The laws of supply and demand say that he needs to charge more. A lot more.
Which kinda brings up my situation with a former employer...
I was offering to fix radios as long as I could babysit a Mother In Law.
I got $20 bucks per radio - just to help to return it to stock. Not a bad job you get shipped a radio then go over it and if you need parts you call the shop - you come down when they have the part in stock they pick up the tab and you fix the radio - they get it back - you are paid $20 bucks for your efforts.
It's when you get really messed up radios that the effort to repair becomes the burden - because as time in position passed along, they made a timeline demand to "hurry up and repair" so in some cases - these repairs required more man-hours to fix than I could supply. So I had to bring the radio back so it could be transferred over to another tech.
Of course, I'm not compensated for a radio I worked on but couldn't finish in their timeline due to moms own needs.
So if Mike has some things going on...remember he may need more time but he can't say that to you unless it a one-to-one face-to face conversation so he can trust you.
Look at CB Tricks - you can see this follow a similar theme - Bennie has time and a great paying job, then issues with hacking, on top of the needs of the group and then he loses good job, fights to keep site going and eventually loses the battle even though the war is not yet complete. Instead of an independent site for information unbiased - it's now a WordPress site hosted by such...
Mike can "give up" at any given moment and leave the mess behind if he's got family issues. Anyone with kids knows this.. so it pays to be diligent in knowing how your techs own life is doing - you don't want to find your equipment held up in a court battle as being kept as evidence of something else not even pertaining to your situation or even Mikes, it can even be the Landlord of the property he has his shop on.in default and now you have to show just cause to get your equipment back if this gets dragged out in court simply because someone - not Mikes - forgot to pay the property taxes...
We can only speculate.
The issue is still there - One tech, many radios - The needs of the Many - do they outweigh the needs of the Few - or the One?
Time to treat your stuff better guys, Techs we used to lean on are getting harder to find. You've already heard Mike's Rant on Diodes and RX mods. Didn't go well with him, and he made a point not too many people caught. If you mess with it - be accountable for it.
Now he's got to exercise Murphy's Laws - "Undo all the Changes To The Product To Re-Create The Original Condition of The Problem, and Fix That". Which is the corollary to -
The Most Extensive part in the equipment will Blow First to Save the 10 Cent Fuse from blowing - saving it for another time."
I'm here to help others that are willing to help themselves.
Mike is trying to help you, by offering his time to fix your equipment - and asks that he be compensated for his efforts.
The Tech that may wind up with your equipment locally - may need to brush up on "standards" they may be placed under. If you want Mike's results from someone else - don't expect the Tech to do so. Because there's the issue of the local environment, and then there is the standards Mike is placed under to put his work on display - having it being done his way. Your Tech may not operate like that.
So I strongly suggest that before you hand over your prized possession of radio equipment to that local tech, make sure they have done a mini-Marathon of watching Mikes Videos of his work. It can tell the tech - "This is what is expected of you." So if they want to take on such a task, they can have the option of saying "No thanks" - Mike doesn't always get that same consideration.
He does d*mn good work, but theres' only one of him in the world.