Hobby King and the KK2

[cranialrectosis]

I have been waiting on the email list and checking daily on HK's website for almost 8 weeks for a KK2.

Tuesday, I finally broke down and ordered two KK2s from ebay at a premium price of $45 each so I can finish my Bat Bone. I would have considered $80 each for the KK2s. I own a MultiWii Pro and in my opinion, the KK2 is a better value at $80 than a MultiWii pro with GPS is at $65.

Today, Hobby King no longer lists the KK2 in the international warehouse. Backorder is still shown for US, UK, AUS and EU warehouses.


All I can say is that I hope HK is coming out with a KK3 or that Rolf R Bakke can find another company to build KK2s because the alternatives are just no fun. Also, if HK no longer sells KK2s, I won't have any reason at all to shop there having sourced all other products from vendors with better shipping and customer service.

So what is the deal with HK and the KK2 and if they no longer offer the KK2, is there any reason to shop there?

 

[RoyBro]

Have you tried asking hobbyking via customer support?

 

[crlock]

good thing i bought a spare one =D
KK3 sounds good, Integrated GPS, return to home, beacon, and much more =D i'd love to see that

 

[cranialrectosis]

I have tried customer support at Hobby King. That is specifically why I source from RCFoam and AltitudeHobbies for all other products.

 

[colorex]

May have something to do with backorders. You can't backorder a KK2 - but people still found ways to backorder it. Maybe this is a quick fix?

 

[cranialrectosis]

If you stayed long enough on the page, a 'one time only' offer pops up that allows you to backorder the board. Been there, done that. People have been complaining that even on BO, they weren't getting the board or a refund, just waiting in queue.

Customer support just states the warehouse is working on it. They have been saying that for months.

I hope a KK3 is on the way. If not, why shop at HK at all?

 

[colorex]

Indeed. I have found prices elsewhere to be lower. Banggood.com for example is a great page IMHO. Takes 3-4 weeks, but they have free shipping, free tracking over $40, and they now have these excellent quadcopter motors.

http://www.banggood.com/Wholesale-S...Motor-For-RC-Airplane-Quadcopter-p-60600.html

 

[colorex]

Interesting though, if you check the KK2 LED that they added a while ago, it's not the same board!



http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__46366__KK2_0_Super_Bright_Status_and_Alarm_LED.html

 

[cranialrectosis]

Where did you find the top photo?

Only one I have seen is the lower one.

 

[Cyberdactyl]

The ONLY advantage to HK is its wide selection of products. Everything else; price, shipping cost, shipping time, customer service can be found better elsewhere.

 

[RoyBro]

Where did you find the top photo?

Only one I have seen is the lower one.

The upper picture is the one HK used to show their Super Bright Status and Alarm LED.

 

[Cyberdactyl]

Yes, that's a new board. What would make no sense is for HK to discontinue the KK2 in possible replacement of a "KK3", yet still sell those ratty Atmega v2.1s and 3.0s.

The only way it would make sense is if the newer KK's price point was the same or close to the KK2. That double pin header in the upper left is interesting. . .maybe something exciting, like GPS integration. Although 2 pins seems limited.

 

[jhitesma]

Yes, that's a new board. What would make no sense is for HK to discontinue the KK2 in possible replacement of a "KK3", yet still sell those ratty Atmega v2.1s and 3.0s.

It could make sense if the reason for discontinuing the KK2 is a lack of availability of one or more parts...but they still have the earlier boards in stock and they just haven't been selling because everyone wants the KK2.

I saw on rcgroups one person saying that the accelerometer used on the KK2 has been EOL'd so availability of that may causing an issue with production and stock.

And if they are going to go through the trouble of changing the board to deal with a different component then it's a good time to make a few other revisions as well.

 

[colorex]

The second set of pins is most likely to connect the buzzer and the light to the board without a Y-connector. And if they do it right, I have no issue with new sensors

 

[colorex]

The second set of pins is most likely to connect the buzzer and the light to the board without a Y-connector. And if they do it right, I have no issue with new sensors

I was wrong! Look at the comment I found on the KK2 AUS page

 

[Cyberdactyl]

Ok. . so it appears allot of the board components have been steered towards ramping up to a new KK2 release. I just hope HK and other re-sellers will have plenty when they do offer it. Because the orders will be insane.

 

[RoyBro]

Nice sleuthing colorex. I knew someone would find the answer. I guess all we can do now is wait.

 

[Loc8tor]

I agree HK customer service is horrible. I ordered a servo and it didn't work out of the box. I would have had to pay shipping to ship it back plus I would only get 80 percent of my money back. So I may have gotten 5 bucks back. I got lucky, when I placed my order for the kk 2.0 board it was in stock. And i recieved it in 2 weeks. I

 

[Loc8tor]

Idk if you have seen but the turnigy micro quad v2 from hk comes with a kk2 even though they aren't selling a kk2.

 

[RoyBro]

I guess I'll forever be the optimist. I went ahead and sent a message to HK about the absence of the KK2 board and here is the response.

Ricky, Nov 23 17:53 (HKT):
Hi Roy ,

Thanks for contacting the HobbyKing Support Team.

We are sorry to inform you Roy that the Product ID : 917100007 Hobbyking KK2.0 Multi-rotor LCD Flight Control Board is currently unavailable from our International warehouse due to we don't have stocks for this item Please be advice that we had informed our suppliers regarding this issue.Please check our websites for updates regarding the item. Again we are sorry for this for we don't have the estimated time of the item's arrival.Rest assured that Hobbyking will surely fix this issue. Your patience & understanding towards this matter is highly appreciated.

Thanks for emailing support.

If you have any other questions and/or clarification, please let us know thru via email. We will be more than happy to provide assistance.

Regards.

Ricky
HobbyKing Support Team

So I ask about why it is missing, and they respond with "yup, it's missing".

I'll probably never learn.