Will there be a printed manual available for purchase for the 6400M/6600M? Its so much easier to find stuff make notes and you don't have to have a 2nd computer beside you which I do so often to read and follow along when your using applications and trying to read the manual on the same computer. Just doesn't work well.
This is my current solution, it has been so helpful and I use it all the time. The manual content is great but no hard copy ... not so much ...

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Posted 2 years ago
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I do the same thing here, just print a copy of all the manuals (software, hardware, DAX, and CAT), then re-print whenever a manual gets upgraded. It eats up toner cartridges, but sometimes its nice having a hard copy available.
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Ria - N2RJ, Elmer
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I print using the xerox duplex printer and keep in a 3 ring binder.
Maybe they can look into something like lulu.com to print on demand, nicely bound. One of my attorney friends uses it for his law books that he writes. That would be the simplest to get a nice, printed, bound copy.
See this, this would be perfect:
http://connect.lulu.com/en/discussion/32074/what-is-print-on-demand-pod
However the author, FlexRadio has to do it as they are the copyright owner.
Ria
N2RJ
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I did this for the in-depth manual for my Kenwood TH-D74 HT. It was a bit pricey, but no more expensive than a similar-sized ARRL book. I think it was just under $30.
If I was at a desktop/laptop I'd get an estimate for you.
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That way, they could add an entire section or revise individual pages without the user having to reprint the entire manual.
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Thanks for this suggestion!
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I'll talk this over with the guys and we'll see what happens. Thanks for the suggestion.
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Tim - W4TME, Customer Experience Manager
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I think it really comes down to the effort involved and the potential number of customers that would benefit. I wonder how many customers actually print the manual? I suspect the number is low, but not insignificant.
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The nice thing is anyone can do it, the bad thing is it's easy to make a mistake and pick the wrong weight paper, color instead of monochrome printing, etc. and wind up with a very expensive manual.
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Tim - W4TME, Customer Experience Manager
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To quote Dr. McCoy, "we're a radio manufacturer, not a print shop, Jim"
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The FCC used to do that with the broadcast regulations back in the days when an on-site copy was necessary. (slightly after they discontinued the use of stone tablets but before electronic publishing)
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Flex Manual is full 8x11" pages at 165 pages...Smart SDR 46 Pages.. Lets call it 200 pages for both... The point being that radios use to be a lot simpler.. A K3 Transceiver can be operated without the use of a manual for most features.. The new ICOM 7610 radios manual is 91 pages long,, full of a lot of dead space and small pictures... And ICOM has already made 3 revisions and everyone tries to figure out, what changed??
I side with Flex.. Smart SDR and the 6600M manual are loaded on my Desk Computer, Loaded on my Dedicated Ham Radio 2 in 1 computer and on my iPad.. Printing real manuals is not easy and readable size is critical. My new Olympus DSLR camera came with a printed manual,, but you need to wear a magnifying glass to read the small print.. Naturally they wanted it to fit in the camera box.. OH, it comes in 4 languages as well..
I will agree with you on one thing,, If FLEX wants to elevate their game to the next level,, then providing a printed manual would be a nice touch.. When I got my wife her new MB 300 car, the Benz dealer also gave us a Hat, T-Shirt and a SS water bottle.. Not a big deal when you get a $40K car, but still a nice touch.. Flex has Customer Service as a TOP priority,, Yaesu, Icom and Kenwood could learn a lot from Flex.. So yes,, a manual would be a nice touch but not a deal breaker for most people..
Robert
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Bottom line in 2018 almost no companies offer printed manuals anymore.
Nowadays if you need a printed manual you have to print it yourself.Ria - N2RJ, Elmer
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Been there too many times with Staples... Got the T-shirt.
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KY6LA - Howard, Elmer
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The Icom paper manuals are notorious for being incomprehensible.
K3’s are NOT obvious You push a button too long and you can screw it up royally. Done that myself many times in contests.
But clearly there is a limited demand as expressed here for paper by the computer challenged so the idea of making it available by a Papering service is a good one.
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KY6LA - Howard, Elmer
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Kill Electrons instead.
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KY6LA - Howard, Elmer
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KY6LA - Howard, Elmer
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Too. Highlight a word. Or sentence just touch your. Finger on it. It’s. Highlighted. A thousand times easier than using a highlighter plus you can easily correct your mistakes.
Index. Unnecessary. Touch search. Type the word you want and you are instantly brought to the page or pages you need.
I, for one, was thrilled when manufacturers stopped printing manuals.
Plus being vision challenged as I get older I can easily zoom on text and drawings so I can actually see them without looking for a magnifying glass.
But I understand that some people hate change.
By the way i have written a lot of manuals over the years. So glad when we no longer had to produce paper ones with their PAINFUL, ExPensive revision process.
In fact, the first book I ever wrote was aLab Manual for First Year Engineering Students. Different type of manual but still a manual
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73,
Lin

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At the time the document is published, we'll include a note describing which sections had significant changes. If this approach proves to be popular, we can adopt the same approach in the other big documents.
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In The Meantime, Cut Baby Cut!!!! :-)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mM8INqzsfk
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At this point I would just be happy if I could get an electronic UPDATED manual for the latest version of software 2.2.8 .... as I recall someone stated that flex was committed to providing updated documentation ... Hmmm.... 2.2.8 has been out for a while now never saw updated docs for 2.1.33 and none for 2.2.8 either ....
Guess not that committed after all ....
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https://community.flexradio.com/flexradio/topics/smartsdr-v2-2-8-now-available
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As new Flex Owners come on board, like me-6600M, I came over due to their new "M" model.. If their had not introduced the 6400M / 6600M series, I would probably be using an Icom IC-7610 radio right now.. I just like Knobs on a radio!!!
So Flex marketing team needs to understand what it takes to Move Over ham operators and grab more market share.. The 6660M was a great move on their part,, but sometimes small things, like these manual revisions can go a long way in keeping everyone Happy Campers!!!
Robert
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