Rcom Testomonial!

[Tony@Interhatch]

Here we have the testomonial Written by Mike Butterworth in regards to the success he's had this season using solely Rcom incubators.

Having already run full term testing on the machines using duck and chicken eggs
pre season, I was already quite confident in the incubator.
The first eggs through were sakers, they had received no natural incubation at all
and were started in the Rcom from cold. Of the three test eggs set, all three hatched
with no problems, strong healthy chicks with good appetite and early growth.


I have also hatched seven eighths gyr sakers, again set from day one, they too are very
healthy, strong chicks.


All of my incubation is done in a custom built room; it is maintained at around 20 degrees
centigrade and 50%RH, once calibrated, the RCOM proved to be very stable, almost
static in its control of temperature, this along with the turning system that is more natural
and can be programmed to the requirements of the egg. This has shown to encourage really
good vein growth in the initial development of the embryo in comparison to a constantly
moving turner as in some incubators, early testing against such an incubator, running eggs of the same batch, set at the same time brought this home to me. It has proven to be the case with raptor eggs as well.


Having now committed all my seasons’ eggs to the R com, there was no going back, gyrs from
day one and peregrines in various stages, i.e., day one, and four to seven days natural incubation are being run through the new setup, also some gyr/saker/gyrs , so far the gyrs
and hybrids are hatching unassisted , on perfect time. The peregrines have a few days to go yet.
I will keep you posted.


I have also this season used exclusively the basic RCOM 20 as a forced air hatcher, again
using a calibrated hygrometer I have been able to maintain 68%RH with ease.
The majority of the eggs were within acceptable weight loss, i.e. 13-15% at pip, but one or
two of the gyrs were outside this and still hatched with no assistance from me.
To say I am pleased with the units is an understatement; they have made what is normally
a very stressful time much easier, I would also like to publicly thank Interhatch, Tony in
particular for their/his support and help all the way through, cheers guys!

Kind Regards

Mike.



This shows that Rcoms are proving to be the most versatile incubators on the market, able to do everything from chickens right through to Parrots and Raptors.

I am now offering a 10% Discount on all Rcoms purchased by IFF Members! :supz:

[Berkut]

Tony,
You have got to be well pleased with a write up like that from Mike. He certainly knows what he is talking about.
All the best,
Neil.

[Tony@Interhatch]

Yes, It helps that he knows his engineering as well so we can talk through properly any issues he has had. From the outset this unit worked well for him unlike some other machines he's had in the past. He's a great bloke and a big, big thankyou goes out to him for all his help! :supz:

[StoopDoggyDogg]

I'm not questioning Mikes expertise etc, but i would like to point out that; i know someone who had 2 fertile peregrine eggs, that were incubated for 8 days by the mother and then placed in an R-com pro, with 2 calibrated thermometers inside the cabinet, both eggs fully developed but didn't pip.
And another person who had 3, incubated by parents for 2 weeks and one failed to pip.

So its not all good luck stories with the R-com.

Personally, i think if they were £150 they would be a decent buy. But £400 is outrageous!!!!!!!!!
If you compare the r-com with a kids remote control car or similar device with modern technology and a bit of moulded plastic for about £30, where do they get there price from.

I think it is a GOOD EARNER, for some, hence why they are being pushed.

To sum up, a lot of retailers are now sourcing there products from asia because they make a good return on them.


If anyone has any melted ones for sale, i'll give you £20 for them.


No! make that a tenner!!!!!


Like i said, i am in no way trying to challenge what Mike has found and experienced with his R-coms. I have met Mike and been out flying with him and have the utmost respect for him.

But i dont like paying over the odds for things, maybe i'm tight ??????


Steve






La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadun rasoolu Allah
















Here we have the testomonial Written by Mike Butterworth in regards to the success he's had this season using solely Rcom incubators.

Having already run full term testing on the machines using duck and chicken eggs
pre season, I was already quite confident in the incubator.
The first eggs through were sakers, they had received no natural incubation at all
and were started in the Rcom from cold. Of the three test eggs set, all three hatched
with no problems, strong healthy chicks with good appetite and early growth.


I have also hatched seven eighths gyr sakers, again set from day one, they too are very
healthy, strong chicks.


All of my incubation is done in a custom built room; it is maintained at around 20 degrees
centigrade and 50%RH, once calibrated, the RCOM proved to be very stable, almost
static in its control of temperature, this along with the turning system that is more natural
and can be programmed to the requirements of the egg. This has shown to encourage really
good vein growth in the initial development of the embryo in comparison to a constantly
moving turner as in some incubators, early testing against such an incubator, running eggs of the same batch, set at the same time brought this home to me. It has proven to be the case with raptor eggs as well.


Having now committed all my seasons’ eggs to the R com, there was no going back, gyrs from
day one and peregrines in various stages, i.e., day one, and four to seven days natural incubation are being run through the new setup, also some gyr/saker/gyrs , so far the gyrs
and hybrids are hatching unassisted , on perfect time. The peregrines have a few days to go yet.
I will keep you posted.


I have also this season used exclusively the basic RCOM 20 as a forced air hatcher, again
using a calibrated hygrometer I have been able to maintain 68%RH with ease.
The majority of the eggs were within acceptable weight loss, i.e. 13-15% at pip, but one or
two of the gyrs were outside this and still hatched with no assistance from me.
To say I am pleased with the units is an understatement; they have made what is normally
a very stressful time much easier, I would also like to publicly thank Interhatch, Tony in
particular for their/his support and help all the way through, cheers guys!

Kind Regards

Mike.



This shows that Rcoms are proving to be the most versatile incubators on the market, able to do everything from chickens right through to Parrots and Raptors.

I am now offering a 10% Discount on all Rcoms purchased by IFF Members! :supz:

[Tony@Interhatch]

Who are you kidding! the features that are on the Rcom you dont get with any other incubator unless your paying over £1000 so they are very reasonable priced! :roll:

[CanadaManada]

I'm not questioning Mikes expertise etc, but i would like to point out that; i know someone who had 2 fertile peregrine eggs, that were incubated for 8 days by the mother and then placed in an R-com pro, with 2 calibrated thermometers inside the cabinet, both eggs fully developed but didn't pip.


So, the other two calibrated thermometers didn't indicate a problem but fully developed embryos not pipping is somehow the fault of the incubator? Sounds more like a nutrition problem with the mother than an incubation problem to me. Breeders can't blame all failures on the incubator. The better a female's diet is in general, and especially leading up to egg-laying, is a major, major factor in the success/failure rate of the eggs, also. I wouldn't be willing to put that down to the incubator straight off.

[StoopDoggyDogg]

they are very cheaply constructed though and they couldn't have done much testing with them. Considering the faults!!!

What percentage mark up have you on them ? it must be a hefty ammount considering where they are made.

Salesmen push what they have most profit in, do you slag off brinseas products because the profit margin will be tiny compared to the Korea made cheapo incubators.

Steve







Who are you kidding! the features that are on the Rcom you dont get with any other incubator unless your paying over £1000 so they are very reasonable priced! :roll:

[StoopDoggyDogg]

Have you heard of Hypoxia ? and have you used an r -com ?

Steve



So, the other two calibrated thermometers didn't indicate a problem but fully developed embryos not pipping is somehow the fault of the incubator? Sounds more like a nutrition problem with the mother than an incubation problem to me. Breeders can't blame all failures on the incubator. The better a female's diet is in general, and especially leading up to egg-laying, is a major, major factor in the success/failure rate of the eggs, also. I wouldn't be willing to put that down to the incubator straight off.

[Stratocaster]

What constitutes a “well engineered incubator”? a machine that offers consistent
optimum conditions to allow an egg to develop properly and hatch.
You state that the Rcom is not well made,take a long hard look at Rollex incubators,
they were designed for hatching quail, the overall construction is very poor
yet they have hatched more raptors throughout the world than most incubators
available, why? Because it offered the correct conditions, when set up and run
properly.
Take a long look at the octagons, the injection moulded base, with its myriad of tiny air bubbles, is a bacteria trap, this is due to the poor quality of the mouldings, the older ones were far superior.
The turning is very unnatural, in my experience the initial development of the
embryo is actually retarded, due to the initial access of the embryo to fresh
nutrients on the yolks surface, when you turn an egg as a female does, in one
movement, the full early network of vessels are on fresh yolk, not constantly
going over the same area.
I am not knocking them as a successful incubator, just pointing out a few of the shortfalls,
you work around them. When something better comes along it makes sense to take notice.

Simplistic design is and always will be the best solution to a problem,
by the Rcoms very use of non porous ABS, lack of corners to inhibit internal
air flow and heat dissipation, they have achieved a really good base to work from.
Regarding Hypoxia, well the incubator would have to be sealed completely to have
any bearing on its eggs, the fact that an egg can easily survive for well over twenty
four hours after internal pip on the oxygen content available to it in the airspace,
taking into account the absorbed oxygen from the allantioic membrane is comfort
enough for me,
It is a question of balance, the early octagons had very restricted airflow on paper
yet due to the design, mainly the lid fit, it was irrelavent, the later octagons have far more
air flow yet are far less temperature stable inside,
with the earlier ones, internal mapping gave more usable incubator space than the later
models, that due in itself to the airholes in the base that create coldspots.
I haven’t looked any further at the airflow on the R com as in my first test I ran full capacity
using large duck eggs, these had a relatively long incubation time so I felt would give the
incubator a fair test, there were nineteen eggs out of twenty set that were fertile, all nineteen
hatched.
I offered my findings based on many years of practical experience for no other reason than
to maybe help others who were faced with incubating their first eggs.
This will be the last time I will post on this forum.

Regards Mike.

[Finnish]

I have spoke to a few big breeders now using these R-com's.They all say that there good. I will get on and see for myself. For the money I think they are great.

[Kentish Falconry]

http://www.falconryforum.co.uk/images/icons/icon1.gif Rcom 20 PRO USB Incubators
This is what I said on the Hatchit Forum and I stick by it. Tony has kindly delivered a updated model to me today that I will set up tonight, these small machines run spot on and we have had no problems other than the Heater cable melting into a small area of plastic. I have not tried the cheaper basic model that Mike uses as a hatcher but I am willing to give it a try after talking to Mike about them. For some one with a small project 2 incubators or 1 and use the other as a hatcher for less than £600 is good value and to be fair I am testing the small incubators against State of the art models costing thousands of pounds.
Sorry Steve I agree with most things you say on this Forum but for once I have to disagree with you, do I sense an ulterior motive here?
Terry

I have just completed some Preseason tests on a Rcom 20 Pro USB Incubator Overall I have found this Incubator to be first class for the under £500 price range and at £349.99 from Hatch-it-Incubators the price is a steal so just contact Lewes and he will sort you out. (See Forum Sponsors)

Temperature
The Incubator runs at a steady temp throughout the cabinet (tested by mapping) and has remained stable though the whole cycle. Although the unit is factory set to temperature we did find that when initially starting up the Incubator and letting it settle down that it was 1.5 degrees centigrade low in operation, it is a simple job to re-set the temperature using the Menu once set it did not fluctuate once as we had it connected to a Laptop via the software supplied with the unit, you even get the USB lead. We use certified calibrated thermometers here as we need to be accurate when setting up our other Incubators.

Humidity RH

We needed to make no alterations to the humidity of the test machine and it was spot on with a fluctuation of + or - 1 degree RH during the whole incubation period this is an excellent result from a machine at £349.99.

Turning

The machine is set to turn each hour but are adjustable and if you can stand the tune it plays to warn you it is in turning mode then keep it running I have to admit I turned it off as it was driving me nuts http://www.falconryforum.co.uk/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif it is simple using the menu to deselect the tune.
I found that initially the turning mechanism, rolling carpet was a bit jumpy and noisy but after a few days of running it smoothed out and was not a problem again our own test showed the turning was regular and all the test eggs hatched.

Trays

Each machine comes with 3 moulded egg tray inserts you just select the size of the tray to match your eggs, don't forget to enter the size you have selected into the Menu so that the egg turning is optimized to the correct amount of turn.

Manual/Auto Operation

The Incubator works well in Auto mode you just select the type of egg you want to incubate Chicken, Duck, Goose etc and the Incubator sets up the whole system for you.
There is the option to manually set the Incubator up and as there is no Auto setting for falcons then you have to set it yourself, all the options above can be set just how you want them including incubation period, this is handy when you are setting a whole clutch of eggs the display indicates a D day to hatch so you don't have to keep checking your records to know where you are but in our situation where we are setting eggs that require different lengths of incubation at the same time this function becomes useless.

Ease of use

The whole incubator is designed to make ease of use paramount the Menu is simple to use both in Manual and Auto mode, the instruction book is again simple to use and setting the machine to work how you want it to could not be easier. If I had to score this new Incubator out of 100 points I would give it 90% I have reserved the remaining 10% as we have not yet tested the Incubator for reliability during a busy season, in all other aspects this is a great incubator for the novice and professional alike.

Recommendation

If you are just starting out with your breeding project or are running old incubators and want to upgrade then this is the Incubator for you. it is possible to incubate and hatch your eggs all in one machine although I would recommend a separate hatcher but in saying that the whole thing can be stripped and cleaned in less than 5 mins so if you are only running a few eggs you can also hatch in it.
Incidentally I am not being paid to write this independent report nor am i getting any favours for it and the findings are my own.

Regards
Terry

[Tony@Interhatch]

they are very cheaply constructed though and they couldn't have done much testing with them. Considering the faults!!!

What percentage mark up have you on them ? it must be a hefty ammount considering where they are made.

Salesmen push what they have most profit in, do you slag off brinseas products because the profit margin will be tiny compared to the Korea made cheapo incubators.

Steve

For a start I am not a salesman, yes I answer the phone and sell incubators for Interhatch, but 1st and foremost i am an engineer I have spent 6 years at college in electronic servicing and have worked on a multitude of different electronic devices!
I therefor know what good and bad engineering is and the Rcom is a well thought through machine in its design and the internal componants on the machine are well made and well put together!
You put a price tag on it as £150 which is lower than the Brinsea Oct 20 so therefor you put it in a lower level of quality to the oct. "I DONT THINK SO!"
In My Honest Opinion You really need to look at things properly and think about what your saying before quoting on anything because to be honest your just making a fool of yourself, that or you have some ateria motive??????:confused:

[Red-Devil]

snoop your just tight lol get your wedge out you got plenty ,they are good far superior to the octogon

[Finnish]

Gary have you got one.

[CanadaManada]

Have you heard of Hypoxia ? and have you used an r -com ?

Steve

Always doing my homework, and yes, I do know about hypoxia. And yes, I do have an R-com.

[StoopDoggyDogg]

my only motive, is to give another opinion, rather than a sales pitch!!

interhatch very kindly loaned me an R-com, which i returned having had loads of problems with it, Mark at interhatch knows all about them, he said on return of the faulty incubator he would conduct tests and let me know his findings. I heard nothing so i rang him on numerous occasions and left messages and i never got a reply ???
That said to me Interhatch didn't give a toss, they are just interested in shifting boxes, like any buisness, CASH IS KING.

Terry i've heard you've had a bit of a disaster this year so far regarding incubation and have been considering getting an X8 for next season.

Is this True?? because i have heard it from 3 different sources ?? not that i'm doing any investigative work on you, its just come up in conversation with various people when we were discussing incubation.

If it is true? why are you considering an X8 when you have the superb R-com ????? for a fraction of the price ??

Steve

[Quiver]

a friend of mine has a rcom and he has had a 100 % success rate, on hatching fertile eggs up to date.

chris.:yawinkle:

[StoopDoggyDogg]

i never said they are not superior to the octagon, they are just being pushed as being the best thing since sliced bread due to profit margins.
I bet interhatch get an R-com in from Korea cheaper than they can get an octagon 20 from Brinsea.

Hence the big sales push !!!!!!!!!!

Can anyone deny the fact that the manufacturer has not done sufficient testing before releasing the incubator for retail sale ?????

the fact that the display light effects the temperature readout due to the heat being picked up by the temperature sensor, proves that they have had little testing prior to release and been mass produced for the general poultry market, who are not that fussy.

Brinsea were modifying there models by drilling holes in the back of the unit because they were not happy with the design. They had to stop modifying there stock because they were getting so many units returned due to various design and software faults that they could not return them to the manufacturer, having been modified.

Steve











snoop your just tight lol get your wedge out you got plenty ,they are good far superior to the octogon

[StoopDoggyDogg]

so have i and my incubator cost me £70.



a friend of mine has a rcom and he has had a 100 % success rate, on hatching fertile eggs up to date.

chris.:yawinkle:

[StoopDoggyDogg]

Tony, you answer the phone and sell incubators for interhatch.


That makes you a salesman !!!!!!


What were you doing for 6 years, in college??


How can you say it is well thought out when the display light has an effect on the temperature sensor and the heating element melts the casing??


How much money do you make on an R-com per box sold ????


Tell the truth, or i'll set up a buisness name and get a quote from the manufacturer for 100 units and post the prices on the forum.


Steve:rolleyes:





For a start I am not a salesman, yes I answer the phone and sell incubators for Interhatch, but 1st and foremost i am an engineer I have spent 6 years at college in electronic servicing and have worked on a multitude of different electronic devices!
I therefor know what good and bad engineering is and the Rcom is a well thought through machine in its design and the internal componants on the machine are well made and well put together!
You put a price tag on it as £150 which is lower than the Brinsea Oct 20 so therefor you put it in a lower level of quality to the oct. "I DONT THINK SO!"
In My Honest Opinion You really need to look at things properly and think about what your saying before quoting on anything because to be honest your just making a fool of yourself, that or you have some ateria motive??????:confused:

[Quiver]

so have i and my incubator cost me £70.

what make is that steve?

chris.:yawinkle:

[StoopDoggyDogg]

Mike
I am not questioning your integrity. Maybe i'll stop posting on this forum also, because it is becoming a sales medium and censured. Until recently, i didn't realise the forum was a profit making buisness.

Maybe we should all go back to the Yahoo groups forums for an ubiased opinion and without others who have profit making motives.

My comments were nothing personal against you, it is just that i'm sick of the r-com being rammed down everyones throat, especially when i had one and it was ****. Also Hatch- it - incubators stating there's were brinsea approved and tested. But the head techinal guy at Brinsea admitted to me that they had not done any testing.

If they were £150 i'd buy one and let my kids hatch some quail :lol: :lol:


Steve







What constitutes a “well engineered incubator”? a machine that offers consistent
optimum conditions to allow an egg to develop properly and hatch.
You state that the Rcom is not well made,take a long hard look at Rollex incubators,
they were designed for hatching quail, the overall construction is very poor
yet they have hatched more raptors throughout the world than most incubators
available, why? Because it offered the correct conditions, when set up and run
properly.
Take a long look at the octagons, the injection moulded base, with its myriad of tiny air bubbles, is a bacteria trap, this is due to the poor quality of the mouldings, the older ones were far superior.
The turning is very unnatural, in my experience the initial development of the
embryo is actually retarded, due to the initial access of the embryo to fresh
nutrients on the yolks surface, when you turn an egg as a female does, in one
movement, the full early network of vessels are on fresh yolk, not constantly
going over the same area.
I am not knocking them as a successful incubator, just pointing out a few of the shortfalls,
you work around them. When something better comes along it makes sense to take notice.

Simplistic design is and always will be the best solution to a problem,
by the Rcoms very use of non porous ABS, lack of corners to inhibit internal
air flow and heat dissipation, they have achieved a really good base to work from.
Regarding Hypoxia, well the incubator would have to be sealed completely to have
any bearing on its eggs, the fact that an egg can easily survive for well over twenty
four hours after internal pip on the oxygen content available to it in the airspace,
taking into account the absorbed oxygen from the allantioic membrane is comfort
enough for me,
It is a question of balance, the early octagons had very restricted airflow on paper
yet due to the design, mainly the lid fit, it was irrelavent, the later octagons have far more
air flow yet are far less temperature stable inside,
with the earlier ones, internal mapping gave more usable incubator space than the later
models, that due in itself to the airholes in the base that create coldspots.
I haven’t looked any further at the airflow on the R com as in my first test I ran full capacity
using large duck eggs, these had a relatively long incubation time so I felt would give the
incubator a fair test, there were nineteen eggs out of twenty set that were fertile, all nineteen
hatched.
I offered my findings based on many years of practical experience for no other reason than
to maybe help others who were faced with incubating their first eggs.
This will be the last time I will post on this forum.

Regards Mike.

[StoopDoggyDogg]

i made it myself.

Steve



what make is that steve?

chris.:yawinkle:

[Tony@Interhatch]

Again we have a massive argument to the masses and they all seem to come from the same place!:roll:

For a start we dont get the Rcom direct from the manufacturer and we have never said that we do.

The reason for pushing this incubator is because it is far superior to anything in the same price bracket and above so makes it the perfect option for people incubating any breed of egg.

If you have an incubator that you have made yourself then good for you especially if it works but dont moan at others for just doing their job and presenting the facts! We've never denied problems with the Rcoms but the manufacturer has listend and put things right which is more than other manufacturers would do.

We make just as much money on Brinsea as we do Rcom but the fact is that there performance and reliability has dropped over the years and so we dont feel the confidence in pushing them as we used to!
This is an open forum and if you dont want to read about anything then just dont its as simple as that!

All forums are a great source of knowledge and the people that run them spend alot of time and money creating that source of knowledge so what do you expect them to do? Spend 1000's of their own hard cash just for the sake of it?

As for me being a salesman I suppose your right but again Interhatch has just 8 employees and answering the phone and product knowledge is every1's job which id think would be of the advantage to the customer as much as the company as they get the aftersales support that is required.

All our customers with Rcoms now are very happy with their incubators and thats well into 300 machines in the market so they cant be that bad.

It seems to me you have had a problem with your machine and seem to have made it your personal mission to drag the unit down when ever something good is written about it!

[Kentish Falconry]

my only motive, is to give another opinion, rather than a sales pitch!!

interhatch very kindly loaned me an R-com, which i returned having had loads of problems with it, Mark at interhatch knows all about them, he said on return of the faulty incubator he would conduct tests and let me know his findings. I heard nothing so i rang him on numerous occasions and left messages and i never got a reply ???
That said to me Interhatch didn't give a toss, they are just interested in shifting boxes, like any buisness, CASH IS KING.

Terry i've heard you've had a bit of a disaster this year so far regarding incubation and have been considering getting an X8 for next season.

Is this True?? because i have heard it from 3 different sources ?? not that i'm doing any investigative work on you, its just come up in conversation with various people when we were discussing incubation.

If it is true? why are you considering an X8 when you have the superb R-com ????? for a fraction of the price ??

Steve

Steve this is where people tend to twist the truth and get half a story. I have not had a bad year with Incubation at all, i did have a minor problem with a hatcher in the early season. Where I have had a problem this year is in fertility and pairs not laying as expected.
Yes I am looking for a secondhand X8 the reason for this is that I have been knocking the machine much the same as you have been knocking the Rcom but this is based on feed back from others from Parrot Breeders as well as falcon Breeders. I do not like to knock anything until I have tried it myself so I will find a second hand unit and run my own tests on it. I have had some people who have had some good results with the X8 saying I should try it so I will however I am not going to pay for a new one from Brinsea they are too expensive just to have a play with it and then probably stick it in the cupboard with the other junk.
As for my tests on the Rcom I will say it again I have found it to be a great machine for the money I have had none of the problems you have had except minor melting of the case where the heater touched and this has now been sorted. I have fully tested the read out against a certified & calibrated thermometer 3 of them and found the Rcom to have a steady temperature and mapping out with little or no cold spots the turning is great but it will take a few seasons before we can say they are reliable. I was also surprised at just how quickly the unit recovers temperature after the lid was removed. All in All a great little machine and no one is paying me to say this nor would I expect to be paid.
Terry

[Keith Barker]

i made it myself.

Steve

hello steve,
could you please post a pic of your home made incubator, im all for diy if it works fine, why pay 400 quid for an incubator if you can knock one up yourself for a third of the price?
do you have a source for the parts needed for the construction?
this should make a great thread.
keith

[Chanting Goshawk]

I wasnt going to post until the end of the year but feel i have to.I have hatched so far four lugger falcons two tawny owls three sakers and five american kestrels that were run from fresh in the rcom.I have three more eggs from my sakers twelve eggs from my two pairs of aks ten common kes eggs one western screech egg all running at the moment.I have four machines.I feel so confident in the machines i have that my freshly laid chanting goshawk eggs will go in at ten days and if i am lucky enough my red footed falcons and hobbys eggs will also go in.I feel the incubator is being slated and shouldnt be

[Tony@Interhatch]

hello steve,
could you please post a pic of your home made incubator, im all for diy if it works fine, why pay 400 quid for an incubator if you can knock one up yourself for a third of the price?
do you have a source for the parts needed for the construction?
this should make a great thread.
keith
If your wanting parts to build your own incubator w can supply them, we have all spares for all incubators plus a few that arent for anything in perticular, give us a call and we can supply exactly what you require!:wink:

[StoopDoggyDogg]

okay

cheers


hello steve,
could you please post a pic of your home made incubator, im all for diy if it works fine, why pay 400 quid for an incubator if you can knock one up yourself for a third of the price?
do you have a source for the parts needed for the construction?
this should make a great thread.
keith

[StoopDoggyDogg]

Terry. i know what its like with rumours etc, that's why i asked you is it true rather than stating facts.

What problems did you have with a hatcher??


Have you hatched anything this year from the R-com, incubated from day one ????


Steve






Steve this is where people tend to twist the truth and get half a story. I have not had a bad year with Incubation at all, i did have a minor problem with a hatcher in the early season. Where I have had a problem this year is in fertility and pairs not laying as expected.
Yes I am looking for a secondhand X8 the reason for this is that I have been knocking the machine much the same as you have been knocking the Rcom but this is based on feed back from others from Parrot Breeders as well as falcon Breeders. I do not like to knock anything until I have tried it myself so I will find a second hand unit and run my own tests on it. I have had some people who have had some good results with the X8 saying I should try it so I will however I am not going to pay for a new one from Brinsea they are too expensive just to have a play with it and then probably stick it in the cupboard with the other junk.
As for my tests on the Rcom I will say it again I have found it to be a great machine for the money I have had none of the problems you have had except minor melting of the case where the heater touched and this has now been sorted. I have fully tested the read out against a certified & calibrated thermometer 3 of them and found the Rcom to have a steady temperature and mapping out with little or no cold spots the turning is great but it will take a few seasons before we can say they are reliable. I was also surprised at just how quickly the unit recovers temperature after the lid was removed. All in All a great little machine and no one is paying me to say this nor would I expect to be paid.
Terry

[StoopDoggyDogg]

well done !! sounds good !! have you noticed any faults with the r-com ??

steve


I wasnt going to post until the end of the year but feel i have to.I have hatched so far four lugger falcons two tawny owls three sakers and five american kestrels that were run from fresh in the rcom.I have three more eggs from my sakers twelve eggs from my two pairs of aks ten common kes eggs one western screech egg all running at the moment.I have four machines.I feel so confident in the machines i have that my freshly laid chanting goshawk eggs will go in at ten days and if i am lucky enough my red footed falcons and hobbys eggs will also go in.I feel the incubator is being slated and shouldnt be

[Red-Devil]

a friend of mines got one just phoned me up and all six fertile eggs all died early on ? set fresh ,if theres a problem then what is it ? they were geese eggs that he set ,one problem i noticed with mine is that i set manual mode to stop turning eggs and after a day or so whent back to turning ?

[Tony@Interhatch]

a friend of mines got one just phoned me up and all six fertile eggs all died early on ? set fresh ,if theres a problem then what is it ? they were geese eggs that he set ,one problem i noticed with mine is that i set manual mode to stop turning eggs and after a day or so whent back to turning ?

As for the geese eggs, did your friend calibrate the incubator before use?
Did the eggs turn correctly i.e slipping on the floor of the incubator instead of turning and have the correct turning angle! what humidity did they run at?

If you go into the turn set-up and change the angle of turn you will see it say's off when you drop it below a sertain point which means that the incubator will not turn!

[Kentish Falconry]

Terry. i know what its like with rumours etc, that's why i asked you is it true rather than stating facts.

What problems did you have with a hatcher??


Have you hatched anything this year from the R-com, incubated from day one ????


Steve

Hi Steve yes I have hatched eggs set from day 1 in the Rcom without a problem but I have a system here where I only keep eggs running on their side for 12 days then they go into one of the Alpha Genesis Machines. But I did run a few eggs full term in the Rcom and they hatched without a problem.

The problem I had with the Hatcher was a build up of condensation on the lid that then dripped into the egg trays and flooded them and killed the chicks in the egg. I cut up some polystyrene board and put that on the lids and that stopped the problem. There was also a problem with the Thermostats creeping off temperature this was both up and down from the target temperature. These are still air machines and I have now switched over to our Forced Air Hatchers for most of the eggs whilst we await the arrival of new thermostats that will be here over the Weekend.

ATB
Terry

[Red-Devil]

As for the geese eggs, did your friend calibrate the incubator before use?
Did the eggs turn correctly i.e slipping on the floor of the incubator instead of turning and have the correct turning angle! what humidity did they run at?

If you go into the turn set-up and change the angle of turn you will see it say's off when you drop it below a sertain point which means that the incubator will not turn!

tony it was set on automatic mode 45% humidity and correct turning of eggs

[StoopDoggyDogg]

no reply ?? i wonder why ??

:rolleyes:



tony it was set on automatic mode 45% humidity and correct turning of eggs

[Tony@Interhatch]

tony it was set on automatic mode 45% humidity and correct turning of eggs

Was the Calibration carried out on the incubator?
You say the eggs where set on the automatic mode and correct turning but did they actually turn 180 degrees?

[As The Falcon Her Bells]

Please keep any critisism to CONSTRUCTIVE critisism, and anything else can be dealt with by PM please.

[Rocky]

Was thinking of replacing my Octagon 20s with Rcoms for next year,don't think i'll bother at the moment.....i'll wait till all 'little problems' have been sorted before i make the switch

[StoopDoggyDogg]

Wait for the big problem to be sorted out !! the price !! :lol:





Was thinking of replacing my Octagon 20s with Rcoms for next year,don't think i'll bother at the moment.....i'll wait till all 'little problems' have been sorted before i make the switch

[Kevin Massey]

so have i and my incubator cost me £70.

Wait for the big problem to be sorted out !! the price !! :lol:

Why not just knock up another and be done with it:!:

I know 2 things about incubators "Nothing and ****** all"...however you can go on all day breaking down everything we buy into components and feel its too expensive for everything..Weather its Nike Trainners...Cd's ...the cars we buy...anything.
People tend to forget development...tooling...testing costs just to name a few

Come back in a week with something that looks exact....works aswell for £80...To give you a final end sale of £150.

Fact is if you dont like it dont buy it....

[Red-Devil]

got 12 duck eggs cooking six set a week apart first six fertile will see how we get on

[Chanting Goshawk]

In the last couple of days had five ak chicks hatch one with a protruding yolk sack which did not survive four are fine all started from day one in the rcom

[Talon]

ppl dont mind paying money out for something that does what it supposed to do.so there for the appliance should be spot on.
as the seller would soon have something to say if the customers money wasnt spot on.?

[Red-Devil]

In the last couple of days had five ak chicks hatch one with a protruding yolk sack which did not survive four are fine all started from day one in the rcom

how many eggs were in incubater ?

[Red-Devil]

got 12 duck eggs cooking six set a week apart first six fertile will see how we get on

checked other six and all fertile so all 12 fertile

[Chanting Goshawk]

how many eggs were in incubater ?

10 eggs 5 ak one chanting gos and 4 euro kes eggs which were clear

[Red-Devil]

i noticed my sponge what they supply with it is compleatly knackered and my mates is the same after only 30 days of use ,will be getting hold of supplier and moaning

[Kentish Falconry]

i noticed my sponge what they supply with it is compleatly knackered and my mates is the same after only 30 days of use ,will be getting hold of supplier and moaning

Well buy some spare sponges then they are supposed to be changed once a month as with all Incubators. I have only one Rcom fitted with a sponge as I tend to run my Incubators dry due to high humidity (RH%) as I live on a small island and am surrounded by water. I have not changed this sponge since I started the Rcom up and that was in January all I use is distilled water with a 2% mixture with F10 and the sponge is as good as the day I fitted it but read the instruction as it is not recommended to fit the sponge unless high humidity is needed
Terry

[Red-Devil]

Well buy some spare sponges then they are supposed to be changed once a month as with all Incubators. I have only one Rcom fitted with a sponge as I tend to run my Incubators dry due to high humidity (RH%) as I live on a small island and am surrounded by water. I have not changed this sponge since I started the Rcom up and that was in January all I use is distilled water with a 2% mixture with F10 and the sponge is as good as the day I fitted it but read the instruction as it is not recommended to fit the sponge unless high humidity is needed
Terry

i thought they recommend tap water only ? so why dont they give you spare ones then as they must be 10 for a penny ?

[Tony@Interhatch]

i thought they recommend tap water only ? so why dont they give you spare ones then as they must be 10 for a penny ?

De-stilled water is better for anything in incubation because you dont get any mineral deposits and bacteria growth as bad with it. Incubation temperature is not just that for eggs but for germ's and bacteria also and you wouldn't want yolk sack infection on your eggs would you?

[Red-Devil]

Well buy some spare sponges then they are supposed to be changed once a month as with all Incubators. I have only one Rcom fitted with a sponge as I tend to run my Incubators dry due to high humidity (RH%) as I live on a small island and am surrounded by water. I have not changed this sponge since I started the Rcom up and that was in January all I use is distilled water with a 2% mixture with F10 and the sponge is as good as the day I fitted it but read the instruction as it is not recommended to fit the sponge unless high humidity is needed
Terry

terry it clearly states that after use boil the evaperation pad after use ! and use clean water ,if you use distilled water it wont register the correct water level and to add salt read the book

[ABIncubators]

I have asked Brinsea for some spares. Can you believe they want £60 yes 60 pounds each for them.

[Red-Devil]

I have asked Brinsea for some spares. Can you believe they want £60 yes 60 pounds each for them.

what do they want £60 for ? not the evaperation pads i hope if it is i will put a sledge hammer through mine

[Pheasantnfowl]

Having see all these testimonials on the R-COM20 Incubator,I would like to ask who else is having problems with the Humidty pad going black and breaking down before completion of an incubation period.

We have been incubating pheasants. The warning sign that the Humidy pad is breaking down is that the humidity starts to drop below 50% and you cannot bring the humidty up again so when you need a higher humidty for the hatch, there is no chance of achieving that. Ascott Ltd told me to block up the ventilation holes at the back; not good enough in my opinion, and that didnt work in any case.

The pads go crusty on the edges, and then turn black.

I invested in three of these incubators and they are not what they are NOT what made out to be.

[Red-Devil]

Having see all these testimonials on the R-COM20 Incubator,I would like to ask who else is having problems with the Humidty pad going black and breaking down before completion of an incubation period.

We have been incubating pheasants. The warning sign that the Humidy pad is breaking down is that the humidity starts to drop below 50% and you cannot bring the humidty up again so when you need a higher humidty for the hatch, there is no chance of achieving that. Ascott Ltd told me to block up the ventilation holes at the back; not good enough in my opinion, and that didnt work in any case.

The pads go crusty on the edges, and then turn black.

I invested in three of these incubators and they are not what they are NOT what made out to be.
everones the same

[Tony@Interhatch]

I have asked Brinsea for some spares. Can you believe they want £60 yes 60 pounds each for them.

£60 for what Richard?
The evaperation Pads are £5.90 each from us or £19.80 for a pack of three from Brinsea!

[Jimmy]

I'm running the basic R-Com, without all the bells and whistles. Currently have 6 HH eggs in it, of various ages. All placed from day 1. First is due to pip in a couple of days. Youngest has only been in for 3 days. Everything seems good so far. I had to recalibrate the temperature when I set it up. It was 1.4 degrees fareinheight off originally.(reading too low) I've been running it dry until a couple of days ago. I checked weight loss and the eggs were losing too much. So I added water, but no sponge, and cranked the humidity up. I'll chart the eggs again in a few days and see where they're at. There are definitely hot and cool spots in this machine though. I move my eggs around daily to make up for it. I'm also not sure I like the way it turns the eggs. They tend to "walk" over time, and end up against the front or rear of the machine. They'll almost stand up if left alone. Once they pip, I'll have to move them to an old, cheap, styrofoam incubator of mine to hatch in. Or I'll put them back under the female. I never worried when the females were sitting the eggs, but I'm nervous as hell now!!

[Tony@Interhatch]

I'm running the basic R-Com, without all the bells and whistles. Currently have 6 HH eggs in it, of various ages. All placed from day 1. First is due to pip in a couple of days. Youngest has only been in for 3 days. Everything seems good so far. I had to recalibrate the temperature when I set it up. It was 1.4 degrees fareinheight off originally.(reading too low) I've been running it dry until a couple of days ago. I checked weight loss and the eggs were losing too much. So I added water, but no sponge, and cranked the humidity up. I'll chart the eggs again in a few days and see where they're at. There are definitely hot and cool spots in this machine though. I move my eggs around daily to make up for it. I'm also not sure I like the way it turns the eggs. They tend to "walk" over time, and end up against the front or rear of the machine. They'll almost stand up if left alone. Once they pip, I'll have to move them to an old, cheap, styrofoam incubator of mine to hatch in. Or I'll put them back under the female. I never worried when the females were sitting the eggs, but I'm nervous as hell now!!

In regards to the Turning it sounds to me like your running with the universal tray which in my opinion is a waist of time as like you say the eggs walk up and down the machine. There are fixed trays for the machine which will hold the eggs in the same place all the time.
You would loose capacity with them but thats not going to matter to most. The other advantage of using the fixed position rack is that the temperature at the fixed points can be mapped out accurately, therefor giving an accurate picture of whats going on inside the machine.

[Jimmy]

Yes, I'm using the universal tray with the dividers. I believe it is a big cause of the machine having hot and cool spots, as the dividers block the airflow?

[ABIncubators]

Tony,
Brinsea,s "tele sales person" quoted me £60.00 for evaporation pads for the rcom. Needless to say i didn't pursue the order. Good to hear they are not that price. I will get some from you shortly.
Cheersmate-- Richard

[Tony@Interhatch]

What a plonka who told you that? bet it was that french lass they have working there! Dont know what she does for the company but it sertainly isnt anything to do with product knowledge.:lol:

[ABIncubators]

uummmm!!

[Red-Devil]

i reckon the geeks that make them stole the real evaperation pads and replaced them with potato waffles ?