Good news, and we’ve waited a long time to be able to write this: the backorder situation is over. Every order that was waiting has shipped, new stock is in, and Helioclock orders are going out on a regular schedule again.
The long haul
When Helioclock took off after Huntsville Hamfest and the video coverage that followed, we were not ready for what hit us. Orders came in far faster than one small shop could build, test, pack, and mail. For weeks we were hand-assembling and shipping as fast as we could, answering questions in between, and still watching the queue grow.
We hit bumps along the way. A batch of blank USB drives from one supplier failed our testing, so we sent the whole batch back rather than put a bad drive in anyone’s hands. We found a better, more reliable way to ship. We caught mistakes of our own and fixed them. It was a long stretch, and some of you waited much longer than we ever wanted you to.
Thank you. Your patience, your kind notes, and even your well-deserved nudges kept us going. We never lost sight of the fact that behind every order is someone who was excited to get their hands on this. I was amazed by the excitement level.
A change in how we ship
A big share of the trouble came down to one thing: USPS First-Class Mail. Because of changes at the Postal Service, First-Class delivery has become slow and unpredictable, and with no tracking, neither you nor we could see where a package was. A recent report from the Government Accountability Office, covered by Axios, found that USPS has slowed its delivery as part of a cost-cutting push and isn’t even meeting its own reduced targets. That matches what we were seeing: read the Axios report on the slowdown.
So we’ve changed how everything ships. Every order now goes out through USPS Ground Advantage or USPS Priority Mail, both with tracking. You’ll know where your package is, and so will we.
By the numbers
In the space of about a month, we took more than 1,200 orders and hamfest sales. And in all of that, not one customer has returned a Helioclock because they were unhappy with how it worked or how it looked. The few units that needed attention had been damaged or lost in the mail, not a problem with the product, and we’ve made those right.
What people are saying
We hear from owners every day. The things that come up most:
- The display is striking. People tell us it looks even better running on a big screen than in the videos.
- It just works. Plug it in, connect to your network, and you have a live, always-on view of the things hams actually care about: propagation, space weather, DX spots, lightning, radar, satellite passes, and more.
- It’s built for the shack, and it keeps improving. Software updates are free for the life of the product, and we’ve been adding features steadily.
- Owners notice that when they write in, a real person answers.
Radio clubs have started asking us to bring Helioclock to their meetings, and we’re glad to do it.
New custom drives, made for Helioclock
We’ve also upgraded the media hardware itself. Both of our storage products are now custom made for Helioclock and carry our logo.
The slimline USB stick
Our Live USB Stick has a new look!
The new 32GB slimline drive is custom made for Helioclock and carries our logo. It’s fast and works great on a USB 3.0 or faster USB port.
Its low profile means it sits close to your computer’s port instead of sticking out, so it’s far less likely to get bumped or damaged than the bulkier drives you may be used to.
Some orders have already shipped with the slimline drive.
The custom SD card
Our Pi 4/5 SD card is new too. It has the Helioclock logo imprinted right on the card, and it’s fast and reliable, which matters for something that runs around the clock. Some orders have already shipped with the new custom SD card.
Easy on the hardware, too. Helioclock’s software cuts down wear on both the SD card and the USB stick by using RAM for the files it writes while running, instead of writing them to the drive. Flash storage wears out with constant writes, so this helps your card or stick last.
Realistic lifespan estimate:
A typical consumer SD card (MLC or TLC NAND, ~1,000–3,000 write cycles per cell) running a conventional Linux desktop workload might see meaningful wear in 1–3 years of continuous 24/7 operation from log writes alone. With the Helioclock write mitigation stack, we’ve eliminated probably 90–95% of that routine write traffic. The remaining writes are application-level (server-config updates, Helioclock data caches, occasional software updates) which are low frequency, and not a wear concern in practice.
Realistic expectation with the mitigation in place: 5–10+ years of continuous operation for our SD cards and USB sticks before wear becomes a factor, versus 1–3 years without it.
What to expect now
- In stock and shipping: the SD card (SKU-1), the Live USB Stick (SKU-2), and the Turnkey Appliance (SKU-3).
- Regular ship times: SD card and USB stick orders ship within 5 business days, and appliance orders within 10 business days, often sooner.
- Free shipping with tracking on every order: USPS Ground Advantage for the SD card and USB stick, and USPS Priority Mail for the Turnkey Appliance. USPS emails you the tracking number.
- One flat price: $49.99 for the SD card or USB stick, shipping included, and $396 for the Turnkey Appliance, FREE shipping included.
If you’ve been waiting on an order, you’ll hear from us when it ships. If you’re thinking about ordering, now is a good time.
Thank you for backing Helioclock, and for sticking with us.
73, Anthony Watts KA9NWM Helioclock
Anthony, that is great you got caught up on your backorder. I am waiting for mine to get here. If you could check on it I would greatly appreciate it. It is receipt number #1200-5609.
73
Frank