Avionics Build It Yourself Manuals

[RST Engineering]

So for 35 years now we've been putting out our kits with two printed manuals
per kit ... a
"operations and maintenance" and a "construction and assembly" manual. Each
of which costs us about $2 a manual. Not a big deal.

I've got a wild hair that we can put out a digital CDROM set of manuals that
will give COLOR pictures, video "how to", and a lot of other stuff on the
CDROM.

The other person in the company says that you all want print manuals.

Please vote:

1. I want a print (paper) set of manuals with my kit.

2. I want a CDROM with my kit that I can print out myself.

3. I want you to increase the cost of the kit by $5 and include both print
and CDROM with every kit.

Please, no other permutations. Print or CDROM. No other choices.

Jim

[Richard Lamb]

RST Engineering wrote:

> So for 35 years now we've been putting out our kits with two printed manuals
> per kit ... a
> "operations and maintenance" and a "construction and assembly" manual. Each
> of which costs us about $2 a manual. Not a big deal.
>
> I've got a wild hair that we can put out a digital CDROM set of manuals that
> will give COLOR pictures, video "how to", and a lot of other stuff on the
> CDROM.
>
> The other person in the company says that you all want print manuals.
>
> Please vote:
>
> 1. I want a print (paper) set of manuals with my kit.
>
> 2. I want a CDROM with my kit that I can print out myself.
>
> 3. I want you to increase the cost of the kit by $5 and include both print
> and CDROM with every kit.
>
> Please, no other permutations. Print or CDROM. No other choices.
>
> Jim

Print schematics - or at least printable schematics.
Beyond that, CD all the way....

Besides, once the material is gathered and organized,
production costs for CD vs paper is quite attractive.

Well?
You asked. :)

Richard

[Steve Foley]

"RST Engineering" > wrote in message
.. .

> 1. I want a print (paper) set of manuals with my kit.
>
> 2. I want a CDROM with my kit that I can print out myself.
>
> 3. I want you to increase the cost of the kit by $5 and include both
print
> and CDROM with every kit.
>
> Please, no other permutations. Print or CDROM. No other choices.

Given only these choices, I would choose #1.

If I were allowed permutations, I would choose the option of adding a CD to
my order for an additional $5, but I'm not allowed permutations.

[Bob Noel]

In article >,
"RST Engineering" > wrote:

> Please vote:
>
> 1. I want a print (paper) set of manuals with my kit.
>
> 2. I want a CDROM with my kit that I can print out myself.
>
> 3. I want you to increase the cost of the kit by $5 and include both print
> and CDROM with every kit.

(3)

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

[Drew Dalgleish]

On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 23:41:37 -0700, "RST Engineering"
> wrote:

>So for 35 years now we've been putting out our kits with two printed manuals
>per kit ... a
>"operations and maintenance" and a "construction and assembly" manual. Each
>of which costs us about $2 a manual. Not a big deal.
>
>I've got a wild hair that we can put out a digital CDROM set of manuals that
>will give COLOR pictures, video "how to", and a lot of other stuff on the
>CDROM.
>
>The other person in the company says that you all want print manuals.
>
>Please vote:
>
>1. I want a print (paper) set of manuals with my kit.
>
>2. I want a CDROM with my kit that I can print out myself.
>
>3. I want you to increase the cost of the kit by $5 and include both print
>and CDROM with every kit.
>
>Please, no other permutations. Print or CDROM. No other choices.
>
>Jim
>
>
Hi Jim I built one of your intercoms and a couple pair of headsets
about 10 years ago. I found the printed instructions to be very well
done and easy to follow even for me ( totally clueless about
electronics ) That said move with the times and go with the CD an
instructional video can only make it easier

[Dave S]

Jim..

As a customer who has paid for and built both your audio panel and
your marker beacon reciever, I WOULD LOVE the ability to have your
manual in digital form.

Will you consider making it available to your prior customers?

Definite vote FOR the CD ROM.

The vast majority of your present and future customers are computer
based. It shouldnt be a stretch to presume they have CD drive.

Dave

RST Engineering wrote:
> So for 35 years now we've been putting out our kits with two printed manuals
> per kit ... a
> "operations and maintenance" and a "construction and assembly" manual. Each
> of which costs us about $2 a manual. Not a big deal.
>
> I've got a wild hair that we can put out a digital CDROM set of manuals that
> will give COLOR pictures, video "how to", and a lot of other stuff on the
> CDROM.
>
> The other person in the company says that you all want print manuals.
>
> Please vote:
>
> 1. I want a print (paper) set of manuals with my kit.
>
> 2. I want a CDROM with my kit that I can print out myself.
>
> 3. I want you to increase the cost of the kit by $5 and include both print
> and CDROM with every kit.
>
> Please, no other permutations. Print or CDROM. No other choices.
>
> Jim
>
>

[jmk]

Jim,

Maybe I'm just old (okay, I *am* old) but I vote for #1. For
relatively simple kits #2 is okay, but a lot of manuals (both assembly
and operation) need color and that's still something not every one can
easily print out themselves. For the assembly manual, I consider that
hardcopy on the desk is the ONLY way to go (whether you provide it or
they print it out themselves).

jmk (and veteran of a lot of Heathkits in my early years
<G>).

[Dave Butler]

RST Engineering wrote:

> Please vote:
>
> 1. I want a print (paper) set of manuals with my kit.
>
> 2. I want a CDROM with my kit that I can print out myself.
>
> 3. I want you to increase the cost of the kit by $5 and include both print
> and CDROM with every kit.
>
> Please, no other permutations. Print or CDROM. No other choices.

It depends on the number of pages. For example, I was willing to pay for a
hardcopy of the GNS480 manual, even though I could download it for free. The
hardcopy is conveniently wire-bound and is a more convenient form factor than
the 8.5x11 I'd be constrained to if I printed it myself. Printing several
hundred pages is not cheap in either time, dollars, or frustration factor on my
home printer.

For anything up to 25 pages or so, I'd rather have the CD. Easier to store, I
don't have papers lying around except whatever pages I actually need.

....but I've not been one of your customers - yet.

Bottom line: 2

Dave

[Don Tuite]

I wouldn't dream of proposing anything else.

But

The other day, I got out my old Icom 02AT. Couldn't figure out why I
was havng trouble storing PL tones in certain memory locations.

Thank Hiram Maxim somebody had posted the manual on-line.

Don

[RST Engineering]

Our manuals are already posted online, or at least the pertinent sections of
operations and schematics. I'm talking about the documentation delivered
with the product.

Jim


"Don Tuite" > wrote in message
...
>I wouldn't dream of proposing anything else.
>
> But
>
> The other day, I got out my old Icom 02AT. Couldn't figure out why I
> was havng trouble storing PL tones in certain memory locations.
>
> Thank Hiram Maxim somebody had posted the manual on-line.
>
> Don

[john smith]

As a 25 year customer with a 442 Intercom, I prefer the printed manual.
It is very hard to clean my notes off the computer screen. The 20 inch
CRT monitor takes up all the workspace so I have to hold the project
between my knees to solder. ;-))

Having said all that, now that I have a color laser printer and a full
version of Acrobat, I can pretty much edit and print what I want, so a
CD would fullfil the need if it reduces the costs.

[Peter Dohm]

"RST Engineering" > wrote in message
.. .
> So for 35 years now we've been putting out our kits with two printed
manuals
> per kit ... a
> "operations and maintenance" and a "construction and assembly" manual.
Each
> of which costs us about $2 a manual. Not a big deal.
>
> I've got a wild hair that we can put out a digital CDROM set of manuals
that
> will give COLOR pictures, video "how to", and a lot of other stuff on the
> CDROM.
>
> The other person in the company says that you all want print manuals.
>
> Please vote:
>
> 1. I want a print (paper) set of manuals with my kit.
>
> 2. I want a CDROM with my kit that I can print out myself.
>
> 3. I want you to increase the cost of the kit by $5 and include both
print
> and CDROM with every kit.
>
> Please, no other permutations. Print or CDROM. No other choices.
>
> Jim
>
>

#3

I have yet to build one of yours, as well as the aircraft to house it, but I
have found that the absense of complete printed manuals is a big pain with a
lot of newer equipment as well as with a lot of recent software--even though
it does keep the price down. Having both is really the only way to go.

I have found that it is much easier to "learn" a system, whether hardware or
software, when I can just sit down with the complete manual and study it. I
have also found that printing manuals at home costs much more for a
generally inferior product--there are no oversized fold-out pages and the
manual is not as securely bound and/or as well labeled.

Never the less, the addition of the CD is also valuable. Pages which are
frequently used, or which will be marked up during assembly and testing, can
be printed as needed. Also, the contents of the CD can be copied to a hard
disk drive on a laptop computer so as to be available at the airport...

I hope this helps.

Peter

[Bart D. Hull]

Print!

Bart D. Hull

Tempe, Arizona

Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/engine.html
for my Subaru Engine Conversion
Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/fuselage.html
for Tango II I'm building.

Remove -nospam to reply via email.

RST Engineering wrote:
> So for 35 years now we've been putting out our kits with two printed manuals
> per kit ... a
> "operations and maintenance" and a "construction and assembly" manual. Each
> of which costs us about $2 a manual. Not a big deal.
>
> I've got a wild hair that we can put out a digital CDROM set of manuals that
> will give COLOR pictures, video "how to", and a lot of other stuff on the
> CDROM.
>
> The other person in the company says that you all want print manuals.
>
> Please vote:
>
> 1. I want a print (paper) set of manuals with my kit.
>
> 2. I want a CDROM with my kit that I can print out myself.
>
> 3. I want you to increase the cost of the kit by $5 and include both print
> and CDROM with every kit.
>
> Please, no other permutations. Print or CDROM. No other choices.
>
> Jim
>
>

[Ernest Christley]

RST Engineering wrote:
> So for 35 years now we've been putting out our kits with two printed manuals
> per kit ... a
> "operations and maintenance" and a "construction and assembly" manual. Each
> of which costs us about $2 a manual. Not a big deal.
>
> I've got a wild hair that we can put out a digital CDROM set of manuals that
> will give COLOR pictures, video "how to", and a lot of other stuff on the
> CDROM.
>
> The other person in the company says that you all want print manuals.
>
> Please vote:
>
> 1. I want a print (paper) set of manuals with my kit.
>
> 2. I want a CDROM with my kit that I can print out myself.
>
> 3. I want you to increase the cost of the kit by $5 and include both print
> and CDROM with every kit.
>
> Please, no other permutations. Print or CDROM. No other choices.
>
> Jim
>
>

You can hold the intercom I ordered a little longer if there is a chance
I can get it with the CD.

All the instructions in a convenient format for storage, and I can print
out just what I need when I go to put it together. CD for me.

--
This is by far the hardest lesson about freedom. It goes against
instinct, and morality, to just sit back and watch people make
mistakes. We want to help them, which means control them and their
decisions, but in doing so we actually hurt them (and ourselves)."

[Stealth Pilot]

On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 23:41:37 -0700, "RST Engineering"
> wrote:

>So for 35 years now we've been putting out our kits with two printed manuals
>per kit ... a
>"operations and maintenance" and a "construction and assembly" manual. Each
>of which costs us about $2 a manual. Not a big deal.
>
>I've got a wild hair that we can put out a digital CDROM set of manuals that
>will give COLOR pictures, video "how to", and a lot of other stuff on the
>CDROM.
>
>The other person in the company says that you all want print manuals.
>
>Please vote:
>
>1. I want a print (paper) set of manuals with my kit.
>
>2. I want a CDROM with my kit that I can print out myself.
>
>3. I want you to increase the cost of the kit by $5 and include both print
>and CDROM with every kit.
>
>Please, no other permutations. Print or CDROM. No other choices.
>
>Jim
>

Jim for usability I prefer something that can be folded, tucked in the
blown power supply case that sits beside the soldering iron. you know,
wedged between the transformer and the two big capacitors... :-)

however for retrieval and storage a cd is best. the cd I can copy on
to the hard disk and it sits in the drawer taking up next to no space.

let your hair stream back in the breeze and go with your instincts :-)

Stealth Pilot
down under.

[nrp]

I'd rather have print. Your Intercom manual was good. I've had it for
at least 15 years, I can still read it, and I know someone else will be
able to 15 years from now. All my A/C electronics schematics etc are
slipped inside your 442 yellow cover.

[Robert Bonomi]

In article >,
RST Engineering > wrote:
>So for 35 years now we've been putting out our kits with two printed manuals
>per kit ... a
>"operations and maintenance" and a "construction and assembly" manual. Each
>of which costs us about $2 a manual. Not a big deal.
>
>I've got a wild hair that we can put out a digital CDROM set of manuals that
>will give COLOR pictures, video "how to", and a lot of other stuff on the
>CDROM.
>
>The other person in the company says that you all want print manuals.
>
>Please vote:
>
>1. I want a print (paper) set of manuals with my kit.
>
>2. I want a CDROM with my kit that I can print out myself.
>
>3. I want you to increase the cost of the kit by $5 and include both print
>and CDROM with every kit.
>
>Please, no other permutations. Print or CDROM. No other choices.

Comments:
1) Given the kind of printers that _most_ people have at home -- i.e.,
'inkjet' (color or B&W) -- you can print the manual MUCH LESS EXPENSIVELY
than they can, including decent cover and bindery costs.
2) typical 'home' computer printers are *expensive* to operate -- most
users do not recognize _how_expensive_ it is, but it comes out in the
5-10 cents per single-sided page range.
3) A print manual offers several kinds of flexibility that a digital one
does not -- or at least not to the same degree. It's much easier to
take a print manual to the 'reading room', just to cite one example.
Also, it's a lot easier to use a print version at the workbench, vs.
the digital one. `
4) Yes, you can create a 'sort-of equivalent' print version from the CD,
but only 'sort of' -- getting the home-produced loose pages 'bound'
into booklet form is non-trivial.
5) CDs are great for medium-term 'archival' storage -- you can get an
awful lot of stuff in a fairly small amount of physical space. *BUT*,
they take a bunch of 'additional stuff' to be useful, while paper
manuals are 'stand alone'.
6) The technology _does_ change out from under you; 15 years ago, the
standard home computer storage was a 5-1/4" floppy. How many folks
could read something on that media, _today_? DVDs are eclipsing CDROM,
today. In 10-15 years, I wouldn't be surprised to find that most
machines have only 'son-of-DVD/DVD' devices, _without_ support for those
'obsolete', 'low-capacity' things known as CDROMs.
7) it is obviously less expensive for you to produce CDs than print manuals.
However, the _total_ cost TO THE CUSTOMER is less for a print copy if
you do the printing. And he gets a better grade of product -- e.g., a
bound booklet, vs pile of loose pages.


_I_ would mutter, gripe, and bitch&moan, if manuals were offered *only* on
CD.

I would be willing to _pay_extra_, to get the CD, *in*addition*to* the
printed manual.

I would prefer to have it as an 'option', rather than always bundled. However
if that is not viable, then I'd settle for 'both, always'.


I probably don't need to mention it, but be sure that any technical drawings
are done as 'line art' (i.e. 'vector' graphics), and not embedded bit-map
images (e.g. .GIF, .JPG, etc.). People -will- want to zoom in on those
drawings to a 'ridiculous' degree, and bit-maps go 'fuzzy' really quickly.

[Smitty Two]

In article >,
"RST Engineering" > wrote:

> So for 35 years now we've been putting out our kits with two printed manuals
> per kit ... a
> "operations and maintenance" and a "construction and assembly" manual. Each
> of which costs us about $2 a manual. Not a big deal.
>
> I've got a wild hair that we can put out a digital CDROM set of manuals that
> will give COLOR pictures, video "how to", and a lot of other stuff on the
> CDROM.
>
> The other person in the company says that you all want print manuals.
>
> Please vote:
>
> 1. I want a print (paper) set of manuals with my kit.
>
> 2. I want a CDROM with my kit that I can print out myself.
>
> 3. I want you to increase the cost of the kit by $5 and include both print
> and CDROM with every kit.
>
> Please, no other permutations. Print or CDROM. No other choices.
>
> Jim

I vote for #1, printed manual. I call that "appropriate technology for
the situation." Running back and forth from my computer to my workshop
(construction) or from my computer to my airplane (operations) would be
a PIA of gargantuan proportions. Maybe when notebook computers are the
size of a thin magazine and cost $35, CD would be acceptable. Until
then, NFW. I tell you what, I'll give you an extra $5 to promise never
to put out a CD manual.