[Elecraft] Problem

Fri Oct 15 22:10:20 EDT 2010

  Guy,

I agree that search-able .pdf schematics are a godsend.  I would not be 
without them.
However, I did download and print the K3 schematics.  After I locate 
what I want on the search-able .pdf, the printed schematics provide me 
with a reference point from which I can trace signal paths.  Both are a 
great help to me.

In today's age, things are so complex that inclusion of schematics in a 
manual is outdated, and as you have indicated, will not reflect the 
"latest and greatest".  The downloadable schematics are a reasonable 
compromise.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 10/15/2010 9:50 PM, Guy Olinger K2AV wrote:
> There are many good reasons to not put a schematic in a modern manual,
> and keep an online PDF instead.
>
> A) First and foremost, if a properly done PDF you can search it and
> very quickly find all the wires and components associated with a
> character string.  The FREE Adobe Reader search will find component
> lables, every occurence of a word or string in a wire lable, etc, etc.
>   Compared to that, paper schematics have become useless to me.  Try
> the PDF, you will like it.
>
> B) The online version can be updated and immediately available
>
> C) The online PDF version can be zoomed in to allow one to read the
> TINY print.  When I go to follow something on the printed schematic of
> my FT1000MP, I have to wear a magnifier.
>
> D) I can print out a portion of a page to put next to me on the
> workbench...a MAGNIFIED portion of a page.  Try that with big printed
> 24x36 pages.  And then circle, highlight, etc on that paper. I don't
> dare do that on a printed and bound schematic.
>
> E) A printed schematic that never needs updates is a Yakencom
> speciality, because they never update anything except in new models
> that you have to purchase the whole new rig to get incremental
> changes.  Especially so the FT...MP series.
>
> F) They send a printed manual, because that is an Analog world
> leftover.  In a digital world, the firmware should be constantly
> evolving both for fixes and new features.  This cannot be maintained
> in a printed manual.  This is a nod to the need to sit down and read
> the manual like a book with a new rig.  Which I did, several times,
> for the first couple of months.  I have not looked at it since.  I
> have #1239.  For EVERYTHING afterwards, the downloaded PDF on my
> laptop has been far better, including the schematic.
>
> G) This is not some "failing" of Elecraft, or a problem in radio.
> Downloadable full manuals is becoming the most common commercial
> practice for significant products which are not of the "throwaway"
> kind (like watches). It uses the same already required channels for
> firmware and driver updates.  Most printed manuals are no longer
> anywhere near comprehensive, and just a quick-start guide.  The deep
> and optional stuff is an up-to-date online manual or web site.
>
> H)  Printed manuals are a considerable expense, a good half of which
> is avoided by online versions.  Some companies charge 25$ for printed
> manuals. The cost of preparing and printing will surprise you.  Some
> companies have staffs of thousands engaged in documentation and
> testing documentation, with perhaps a fifth of those engaged in tasks
> related to the PRINTED version.  This is money you spend in the
> product.  Insisting on printed material is only running up your own
> costs.
>
> I) Printed manuals have to be put into process months before release
> of the product in order to be ready.  In some cases, companies will
> have to DROP a feature or a fix that changes behavior JUST BECAUSE
> IT'S TOO LATE TO CHANGE THE MANUAL.  In the case of Yakencom, since
> they don't ever intend to change anything, that IS the final version,
> just because of the printed manual.
>
> J) Printed manuals do not allow drill down.  This very simple aspect
> of the way human minds work, expanding a clearly understood general
> concept down into particulars for a specific piece of gear, cannot be
> mimicked on paper.  It only works in web links or PDF links.
>
> The other thing, if I lived on a boat and required communications
> ongoing, you would never get me to go out with only one of any
> communications gear, or without alternate channels, I don't care who
> made it.  Equipment makers are NOT God, therefore ALL equipment has
> bugs and breaks down, that's ALL equipment, including our inestimable
> Wayne. It used to be that one could carry spare parts, but SMD has
> changed all that.
>
> 73, Guy.
>
>
> On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 10:45 PM, ussv dharma<ussvdharma at yahoo.com>  wrote:
>> Aloha:
>>
>> PROBLEM
>>
>> 1. I rely upon my K3 for downloading weather charts, email, etc. I live on a small boat.
>>
>> 2.  From day one front panel phone jack, TOUCHY.  \
>>
>> 3.  Electraft said send it back....no radio 3 weeks or more
>>
>> 4.  Front panel phone jack finally totally dead
>>
>> 5.  No schematic in manual
>>
>> 5.  rear phone jack next to label that says stereo...is the phone jack mono or stereo...I dont know, cant tell.
>>
>> Now I ask:
>>
>> Why no schematic...I have never had a radio without a schematic in the manual.
>>
>> QUESTION:
>>   what is the rear phone jack mono?  Stereo?   if Stereo, which connections for a normal pair of phones.
>>
>> Wish I had never got this radio, but living on social security, I am stuck with it.
>>
>> Susan
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