still pretty much based on an interpretation of the sound the morse code makes when heard by the human ear. The sound at the speaker is nothing more than a short or long electrical impulse, those impulses then passed through the serial port after conversion by the 555 timer, and the text then displayed on the computer screen.

My design was fairly accurate and the interface could be "tuned" reading code up to about 40wpm, which is fairly fast. Today the ability to read code using one of these type devices is limitless.

I have no idea how much I may have lost in potential income. I was in the middle of a career path change, didn't have enough money to fight the theft, and pushed it all aside. I stopped manufacturing the boards after that, but still have one of my proto types hanging around to remind me of the mistakes in trust I made back then. And to think, Behringer wasn't even a name at that time. If I can find the interface I'll post a picture.

[John Roberts {JR}]

Robots build by Behringer. 😂

In fact the robot overlords will build themselves....

Humans will be unnecessary.

JR

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