I've never had a problem obtaining manuals from any equipment/antenna other
than Force12.
I once purchased a C4XL from a ham who had misplaced the instruction
manual. Called Force12 and was told, we don't "give" our manuals out for
free, but they are for sale for $25. I was made to feel as if I was being
held hostage and they were using the sale of their manual as another source
of revenue. It wasn't that they "wouldn't" provide me with a manual, they
wanted to "sell" me a manual. If my intent was to "copy" their design and
build an antenna out of my scrape aluminum, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase
the manual for $25 knowing how much I would be saving. I went back to the
previous owner and told him to look harder for the manual. Luckily, he
found it a couple days later.
I think its unreasonable for any manufacturer to hold users who wish to use
their product hostage by charging them for information they could readily
make available for downloading. No costs involved. Just a few bytes of
storage.
If it is Force12's goal to keep hams from copying their designs, therefore
not posting manuals on their website, they are punishing the masses to keep
a scant few from copying their design. Let's face it, if a ham wants to
copy a design and build their own antenna, they will find the information
somewhere.
Jim
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of Doug Renwick
Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2007 7:50 AM
To: 'Dan Hearn'; TowerTalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Force12
So we have some 'unreasonable' antenna manufactures like Hy-Gain, CushCraft,
and Spiderbeam who do make their manuals available. What about defunct
manufacturers like Wilson or KLM? What about antennas that are no longer
made like the Hy-Quad 244? Think about it.
Just my opinion.
Doug
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] Force12
It is unreasonable to expect a company to make public the complete details
of their designs. I am amazed that some hams have the gall to ask other hams
to copy the info on their antennas and send it to them.
'snip'
Just my opinion.
73, Dan, N5AR
-----Original Message-----
Before I buy anything, I download the manual. After reading the manual, I
often decide not to buy. If there is no manual to download, I don't buy it.
Rick N6RK
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