[Elecraft] - Manuals (was KX3 and KPA500)

Mon Jun 11 15:40:48 EDT 2012

Well...if you buy a computer program, you pretty much would have a computer. It seems possible that some radio buyers would not.

Sent from my iPad

On Jun 11, 2012, at 2:22 PM, "Arthur Burke" <aburkefl at gmail.com> wrote:

> N1MM has taken the approach that *they* are not going to be responsible for
> you having a paper copy. But they do have a set of instructions available
> for you to "print" to a .pdf format so you can have a "local" copy on your
> PC or your iPAD.
> 
> I find that works extremely well and it's a lot easier to remain current -
> and it was already too much of a PITA to print the manual in a standard,
> printed document.
> 
> Personally, I find the manual availability in .pdf format from Elecraft to
> be a very workable solution.
> 
> Art - N4PJ
> 
> 
> 
> On Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 1:21 PM, Lu Romero <lromero at ij.net> wrote:
> 
>> A lot of Equipment manufacturers I work with have stopped
>> shipping printed manuals.  You get a printed "Quick Start"
>> or "installation guide" with the product and either a DVD/CD
>> ROM with the manual in PDF or a website to download and
>> print the latest iteration of the manual in PDF.
>> 
>> Printed manuals are both expensive and hard to keep current.
>> There are many benefits to paper manuals, but also many
>> benefits to "soft" manuals.  There are mutual benefits to
>> both the manufacturer and the customer, and yes, detractions
>> as well. One video server device that I use has the manual
>> included in the product's hard drive as a web page which
>> they update remotely and automatically via the internet as
>> needed.  Anywhere you use the product, the manual is as
>> close as the client computer's browser. When (not *IF*,
>> *WHEN*!) the server goes down, though, how do you reference
>> the manual if you didnt print it or move it to your
>> Ipad/Tablet?
>> 
>> Im still not "paperless" in manuals and technical reference
>> documents; I like to have a printed version around. Its an
>> old habit. But Im a dying breed. More and more, I see IPads
>> or Tablets being used for this purpose, a handheld
>> "reference library" of sorts.  Its quite efficient with text
>> search functions... that is, until you need the manual at a
>> remote site when the power is out and the battery in the
>> device runs down.
>> 
>> The tech in the gear we use today is more and more software
>> based.  It changes so quickly and so often, usually by the
>> time the product ships, the manual is several iterations
>> old.  Its a sign of the times. I have been doing a lot of
>> thinking about this issue at work recently.
>> 
>> So, Im wondering, how upset would us Elecraft customers be
>> if paper manuals were not included with the product? When
>> purchasing the product, you would have to either download
>> the manual from the web and print it if you wanted a printed
>> copy or get it on Optical Media and print it from there
>> Just wondering what everybody thinks about these scenarios.
>> Is it blasphemy?  Is it progress?
>> 
>> Lu - W4LT
>> K3/P3/K1
>> 
>> ------------------------
>> 
>> 
>> Message: 5
>> Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2012 08:51:48 -0400
>> From: Don Wilhelm <w3fpr at embarqmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX3 and KPA500
>> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>> Message-ID: <4FD5E9E4.3080506 at embarqmail.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>> 
>> Yes, updating of on-line pdf manuals is easy and trivial,
>> but what does
>> Elecraft do when 100 manuals have been printed and have to
>> be updated -
>> open them and pencil in the changes?  I think not - Errata
>> sheets are
>> the only practical method.
>> 
>> 73,
>> Don W3FPR
>> 
>> On 6/10/2012 10:34 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
>>> On 6/10/2012 6:34 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
>>>> This is a classic example of the results and frustration
>> caused by
>>>> ignoring the Errata Sheet.
>>> Yes, BUT -- with modern desktop publishing, it is
>> trivially easy for a
>>> decent technical writer to keep a pdf up to date. I have
>> several dozen
>>> tutorials online as pdf files, and I can edit the source
>> file, save it
>>> as a pdf, and upload it to my website in an hour.  If I
>> can do that,
>>> Elecraft should be able to do that.  It's equally easy for
>> that pdf to
>>> include a running list of changes and additions as an
>> appendix.
>>> 
>>> 73, Jim K9YC
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